BRING THEM TO CHURCH

“And they were bringing children to Jesus that He might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.’”  (Mark 10:13-14 ESV)

Bring them to church. Saturate their lives with the Word of God. Even if they lay on the floor. Even if they need 437 goldfish and a sucker to be quiet. Even if you stand in the back swaying back and forth holding them. Even when it’s hard. Even when your row looks like a small hurricane just came through. Bring them to church. Let them see you worship. Let them see you pray. Let them see you running toward the Savior ... because if they don’t see and learn these things from you, who are they going to learn them from?

The world will teach them it’s not a priority. The world will teach them it’s okay to lay out, not to pick up their Bibles. The world will direct them so far off course, confuse them, and misinform them that just being “good” is enough. The world won’t teach them about Jesus. That’s our job.

Bring them to church. 

-- Posted on Facebook by First United Methodist Church, South Bend, Indiana

#5490

THE SOURCE OF ALL PEACE

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”  (Colossians 3:15 NIV)

In order to allow the peace of Christ to rule your heart, it’s important to recognize who the true source of peace is. 1 Thessalonians 3:16 says, “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way.” God is referred to as “the God of peace” over and over again in Scripture. Fifteen of the biblical epistles (technical terms for letters written to the churches, such as Philippians, Galatians and Ephesians), give a greeting to their beloved church members, which include some version of the phrase “peace from God.” These, alongside verses on peace, make a strong case from the New Testament of where peace originates. Remember, our soul craves peace. Don’t buy into the notion that an afternoon of solitude or a weekend at the beach will give you peace. Peace is not a serene setting or even a peace of mind. Anything or anyone who promises you peace is not being authentic with you. True and lasting soul-level peace is found only in a Person: Jesus Christ, the Source of all peace. 

-- Lesli White in an article entitled “How to Allow the Peace of Christ Rule Your Heart”

#5488

THE PEACE OF CHRIST

[Jesus said to His disciples,] “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  (John 14:27 ESV)

If we are to be truly peacemakers, I think we must move beyond the notion of peace as the absence of conflict… Peace has to do with the fullness of things, with lion and lamb lying down together, not a world without lions.  If we are to have hearts capable of the peace of Christ, which does indeed pass all understanding (Philippians 4:7), we must have hearts capable of embracing the joy and the sorrow, the sacredness and the sin of the world…

The infant in the manger at Bethlehem comes with a message of peace, an announcement that all sad divisions, all the irreconcilable pieces of our public and private lives will be brought together in the celebration of "shalom" -- God's blessing, God's peace.  This will not, I think, occur when conflict has ceased.  For creative conflict is a necessary component of growth.  Rather, peace will reign when our forgiveness of self and others is wide and deep enough to create new possibilities and, without the use of violence, to transform our seeming impasses into new freedoms and joys. 

-- Wendy M. Wright in “The Vigil: Keeping Watch in the Season of Christ's Coming” (Nashville, Tenn.: Upper Room Books, 1992)   

#5387

A HOPE THAT IS SOLID

Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”  (Matthew 7:24-25 NIV)

Nineteenth-century hymn writer Edward Mote (1797-1874) wrote the following: "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness… On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." If we understand little else on our Advent journey toward Christmas, let's understand that.

There is nothing else that solid, and there is nothing else that real… Through Jesus Christ, we can have a hope that means something. 

-- Derek Maul in “In My Heart I Carry a Star: Stories of Advent”

#5486

THE LIFELINE OF HOPE

“For You, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.”  (Psalm 71:5 ESV)

Hope is the lifeline tossed out to us from God. It sustains us when we feel like we are drowning, and God gently pulls us and the lifeline toward the shores of spiritual growth. With hope we also have faith -- not faith that we will be spared pain and despair but faith in the God who will lead us through the difficult times.

Therefore, in our struggle to understand God’s will, let us not concentrate solely on our pain and despair. Instead, trusting in the Lord, let us look with hope and faith toward attaining new, rich experiences of the abundant life God has given us. 

-- Adapted from John R. Wimmer in “Blessed Endurance: Moving Beyond Despair to Hope” 

#5485