It Is Good

Sacred Gifts and Holy Gatherings
What We Bring to God

The Lord's Day

Genesis 1:28-2:4  The Message

^26-28 God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
        reflecting our nature
    So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
        the birds in the air, the cattle,
    And, yes, Earth itself,
        and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
    God created human beings;
        he created them godlike,
    Reflecting God’s nature.
        He created them male and female.
    God blessed them:
        “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
    Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
        for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”

^29-30 Then God said, “I’ve given you
        every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
    And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
        given them to you for food.
    To all animals and all birds,
        everything that moves and breathes,
    I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”
        And there it was.

³¹ God looked over everything he had made;
        it was so good, so very good!
    It was evening, it was morning—
    Day Six.

2 Heaven and Earth were finished,
    down to the last detail.

^2-4 By the seventh day
        God had finished his work.
    On the seventh day
        he rested from all his work.
    God blessed the seventh day.
        He made it a Holy Day
    Because on that day he rested from his work,
        all the creating God had done.

This is the story of how it all started,
    of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

For Reflection 

God is the source of all things -- even us.  God has made us in the likeness of God.  We have the capacity to be creative so that we can bring to God what God as brought to us.  We can return to God the best of what we are meant to be.

We can do that only if we remember that we are not independent from God. Our rituals and holy days are means by which we remember to whom we belong.  We often think of the ritual of the Sabbath as a day of rest.  However, agreement about the nature of this day is far from resolved.  What does it mean "to rest?"  What is your definition of the Sabbath?  How does your Sabbath strengthen your relationship to God?

Pray

Pray prayers of praise and thanksgiving to the God who gave you the capacity to live creatively.  Pray that what you create will honor your creator.  Pray that you will remember to set time aside to reflect on your activity and to lift up your work to the glory of God.

Apollos Grows in Ministry

The Christian Community Comes AliveSeeds of New Growth
Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Acts 18:24-28  The Message

^24-26 A man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures. He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.
^27-28 When Apollos decided to go on to Achaia province, his Ephesian friends gave their blessing and wrote a letter of recommendation for him, urging the disciples there to welcome him with open arms. The welcome paid off: Apollos turned out to be a great help to those who had become believers through God’s immense generosity. He was particularly effective in public debate with the Jews as he brought out proof after convincing proof from the Scriptures that Jesus was in fact God’s Messiah.

 

For Reflection

These passages show us the need for being open to new ideas. Perhaps more importantly it shows the power of the faithful to mentor others.

I recently had a discussion with a forty something woman who assigned the strength of her twenty year marriage to a group of elderly Christian women in a nursing home.  She told a story of Christian mentor-ship where they offered pre-marital instruction that was grounded in the Gospel.  They spoke of the Holy Spirit which resides in us all and how she should discover that in her "man" and how she should lead him in discovering the Spirit in her.  She spoke of their proscriptions for mutual trust, time spent in Christian fellowship at the dinner table with their children and how to pass on their faith by acting as faithful parents. They spoke about how to foster a lasting loving relationship and a satisfying sexual life.  The most important artifacts in a marriage, they instructed, are a kitchen table for family talk and a porch swing with little room for kids where she and her husband could resolve issues and come quietly together.

This is more than homespun advice.  This is the essence of the practice of the Way of Jesus Christ.  This is what the community of faithful is all about.  This is the early church.  This is also the mission of the modern church, shepherding in the way of the Lord. Life without end starts and is ensured by Christian mentoring in a God-centered community.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the Holy Spirit speaking wisdom given to elderly folks.  Praise God for the fellowship of Christ, the glue which binds Christians to trust in the Way. Pray that you will find the wisdom of living in a community tied to the Kingdom of God. 

Teach Me Your Ways

The Christian Community Comes AliveSeeds of New Growth
Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Exodus 33:12-18  The Message

^12-13 Moses said to God, “Look, you tell me, ‘Lead this people,’ but you don’t let me know whom you’re going to send with me. You tell me, ‘I know you well and you are special to me.’ If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans. That way, I will continue being special to you. Don’t forget, this is your people, your responsibility.”

¹⁴ God said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.”
^15-16 Moses said, “If your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call this trip off right now. How else will it be known that you’re with me in this, with me and your people? Are you traveling with us or not? How else will we know that we’re special, I and your people, among all other people on this planet Earth?”
¹⁷ God said to Moses: “All right. Just as you say; this also I will do, for I know you well and you are special to me. I know you by name.”
¹⁸ Moses said, “Please. Let me see your Glory.”

 

For Reflection

God's way is a radical departure from the ways of human culture.  God's way is to trust in humanity.  God's way is to provide support and guidance.  Here, Moses' trust is limited.  Moses wants a sign.  "Let me see your Glory," Moses petitions. 

How much proof that God is with us do we need?  What about those who proclaim God's support or invoke God's name for selfish ends?  How do we know God is with us?

Perhaps we will never know when God is with us.  Perhaps we have to accept uncertainty,  Perhaps we need to trust that God will use us to good ends.  Perhaps we will have to work for justice, compassion, forgiveness and inclusion and trust in the Creator.  Accept the mystery that is God!

Pray

Pray constantly so that you will come closer to knowing God.  Pray in humility that God's will be done.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving in the face of fear.  Pray for compassion in the face of threat.  Pray for forgiveness in the face of retribution.  Pray for the peace that is not just the absence of war but the presence of justice compassion and love.


 

Commissioned to Teach

Christian Community Comes AliveSeeds of New Growth
Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Matthew 28:16-20  The Message

^16-17 Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.

^18-20 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age

 

For Reflection

Here we see the meaning of worship in the context of the Christ event.  Worship was not just meeting one or two days a week and singing praises, praying and listening to a sermon.  Worship was not passive.  Worship meant to risk one's present life for the life centered in the practice of the Way, Jesus's practice of radical trust in God and interpreting the wisdom of the scriptures.  Faith in the context of the life lived by Jesus was characterized by radical trust in God which freed human kind to practice a life driven by love in fellowship with each other and God.

In this interpretation of Scripture, telling is replaced by teaching.  It is not enough that we believe in God and Christ.  We must also practice our beliefs.  That is what was taught in the early Church.  The dependence upon rules and ritualistic distance from God was replaced with participation in the radical idea of God's Kingdom.  It was not about our destination after death -- heaven or hell.  It was about the life here and now, eternally perpetuated by training others in the practice of the way.

Pray

that your life will remain dedicated to the perpetuation of the Way of Jesus Christ.  Pray that you will live the life Christ taught us to live, working for justice, compassion and mutual support in all things.

Wisdom from God

The Christian Community Comes AliveSeeds of New Growth
Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Proverbs 16:19-24The Message

¹⁹ It’s better to live humbly among the poor
    than to live it up among the rich and famous.

²⁰ It pays to take life seriously;
    things work out when you trust in God.

²¹ A wise person gets known for insight;
    gracious words add to one’s reputation.

²² True intelligence is a spring of fresh water,
    while fools sweat it out the hard way.

²³ They make a lot of sense, these wise folks;
    whenever they speak, their reputation increases.

²⁴ Gracious speech is like clover honey

good taste to the soul, quick energy for the body.

 

For Reflection

"God helps those who help themselves."  Biblical or Common wisdom?  Ben Franklin -- not Biblical.  How many more proverbs can you think of are labeled Biblical by some but in reality are not?

Pray

that the wisdom you possess is derived from following the life of Christ.  Pray that you will be able to divide "Common Wisdom" from God-centered Wisdom.

Living with God

The Christian Community Comes AliveSeeds of New GrowthThessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Psalm 27:4-5  The Message

⁴ I’m asking God for one thing,
    only one thing:
To live with him in his house
    my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
    I’ll study at his feet.

⁵ That’s the only quiet, secure place
    in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
    far from the buzz of traffic.
______________________________________

^7-9 Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:
    “Be good to me! Answer me!”
When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”
    my whole being replied,
“I’m seeking him!”
    Don’t hide from me now!

^9-10 You’ve always been right there for me;
    don’t turn your back on me now.
Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;
    you’ve always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me,
    but God took me in.

For Reflection

There are many things we do that are done automatically.  We don't even think about them.  Many of these things like your morning rituals are learned and continued by how well they work for us.  Some of our reactions to the events of every day life can be traced to culturally based norms.  Spend some time today reflecting on your "auto-response" system. Make a list of those things which are based in our "common" culture and those which can be traced to a God Centered culture.

Living with God should result in a perspective which allows you to see the world differently, hopefully, with opportunities for peace.

Pray

that your auto-response system is grounded in God and driven by the Holy Spirit.  Pray for full immersion in the Godlife.

 

Reign of God

The Christian Community Comes Alive

Seeds of New Growth
Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Psalm 47  The Message

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

47 ^1-9 Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo!
    Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs!
God Most High is stunning,
    astride land and ocean.
He crushes hostile people,
    puts nations at our feet.
He set us at the head of the line,
    prize-winning Jacob, his favorite.
Loud cheers as God climbs the mountain,
    a ram’s horn blast at the summit.
Sing songs to God, sing out!
    Sing to our King, sing praise!
He’s Lord over earth,
    so sing your best songs to God.
God is Lord of godless nations—
    sovereign, he’s King of the mountain.
Princes from all over are gathered,
    people of Abraham’s God.
The powers of earth are God’s—
    he soars over all.

 

 

For Reflection

God had prepared Paul well for his transformation.  Paul, a Jew and a  Roman citizen, was trained by Pharisees which, given the influences of Greek philosophies, provided Paul with a rich philosophical background and practiced rhetorical skills.  God prepared Paul to extend the Good News into Gentile domains long before Paul's road to Damascus experience.

Paul brought with him a profound love of God and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, an ability to bring others to the understanding of the freedom and wisdom embedded in following the life of Christ.

As God has prepared Paul, God has prepared us for our part in the Kingdom.  Each of us may not have the talent of Paul, but neither do each of us have the same mission as Paul, or for that matter, the same mission as each other.  God has prepared each of us for our unique place in God's plan to reconcile the world.

Pray

deeply, earnestly, and often.  God will show you the way for which you have been prepared.  Pray that you will stay God centered.  Pray that you, like Paul will influence others to become centered by and through God's love compassion and forgiveness.

Majesty of God

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Psalm 8  The Message

A David Psalm

8 God, brilliant Lord,
    yours is a household name.

² Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
    toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
    and silence atheist babble.

^3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?

^5-8 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
    bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
    repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
    even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
    whales singing in the ocean deeps.

⁹ God, brilliant Lord,
    your name echoes around the world.

For Reflection 

God has placed human beings in charge,  We carry the authority of God.  And yet, we act as though we owe nothing to our creator.  We were created to become stewards of God's creation.  There are over 7 billion of us on this planet we call Earth.  Sustainability of life is growing more and more difficult.  Resources are scarce. Governance is more demanding.

Perhaps, then, we can understand the urgent need for living lives in the fullness of God's intention for God's creation. 

Pray

prayers of intersession so that you can be more in tune with God's plan for God's kingdom.  Pray for an abiding trust in the power of God to make all things right.

Goodness of God

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Psalm 33:13-22  The Message

^13-15 From high in the skies God looks around,
    he sees all Adam’s brood.
From where he sits
    he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
He has shaped each person in turn;
    now he watches everything we do.

^16-17 No king succeeds with a big army alone,
    no warrior wins by brute strength.
Horsepower is not the answer;
    no one gets by on muscle alone.

^18-19 Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him,
    the ones who are looking for his love.
He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times;
    in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

^20-22 We’re depending on God;
    he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy
    since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—
    that’s what we’re depending on.

For Reflection 

Look around at the world today. Because of efficient communication, we know more about how all of us behave and we know it instantly,  We see people ennobled by the challenges they face.  We see people at their worst, self absorbed, even barbarian, selves. We observe governing systems that challenge our sense of humanity, poverty so extreme and persistent tyranny.

Extreme poverty, injustice, and retributive violence marks the rejection of God.  And yet, God forgives.

How does God come to the rescue of those who know God?  God has defined justice and compassion.  God empowers those who know God to work for justice and compassionate relationships. Having removed the threat of death, God offers a partnership in God's mission of peace making. Have we the radical trust in God to become a partner in our salvation?

Pray

Pray for radical trust in God.  Pray for the courage to follow Christ.  Pray all people who work for a just and compassionate world.

Promise of God for All

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Genesis 9:8-17  The Message

^8-11 Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.”

^12-16 God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.”
¹⁷ And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.”

For Reflection 

If any ever questions , "Who are God's people?  The answer is found in the story of Noah.  The covenant is binding all of humanity and all living things on earth.  God's covenant covers it all from microbes to mice, from fungus to fauna.  And yes, from atheist to theist, from Christian to Jew, men and women, straight and gay.  We all live within the covenant of God.  God lives in all living things. All of God's creation is as wonderful as the rainbow and deep with mystery. The floodwaters of life can never destroy that bond. God will always bring his creation into the sanctity of God's grace.  No one, neither the sinner nor the saint, is left behind.

Pray

for the wisdom to follow God's will.  Pray for the courage to face the mysteries of life with out fear.  Pray to accept the responsibility of God's grace and God's confidence in human kind.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for God's universe and God's gift of life.  Thank God for the freedom to choose to live in the Kingdom of God.  Pray that all humans recognize the freedom to choose peace.

Creator, God

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens

Deuteronomy 32:1-14  The Message

32 ^1-5 Listen, Heavens, I have something to tell you.
    Attention, Earth, I’ve got a mouth full of words.
    My teaching, let it fall like a gentle rain,
        my words arrive like morning dew,
    Like a sprinkling rain on new grass,
        like spring showers on the garden.
    For it’s God’s Name I’m preaching—
        respond to the greatness of our God!
    The Rock: His works are perfect,
        and the way he works is fair and just;
    A God you can depend upon, no exceptions,
        a straight-arrow God.
    His messed-up, mixed-up children, his non-children,
        throw mud at him but none of it sticks.

^6-7 Don’t you realize it is God you are treating like this?
        This is crazy; don’t you have any sense of reverence?
    Isn’t this your father who created you,
        who made you and gave you a place on Earth?
    Read up on what happened before you were born;
        dig into the past, understand your roots.
    Ask your parents what it was like before you were born;
        ask the old-ones, they’ll tell you a thing or two.

^8-9 When the High God gave the nations their stake,
        gave them their place on Earth,
    He put each of the peoples within boundaries
        under the care of divine guardians.
    But God himself took charge of his people,
        took Jacob on as his personal concern.

^10-14 He found him out in the wilderness,
        in an empty, windswept wasteland.
    He threw his arms around him, lavished attention on him,
        guarding him as the apple of his eye.
    He was like an eagle hovering over its nest,
        overshadowing its young,
    Then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air,
        teaching them to fly.
    God alone led him;
        there was not a foreign god in sight.
    God lifted him onto the hilltops,
        so he could feast on the crops in the fields.
    He fed him honey from the rock,
        oil from granite crags,
    Curds of cattle and the milk of sheep,
        the choice cuts of lambs and goats,
    Fine Bashan rams, high-quality wheat,
        and the blood of grapes: you drank good wine!

 

For Reflection 

Many people believe that God as described in the Old Testament is a god of retribution, a sort of holy gotcha, waiting to catch us sinning and punishing us for it.  Do these passages sound like a theology of entrapment?  Described here is a god that made humankind in his likeness, born inescapably good.

Each time we lose our way, God shepherds us like a mother eagle shields her young from harm while instructing them in the beauty of flight. God brings us back from the brink of failure time and time again.  Even though like bratty children we defy God, God abides with and within us.  This is a god of irrational, unconditional love.

Pray

prayers of praise for God who gave us life and hope.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for God who abide within us in spite of and because of our human inadequacies.

Paul and Silas Escape

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

From Derbe to Philippi

Acts 16:25-40  The Message

^25-26 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
^27-28 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”
^29-31 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”
^32-34 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.
^35-36 At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, “Release these men.” The jailer gave Paul the message, “The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!”
³⁷ But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, “They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.”

^38-40 When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologized, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn’t please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.

 

For Reflection 

Following Jesus means that one does unexpected things.  Expecting a mass exodus from the opened cell, the jailer was prepared to kill himself.  Compassionate and unconventional grace saved the jailer's life and awakened the Holy Spirit which dwelled within him.  Your unconventional response to life's twists are equally powerful.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the living God, found in Jesus Christ.   Pray so that you become so committed to the way of the Lord that you will be the messenger of God's invitation to reconciliation.  Pray that you will emulate the living Christ.

Paul and Silas in Prison

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

From Derbe to Philippi

Acts 16:16-24  The Message

^16-18 One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention to us by yelling out, “These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!” She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!” And it was gone, just like that.

^19-22 When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.

^22-24 The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.

 

For Reflection 

There are many today that wish to use the Gospel for personal gain.  The save girl represented her owners in trying to attach her perversion of truth to the growing acceptance of the message of Paul and Silas.  Angered by the turning of the tables and uncovering her deception, her owners mounted a campaign to destroy the movement by bearing false witness against the duo.  By constructing an unreasonable consequence of their preaching, the owners played upon the fears of the populace which resulted in the beating and imprisonment of Paul and Silas.  

Those who seek selfish ends still use such strategies today to discredit those who advocate social justice, compassion and peace.

Pray

for those who sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom of God.  Pray that the false prophets of self-determination are exposed for the destructive actions they advocate in the name of God.

Cost of Following

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

From Derbe to Philippi

Matthew 8:18-22  The Message

^18-19 When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.

²⁰ Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”
²¹ Another follower said, “Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father’s funeral to take care of.”

²² Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”

 

For Reflection 

Following Jesus is more than just believing.  Following Jesus is more than an intellectual understanding of the Gospel.  Following Jesus is more than a sometimes thing.  Following Jesus is an "all in" commitment. Following Jesus is sacrificing your life in the material world.  Following Jesus is a courageous, unreasonable challenge to the world as is.  Following Jesus is not a way to enhance our personal story, but rather, a way to participate in God's story.

Pray

for the wisdom to participate in God's strategy for human reconciliation. Pray for the courage to follow Christ, the teacher.  Pray for the radical trust sacrificing the common place requires.

Generosity of God

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

From Derbe to Philippi

Ezekiel 36:22-30  The Message

^22-23 “Therefore, tell Israel, ‘Message of God, the Master: I’m not doing this for you, Israel. I’m doing it for me, to save my character, my holy name, which you’ve blackened in every country where you’ve gone. I’m going to put my great and holy name on display, the name that has been ruined in so many countries, the name that you blackened wherever you went. Then the nations will realize who I really am, that I am God, when I show my holiness through you so that they can see it with their own eyes.
^24-28 “‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!

^29-30 “‘I’ll pull you out of that stinking pollution. I’ll give personal orders to the wheat fields, telling them to grow bumper crops. I’ll send no more famines. I’ll make sure your fruit trees and field crops flourish. Other nations won’t be able to hold you in contempt again because of famine.

 

For Reflection 

If our God were a god of vengeance and retribution, God may have just given up and in anger wiped Israel off the face of the map.  However, our God is not a god of retributive justice.  Our God is a god of reconciliation.  Our God always enacts a plan that, in the end, will enhance the opportunity for all people to experience God's saving grace.

Pray

prayers of praise for the God of infinite grace.  Pray for those who reject God's invitation to grace.  Pray that they recognize that they are never are never out of favor with God.  Give thanks to the God who abandons no one.

The Boundless Riches of Christ

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

From Derbe to Philippi

Ephesians 3:7-13 The Message

^7-8 This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.
^8-10 And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

^11-13 All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

For Reflection 

In carrying out God's call to ministry, Paul is speaking to people who have no concept of God's way.  Paul reveals in these passages his feelings of inadequacy.  Paul also reveals his unreasonable trust in God.  He understands his mission, to make plain God's love for all humankind and God's intentions for God's creation.  Paul claims no special knowledge, no high divine status, no superior position.  Instead, Paul displays his trust in God who guides him and prepares him.  Paul accepts the mystery that is God.

Pray

That you will take up God's call to you.  Pray that you will act by the will of God in humility to help others to see the fruits of a life lived in the hollow of God's hand.

Grace for Gentiles

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

God Makes No Distinction

Galatians 3:6-14  The Message

^5-6 Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don’t these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.
^7-8 Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed in you.”
^9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.”
^11-12 The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”
^13-14 Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.

For Reflection 

"Do you live a moral life?"
"Well, that depends upon whose morality we are talking about."
"Are you law abiding?"
"Well, that depends upon whose law we are talking about."

Why does God provide each of us with God's presence, the Holy Spirit?  I think the infusion of the Holy Spirit  is an extension of God's love for God's creation.  The Holy Spirit will help us carry out things that we can not do for ourselves.  Because the definitions of rules or laws or living a moral life are many, contradictory and are culturally derived, following them can never sustain a relationship with God and it is self-defeating.

By believing in God and having unreasonable, radical trust in God, one can naturally grow into living a righteous life.

Pray

so that you will hear the Holy Spirit whisper God's counsel.  Pray so that you will be emboldened  to follow the example of Jesus Christ.  Pray so that you will listen to alternative ideas and grow in grace.  Pray so that you will let God drive your life.

God Is Making All Things New

The Christian Community Comes Alive
Seeds of New Growth

God Makes No Distinction

Revelation 21:1-5  The Message

21 I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.

² I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
^3-5 I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”

For Reflection 

Need a goal in your life?  Feeling the need for direction?  Look to this vision of your future if you abide in the Lord.  Only faith, radical trust, in God will help you be all that God intended for you.  Relax, let God take the reigns.

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. Pray so that you can hear God whispers.