The Lord Is Present

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

A Bride Worth Waiting For

Genesis 28:15-22  The Message

^13-15 Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”
^16-17 Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”
^18-19 Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (God’s House). The name of the town had been Luz until then.
^20-22 Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives. And everything you give me, I’ll return a tenth to you.”

For Reflection 

God's promise is unconditional.  God will protect and bless you.  Like Jacob, rise each morning praising God and rededicate your life to God.  Return to God the trust God has in you and the dedication to follow God's will.

Pray

each morning to be in touch with the Holy Spirit and to ensure that you abide in God.

Judged Faithful

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

A Bride Worth Waiting For

1 Timothy 1:12-19  The Message

^12-14 I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

^15-19 Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.

Deep honor and bright glory
    to the King of All Time—
One God, Immortal, Invisible,
    ever and always. Oh, yes!

I’m passing this work on to you, my son Timothy. The prophetic word that was directed to you prepared us for this. All those prayers are coming together now so you will do this well, fearless in your struggle, keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we’re in.

For Reflection 

God will make us all adequate to do God's work.  Like Paul, we don't have to be borne into the faith.  We don't need to feel that we are unworthy.  When we acknowledge God and take on the cloak of Jesus, we will be prepared to do the work of prophets and healers.

Pray

so that you can retain a firm grip on whom you speak for.  Pray for courage.  Pray for opportunity.  Pray for unreasonable trust in the will and presence of God.

Honesty: The Best Policy

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

A Bride Worth Waiting For

Proverbs 12:19-26  The Message

¹⁹ Truth lasts;
    lies are here today, gone tomorrow.

²⁰ Evil scheming distorts the schemer;
    peace-planning brings joy to the planner.

²¹ No evil can overwhelm a good person,
    but the wicked have their hands full of it.

²² God can’t stomach liars;
    he loves the company of those who keep their word.

²³ Prudent people don’t flaunt their knowledge;
    talkative fools broadcast their silliness.

²⁴ The diligent find freedom in their work;
    the lazy are oppressed by work.

²⁵ Worry weighs us down;
    a cheerful word picks us up.

²⁶ A good person survives misfortune,
    but a wicked life invites disaster.

 

For Reflection 

Lie spawns lie.  Isn't it true that one lie leads to other lies in support of the first lie?   Who has lied to you?  What was the impact of that lie?  How long did it take for you to trust truth from one who lied?  Liars invite disaster.

Pray

that you will tell the truth no matter what the consequences.  Pray for the wisdom that lies in truth telling.

Trustworthy Lives

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
Four Weddings and a Funeral

A Bride Worth Waiting For

Proverbs 11:9-13  The Message

⁹ The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction;
    the common sense of the godly preserves them.

¹⁰ When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers;
    when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates.

¹¹ When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes;
    evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time.

¹² Mean-spirited slander is heartless;
    quiet discretion accompanies good sense.

¹³ A gadabout gossip can’t be trusted with a secret,
    but someone of integrity won’t violate a confidence.

For Reflection 

Trust!  So much of the success and failure in our lives depends upon trust.  How do you decide to trust someone?  How trustworthy do others perceive you?  How do you conduct yourself so that others can trust you?

Pray

for a life lived in God's Kingdom.  Pray for a life that generates trustworthiness in you.  Pray so that you can have unreasonable trust in the Lord.

Humble Generosity

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

A Generous Gift

Matthew 6:1-6  The Message (MSG)

The World Is Not a Stage

6 “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.

^2-4 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.

Pray with Simplicity

⁵ “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

⁶ “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

 

For Reflection 

Merry Christmas!  Christ was born into humility.  Christ taught Humility.  Christ Prayed in humility.  Christ lived a humble life.  Wear the humble robes of the Spirit.

Pray

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Praise God for the generous gift of God's son.  Praise God for bringing light into a dark world.  Praise God.  Sing joy to the world.

Wise Generosity

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

A Generous Gift

Colossians 3:12-17  The Message

^12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
^15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

 

For Reflection 

Re-read the verses several times.  Take them to heart.  Practice in the wardrobe of your God character.  Abide in God with joy, praise and thanksgiving. 

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God, found in Jesus Christ.   Pray so that you remain in an intimate relationship with Christ.  Pray that you will emulate the living Christ.

Excellent Generosity

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

A Generous Gift

2 Corinthians 8:3-9  The Message

The Offering

8 ^1-4 Now, friends, I want to report on the surprising and generous ways in which God is working in the churches in Macedonia province. Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.

^5-7 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. That’s what prompted us to ask Titus to bring the relief offering to your attention, so that what was so well begun could be finished up. You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.
^8-9 I’m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in the Macedonians’ enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.

For Reflection 

These passages give us an insight into The Way as practiced by the early Churches.  In those days, Church was not just a place to worship once a week.  Church was a life style.   Church was an intimate voluntary sharing of the Spirit and resources for the good of the community.  Each person shared his resources according to his ability so that no one would suffer while others prospered.

Pray

for the wisdom of shared resources. Pray prayers of intercession for the Church.  Pray for compassion that leads to unreasonable trust in the justice exhibited by Christ and the early Church.  Pray for love that leads to extravagant generosity.

Gracious Generosity

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

A Generous Gift

Ephesians 2:1-10  The Message

He Tore Down the Wall

2 ^1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

^7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

For Reflection 

Sit quietly and look into your soul.  Question your existence.  Why are you here?  Why are you aware of your presence? Could it be that you really are made in the likeness of God?  Do you see your life as sacred?  Do you approach your walk in this world as a sacred  journey?  How does your belief and trust in God differentiate you from the common person who responds only to the conventions of civilized culture.  How God-centered is your life?

Pray

Thank God for the generous gift of life.  Pledge allegiance to the Creator and be obedient to God's will for humankind.  Pray prayers of confession and embrace the sacred journey that is your life.

Modeled Generosity

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

A Generous Gift

John 1:10-18 The Message

^9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
    Every person entering Life
    he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
    the world was there through him,
    and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
    but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
    who believed he was who he claimed
    and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
    their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
    not blood-begotten,
    not flesh-begotten,
    not sex-begotten.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

¹⁵ John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

^16-18 We all live off his generous bounty,
        gift after gift after gift.
    We got the basics from Moses,
        and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
    This endless knowing and understanding—
        all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
    No one has ever seen God,
        not so much as a glimpse.
    This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
        who exists at the very heart of the Father,
        has made him plain as day.

For Reflection 

I like Peterson's translation of this passage.  It is so direct and straight forward.  Jesus, God in the world; invisible, and yet, present moving people into God-centered lives.  The most high God, mysterious, generous, trustworthy, compassionate, and forgiving became flesh, not merely a divine illusion of a human, but human in every way and at the same time divine; God made plain as day, the heart of the Father exposed.

Pray

Praise God for the gift of God's son.  Sing with joy.  Dance with Glee,  Celebrate extravagantly the divine teacher.  Bathe in the light of His justice.  Rest in the grace of His forgiveness.  Walk in His steps, obedient to God's will.  

Dedication of Saul/Paul

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Dedication of Firstborn

Acts 9:1-6  The Message

The Blinding of Saul

9 ^1-2 All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem.

^3-4 He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?”
^5-6 He said, “Who are you, Master?”
“I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”
 

For Reflection 

God calls us to God's service in many ways, through birth, through nurturing believers, through unexpected circumstance and, in this case, direct experience with the living God.  Saul was blinded to his conventional wisdom in order that Saul might see the wisdom of God.

Pray

prayers of praise for God who calls each of us to serve in unique ways.  Pray that you will obey the call of God and serve God in humility and love.

Dedication of David

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Dedication of Firstborn

1 Samuel 16:10-13  The Message

¹⁰ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, “God Hans’t chosen any of these.”
¹¹ Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?”
“Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”
Samuel ordered Jesse, “Go get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”
¹² Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health—bright-eyed, good-looking.
God said, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.”
¹³ Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life.
Samuel left and went home to Ram ah.

For Reflection
Sometimes God chooses those whom many would not think of choosing.  God does not think, or act as humans think or act.  We humans should not force our limiting rational on God.  It is for us to trust in the wisdom of God's choices.
Pray

that you will have unreasonable trust in God.  Pray so that you will not project your will onto God, but rather, accept the mystery in the will of God.

Dedication of Samuel

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Dedication of Firstborn

1 Samuel 1:11The Message

^9-11 So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God’s Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow:

Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
If you’ll take a good, hard look at my pain,
If you’ll quit neglecting me and go into action for me
By giving me a son,
I’ll give him completely, unreservedly to you.
I’ll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.

1 Samuel 1:20

Dedicating the Child to God

²⁰ Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God for him.”

1 Samuel 1:24-26

^23-24 Elkanah said to his wife, “Do what you think is best. Stay home until you have weaned him. Yes! Let God complete what he has begun!”
So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Then she took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be sent off!
^25-26 They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to Eli. Hannah said, “Excuse me, sir. Would you believe that I’m the very woman who was standing before you at this very spot, praying to God? I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to God. He’s dedicated to God for life.”
Then and there, they worshiped God.

For Reflection 

Hanna was so convinced that God had answered her prayer that she committed herself to the nurture of Samuel and dedicating him to a life in obedience to God.  Today,  through baptism, Christians dedicate their children to a life in the Christian faith and the household of believers vow to nurture our children in the faith.

Pray

for the children of the faithful.  Pray that they will be able to reflect on their nurturing in the faith to sustain a close relationship to God.

Dedication of Samson

 Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Dedication of Firstborn

Judges 13:2-5  The Message

^2-5 At that time there was a man named Manoah from Zorah from the tribe of Dan. His wife was barren and childless. The angel of God appeared to her and told her, “I know that you are barren and childless, but you’re going to become pregnant and bear a son. But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean. You are, in fact, pregnant right now, carrying a son. No razor will touch his head—the boy will be God’s Nazirite from the moment of his birth. He will launch the deliverance from Philistine oppression.”

Judges 13:24-25

^24-25 The woman gave birth to a son. They named him Samson. The boy grew and God blessed him. The Spirit of God began working in him while he was staying at a Danite camp between Zorah and Eshtaol.
 

For ReflectionTo what extent does God prepare people for God's service?  In this case God chooses  a Nazirite.  Nazirites took a vow to drink no wine or strong spirits, eat or touch nothing unclean, and not cut their hair.   Nazirites will cut their hair at the expiration of their vow.   The name, Nazirite, means one who lives apart,  separated from his culture and dedicated to God.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for God's gift of life in God's service.  Praise God for preparing you for a life in the Kingdom.

For Reflection 

To what extent does God prepare people for God's service?  In this case God chooses  a Nazirite.  Nazirites took a vow to drink no wine or strong spirits, eat or touch nothing unclean, and not cut their hair.   Nazirites will cut their hair at the expiration of their vow.   The name, Nazirite, means one who lives apart,  separated from his culture and dedicated to God. 

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for God's gift of life in God's service.  Praise God for preparing you for a life in the Kingdom.

Separate for a Purpose

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Dedication of Firstborn

Leviticus 2:7-10  The Message

⁷ “If you bring a Grain-Offering deep-fried in a pan, make it of fine flour with oil.
^8-10 “Bring the Grain-Offering you make from these ingredients and present it to the priest. He will bring it to the Altar, break off a memorial piece from the Grain-Offering, and burn it on the Altar: a Fire-Gift, a pleasing fragrance to God. The rest of the Grain-Offering is for Aaron and his sons—a most holy part of the gifts to God.

For Reflection 

 Burnt offerings were a ritual practiced to remind people of their obligation to God to bring the very best to God's service.  A portion of the gift was offered directly to God.  A larger portion was offered to the work of God's people. We no longer burn offerings to God.  However, we do ritualize giving to the work in God's kingdom.  This ritual reminds us of our indebtedness to God and is an opportunity to re-dedicate ourselves to the realization of the Kingdom of God.

What do you bring to God?

Pray

that with your ever act; your every breath you bring the very best of what you are and what you can be in service to God.

Faithful Sacrifice

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Acceptable Offerings

Hebrews 11:4-16  The Message

⁴ By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
^5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
⁷ By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
^8-10 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
^11-12 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.

^13-16 Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.

 

For Reflection 

Change the term "faith"  to "Unreasonable Trust."  Re-read the resulting scripture.  How does the meaning change for you?

It is by unreasonable faith in the promise of God that we are saved.

Our unreasonable, radical trust in god gives us hope.

Pray

Pray to embrace the mystery that is God.  Pray so that you can sustain and unreasonable, radical trust in God. 

Perfect Sacrifice

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Acceptable Offerings

Hebrews 1-1  The Message

1 ^1-3 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says—powerful words!

The Son Is Higher than Angels

^3-6 After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. Did God ever say to an angel, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you” or “I’m his Father, he’s my Son”? When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, “All angels must worship him.”

⁷ Regarding angels he says,

The messengers are winds,
    the servants are tongues of fire.

^8-9 But he says to the Son,

You’re God, and on the throne for good;
    your rule makes everything right.
You love it when things are right;
    you hate it when things are wrong.
That is why God, your God,
    poured fragrant oil on your head,
Marking you out as king,
    far above your dear companions.

^10-12 And again to the Son,

You, Master, started it all, laid earth’s foundations,
    then crafted the stars in the sky.
Earth and sky will wear out, but not you;
    they become threadbare like an old coat;
You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak,
    and lay them away on the shelf.
But you’ll stay the same, year after year;
    you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.

¹³ And did he ever say anything like this to an angel?

Sit alongside me here on my throne
Until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.

¹⁴ Isn’t it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?

For Reflection 

Look around you.  Who are the "angels" in your life?  Who is there to help?  Who is there to comfort you?  What comes to you as an unexpected blessing?  Are you prepared to see salvation or are you so mired in self pity, self determination or unjustified pride that you cannot see grace?  

Look around you.  To whom can you be an "angel?" Who can you help?  To whom can you offer comfort?  Who can you help to recognize unexpected blessings? 

Change dark glasses for bright ones.  Look for the opportunities for hope.  Ignore opportunities for rumination and hopelessness.

Pray

that you will see grace in your life.  Pray that you will look for opportunities to escape the prison of hopelessness.  Look for Gods blessings and thank God for them.

Complete Sacrifice

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Acceptable Offerings

Romans 12:1-8  The Message

Place Your Life Before God

12 ^1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

³ I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
^4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
^6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

 

For Reflection

Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks is to interpret what is happening around us and to decide how to respond.  We are embedded in our culture. We tend to understand our lives in terms of that culture. 
 Jesus asks us to turn that around. Christ asks us to interpret our culture in terms of what God is and what God gives to us.  We are merely asked to respond to God's grace by humbly serving each other and by default God.

Pray

Praise God for all God has given you.  Express your gratitude to a new way of interpreting your life.  Pray for the continuing wisdom to follow Christ's way in humility and grace.

Loving Sacrfice

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Acceptable Offerings

Mark 12:28-34  The Message

The Most Important Commandment

²⁸ One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”

^29-31 Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
^32-33 The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!”
³⁴ When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.”
After that, no one else dared ask a question.

For Reflection 

The litmus test for authentic Christianity is love.  If one abides in the love of God and loves as God loves one will never become a pseudo-Christian.  Spewing hate can never be a Christian act.  Bearing false or misleading witness can never be a Christian act.  Treating others inhospitably can never be a Christian act.  Doing violence or even advocating it can never be a Christian act.  Loving others as one loves him or her self is Christian.

Pray

for those who are persecuted, disenfranchised, or terrorized and who can not live a life of security and peace.  Pray for those who pervert the Christian faith in order to achieve a self-serving end.  Pray that you will seek to serve the Lord in all things.

Living Sacrifice

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

Acceptable Offerings

Psalm 40:1-8  The Message

A David Psalm

40 ^1-3 I waited and waited and waited for God.
    At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
    pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
    to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
    a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
    they enter the mystery,
    abandoning themselves to God.

^4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,
    turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”
    ignore what the world worships;
The world’s a huge stockpile
    of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
    comes close to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know,
    and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words
    account for you.

⁶ Doing something for you, bringing something to you—
    that’s not what you’re after.
Being religious, acting pious—
    that’s not what you’re asking for.
You’ve opened my ears
    so I can listen.

^7-8 So I answered, “I’m coming.
    I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I’m coming to the party
    you’re throwing for me.”
That’s when God’s Word entered my life,
    became part of my very being.

 

For Reflection 

Enter the mystery.  Abandon yourself to God.

Easy to say.  Doing?  Not so easy!  To what extent do you interpret your life as doing something for God?

Pray

That you will live you life doing for God.

Work, Then Rest

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

The Lord's Day

Leviticus 16:29-34  The Message

^29-31 “This is standard practice for you, a perpetual ordinance. On the tenth day of the seventh month, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you are to enter into a solemn fast and refrain from all work, because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. In the presence of God you will be made clean of all your sins. It is a Sabbath of all Sabbaths. You must fast. It is a perpetual ordinance.

³² “The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father is to make the atonement:
He puts on the sacred linen garments;
³³ He purges the Holy of Holies by making atonement;
He purges the Tent of Meeting and the Altar by making atonement;
He makes atonement for the priests and all the congregation.
³⁴ “This is a perpetual ordinance for you: Once a year atonement is to be made for all the sins of the People of Israel.”
And Aaron did it, just as God commanded Moses.
 

For Reflection 

How do you ensure atonement?  Have you set aside a special day for the recreation of your soul?  Do you fast?  Do you confess your sin?  What is your perpetual ordinance?

Pray

Prayer brings us closer to God.  Prayer reinforces our commitment to the Holy Spirit.  Prayer cleanses the soul.  Prayer keeps us humble. Prayer time is God time.  Pray now and become more in tune with God.