pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: teach


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Becoming Less

Could you eat today on just $4?  How about eating for a week on just $28?  I cannot imagine having only $28 to spend at the grocery store and being able to survive for a week, nevermind for weeks on end.  Yet this is roughly the amount people living at the poverty level has to eat on.  It is tough down there at the lowest economic end of society.  And it is hard to relate to from where most of us sit.  For the most part, those who live like this are not in our churches.

In the faith community described in Acts 4, it is a radical vision by today’s norms.  People gathered together daily, shared what they had, no one was in need.  Today, within some faith communities, there is help offered to one another.  Perhaps we bring meals over to a family during a difficult time or we help a single, older person move into a new apartment.  But when the need is a little greater, do we look around at our abundance and ask “what can I sell?” so that we can give some financial assistance to one in need?

Our society is titled so that the well-off gain more and more while those without continue to struggle.  As a universal church, could we together make a difference in society?  Could our voices united speak to correcting some of these issues on a systemic level?  Could our individual churches reach out into disadvantaged areas and partner with those who are struggling?  Can we mentor, teach, support, assist, and meet basic needs of life?

The answer to all of these questions is the same: yes.  If we follow Jesus we love all of creation, including all of our neighbors.  If we truly hear His call, we too are willing to become a little less so another can become more.

Scripture reference: Acts 4: 32-35


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Teach Them Well

Our faith has a long history to it.  Our common faith journey begins with the creation story and runs right to today.  It contains stories of Moses and Noah, of David and Solomon, of Mary and Esther, of Elijah and John the Baptist, of Daniel and Hezekiah, and of course, of Jesus and the disciples.

Our own faith story begins years ago as well.  It includes all of those family experiences with faith plus all that we each have experienced in our own lives.  All of this is simply an extension of that story that began only with God, before a word was spoken.

In Psalm 78 we are charged with the task of teaching all of these stories to our children so that they too can now them and make them a part of their own faith story.  And not only that, but also so that they too may teach the stories to their children.  These roots of our faith, these stories of who we are, for the foundation of who we are a Christian.  A solid foundation is important.  May we all teach our children well, so that they may be strengthened in the faith and encouraged in the way that leads to life eternal.

Scripture reference: Psalm 78: 5-7


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With Us Always

In Matthew 28, Jesus gives his last instructions: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”.  Jesus goes on to promise that He will be with us always, to the end of the age.

We are invited to baptize in order to bring all aspects of God into the new believer’s life.  God empowers, Jesus redeems, and the Holy Spirit sustains.  Just as a new believer needs all three, we too need all three to do our ‘work’ in the world.  No one can do it alone.  And we must not forget the last part of Jesus’ command: teach them to obey all of Jesus’ commands.  We are not called to simply bring people to Christ, but to also teach them about being like Christ in their world.  We too often forget the second half of Jesus’s great commission.

To make disciples and to teach them we must allow ourselves to be vessels of God’s redeeming love.  But if all we do is give, soon our well will run dry.  We too must allow ourselves to be poured into and filled by God’s love.  Once we ourselves are filled them we can go forth to disciple and teach.  Jesus promises to be with is always, to the end of the age.  This promise gives us the confidence to go forth in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  May all three fill us up and send us out!!