YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU – Part 2 of 3

“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”  (1 Corinthians 12:26 NIV)

This verse indicates church bodies should be so united that if one member suffers, the rest of the congregation shares the pain. For churches to function this way, people must learn sensitivity to God’s activity in the lives of other members….

You need to prepare yourself before going to church so you’re ready to join God in whatever work He may be doing in your congregation. Too often, church members attend services and merely seek out their friends. It never dawns on them that people may be there who are experiencing tremendous pain and hurt. There may be first-time visitors without anyone to offer even a greeting.

The Holy Spirit can guide you to someone who is hurting if you are sensitive to His leading. Perhaps as you enter the worship space, the Spirit will prompt you to sit in a different place than you normally do in order to talk with someone who needs encouragement at the close of the service…. Every week, the Spirit knows who is hurting or who is seeking answers from God or who desperately needs to know if God’s people care. If you’re sensitive to the Spirit’s nudging, you can be God’s instrument of healing and love right in your own church family. 

-- Excerpted from “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God” by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King

#5528

YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU – Part 1 of 3

“No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.”  (1 Corinthians 10:24 NIV)

Being a member of the church is a selfless act! The church does not merely exist for what you get out of it. It is your opportunity to invest in the lives of God’s people and to join God’s activity through His people. God knew that your church needed you. That’s why God added you to that body (see 1 Corinthians 12:18). Your involvement is part of the equipping of your church to carry out God’s purposes….

When I served as a pastor, one of the most important things I did was to help my people recognize when God was at work in our midst. At small or informal meetings, I often asked what the members had witnessed of God’s activity that week. University students would tell how God had opened opportunities to share their faith with fellow students. Business people told about God’s activity in the work place. Mothers would relate how God led them to establish a group of Christian mothers to pray for the schools. Seniors recounted how God led them to intercede for someone during the week. These informal times of sharing became wonderful opportunities to celebrate together God’s activity in our midst. 

-- Excerpted from “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God” by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King

#5527

FOCUSING ON THE LORD’S PRESENCE

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”  (Revelation 1:8)

Wait patiently with Me while I bless you. Don’t rush into My Presence with time-consciousness gnawing at our mind. I dwell in timelessness: I am, I was, I will be always. For you, time is a protection; you’re a frail creature who can handle only twenty-four-hour segments of life. Time can be a tyrant, ticking away relentlessly in your mind. Learn to master time, or it will master you.

Though you are a time-bound creature, seek to meet Me in timelessness. As you focus on My Presence, the demands of time and tasks will diminish. I will bless you and keep you, making My face shine upon you graciously, giving you Peace. (Numbers 6:24-26) 

-- Adapted from “Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence” by Sarah Young 

#5526

WALKING THE TALK

"Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves." (James 1:22 NRSV)

My conduct is the only trustworthy indicator of what I truly value. It is the difference between Christianity as talk and as walk. All of us value evangelism, but when was my last spiritual conversation with a person in need of faith in Christ? All of us value unity, but when was the last time I resisted the urge to say something negative about a peer? All of us value our families, but when was the last time I took a day off just to be with them (and turned off my cell phone)? 

-- Dr. Earl Creps in the “United Methodist Reporter”, January 7, 2010

#5525 

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)

You are the light of the world – but only because you are enkindled, made radiant by the One Light of the World. And being kindled, we have got to get on with it, be useful. 

-- Evelyn Underhill

#5524

GOOD SABBATHS MAKE GOOD CHRISTIANS

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’”  (Mark 2:27-28 NRSV)

How often people today cry out in exasperation or despair, “I just don’t have enough time!” There is so much to do: earn a living, fulfill a vocation, nurture relationships, care for dependents, exercise, clean the house. Moreover, we hope to maintain sanity while doing all this, and keep growing as faithful and loving people at the same time. We are finite, and the demands too great, the time too short….

Puritan Sabbath keepers agreed that “good Sabbaths make good Christians.” They meant that regular, disciplined attention to the spiritual life was the foundation of faithfulness. Another dimension of the saying opens up if we imagine a worshipping community helping one another step off the treadmill of work-and-spend and into the circle of glad gratitude for the gifts of God. Taken this way, good Sabbaths make good Christians by regularly reminding us of God’s creative, liberating, and redeeming presence, not only in words but also through a practice we do together in response to that presence. 

– From “Keeping Sabbath” by Dorothy C. Bass in “Practicing Our Faith”

#5523

THE GOD OF THE “RE” PREFIXES

On Sunday in worship Rev. Wes Olds, the pastor of Grace Church where we are attending while in Florida, suggested that the God we worship is a God of the “Re” prefixes. The sermon series is on “Rebuilding” which is a timely theme for the area of Fort Myers following the devastation of Hurricane Ian last September (2022). This church also has a huge “Recovery” program with a worship service dedicated to “finding freedom from your addictions, afflictions, and compulsive behaviors.”

It got me thinking about all the “Re” prefixes that God is involved in. In addition to Rebuilding (Nehemiah 2:4-5) and Recovery (Isaiah 6:1) here are others that came to mind, in no particular order, with Scripture references: Redeeming (Ephesians 1:7), Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), Return (Zechariah 1:3), Rebirth (John 3:3), Relationship (John 17:3), Release (Galatians 5:1), Revive (Isaiah 57:15), Renewal (Romans 12:2), Restore (Psalm 51:12), Reunite (John 20:20), Repent (Mark 1:15), Respond (Matthew 4:19-20), Rescue (Psalm 31:5), Remember (Isaiah 49:15-16), Receive (John 1:12), and, of course, Resurrection (John 11:25).

I am sure there are other words of faith that begin with the prefix “Re”. But you may find that one of these listed here, along with its Scripture verse, is just what you need to hear today. 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry

#5522

KEEPING OUR EYES ON JESUS

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”  (Jude 20-21 NIV)

The [disciples] all had a good beginning with Jesus. Their signs of loyalty, fidelity, and faithfulness came often in their brief time with Jesus. And yet in many of the crucial times for Jesus and for them, the truth is that they drifted astray. They lost sight of Jesus and His way and focused on themselves and their way….

The bad news [today] is that individuals, congregations, and denominations can drift away. It happens so easily. It happens the moment we take our eyes off Jesus Christ. The moment we lose our center we begin to lose our way. We know it does not have to be that way because every day we can keep our eyes upon Jesus Christ and ask for guidance and grace to remain faithful. The good news Christians share is that Jesus Christ is able and willing to guide and enable us on our journey toward our true home with God. 

-- Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God”

#5521

THE GOAL OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.”  (Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV)

I am called to become the person God had in mind when He originally designed me. This is what is behind Kierkegaard's wonderful prayer, "And now Lord, with Your help I shall become myself." …[Spiritual growth] is about that holy and mysterious process described by the apostle Paul when he said he was "in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." (Galatians 4:19) The goal of such growth is to live as if Jesus held unhindered sway over our bodies. Of course, it is still we doing the living. We are called by God to live as our uniquely created selves -- our temperament, our gene pool, our history. But to grow spiritually means to live increasingly as Jesus would in our unique place -- to perceive what Jesus would perceive if He looked through our eyes, to think what He would think, to feel what He would feel, and therefore to do what He would do.

-- John Ortberg in “The Life You've Always Wanted”

A WAKEFUL FAITH

If wakeful Christians harbor a wish for heaven to fulfill, they wish not for an escape from reality, but for a deeper acquaintance with reality. When wakeful Christians lament this life, they grieve this world’s trivialization of itself that obscures the more profound reality of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Yet, more often wakeful Christians celebrate life, finding the mark of God’s hand in this world and beginning their praise with the discovery of the holy here. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory,” the seraphim sang. (Isaiah 6:3) Wakeful visions of other worldly praise reveal angels singing of God’s reign on earth as it is in heaven. 

-- J. Marshall Jenkins in “A Wakeful Faith”

#5519

NEAR-SIDE CHRISTIANS

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  (1 John 1:2-4 NIV)

Oliver Wendell Holmes, former chief justice of the Supreme Court, once made a perceptive distinction between two kinds of simplicity: simplicity on the near side of complexity and simplicity on the far side of complexity.  He said, “I would not give a fig for simplicity on the near side of complexity.”

Many Christians settle for simplicity on the near side of complexity.  Their faith is only mind deep.  They know what they believe, but they don’t know why they believe what they believe.  Their faith is fragile because it has never been tested intellectually or experientially.  Near-side Christians have never been in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, so when they encounter questions they cannot answer or experiences they cannot explain, it causes a crisis of faith.  For far-side Christians, those who have done their time in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, unanswerable questions and unexplainable experiences actually result in heightened appreciation for the mystery and majesty of a God who does not fit within the logical constraints of the left brain.  Near-side Christians, on the other hand, lose their faith before they’ve really found it. 

-- Mark Batterson in “PRIMAL: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity”

#5518

IMMERSED IN GRACE

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…”  (Titus 2:11-12 NIV)

To believe we are totally and eternally debt free is seldom easy.  Even if we’ve stood before the throne and heard it from the King Himself, we still doubt.  As a result, many are forgiven only a little, not because the grace of the King is limited, but because the faith of the sinner is small.  God is willing to forgive all.  He’s willing to wipe the slate completely clean.  He guides us to a pool of mercy and invites us to bathe.  Some plunge in, but others just touch the surface. They leave feeling unforgiven…

Where the grace of God is missed, bitterness is born. But where the grace of God is embraced, forgiveness flourishes.

The longer we walk in the garden, the more likely we are to smell like flowers.  The more we immerse ourselves in grace, the more likely we are to give grace.

-- Max Lucado in “In the Grip of Grace”

#5517

CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV)

God gave the most precious gift of His Son to take our sin upon Himself on the cross so that we might be reconciled to our Father.  When we accept Him, He clothes us in His righteousness so that we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.  In Christ, we are secure and free in our standing before God.  We can step out from whatever trees of fear may surround us.  We are no longer bound by the belief that if we tell God how we really feel or what we think, God will judge us or cause some disaster to come upon us.

This is true intimacy: confidence that what we reveal about ourselves will be understood and that the One to whom we disclose ourselves will accept us, seek our good, and communicate support and love. 

-- Cynthia Heald in “Intimacy with God”

#5516

THE WRATH OF GOD

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23 NLT)

God's wrath is not capricious anger, like some divine rage that erupts occasionally. Wrath is the holiness of God yearning for the wholeness of creation. Wrath is goodness offended by evil, compassionate love recoiling at hatred. Wrath stands over against sin, condemning it and ultimately destroying it… All can be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

-- Richard and Julia Wilke in “DISCIPLE: Remember Who You Are”

#5515

I NEED TO WORSHIP

“When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’”  (Matthew 14:32-33)

I need to worship because without it I can forget that I have a Big God beside me and live in fear. I need to worship because without it I can forget His calling and begin to live in a spirit of self-preoccupation. I need to worship because without it I lose a sense of wonder and gratitude and plod through life with blinders on. I need to worship because my natural tendency is toward self-reliance and stubborn independence. 

-- John Ortberg in “If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat”

#5514

THE PRIORITY OF WORSHIP

If the Lord is to be Lord, worship must have a priority in our lives. The first commandment of Jesus is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). The divine priority is worship first, service second. Our lives are to be punctuated with praise, thanksgiving and adoration. Service flows out of worship. Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry. Activity may become the enemy of adoration. 

-- M. Scott Peck in “Celebration of Discipline”

#5513

GOD IS AT WORK

In prayer we gain the confidence that, in the midst of all that is happening, God is at work bringing about a good that we can never anticipate (Romans 8:28).  If we feel God-forsaken (and there will be such times), prayer will drive away that despair.  In prayer we experience the indescribable assurance of the Holy Spirit that all will be well.  I love the verse that reads, “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God," (Romans 8:15-16 NRSV).  But the best news of all comes from the same eighth chapter of Romans -- the promise and confidence that all things will work together for an incomprehensible good.  It's a promise that we know will be realized, because the Holy Spirit -- that crucial third member of the Trinity -- prays to the heavenly Father on our behalf, thus overcoming our own limitations in prayer.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8:26-28 NRSV) 

-- Tony Campolo in “Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God”

#5512

MAGIC WORDS

I used to believe there were no magic words. Oh sure, as a kid I would say “Open Sesame!” or “Abracadabra!” when a childish game of make-believe called for a mysterious incantation. But I never took the words seriously and, truthfully, never knew what they meant. Still don’t.

Later, when I was a young minister, troubled people would come to me looking for help with their thorny problems. If their expectations seemed a little too high, I found I could quickly temper them by saying, “Just remember… there aren’t any magic words.”

But I now realize I was wrong. There are in fact two words that, when spoken together at just the right moment, have amazing, life-changing power. No, they’re not magical in the Harry Potter, wand-waving sense. But make no mistake. These two words have been known to breathe new life into wheezing, withering souls. They’ve been known to lift burdens, calm fears, and inspire hope. Timed right, they are as refreshing as a cold front in July.

I’m referring to the words “I understand.”…

Psalm 33:13-15 says, “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From His throne He observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so He understands everything they do.”

That’s the understanding Jesus brought with Him when He came to earth. 

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus” 

#5511

A MAN OF ONE BOOK

John Wesley wrote: “I want to know one thing, the way to heaven…. God Himself has condescended to teach me the way…. He has written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the Book of God! I have it; here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri (a man of one book).”  (From “An Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion”)

Wesley called himself “a man of one book.” The Latin phrase homo unius libri originated with Thomas Aquinas and demonstrated Wesley’s saturation in the writings of the early church fathers. Wesley applied that term not only to himself, but also to [the early Methodists at Oxford].

It wasn’t literally true. Wesley was one of the best-read and most widely published Christians of his era. When Benjamin Ingham asked for a method for his spiritual growth, Wesley gave him a list of classic writers of Christian devotion for use in his small group.

He was, however, a “man of one book” in that nothing took priority over reading Scripture. In his “Complete English Dictionary” (1753), Wesley defined a Methodist as “one that lives according to the method laid down in the Bible.” He instructed Ingham to test everything he read or did by what he found in Scripture. Wesley knew that we can be “spiritual” without the Bible, but we can never be growing disciples of Jesus Christ without disciplined study of and reflection on the written Word. 

-- James A. Harnish in “A Disciple’s Path: Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church”

#5510

ACTIVE WAITING

“But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.”  (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

Those who are waiting are waiting very actively. They know that what they are waiting for is growing from the ground on which they are standing. That's the secret.

The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted, that something has begun.

Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it. A waiting person is someone who is present to the moment, who believes that this moment is the moment. 

-- Henri J. M. Nouwen in “The Weavings Reader” published by The Upper Room, Nashville, TN.   Used with permission.

#5509

DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…”  (Psalm 37:7a NIV)

We are an industrious people. We always want to accomplish something. The idea of doing God’s will sounds exciting. Once in a while, someone says, “Don’t just stand there… do something.” Sometimes individuals or churches are so busy carrying out plans they think will help achieve God’s purposes that they don’t bother to find out what He actually wants. We often wear ourselves out and accomplish little for the kingdom of God.

I think God is crying out to us: “Don’t just do something. Stand there! Enter into a love relationship with Me. Get to know Me. Adjust your life to Me. Let Me love you and teach you about Myself as I work through you.” A time will come when action is required, but we must not short-circuit the relationship (Psalm 37:7). Your relationship with God must come first. Out of your walk with God, He accomplishes His plans for our world. 

-- Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby and Claude King in “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God”

#5508

A FRESH START FOR THE NEW YEAR

"Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new”. (2 Corinthians 5:17, The Message).

[Renovation] takes solid work, requires real change in behavior, and sometimes the recognition that failing will be part of the journey. A fascinating and convicting book is “Renovation of the Heart” by Dallas Willard. It’s one to put on your reading list – and recognize that you might be reading one chapter over and over and over. He spends some interesting time thinking about the role of the will and the relation to the Holy Spirit in this “renovation”, in becoming “new creatures”.

The key to this renovation, however, as opposed to the fad of New Year’s resolutions, is that spiritual fresh starts are based in a power that is not our own power. In fact, we have to give up our “own power” in order to be effective, and that makes all the difference.

So looking at that verse again, we can be assured that when we unite with the Messiah, when we are reborn in Christ, when the Holy Spirit becomes part of our hearts and minds… we have a true chance at a fresh start. 

-- Lt. Colonel Carol Seiler, the Salvation Army

#5507