There he was. Down in the river called Jordan. Stringy hair, wooly beard, and hairy. Hair everywhere. He was known mostly as The Washer. It seemed like his eyes were staring at you no matter which direction he was looking. Common folk were drawn to him, religious leaders were conspiring against him, and the King was fuming. He wasn’t actually yelling, but you could hear every word as if he was…”Turn, turn to God. His kingdom is here.” It caught everyone off guard when all of a sudden he fell silent and his gaze turned away from the people and to the lone figure walking down the bank toward the water’s edge. It was as if the air itself stopped moving to pay homage to the one approaching The Washer. The crowd made room as the wild man gently lowered the man into the water and then raised him up. With water streaming down both of them, the clouds parted and a dove maybe, or wind, or maybe just our imagination, but something or someone it seemed had come from the heavens and covered the man who had just been washed. The voice we heard next could not be missed, “This is my son, I am pleased with him.” Then The Washer went one way and the man went another. The Washer kept pointing people toward the one he kept calling the lamb.
What do you think about Baptism? Share your thoughts.
Crisis, lowest since, hard times, bailout, job loss, bankruptcy, fear, recession…depression! These are the words that we hear while we listen to the news. And as we look at our personal account balance it might be what comes to mind as well. As I listen to God’s voice in the scriptures I hear another story…food, blessing, open floodgates (in a good way), delightful land (see Malachi 3). It’s not that God is living in a fantasy land either, these words of hope are found in the context of judgment, poverty, perverted justice, bondage, corruption, and in a landscape that sounds like the one we hear on cable news. In the midst of fear and depression God springs into the scene with HOPE! The challenge is that we are called by God to trust him. One of the central ways we show that our trust is real is the way we use our money. It sounds old fashioned, but giving our tithes and offerings to God first is an act of trust. And God promises to bring blessing into our lives when we do. That’s been my real life experience.
The message, “Vision Brings Hope,” is so much easier to talk about than to actually live out. (Read Matthew 16:21-23, especially Jesus’ words to have the things of God in mind). Imagine the disciples trying to get their minds around the what Jesus was saying to them about his pending suffering and death? I am sure the disciples, and Peter as well, desired to follow Jesus and to know and see what he did. How difficult it is for us to have the mind of Christ when there are so many voices around us. May we seek the things of God with a heart and mind that is wrapped up in Jesus.
What did you hear God saying to you? Do you have a personal mission statement? Share it?
Have you ever received an awesome gift, but when you opened the box you discovered it needed to be assembled? My marriage is like that. It’s an awesome gift, and yet I have to put in hard work to get it to work. My experience has been that without help and some instruction it can end up pretty rocky at times. There is hope though.
On Sunday, February 8th, I will be starting a message series called “Hope for Marriage.” God cares about your marriage. If you have great marriage it can get better. If you think your marriage is over, don’t give up! It’s not too late.
Join me in signing up for the 7 day love challenge. Couples during the week of Feb. 7-14, 2009 will choose to commit to show their love for one another in ordinary, and extraordinary ways. Each day a simple challenge by email will be sent to couples in hopes that they will take it on and see a new spark start within their relationship, or will continue to fan the flame that is already burning. Here is the link: 7daylovechallenge.com. If you sign up you can win a free weekend getaway at Skamania Lodge!
“But mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19
It is in the quiet that we are able to ask ourselves questions that can change our future. Leonard Sweet in his book, SoulSalsa, suggests these questions in times of quiet: Am I doing what God is calling me to do? Is my life pleasing to God? Am I a change-the-world-person? Could it be that we keep ourselves busy and surrounded by noise because we are afraid of asking the kinds of questions that connect our past with our future. How have I lived my life so far? And, how will I live from this day on?
This week I challenged myself and the people gathered at our Sunday service to create a quiet time each day for the next seven days. During that quiet time do nothing but ponder and ask honest questions about your life and where it is going. Share what you discover.
Thanks to everyone who put their faith in action this past Sunday! What a great day of loving Jesus and loving people. While most were out in our community serving in various ways, some of the younger kids were on a project of their own. They were learning about Psalm 90:17, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the work of our hands.” They created a poster with the verse written out and the kids put their hand prints all around in a variety of colors.
Our prayer has been all along that while we were serving in our community God’s hand would be experienced by all. Tell us your story. How have you experienced God working through you as you put your faith in action?
What we might see as too small and insignificant to matter, God sees as something he wants to use to accomplish his purpose. Or maybe you feel to small and insignificant to make a difference. Have you felt that way? Perfect! That is exactly what God wants because he uses small things to do big stuff. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
What if we ALL did small things? Imagine. Mother Theresa said, “In this life we can not do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
Do you believe that God is at work around you? If so, in what ways do you see Him moving? What is something you think God is calling you to join Him in doing?
Jeremiah, the prophet, called people to move beyond being religious in word only to practice a religion that impacted daily life. It was a call to a relational religion; caring for the fatherless, widows, and the alien (see Jeremiah 7). It matters how we treat people; not just people who are like us, but different than us. For Jeremiah true religion is not living saying we are religious, but living relationally true to the heart of God (see Psalm 68:5-6). Do I live saying I am religious or live in relationship to God and others lined up with His heart?
What do you think? What do you know about God’s heart?
And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? Esther 4:14. I wonder how amazing it would be if we would live our lives believing that we too are where we are for such a time as this. Am I willing to give my life for a great purpose rather than to live each day for myself? May I pass on great purpose to my kids and family as well.
