pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Christ


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The Message

Reading: Galatians 1: 6-12

Paul opens his letter to the Galatians with some strong language and some hard words.  His words carry some emotion and urgency.  The church he founded there has begun to drift away from its origins and he does not like the change.  Paul taught them the gospel he received directly in a revelation from Jesus and it is important to him that the Galatians continue to hold dearly to the original message.  Paul knows that the message does not have to change much to really affect their faith.

All that Jesus taught and did in the Gospels can be boiled down to a few essentials.  First, love God completely.  Recognize Him as supreme, as Lord, as king of kings.  Second, love neighbor as Jesus first loved us.  His sacrifice on the cross let us know how much He loves us.  Now Jesus tells us to go and do the same: put others and their needs first no matter the cost to us.  Third, grace wins.  God’s love and His mercies never fail, making all who call on Him as Lord and Savior new creations every morning.  Our grateful response to this amazing love and mercy is to offer our lives daily in service to God.

Paul knew how essential the pure message of the gospel was.  He knew that our faith would lead to action.  He knew if the gospel message was changed or distorted, we would begin to follow our own way more than Jesus’ way.  Our belief really does lead to action.  When our belief is correctly rooted in the message of Jesus Christ, then our lives bear fruit according to this message.  May we cling tightly to the truth found in Jesus Christ, living daily as authentic witnesses to His light and love.


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Love, Unity, Love

Reading: John 17: 20-26

In the prayer we read for today, Jesus is praying for His disciples and for all disciples who will follow in His footsteps.  He is praying for those who call on Him now and He will be praying for each generation of disciples who follow Him until He returns.  Jesus prays for unity, love, and a connection to God.

Jesus prays that we may be one.  He is praying for a big ‘we’ here.  He prays not only for a disciples connection to Him, but also for a connection to God.  It is through knowing Jesus that one comes to know God.  Jesus then takes this a step further in praying for the unity of all believers with one another.  In the immediate time it was for His disciples as they were about to face losing Jesus and for the new church that would emerge and grow in the midst of persecution and trial.  And Jesus is praying for each disciple who will follow and become a part of building His church now and in the future.  Unity in the body of Christ remains essential to the growth of the kingdom.

Jesus also prays that His disciples be known for love.  It is love alone which brings unity.  It was love alone that guided all that Jesus said and did.  It is love alone that connects disciples past, present, and future into a personal relationship with Jesus and therefore with God.  It is love alone that should guide how the world comes through Jesus as we witness to our faith.  When the church is love, the church shares Jesus in a most powerful way.  When non-believers question why someone is loving them in an unexpected, radical way, Jesus is beginning to work in their hearts.

This day may we find ways to be love.  Maybe it will be as the body in worship and fellowship.  Maybe it will be with a stranger who crosses our path, either in church or later in the day.  May the love of Christ that is within us pour out into all we meet this day.


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His Witness

Reading: Ephesians 1: 15-23

Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus is that the Holy Spirit would bring wisdom and revelation to the church so that they would know Jesus better.  Paul lists three reasons why he is praying this prayer: to know the HOPE of salvation; to know the riches of the larger church; and, to gain a sense of His power.

It is one thing to know who Jesus is.  A good teacher.  A man with the power to perform miracles.  A moral example.  Yes, Jesus is all of these things.  But to know Jesus more, to the depth of calling on Him as Lord and Savior, requires faith and belief that He is the Son of God.  Once our ‘knowledge’ of Jesus has reached this place, then we begin to live for Him and not for self, knowing that our salvation, the eternal rescue of our spirit, rests firmly in His hands.

As we become a part of a community of faith we become richer.  The fellowship, worship, mentoring, accountability, and love of the faithful makes our lives so much better.  In turn we too can discover and offer the gifts that God has bestowed upon us to enrich the lives of the church and the world in which we live.  These experiences of sacrificially giving of self to others and receiving from others unconditionally opens the way for us to begin to sense His power at work.  It is through these acts of love and sacrifice that we begin to truly live as Jesus lived.  As we connect others to Him, we ourselves deepen our relationship with Jesus as well.

May we be His witness and example today, growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ by following Him in all we do today.


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New Jerusalem

Reading: Revelation 21: 10 & 22-27

In our community, and perhaps in yours, there is a large diversity of places of worship.  There are not only a variety of Christian denominations but other faiths as well.  In a smaller community the diversity is probably less and in a larger city the diversity is probably greater.  Diversity implies a positive.  Diversity adds variety.  Diversity can also bring out our differences and can create divides.  Yet we must remember that our call is to go out and make new disciples of all nations.  When we do this, we must do this in love.

Today’s passage speaks of a time when all will worship God alone.  When the new Jerusalem comes down, it will be heaven here on earth.  There will be no places of worship because all everywhere will worship God alone.  His glory will light up the city all the time; there will be no night.  In God there is no darkness.  The city’s gates will never be closed.  The text says that nothing impure will enter the city.  All in the new Jerusalem will be holy as He is holy.

One of my favorite parts of confirmation every year is our trip to a large city.  We visit a mosque, a synagogue, and an Orthodox Church.  At each house of worship we meet with the leader who shares about their faith and answers any questions we have.  Each visit builds our understanding of others who are not like us in our beliefs.  It also offers us an opportunity to talk to about why we believe what we believe.  It is a great experience that enriches my life and my faith every year.  After each stop I pray for God’s word in Christ to one day be revealed to them. Knowing God’s plan for eternity, may we pray for all not on a journey towards the new Jerusalem to join us on our walk as God calls all of us heavenward.


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Faithful to Minister

Reading: Acts 16: 13-15

When Paul and company arrive in Philippi, they go down to the river because they think it may be a place to pray.  The city has no synagogue or church.  They find some women there praying and they strike up a conversation with them.  God is continuing to guide and lead Paul as he continues to work to spread the gospel.

It turns out these women are praying to God, so they are open to hearing Paul’s witness about Jesus.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul’s words hit home in one of the women’s hearts.  Lydia and her household believe and are baptized into Christ.  This encounter leads her to open her home to these traveling evangelists.  Lydia provides the base of operations from which Paul and companions can continue to share the gospel.

Each day of our lives God and the Holy Spirit lead us to opportunities to share our faith in Jesus Christ with others.  Every day.  It may be that our faithful witness comes simply through how we live our lives.  Those around us experience Jesus simply by being in our company.  At other times we are called to verbally witness to our faith.  One of those who have been observing may finally ask by we are so loving, caring, compassionate…  Or maybe one is finally open to the conversation we have tried to start a few times and God leads us in the witnessing to our faith.

There are many people searching for meaning in and a center for their lives.  God is the only one who can truly fill these needs in us and only He can bring true contentment, peace, understanding, …  Paul’s vision was of a man calling him to Macedonia.  When he arrived, God placed Lydia before him.  Paul was faithful to minister to who God placed before him.  May we too be willing to minister to whomever God places before us and to witness to our faith to any and all that God brings our way.


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Open, Loving, Welcoming

Reading: Revelation 1: 4-8

At times our churches and faith can be private or exclusive is one is not already a member.  Sometimes we do this by using insider language or by expecting guests or seekers to know how we do things or to look and behave just like we do.  Although most churches genuinely work at and desire to be welcoming and inviting, sometimes we are not.  In the same way, most Christians know Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations; we just do not live with this as our primary focus.  We inadvertently put up barriers or fences that in essence keep non-believers and the unchurched outside of our institutions.  On a personal level, we can judge or choose to keep separate from those we see as sinners and unsaved.

If we are truly living as a witness to the love of Christ, we will seek to be more inclusive and inviting and will work to be less judgmental and isolated.  Jesus’ radar was always on.  He was so sensitive to the needs He sensed in people.  Jesus did not allow social or cultural or any other norms to tell Him how to deal with someone.  He simply recognized what they needed and what He could offer and acted accordingly.  Jesus seemed to be friend to all as relationship was the basis of His ministry.  The forming of a relationship so often allowed Him to share Himself to meet their need.

Just as Jesus sought first and foremost to be welcoming and to quickly enter into relationships, so must we as His disciples and as His church.  People need Jesus, not our religion or our churches.  He is who or what we offer.  It is through faith and in the church that people come to know Jesus.  We all need to know His love and the saving grace offered by His blood.  To begin to know Jesus, one must experience Jesus in the love and witness of His followers.  This is what we have to offer.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we are privileged to live in His love as we enjoy a personal relationship with the savior of the world.  This relationship is something we are called to share with others.  Our opportunity may come within the walls of the church; it may come out there in the world.  May we be as open, loving, and welcoming as Jesus was as we seek to live as His witness in and through our lives.


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The Mind of Christ

Reading: Philippians 2: 5-11

Paul opens chapter two by encouraging us to be like-minded with Christ.  He reminds us of Christ’s love and compassion.  He reminds us to think of others more than ourselves.  On our best days we seek to live out these Christ-like qualities.  Then comes today’s reading.  The first half is like the hard days that will come just after the joyous entry coming on Palm Sunday.

Paul reminds us that Jesus gave up His place on high to come down to earth to live among us.  In doing so, He made himself nothing, becoming a servant to all.  Paul reminds us that Christ became obedient, even to the point of death on a cross for our benefit.  Paul calls us to have the mind of Christ.

Our culture instead raises up power, wealth, and status as the goals.  There are calls to attain these things almost without regard to the personal cost.  To those whose mind is set on these things, the concept of being a servant is distant.  The ideas of being humble and obedient are foreign.

God also calls us to lay aside our places on high – our places of privilege and power – in order to step into the lives of our fellow man.  He calls us to find ways to serve one another.  God calls us to be willing to sacrifice self for others.  Just like Jesus, we are called to a radical lifestyle, one built around love and compassion and mercy.

To take on the mind of Christ means we lift others up instead of trampling them on our way to the top.  To take on the mind of Christ means we stop and help another in need instead of staying on the road to excess.  To take on the mind of Christ means we yield up our will and become obedient to God’s will.  May we ever more seek to have the mind of Christ.


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True Hope

Reading: Psalm 126

The psalm begins with the memory of captivity and exile and moves into a time to sow and then to wait for the harvest.  The darkest hour seems to have passed and new life and hope seem just around the corner.  To wait for the harvest takes time and patience and trust but also comes with expectancy and hope.  One day new life will spring up, hope will continue to grow, and then a joyous harvest will be reaped.

This cycle of life can represent our faith journey as well.  As we begin to move past a time in the desert, we begin to see signs of hope as well.  Out of the trial we begin to see how we were refined or strengthened by the trial.  From the work that God was doing in us or in our lives, we begin to see new life take shape.  It sprouts and there is an excitement and hope and promise.  Over time it grows and comes to be something that gives hope and light and love to others.  We are bearing fruit and planting seeds in others that will one day sprout in the lives of others.  As we use the gifts and experiences we had have to walk alongside others in times of trial, we can help them begin to see the hope we find in Christ as we journey together.

It is within the work of resurrection on the cross that we have our true hope.  It is because of God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ that we have this true hope.  The true hope of eternal life is the source of our strength and trust in Him.  This true hope is what shines within us and also shines out to bring hope and light and love to those in darkness.  May we ever share the good news within us with a world so in need.


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Daily with Christ

Reading: Philippians 3: 4b-12

In our darkest moments Christ is still with us.  In times of deep despair or intense suffering, we can still call out and sense the presence of Jesus with us.  These things we know in our hearts and we trust with our brains.  But sometimes the trial drags on and we begin to question or doubt.  We struggle with how a loving and caring God can allow the struggle to go on for so long.  Thankfully these are just moments.  The trial begins to wane or we again connect to Jesus and realize He has been there all along.  We begin again to trust in our hearts and to know in our brains that He is always present.  As our trust and faith in Him is again secure, we are reassured that nothing compares to or is better than our life in Christ.

In the trial and certainly in everyday life, living with Jesus as the center of our lives is how God calls us to truly live.  Life is simply better then.  Any life without Christ is simply less.  Even when challenges come along and when temptation rises up, we move forward more confidently knowing Jesus is with us and on our side.

Paul speaks of all the credentials he had accumulated in life.  But that was BC.  All the accolades were achievements in the human realm.  Once he came to know Christ, he called them all rubbish.  Paul came to know his identity and the true source of strength in his life came from Christ alone.  The value of knowing the resurrected Christ far outweighed all earthly gains.

The same is true for us.  God calls us heavenward towards the same goal Paul was striving for – to be resurrected with Christ.  In our day to day life, in the good days and in the bad, we always must keep our eyes fixed on the goal: our call to our eternal home, found as we journey with Christ.  We are truly blessed in this life and in the next as we journey daily with Christ, trusting in Him alone.


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Ambassadors

Reading: 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21

Christ offers us healing and wholeness.  Through Him we are made into a new creation.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can renew our minds every day to remain in a right relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In the relationship we are no longer slaves to sin and death because we know that through Jesus we too have conquered these things.

All people have hurts and scars from living life.  As all is not in our control and as Satan is active in this world, there will be people, events, and circumstances that bring us pain and harm.  But the good news of Jesus Christ is that we do not walk alone.  Jesus wants to carry our burdens; He wants to take away the pain and hurt.  All He asks is that we bring these things to Him, to lay them down, and to trust Him with them.

We too at times bring hurt and pain to others.  In our humanity we can be less than God intends us to be.  In these times we are not fulfilling the call to be ambassadors for Christ and bearers of the good news of salvation.  Yet even in these times God is at work, calling us back to Him.  Through the whispers and nudges of the Holy Spirit God is always seeking to reconcile us back to Him.  As we grow in our faith, we increasingly bring the love of God out into the world with us as we seek to help reconcile others to God as His ambassadors.

God seeks to draw all people into relationship.  He seeks to have His love known in every heart.  As we experience this in our own lives, may we seek to share this good news with others, living as the ambassadors Christ calls us all to be.