Now that each of us is well restored from the summer slowdown, what are the things that we can do together that facilitate God doing the stuff that we can only describe as being done by Him? Today we focus on The Spirit - how do we as a church best engage with the Holy Spirit to let God do His stuff?
After a season of being still, we should take a look at what we need to carry forward as we plunge into our upcoming busyness. What are the characteristics of our lives as Christians that we want to preserve as we walk forward in a new season of relationship with Christ?
The story of Peter in the Gospels shows him to be a good follower - a person who faithfully and boldly simply does what he is asked, risky or not. His most significant acts as a follower of Jesus all started with small steps. Are you waiting around for that great and glorious call from heaven into ministry, or are you ready to take whatever small steps that God asks you to take? What small steps is Jesus asking you to take right now?
When we do what we are "supposed to do,"we usually miss out on the big picture - what Jesus has for us. So how can we walk with Jesus? We must start with Jesus Himself, a quite unnatural approach. We instinctively think about ourselves first, what we are supposed to do, and our grand plans. What if, instead of asking God to bless OUR plans, we asked OUR LORD what plans He has for us, and we then blessed that? This is what He asks of us - to walk with Him, to live free in that place of restoration.
The Bible is unequivocally clear - we all sin. Today's text says if we don't face that reality, the truth is not in us. So knowing this, how are we going to walk as Jesus did? On this Indedendence Day, Al has some practical insight on how to deal with this uncomfortable challenge.
How do we find rest these days in the midst of our busy agendas? The story of Mary and Martha in Luke gives us a few clues about how to balance stillness and "busy-ness" in our lives. As most of us in this culture seem to be "Marthas", the picture for us might be a little confusing. Are we condemned because we tend to be eager to serve like Martha? No. But in spite of our endless to-do lists, really only one thing is needed. What is that one thing and how do we manage our time to see it happen.
It has been said that in the western world "we worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship." Since we seem to be driven to be always doing stuff, should we not ask ourselves this profound question, "Which does God want more, our doings or our company?" In his new series of talks, we will see what God means by "rest" and we will each experience the peace of letting go of the demands of this world and just resting in Him. Today, we just stop!
Among all the elements involved in having a healthy relationship with God, perhaps the most significant is the proper handling of money. Under the Mosaic Law, how money was used could produce either blessing or curse depending on how well the Law was followed. Even if the letter of the Law has changed, the spirit of it has not changed. There is no escaping this fact - God still cares very much about how we handle the physical things He has entrusted to us; the principles still apply.
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