Do you have a greater purpose in life than trying to survive and have a little fun along the way?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus save us from the constricting visions of what our lives are about that are given to us from the world! You have called us to be more then consumers of goods and services, more adventurous than safety conscious, more useful to Your Kingdom than comfortable. We are made in Your glorious image and nothing less! Give us the grace to see ourselves in light of You! Amen
Ephesians 1
Comments
I got bored with the daily reading plan I was using, so we're all going to Ephesians for a little while to see what God says to us there! Boredom is not really a part of the spiritual life, because God is always being creative, always moving toward the salvation of his broken creation, and always enlisting us on the mission. If you find yourself bored when you're following Jesus, it is a signal that it is time to pray and ask for the direction of the Holy Spirit! Trust me, you won't be disappointed! I did that this morning and was directed to Ephesians. And what did I find? Amazing stuff!
As followers of Jesus Christ, God reminds us through Paul that we are set apart (saints) for special use, destined for God's glory (the fullness of salvation), adopted into God's family, forgiven, and redeemed from the eternal consequences of our sins by grace! If your self-esteem needs a shot in the arm, this is it! Look what Jesus has done for us! We, like the Israelites before us, have been chosen by God, in spite of our sinfulness, to be God's special forces, used by him to be a blessing to the world, to point the sin-sick world back to God, to be living examples of the life-changing, grace-filled love of Jesus Christ! That's our job today and every day.
I saw a tv show about the Navy Seals Special Operations training requirements. Absolute dedication is required. Prospective Seals push themselves to absolute extremes of physical endurance going without sleep, exposing their bodies to freezing temperatures, running past the point of vomiting for weeks at a time. God invites us to nothing less than the absolute dedication of our lives and resources to loving God and others through acts of worship and service.
Life Question:
1. How can we dedicate our every moment to loving God and serving others at our work, in our
homes, at the grocery store, in our neighborhoods today?
2. Are we honoring any other powers and authorities in our lives above Jesus Christ, the King of
Kings?
Closing Prayer:
Lead on great King Eternal! We await your command to spread Your Kingdom in the hearts and lives of people today. Give us eyes to see their needs, energy to respond in compassion, and Your Spirit to draw our lives more fully into Your Kingdom! Amen.
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Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Life Or Death
The quality of our lives hangs in the balance.
Opening Prayer:
Merciful God, give us grace to hear what you have to say through your Spirit and your Word, so that we might live the abundant life you have won for us through the cross and empty tomb. Amen.
Deuteronomy 30: 1-20
Comments:
"Doctor, come quick. It's a matter of life or death!" We may have heard this line in a movie a few times, but have we ever thought of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ in this light? Living God's ways promotes life, and not just long, eternal life, but the richest, highest quality of life that can be had. From the beginning, God hasn't only been interested in our obedience to him because God is God and deserves it, but also because God knows how we have been designed, what we have been designed for, and how we can live most fully and completely.
Many people view God's laws in the Old Testament as evidence that God likes to create endlist lists for us to follow, like great hoops for us to jump through as though God needed the entertainment or wanted the power trip to show us who is boss when we fail. According to the bible, however, God gives us laws so that "it may go well with us," and our lives may be full, abundant, giving praise to God. Jesus once said, "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly."
Our text today may have been written after God's people suffered a time of exile then combined with other material from Deuteronomy. God's people were disobedient, weakening them and making them vulnerable to a hostile takeover and exile from the land. In this passage, God called them back to obedience of his laws, to a fully devoted love of God so that they might live and live fully. "The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live (6)." The author frames obedience to God as a matter of life or death.
Jesus, when teaching his followers the cost of discipleship, said, "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul (Mark 8: 35-36)." Taking up a new life with Jesus means leaving behind the old one, a broken life for a whole one, the ways of death exchanged for the ways of life. That is God's invitation to us.
Life Questions:
1. What are the habits we practice that tear down relationships, that promote death?
2. What habits do we practice that promote love for God with our whole heart and love of our
neighbors?
Prayer:
Jesus, give us the grace to respond to your invitation with great faith, following your footsteps and practicing habits like forgiveness, love, service to the poor, healing, reconciliation, peacemaking, disciple making, thankfulness and praise. These are the habits of our new life with you. Thank you for your cross and empty tomb which open the door for us to enter your Kingdom way of life! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we pray, amen.
Daily Prayer:
Sermons:
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Opening Prayer:
Merciful God, give us grace to hear what you have to say through your Spirit and your Word, so that we might live the abundant life you have won for us through the cross and empty tomb. Amen.
Deuteronomy 30: 1-20
Comments:
"Doctor, come quick. It's a matter of life or death!" We may have heard this line in a movie a few times, but have we ever thought of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ in this light? Living God's ways promotes life, and not just long, eternal life, but the richest, highest quality of life that can be had. From the beginning, God hasn't only been interested in our obedience to him because God is God and deserves it, but also because God knows how we have been designed, what we have been designed for, and how we can live most fully and completely.
Many people view God's laws in the Old Testament as evidence that God likes to create endlist lists for us to follow, like great hoops for us to jump through as though God needed the entertainment or wanted the power trip to show us who is boss when we fail. According to the bible, however, God gives us laws so that "it may go well with us," and our lives may be full, abundant, giving praise to God. Jesus once said, "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly."
Our text today may have been written after God's people suffered a time of exile then combined with other material from Deuteronomy. God's people were disobedient, weakening them and making them vulnerable to a hostile takeover and exile from the land. In this passage, God called them back to obedience of his laws, to a fully devoted love of God so that they might live and live fully. "The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live (6)." The author frames obedience to God as a matter of life or death.
Jesus, when teaching his followers the cost of discipleship, said, "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul (Mark 8: 35-36)." Taking up a new life with Jesus means leaving behind the old one, a broken life for a whole one, the ways of death exchanged for the ways of life. That is God's invitation to us.
Life Questions:
1. What are the habits we practice that tear down relationships, that promote death?
2. What habits do we practice that promote love for God with our whole heart and love of our
neighbors?
Prayer:
Jesus, give us the grace to respond to your invitation with great faith, following your footsteps and practicing habits like forgiveness, love, service to the poor, healing, reconciliation, peacemaking, disciple making, thankfulness and praise. These are the habits of our new life with you. Thank you for your cross and empty tomb which open the door for us to enter your Kingdom way of life! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit we pray, amen.
Daily Prayer:
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Monday, September 12, 2011
Weekly Prayer: Directions
Looking for directions? Isaiah has a few from God.
Opening Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we confess we live in a confused age. There are so many options, so many choices to make, we struggle to see which ways promote life, love, and peace. Uncrust our eyes to see the prints your feet leave behind so that we may walk in your paths that lead to life for all. In Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
Isaiah 58: 1-14
Comments:
Yes, the prophets can be irritating some times and downright mean, but we have to admit that we all need a swift kick in the butt sometimes. When we're stubbornly going the wrong way, the person who lovingly grabs our shoulders, squarely faces us, stares into our eyes with fire and says, "If you keep going this way, you'll fly over the cliff. Turn around!!" is to be treasured! That's Isaiah's job for God's people then and for us today.
The people of Isaiah's day seek God through prayer and humility, but they aren't connecting their acts of worship with their lives. They seem to have completely disconnected their "spiritual practices" of prayer and worship from the way they treat other people in their businesses and their homes. "'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists (verses 3-4)."
So it is today. Many people see attending worship or praying as an insurance policy for "getting into heaven" or as a feel good tool for attaining greater relaxation or "something important to do for the kids." God uses Isaiah to clarify the directions that lead to salvation. Salvation comes when we worship God not only in our singing, praying, and reading of Scripture, but especially in the way we work, care for the poor, and treat our families. It seems that the kind of people God saves in Jesus Christ are those who trust him enough to love as he loves, heal as he heals, and care for the poor as he cared for the poor each hour of every day, not just one hour on Sunday with singing in a building called a "Church." "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear (verse 8)."
Life Question:
1. Who around me is poor in body, mind, or soul that I can offer healing to in the name of Jesus
Christ?
Closing Prayer:
Great God of our salvation, Your Spirit is constantly working in the the people around us to draw them to life-giving faith in Jesus Christ. Help us see the needs of others. Give us courage and joy in sharing the love of Christ in tangible ways. And may your Kingdom of love continue to expand. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let it be so.
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Opening Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we confess we live in a confused age. There are so many options, so many choices to make, we struggle to see which ways promote life, love, and peace. Uncrust our eyes to see the prints your feet leave behind so that we may walk in your paths that lead to life for all. In Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
Isaiah 58: 1-14
Comments:
Yes, the prophets can be irritating some times and downright mean, but we have to admit that we all need a swift kick in the butt sometimes. When we're stubbornly going the wrong way, the person who lovingly grabs our shoulders, squarely faces us, stares into our eyes with fire and says, "If you keep going this way, you'll fly over the cliff. Turn around!!" is to be treasured! That's Isaiah's job for God's people then and for us today.
The people of Isaiah's day seek God through prayer and humility, but they aren't connecting their acts of worship with their lives. They seem to have completely disconnected their "spiritual practices" of prayer and worship from the way they treat other people in their businesses and their homes. "'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists (verses 3-4)."
So it is today. Many people see attending worship or praying as an insurance policy for "getting into heaven" or as a feel good tool for attaining greater relaxation or "something important to do for the kids." God uses Isaiah to clarify the directions that lead to salvation. Salvation comes when we worship God not only in our singing, praying, and reading of Scripture, but especially in the way we work, care for the poor, and treat our families. It seems that the kind of people God saves in Jesus Christ are those who trust him enough to love as he loves, heal as he heals, and care for the poor as he cared for the poor each hour of every day, not just one hour on Sunday with singing in a building called a "Church." "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear (verse 8)."
Life Question:
1. Who around me is poor in body, mind, or soul that I can offer healing to in the name of Jesus
Christ?
Closing Prayer:
Great God of our salvation, Your Spirit is constantly working in the the people around us to draw them to life-giving faith in Jesus Christ. Help us see the needs of others. Give us courage and joy in sharing the love of Christ in tangible ways. And may your Kingdom of love continue to expand. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let it be so.
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Which Leader Do You Trust?
Opening Prayer:
Gracious Father in heaven, we are lost without leaders. We are wandering, floundering, bumping into things and longing for directions in a complex world. Worse yet, we sometimes walk off the cliffs our leaders take us to! Above all powers and thrones, we submit to your leadership first in our lives. Guide us, direct us we pray, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 146
Comments:
Who's really in charge here? Yes, if we have a boss, that boss is in charge of our work area. If we are the boss, we are in charge of the success or failure of our company. Yes, the President of the United States is in charge of the Executive Branch of our government and the House and Senate oversee the legislative branch. But I'm talking about the bigger picture, no, the biggest picture. Who's really in charge in the universe, over everything that has been and will be created? Who started everything and who will bring history to it's ultimate destiny?
Science can't touch this question because it is too big of a question to be contained within the realm of what we can measure with our five senses. This question is the realm of faith. The Psalmist proclaims that the God of Jacob, the creator of all things, is the only one who is in charge of history's destiny. This God alone is faithful and trustworthy. Further in the Bible, Jesus Christ, God made flesh, is acknowledged as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And what ultimate destiny is God bringing us too? God is intensly interested in freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, and caring for the alien, the fatherless, and the widows. In the end, God will be sure that they are well-fed, cared for, and have a rather large family to belong to. As for those who aren't oppressed, hungry, aliens, fatherless, or widows, God is intensly interested in our participation in caring for others in need.
We are living in times of terrific uncertainty. We're all looking for leaders to blaze a trail in the wild overgrown jungle we find ourselves in. The Psalmist says, "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing." We need great earthly leaders, but more than we need them, we need the One true leader who is trustworthy and who holds a future full of love and justice in his authority.
These days it's hard to find leaders to trust. Who do you trust to lead you forward?
Life Question:
1. Who do you trust to lead you daily? Your "gut?" The human leaders around you?
2. Who do you trust with your life?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we thank you for showing us in your cross and empty tomb that we not only can trust in your love for us, but we can trust that your power is great enough to overcome all sin and evil. Forgive us when we cower in fear or when we desperately look for leadership in the wrong places. Help us keep our eyes and hearts on you. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
Daily Prayer:
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Gracious Father in heaven, we are lost without leaders. We are wandering, floundering, bumping into things and longing for directions in a complex world. Worse yet, we sometimes walk off the cliffs our leaders take us to! Above all powers and thrones, we submit to your leadership first in our lives. Guide us, direct us we pray, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 146
Comments:
Who's really in charge here? Yes, if we have a boss, that boss is in charge of our work area. If we are the boss, we are in charge of the success or failure of our company. Yes, the President of the United States is in charge of the Executive Branch of our government and the House and Senate oversee the legislative branch. But I'm talking about the bigger picture, no, the biggest picture. Who's really in charge in the universe, over everything that has been and will be created? Who started everything and who will bring history to it's ultimate destiny?
Science can't touch this question because it is too big of a question to be contained within the realm of what we can measure with our five senses. This question is the realm of faith. The Psalmist proclaims that the God of Jacob, the creator of all things, is the only one who is in charge of history's destiny. This God alone is faithful and trustworthy. Further in the Bible, Jesus Christ, God made flesh, is acknowledged as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
And what ultimate destiny is God bringing us too? God is intensly interested in freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, and caring for the alien, the fatherless, and the widows. In the end, God will be sure that they are well-fed, cared for, and have a rather large family to belong to. As for those who aren't oppressed, hungry, aliens, fatherless, or widows, God is intensly interested in our participation in caring for others in need.
We are living in times of terrific uncertainty. We're all looking for leaders to blaze a trail in the wild overgrown jungle we find ourselves in. The Psalmist says, "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing." We need great earthly leaders, but more than we need them, we need the One true leader who is trustworthy and who holds a future full of love and justice in his authority.
These days it's hard to find leaders to trust. Who do you trust to lead you forward?
Life Question:
1. Who do you trust to lead you daily? Your "gut?" The human leaders around you?
2. Who do you trust with your life?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we thank you for showing us in your cross and empty tomb that we not only can trust in your love for us, but we can trust that your power is great enough to overcome all sin and evil. Forgive us when we cower in fear or when we desperately look for leadership in the wrong places. Help us keep our eyes and hearts on you. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
Daily Prayer:
Sermons:
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