FIRST –God’s Grace, God’s Mercy and God’s Peace be to each of you through Jesus the Christ!
Putting God first in all things is what separates us from the world.When we think of our lives, our homes, all of our material possessions, we can see that they all take a distant second when it comes to our faith in God through Jesus the Christ.We MUST put God first in our families, friends, work and all things.We must follow the example of Jesus Himself.And when we live this life we find ourselves in good company.If it wasn’t for Jesus putting His Father’s plan first, we wouldn’t be in the position of receiving the benefits of the cross.
“The Dash.”Many of you reading this have heard of the story about the dash on a tomb stone.Spoken during a funeral service the pastor communicated some of what transpired in the life (dash) of the person who had gone to be with the Lord in heaven.Part of that message is to engage those listening to think about and reflect on their lives and how they are living them.In the Gospel of John, Jesus says some pretty profound words that serve as an encouragement not only when times get difficult but also on the meaning of life as a child of God.
Jesus has called everyone who follows Him to take the Gospel message to the world. Yet recent studies show that only two percent of evangelical Christians actually evangelize. What stops the vast majority of Christians from sharing their faith with others? Fear.
EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF GOD IN GOOD TIMES AND IN BAD.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry, or cold or in danger or threatened with death?... NO, despite all these things overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us. Romans 8: 35, 37
I pray that God bless you and your family again in the year of our Lord 2010.
There’s a question that gets asked very often in our society.That is the question of, ‘ How are you doing?” I have asked many people “how are they doing” and I usually get a multitude of answers.
“Better than I deserve”
“Great”
“Oh, alright”
“I’m warm and vertical; that beats the alternative”
“It’s all good”
“Could be better”
“Tired”
“Sad”
“Splendid”
“I’m fantastic”
“I’m cold”
“If I were any better I’d be twins”(I never really understood what that one means.)
AND THE MOST FAMOUS ANSWER OF ALL,……. “FINE”
SO, How are You?WAIT!Before you answer that read on…
While writing this article, I actually went on-line to see if I could find responses over the Internet to this very question.And to no one’s surprise I found some.The answers all varied but I made a discovery.
Many of the answers contained statements about events in people’s lives. Comments like, “I had to redo my final exam and I’m bummed-out.” Another one read, “I’m mad. I hate it when people argue things that are pointless.”It showed me that people have a need to be heard.They desire others to care about who they are and what is going on in their life.
If the last statement above is correct, then one conclusion might be that WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE ARE may have a direct relationship to HOW WE ARE.(Now before you chuckle to yourself and respond with comments like “of course” or “Duh,” come along and take a closer look, because sometimes the “obvious” needs to be stated).
So, who are you?To that question you may answer, child, parent, man, woman, etc.
The question, “what are you?” may incite answers like, friend, teacher, engineer, postal worker, astronaut, lawyer, pastor, musician, doctor etc.
Roll these up and calculate how you fit your understanding of what these are and you have successfully fulfilled these roles and the results we will equal HOW WE ARE.
But to you who have made it this far and are still reading this, your answer to “Who you are?” is practically the same as “What are you?”The answer is “A CHILD OF GOD.I AM LOVED AND REDEEMED BY CHRIST THE CRUCIFIED.” In Christ, God has made us His heirs.Heirs of His kingdom and heirs of eternal life.We are the privileged.We are the redeemed.We are the chosen.We are the forgiven.We are those who have the gift of faith and ones with whom the Holy Spirit dwells.As the Apostle Peter put it, “A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God. That you may declare the wonderful works of Him who has called you out of darkness and into this marvelous light.”
The next time someone asks you the question of, “How are you?”perhaps you can respond by keeping in mind WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE.
Pastor's Monthly Letters
How to Conquer Your Fear of Sharing Your Faith