pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: encourage


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Teach and Share. Repeat.

Reading: 2Timothy 3:14 to 4:5

Timothy has been richly blessed in his life.  His family has encouraged and taught him on his early faith journey.  They planted and nurtured the seeds of faith that God watered and made grow.  Paul steps into Timothy’s life to continue to teach and correct and encourage him as he grows in his faith.  Timothy is now at a point where he is ready to preach the Word, to use his faith to help others on their journey of faith.  Timothy’s faith has grown to the point that he feels God’s call upon his life.

We too have walked (or are walking) a similar path.  Our faith is meant to be lived out in community.  It began that we with Jesus and a small group of followers.  Jesus taught them the faith so that they too could one day share the good news with others.  After they had been with Jesus for a sufficient time, He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.  The disciples went out and shared their growing faith with others.  Their own faith grew and they returned to Jesus to learn some more.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples continued to learn and grow from each other and by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We, as current disciples, are called to the same life.  Be in the community, be in small groups to encourage, support, and learn together.  Go out into the world to teach and Share our faith.  Return for more encouraging, supporting, and learning.  Head back out into the world to teach and Share.  Repeat often.  May we learn to follow Jesus’ example, modeled by Paul as well.


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Community and Service

Reading: Acts 9: 36-43

A true community has many benefits.  First of all, it fills our basic need to belong.  But it also goes far beyond this.  When we are part of a faith community, it allows us to serve together to build the kingdom of God.  Together we find much encouragement and strength.  Together we can more easily express our faith.  Communities of faith can both serve each other and can go out into the world to serve.

A true community of faith also shares we each other.  This does require a level of trust and vulnerability, so it is something that develops and deepens over time.  Joys are lifted up and celebrated; burdens are shared and carried by many.  A true community also shares in the small things and in the daily struggles.  There is an increasing level of accountability that grows and facilitates our day to day living.  When we can be honest and vulnerable with each other we lift one another up in prayer, we check in on how the battle is going, we sharpen and encourage one another.

Tabitha and her community shared many of these traits of true community.  Tabitha shared her talents and resources with those near her by making clothes and other items.  She not only helped with their basic needs but poured love into what she gave.  This is just one example of how Tabitha cared for her friends and fellow widows.  At her passing, it brought great grief to her faith community as she was central to the group and the bonds of community that had developed.  She was the one all sought out in times of need or in a crisis.

Peter must have sensed all of this as he entered into the house that day.  Sensing the community’s deep need for her at this particular time, God, through Peter, restored her to them.  It was an extraordinary act of love.  It reveals His love for us and how much He values community because of how it helps us grow in our faith and service to others.  May we each seek to find and experience and live within a true community of faith.


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Lead and Leading

Parents often try to nudge or encourage their children to try or do something they think their child will enjoy or benefit from.  Sometimes a parent sees something in their child and tries to develop that skill or gift.  And a lot of the time the child responds with some resistance!  This is the case in today’s passage.  Mary nudges Jesus to exercise the gifts He has.  He responds with basically “not now”.  Maybe those things she treasured in her heart and perhaps a thing or two she has observed since then are promoting her to ask Jesus to perform a miracle and to begin His public ministry.

Sometimes in our lives we too are encouraged, invited, nudged… by others.  Maybe it is our parents.  Maybe it is our spouse or a coworker or a friend.  People often see gifts or talents we have that sometimes we do not.  At times we too can do the same for others in our lives.  It is a wonderful thing to see and affirm the God-given gifts we see in each other.

Often the nudge or encouragement comes from the Holy Spirit.  We see or find ourselves in a situation and we can almost physically feel the guidance to do or say something.  In other instances we can hear the voice whispering to us.  It may be in the moment or it may be later as we reflection our day or as we spend time in prayer.  These “too late” or after the fact prompts prime us for action the next time out.  It is still God at work in us.

God always continues to be active and involved in our lives and in the world.  He encourages all followers to use the gifts and talents He gave us through the nudges, prompts, … of the Holy Spirit and those around us.  We too at times invite, nudge, … others.  In all cases, may we be willing servants of His kingdom, whether leading or being lead, all for the glory of God.

Scripture reference: John 2: 1-5


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Gather Together

In Hebrews we are reminded to gather together for spurring one another on to love and good deeds.  When we gather the author also implores us to encourage one another.  There must have been a division or some friction that was causing some to stay away from the church’s gatherings.  At times we still see this issue today.

A few recent trends in society have led some to this isolated approach as well.  The prevalence of a me-first, consumer mentality is a primary factor.  If it does not make us totally happy and meet our every need and demand, well it is not for us then – we’ll just stay home.  A second trend that leads some to not gather as the body is the general anti-institutional vibe – anti-government, anti-establishment, and even anti-church. A third change is the depth or level of our friendships.  People have tons of friends on Facebook but almost no one to sit down and have a real, heart-felt conversation with.  We would rather e-mail, text, or personal message because a call demands one-on-one time right then.  In the old days we would always pick up the phone when it rang.  Now we look to see who it is first.

It is nice to read a warm, fuzzy story on social media, but it is a whole different experience to hear a person’s powerful testimony or story as we gather together as the body of Christ.  In the same way it is powerful and moving to lift our voices together in prayer or word or song.  You can read the words at home or listen to the song on the radio or device, but it is not the same as when together.  One can text or message a friend a smiley if we know they are down or struggling, but it is so much more meaningful to put our arm around them and to pray over them.

Jesus saved us to be in fellowship together loving, encouraging, supporting, praying for one another.  We do all of this best when gathered together – whether on Sunday morning, in a small group, or just one on one.  By our prayers, presence, witness, words, and service, may we gather together each day.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 10: 23-25


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Bountifully Give

Jesus’ words about leaving home, family, friends, and job to follow Him seem to be difficult words.  To me it is an extension of the choice many make to die to self as they choose to put on Christ and become a new creation in Him.  Often this means we set aside some things and some people in our lives that keep us from fully pursuing a life lived in Christ.  A speaker I heard yesterday said we cannot be 99% in for Jesus – it needs to be 100%.  Until it is 100% we are holding something back.  As it says in Luke 9, we cannot put our hand to the plow and look back.  This sacrifice can be hard but we are promised great reward when we receive eternal life.

In a culture where rugged individualism is valued, we cannot allow that to isolate us or any new believers.  Christianity is not meant to be lived alone but in a community.  One’s new family and friends are the church – a group of loving and caring people who want to come along side the new believer and each other to encourage, strengthen, and support one another.  How we love and care for one another should reflect the love and care Jesus gave to the disciples.

Being such a community can be difficult in a society that so values wealth, power, and position.  These are not the things of God’s kingdom.  The economy in God’s kingdom is based on love, mercy, and forgiveness.  All of these are not things we accumulate to hoard and hold onto.  These are gifts from God that we experience so that we can give them away.  This day may we be filled with these things of God so that we may bountifully give them away.  May His light and love reign today!!

Scripture reference: Mark 10: 28-31


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In All we Say and Do

Words can be so powerful.  Just with simple words one can describe a scene in such great detail that you almost can see a snapshot of it in your mind.  Words can also be chosen and delivered carefully for very specific purposes.  With just the right words we can encourage, uplift, and comfort.  In the same way we can edify, strengthen, and build up one another.  Words are powerful.

Each of us can recall times when someone said just the right thing at just the right time.  In those words we found healing or renewal or a lift in our spirit.  We can still remember those words.  In a similar way we each have used our own words to come alongside another in need.  The Holy Spirit often nudges and leads us to these opportunities.  Our role is to be open to the guidance and to be a willing voice.

On the flip side of all of this, the tongue can also be powerful in negative or harmful ways.  James is well aware of the human condition and rightly warns us to be careful with our tongues.  Commentary writer Patrick Harden puts it well: “Sins of the tongue are the hardest to avoid.”  Just as we’ve all been stung or hurt by words, we too have all stung or hurt others.  And in almost every case we have felt the Spirit’s nudge or heard the voice whispering to us to choose a better way.  In our journey of faith, may we learn to follow as led and to heed as warned so that we my bring honor and glory to God in all we do and say.

Scripture reference: James 3: 1-5a


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Calling All Sheep!!

The church I serve is the downtown area of a small city in a rural state.  We are in and amongst some sheep that are not like our ‘average’ sheep.  Most of the flock comes from neighborhoods where they must drive to church.  The body is made up of many loving sheep from lots of the different pastures around town.  But when we come together we form one body.  Gathered there and when apart, we all strive to listen to the same One voice of Jesus.  In His voice we find nurture and protection, guidance and conviction, strength and comfort, love.

Occasionally ‘another’ sheep wanders into our enclosure on a Sunday morning or on a Wednesday night.  Sometimes, to the casual observer, they are hard to identify as not being of our flock.  In other cases, it is easy to see they are not part of the regular flock.  But do we realize that almost all of these sheep are seeking to hear the same One voice we are there to hear?  On Wednesdays some of these ‘other’ sheep are there trying to find a warm meal and to be in a safe places for a little while.

As the Good Shepherd, his voice calls out to us all.  Not just to some – to all!  As we find ourselves next to a sheep that is different from ‘us’, may we NOT look them over with the “What are you doing here?” look in our eyes.  Instead, may we show them the same love we would show our own spouse or son or daughter.  He is calling them too.  There is no one Jesus wants to see outside the fold.  Why should we?