pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Newsworthy

Reading: 1st Thessalonians 1:4-10

Verse 8: “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.”

Photo credit: Vanilla Bear Films

Continuing in our Epistle text for this week, Paul recognizes that the Thessalonians have been chosen by God. The gift of the Holy Spirit and the deep conviction by which they live their faith is the proof that God has indeed chosen them. His words alone do not have that power. It is the power that comes through the Holy Spirit of God that changes hearts and lives.

Paul then commends them for becoming “imitators of us and of the Lord.” They lived out their faith joyfully just as Paul, Silas, and Timothy has: boldly even in the face of suffering. These disciples and this church were being Jesus to the world. They were sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. They model for us what it looks like to follow Jesus. Because of this, Paul is able to write, “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.” Wow!

Paul sees that their faith has “rung out” far and wide. What would it look like for your faith to “ring out?” How could your church engage the world in such a way that the church’s witness “rings out” in the community? This is what happens when we joyfully live out our faith and when we boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Our faith really can impact our world. It should impact our world.

For the church in Thessalonica, their faith was told of by others far and wide. Stories of turning from idols and of living for Christ were newsworthy. This is the end result of “work produced by faith… labor prompted by love… endurance inspired by hope.” May it be so for us.

Prayer: Lord God, enable and empower us and our churches, leading and guiding us to make your name known. Through our joy and through our boldness, may others come to experience the power of your Holy Spirit at work in their lives. May this be the witness that the Lord receives. Amen.


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Ring, Ring

Reading: 1st Samuel 3: 1-20

Verse Nine: “If He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening'”.

Today we have Samuel’s call story. Before he was born his mom dedicated him to the Lord. As soon as he was able he began serving in the temple. This life is really all Samuel has known for his twelve or thirteen years of life. I suppose he could have rebelled as a young boy, deciding this was not the life he wanted for himself. He wouldn’t be the first. Today people do this all the time – leaving one vocation for another or transferring to someplace else where it must be better.

Then one night God calls out to Samuel. Three times. It is only when old, wise Eli realizes that it was God calling did Samuel know to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”. Only with Eli’s help. This makes me think of my call story. God began to give a call to me way back when I began adult life as a middle school teacher in the early 1990s. As I grew in my own faith and became more involved at my church, volunteering in various capacities, the call grew louder. The voices of good friends and total strangers eventually joined the echoing of God’s call. Then, twenty-something years later, I accepted the call to full-time vocational ministry.

Although the span of time was much greater that Samuel’s, over and over I heard God calling. It was a long process convincing me that God was indeed calling. It was like a slow sunrise that quietly creeps across the landscape as God’s light spread more and more into my life. Certainly not all are called into vocational ministry. Most folks are called into a relationship with God that leads them to serve God in their daily lives as doctors or construction workers, as secretaries or teachers, … A few receive a lightning bolt call – one day an overwhelming voice or event catapults them into a relationship with God.

This all leads to the question: what is your call story? Or is God still calling you? We all have a story to tell. When someone asks, as one surely will, about this joy and peace that you have, what will you say? What is your story of faith? How will you explain how God has been and is at work in your life? When someone asks, how will you explain the call of God upon your life?