Acts 16:9-15
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
At Community Reformed we’ve identified several focus areas for the coming year of ministry. One of those is outreach and along with that focus area we’ve set the goal of transforming from an “Evangelism Optional” to an “Evangelism Imperative” church. For many of us, that isn’t a welcome goal. We resist throwing our faith in people’s faces. How nice would it be to have an experience like Paul’s where God comes right out and tells us where the Spirit of God is already at work and where we are called to do our part in helping faith to grow. Then we have this great encounter with Lydia and the friendship and hospitality that grow as faith grows. I’m planning to talk about how openness to God’s making opportunities, how having genuine and comfortable interactions with people where you find them and how being open to other’s hospitality, kindness and giftedness might all be central to the kind of faith sharing God calls us to. What do you think of that idea and do you have anything to add?
-Pastor Eric
Community Reformed Church - Newton, Iowa
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Sunday the 13th
Posted by
Pastor Eric
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Yes it may be nice if God came to us, as He did to Paul, and make it clear to us as he did with Paul. But I think that with Paul the transformation he went through was far more intense than ours. Paul was totally committed to persecuting the christians until his encounter with Christ. Then totally the opposite. I know of no one in our church or community with the compassion for lost souls and willingness to spread the Gospel such as Paul did.
If you have a copy of the Casting Crowns song "If we are the Body", and could play the song with lyrics on overhead, I think that song tells it all when it says "Jesus paid much too high a price for us to choose who should come" (maybe not exactly the words but very close). Maybe the prayer group should be praying for someone in our church to have an "Encounter with God" that would make them unable to contain the Faith thats within them. Could be scary, because we wouldn't necessarily know who God may pick and it might be even you or me. Think about it. What would it take in your life to have that kind of change. Maybe a miraculous(sp) healing or trajedy that completely changes your life. God can move in mysterious ways, and if we are really the "Body" we should be ready to expect the un-expected.
Jim W.
I think we need to pray the the Lord makes us aware of the opportunities He puts in front of us. I believe they are there, but we are not open to His guiding. I also believe we need to pray for His "making the hearts ready". Because we can't do it on our own. I don't get to the prayer meeting, but I think that is something we need to have on their list. It would also be good to add to our prayer list in the bulletin. I'm reading a new book -- Unchurched Harry & Sally. It is a lot like the More Ready than you Realize book, in that relationship comes first. But also, that many people are ready, if we are just looking and listening for the opportunity. Open the door, smile, ask how they are doing.
I know we have a goal printed in the bulletin about asking how we can prayer for each other during the week -- I think that is hard to do -- and maybe we need to have a try at an extended fellowship greeting where we try and do that. It is probably a safer practice for us, than someone at work, and if we can make it happen with people we know, it may get easier for those we don't.
I guess I was rambling a bit, but I feel that outreach and discipleship are our purpose as christians. I also know it is hard to do, and it is something we can't do without God in our lives and the driving force behind the non-christian's being ready and our being willing to follow and act on His plan.
I am very happy to see that some of the bloggers are able to speak with such confidence in their faith. Hopefully someday I will speak with that same confidence. My faith is not strong and I even consider it weak, yet I still find myself praying at night. I pray for God to show me the path he has intended for me because I haven't yet found my purpose in life and I'm not sure that I'm on the path he wants. Don't get me wrong, I consider myself a good person with a good heart, but I still question my purpose. Yet I never seem to get an answer.
I also pray for God to help others, to answer the prayers of people who truly need his help. My life is good, I am financially sound, I have a loving family, and I'm happy...again my life is good. But there are others with many more problems than me, so I pray for them. I may not know who they are or where they live, but I still pray for them in a gengeral sense. As long as someone benefits from my prayer, that's all that matters.
I haven't seen God and I haven't felt the presence of God in my life. Unfortunately, it seems like every day science seems to contradict the teachings of the bible and the many sacred objects so many believe to be Holy, and naturally it makes me question my religion. Jim Wood had an interesting idea. Healing, but lets take it a step further. What if a proclaimed Christian developed the ability to heal people with what he claims to be the help of God and Jesus Christ. It most definitely would make me a believer. Could you imagine a better way to help revive the Christian faith? Christians, true followers of Jesus Christ going around and healing others. Those are the miracles we need to see, it's what some of us need in order to truly believe, otherwise we are stuck believing something from a book nearly 2000 years old. It kind of goes back to the blog from several weeks ago, seeing is believing. It doesn't seem fair that John Q. Citizen is expected to believe in Jesus and God even if God has never revealed himself to that person. It seems more fair that people were able to see a man walk on water with the ability to make a blind man see again. These people have no excuse not to believe in this man's teachings.
I live my life wanting and waiting for the opportunity to believe, and someday I'm confident God will reveal himself to me when he chooses, but until then I can't truly feel passionate about my faith. On another note Pastor Eric stands up in front of us every week to enlighten us. If he didn't believe in what he was teaching, I don't think he would be giving his sermons. This helps me believe that there must be more than just a book, he must feel the presence of God in his heart and soul. Looking at some in the congregation and talking with them, I can see that they truly believe more than just a book, they fell something as well. Eric am I right?
Lastly, if you look at the church and religion over the past 100 years in America I think you would see a decline in attendance numbers and a rise in the average age in the congregation. I think that the church is going to be treading dangerous waters if God doesn't reveal himself to us sometime in the near future. I will always believe in God, but as science makes more advances the reality of the bible and its contents seems more hokey. I just pray that God reveals himself to the world before it's too late.
Where does the church start? We talk a great deal about hospitality and in some ways practice it through some of our suppers and DVBS. Yet I think real hospitality comes from having one on one relationships with others than our extended family.We have been members for a number of years now and have been invited to one home. If it is difficult to be hospitable to members of the church, how much more is it difficult to be hospitable to those on the outside of the Body? Are we so concerned about our self image that we do not have the courage to step of our comfort zones for Jesus? Maybe its time to pray that "I" have such courage rather than praying that someone will be appointed by God to do so.
I would suggest that the person who left the 3rd comment pick up the book a case for faith. A non-believing journalist set out to disprove the existance of God & Jesus, and through his analysis came to the conclusion that Jesus was real and died on the Cross and became a believer. The book covers his transformation. I will be praying for you, that your purpose becomes clear. Also, please pray for yourself, that God will help you believe. Please feel free to ask your questions on this blog, and perhaps we can also help you in your journey.
Another to #3.
Maybe that book would be a good one, I don't know. I haven't read it. I do know that I know what you mean when you say you would like to feel God's presence in your life. I've always been a Christian but I wish I could have that feeling to reasure me that it's real too. Ideas and experience are two different things. I believe in God and Jesus totally, but I wish it felt more real sometimes. I guess that's where faith has to kick in.
For a rational perspective, I guess I can understand how you might question things for which you do not have scientific proof, however, most all of life is based on faith in some form or other without proof. I have no real understanding of internal combustion engines, but I have faith that when I turn on the switch the car will start & take me where I want to go...providing of course that it is in good working order.
From Ezekiel that talked about "chariots (something someone can ride in) that moved like the whirlwind" it was not understood that man could possibly travel into space that fast & survive...but with space shuttles that is now possible. Just because we did not understand the concept did not make it untrue.
If we truly believe (and I do) that the Bible is the inspired word of God then it is to our credit, advantage, etc. that we
accept and believe this based solely on faith...without trying to dissect each little detail to scrutiny. That is not to say we should not try to understand, I think God would like for us to understand and be able to explain to others our beliefs.
He does tell us though that now "we see through a mirror darkly but someday these mysteries will be revealed to us" (not an exact quote) and I eagerly anticipate that day. In God's wisdom I think there are things that we will not "understand" in this life.
We do need to remember we are his "children" and just as we tell our small children not to touch a hot stove because we understand the potential danger I think he realizes that our minds are too small to fully understand some of his "mysteries"
Maybe I've also been very blessed to have had several incidents in my life that really confirm to me that "someone is watching out for me" or I could have experienced great harm. Sometimes we do need to look very closely at what has happened and become humble enough to realize that it is not our "smarts" or "good luck" that took us through some tough times, but only with the help of God could he have brought us through to a good ending. "Count your many blessings and it will surprise you what the Lord has done" is a favorite hymn for me and many others. Sure, there have been hard times when I didn't feel very cheerful, however, Counting my MANY blessings sure does help!!!
My prayer is that this does not discourage you in any way but maybe will help you understand how some of us feel. God Bless you.
Post a Comment