Pastor's Weekly Musing
Hey everyone!
If you're a believer, you know that the Christian walk is marked by sinking deeper into, learning more of, relaxing in, realizing more of, and understanding all about the grace of God -- how God, in His kindness and love for us, showers us with undeserved favor and goodness. Our daily Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance, community building, all of it is a task in reminding ourselves of the love of God we have in Christ -- unmerited, undeserved love.
It's all about the grace of God. You've heard it repeatedly: we are saved "by grace through faith."
By grace through faith. I've read that somewhere before...
Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
By grace through faith. God is the primary actor here, the active agent, the one making it happen. In His lovingkindness, He moves toward us, loves us, died for us, woos us, pursues us, forgives us, washes us, redeems us. All because He loves us.
By grace through faith. So, an obvious question: what does the faith part look like for us?
Is it simply believing in His goodness and grace? Well, yeah. But so much more. When it comes to your faith, God wants you to focus on growing, sowing, and going. Let's look at each.
1- GROW in faith
The Bible says in Colossians 2:7: "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." (NLT)
God wants us not to stay spiritual babies, but to grow until His return. This, of course, will look different for us all, since we're all in different areas of our journey. But like any good parent, God wants us to be thinking about our next step, our next level of development, our next area to grow.
Portia and I have three kids: one in college, one in High School, and one in Jr. High. We're enjoying each of them uniquely in their specific area of life currently. But we're also encouraging them to think about what the next phase of their life will be, to plan accordingly, to shoot for something. If our Jr. Higher got comfy with Jr. High and wanted to stay there indefinitely, we'd have to have a talk.
It's the same with us in our faith. God wants us to enjoy the season we're in, to be thankful for the progress we've made, to be content with what God has given us, but He also wants us to grow in our faith, to be seeking Him for the next area He'd like us to pursue.
Ask Him: "Lord, how can I grow in my faith today?"
2- SOW in faith
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:16, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." (NIV)
This is the law of sowing and reaping, and it's true in every area of life. If you sow criticism, you're going to reap criticism. If you sow love, you'll reap love. If you sow kindness, you will reap kindness. If you've lived long enough, you've experienced this first-hand.
You always reap more than you sow. When you plant one corn kernel in the ground, you don't get one kernel back. You get a whole stalk. You always get back more--positive or negative--of what you put out in life.
God wants us to sow in faith! You may not get immediate results or fruit from sowing in kindness, or sowing in generosity, or sowing in love: but sowing in faith means doing it anyway, knowing that you'll receive a harvest.
Ask God: "How can I sow in faith today?"
3- GO in faith
Hebrews 11:8 says, "It was by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go." (NCV)
Would you do that? Abraham was in his retirement phase, just about to hang it up and settle down. Then God said, "No, dust yourself off, and get ready for the greatest journey of your life." When you live by faith, it involves going, often to places you were never planning to go.
Doesn't doing that take faith? Yes, lots of faith! I'd rather bunker down and run out the clock. I'd rather stay put, and stick to what I know. But God often will prod us into moving forward in faith: moving toward healing a relationship, or moving toward a ministry, or moving toward a change that is scary, but good.
God loves when we take that step in faith. He always meets us there, ready to equip, to guide, to work things for our good. Always.
Ask God: "Where can I go in faith today?"
By grace through faith. It's all about his unmerited love for us in Christ, all about His grace. And we respond in faith: growing, sowing, and going in it.
Amen?
If you're a believer, you know that the Christian walk is marked by sinking deeper into, learning more of, relaxing in, realizing more of, and understanding all about the grace of God -- how God, in His kindness and love for us, showers us with undeserved favor and goodness. Our daily Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance, community building, all of it is a task in reminding ourselves of the love of God we have in Christ -- unmerited, undeserved love.
It's all about the grace of God. You've heard it repeatedly: we are saved "by grace through faith."
By grace through faith. I've read that somewhere before...
Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
By grace through faith. God is the primary actor here, the active agent, the one making it happen. In His lovingkindness, He moves toward us, loves us, died for us, woos us, pursues us, forgives us, washes us, redeems us. All because He loves us.
By grace through faith. So, an obvious question: what does the faith part look like for us?
Is it simply believing in His goodness and grace? Well, yeah. But so much more. When it comes to your faith, God wants you to focus on growing, sowing, and going. Let's look at each.
1- GROW in faith
The Bible says in Colossians 2:7: "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." (NLT)
God wants us not to stay spiritual babies, but to grow until His return. This, of course, will look different for us all, since we're all in different areas of our journey. But like any good parent, God wants us to be thinking about our next step, our next level of development, our next area to grow.
Portia and I have three kids: one in college, one in High School, and one in Jr. High. We're enjoying each of them uniquely in their specific area of life currently. But we're also encouraging them to think about what the next phase of their life will be, to plan accordingly, to shoot for something. If our Jr. Higher got comfy with Jr. High and wanted to stay there indefinitely, we'd have to have a talk.
It's the same with us in our faith. God wants us to enjoy the season we're in, to be thankful for the progress we've made, to be content with what God has given us, but He also wants us to grow in our faith, to be seeking Him for the next area He'd like us to pursue.
Ask Him: "Lord, how can I grow in my faith today?"
2- SOW in faith
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:16, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." (NIV)
This is the law of sowing and reaping, and it's true in every area of life. If you sow criticism, you're going to reap criticism. If you sow love, you'll reap love. If you sow kindness, you will reap kindness. If you've lived long enough, you've experienced this first-hand.
You always reap more than you sow. When you plant one corn kernel in the ground, you don't get one kernel back. You get a whole stalk. You always get back more--positive or negative--of what you put out in life.
God wants us to sow in faith! You may not get immediate results or fruit from sowing in kindness, or sowing in generosity, or sowing in love: but sowing in faith means doing it anyway, knowing that you'll receive a harvest.
Ask God: "How can I sow in faith today?"
3- GO in faith
Hebrews 11:8 says, "It was by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go." (NCV)
Would you do that? Abraham was in his retirement phase, just about to hang it up and settle down. Then God said, "No, dust yourself off, and get ready for the greatest journey of your life." When you live by faith, it involves going, often to places you were never planning to go.
Doesn't doing that take faith? Yes, lots of faith! I'd rather bunker down and run out the clock. I'd rather stay put, and stick to what I know. But God often will prod us into moving forward in faith: moving toward healing a relationship, or moving toward a ministry, or moving toward a change that is scary, but good.
God loves when we take that step in faith. He always meets us there, ready to equip, to guide, to work things for our good. Always.
Ask God: "Where can I go in faith today?"
By grace through faith. It's all about his unmerited love for us in Christ, all about His grace. And we respond in faith: growing, sowing, and going in it.
Amen?
_______________________________________________
Our weekly schedule is back in action. Every week at Meadows:
- Mondays at 10 AM: Prayer Meeting
- Wednesdays at 7 PM: Youth Group AND Adult Bible Study (no kids church)
- Mondays at 10 AM: Prayer Meeting
- Wednesdays at 7 PM: Youth Group AND Adult Bible Study (no kids church)
_______________________________________________
This Sunday, we'll start a brand new series: Q & A - Questions Jesus Asked.
Sometimes a good question can hit home, right? It can cause us to look deep inside, into areas we never even knew we had. It can cause us to think in ways that we never thought we could. It could send us reeling, make us question ourselves, and even get us to see something that seemed impossible before.
Jesus was a master at this. He asked some insightful questions to His followers, questions that caused them to see things completely differently, and made them grow in ways they never knew they were capable.
For the next two months, leading up to Easter, we'll tackle a new question that Jesus asked each week, and see what God has for us in them.
This Sunday, we'll look at John chapter 1, when John the Baptist told some of his disciples that Jesus was the real deal, that they should be following him. When they started poking around Jesus' life, He stopped them right in their tracks and asked them a question that they may not have even thought about at such a deep level. It set them up to be life-long followers of Jesus.
Join us this Sunday for Part 1 - "What are you looking for?"
Click HERE to register for this Sunday, and you can click HERE to get connected to our Sunday service online.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on the walkway and the rest of you in the YouTube comments!
Pastor Ronnie
Sometimes a good question can hit home, right? It can cause us to look deep inside, into areas we never even knew we had. It can cause us to think in ways that we never thought we could. It could send us reeling, make us question ourselves, and even get us to see something that seemed impossible before.
Jesus was a master at this. He asked some insightful questions to His followers, questions that caused them to see things completely differently, and made them grow in ways they never knew they were capable.
For the next two months, leading up to Easter, we'll tackle a new question that Jesus asked each week, and see what God has for us in them.
This Sunday, we'll look at John chapter 1, when John the Baptist told some of his disciples that Jesus was the real deal, that they should be following him. When they started poking around Jesus' life, He stopped them right in their tracks and asked them a question that they may not have even thought about at such a deep level. It set them up to be life-long followers of Jesus.
Join us this Sunday for Part 1 - "What are you looking for?"
Click HERE to register for this Sunday, and you can click HERE to get connected to our Sunday service online.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on the walkway and the rest of you in the YouTube comments!
Pastor Ronnie
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