pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: encounter


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Why Church?

Those that sat in a sanctuary or some other place of worship yesterday made a choice to be there.  They got up, got ready, and came to church.  For many it was just like most other mornings, except they went to church instead or to work or school.  For some, they fought through something that was heavy upon their hearts like depression or grief or some issue at home or work or school and came to church.  For others, they had to fight the kids or their spouse or significant other, but they came too.

Some that came weighed their options – golf or fishing or hiking, or sleeping in , or yard work, or … – but decided in favor of church.  Some also pondered these things and decided not to come to church.  To be honest, there were some in  the other groups who came to church who would not have if the choice was fully theirs.

This all leads to the basic question: why do we go to church?  The answer is not tradition or because we are supposed to or because there is nothing else to do.  It is not to check off a box or to avoid questions later at the family gathering or to gain some social standing for being a church goer.

When Solomon built the temple and had the ark of the covenant brought up to Jerusalem to be in the temple, something amazing happened.  The Most Holy Place filled with a cloud.  The temple became filled with the presence of the most high God.  He was there in that place.

While it is true that God is everywhere, we find that in church we most often encounter the presence of the living God.  It is in the settings of community and in corporate worship that He is present.  When we gather to sing and praise His name, to spend time in prayer and in the Word, to confess and be made right with our God, it is then that He is present.  To be in the presence of the almighty God, this is why we go to church.

Scripture reference: ! Kings 8: 1, 6, and 10-11


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Relentless Love

Do miracles really happen?  Miracles really do happen.  Do they really still happen?  They really do still happen.  God and His Spirit are still active in the world.  They do not only work through miracles but they also work through people like you and me, making a difference in everyday life.  God still answers big audacious prayers (and small ones too), still heals people of ‘incurable’ and ‘terminal’ diseases, and still restores relationship that were long ago dead.

Why does God continue to do such works?  It is through our encounters with the divine that our faith grows and that we come to know the nature of God more and more.  When Peter healed the beggar at the gate to ‘perfect health’, it was great for the man.  But the higher purpose was to give Peter an audience to share the story of Jesus with.

Another reason we continue to experience God through a variety of means in real ways is to counter our doubt.  Doubt and questioning continue to pull at us and to creep into our lives.  Yet our God continues to and will continue to pursue us.  His longing for each of us is to form and mold us into just the person He created us to be.  He has a plan for our lives.

Sometimes we don’t always hear His voice and some of the time we make decisions or choices we shouldn’t.  We get off track.  We drift.  We lose touch with our faith.  But our God never gives up.  Another person comes along or we encounter God through an event or other experience.

In His relentless pursuit of us, God never, ever gives up.  Through whatever means necessary He continually works to shape and mold us into just who He created us to be.  That is just how much God loves us.

Scripture reference: Acts 3: 12-19


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Open and Willing

Ah, Monday morning.  Welcome to the new week!  Some people face Monday full of expectation, hope, and wonder at what God has in store for them in the week ahead.  The rest of the people… well, they should wish for the same thing.

For most of us, our week ahead will be much like last week in the sense that our ‘job’ is probably the same.  The structure of our week and the tasks ahead remain mostly the same, but the details and the interactions will be a little different.  For most of us, it is in the small things that we encounter God and the possibilities He lays before us in the coming week.

In Psalm 106 we read, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.”  We worship and know a mighty God.  He has big plans for us this week.  Who in your day today or in the week ahead can you share this wonderful truth with?  May our eyes be open and our hearts willing to meet God when and where He provides those opportunities in the day and days ahead.

Scripture reference: Psalm 106: 1-6

 


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Waiting Long Enough

Interesting thought in one of my devotionals this morning: what would an encounter with Jesus at the water cooler in the break room look like?  It is a pretty cool twist to put ourselves in a modern version of the Samaritan woman from Sychar meeting Jesus at Jacob’s well.  I may not have 5 wives and a current live-in, but Jesus would certainly have plenty of other sins to pick from!  JC: “John, what about that control that you like to keep such a tight grasp upon?  Or what about how you like to judge so-and-so?  Or …”  Would you, like me, be begging for Him to stop?  Would I be more astonished that He knew all these things or more embarrassed that He did?  Would I stick around or “remember” another meeting that I had to get to?

I really admire the woman at the well for sticking it out.  In her culture a Jew did not talk to a Samaritan, especially to a woman.  But here a man she does not know is talking to her.  And He is telling her things about her life that He shouldn’t know.  Being a woman who has had five husbands and is now living with a boyfriend, she must have been used to begin looked down upon.  But she must have sensed that Jesus had something more to offer than an insight or two into her life.  She digs in and connects with Jesus.  She leaves this encounter wanting to bring everyone she knows to meet this Jesus.

Today in our little daily routines, will we encounter the living God?  He will certainly be there.  The question is: will we be willing enough to stick around long enough to meet Jesus?  Will we be aware enough to see the potential of the situation? Will we be resolute enough to drink of the living water that He offers?  Will we wait long enough to be filled so much that we go forth seeking to share what we have just found?  Today, may we wait long enough to encounter Chrst in those we meet!