The Sunday night group this evening was particularly pivotal for me. I've been hearing David and Rick referring to the "story", however, this has been a difficult word for me to swallow conceptually probably because I read a lot and often relate books to stories. However, tonight the "story" finally clicked as we discussed the story of Joshua when God would send his people out to bring down the walls of Jericho. They were told to tell each other the story of Gods faithfulness; how God had brought them out of Egypt and had provided everything they needed. It finally struck me how important it is for we, as Gods people today, to revisit the stories of what God has done, not only in ancient times, but how he is working today. . And how it is remarkably all connected because it is all orchestrated by our loving God. I often forget this in the midst of the battle. Thank you for revisiting the story until it finally clicked!
Today I was thinking about how our culture views Christiandom as a whole . What kind of behavior, activities and culture does our city expect from people who bear the name Christian and who profess faith in the gospel? Have Christians become known for their subculture (Xian stores, movies, schools, toothpaste, etc), the protesting Moral Majority and simple irrelevance to the key issues? Is this what we have "adorned" our profession of faith with in the eyes of our culture? This tells me that part of the task of the church, our call, is to "re-adorn" the gospel. What this means is that a whole new set of ideas, opinions and perspectives needs to come to mind when someone mentions the fast that they are a follower of Jesus to someone who is not in our city. So what does a Christian community that properly adorns the gospel look like? Simply put it is a community that intentionally loves God and loves their neighbor. IT is a community that is learning to consider the needs of others, our neighbors, as more important than our own. It is a community that reflects the grace we profess and demonstrates the love we've come to know in Jesus. Here is the seed bed of a gospel movement. We will begin to recognize that the gospel is moving in the city when the city begins to "know us by our love," when the gospel begins to be "re-adorned" in the thoughts and expectations of those around us. May the Lord grant us all the grace to live lives "worthy of the gospel."
2 Kings 6:14-17 So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Ah, my lord, what will we do now?" he cried out to Elisha. "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
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The Sunday night group this evening was particularly pivotal for me. I've been hearing David and Rick referring to the "story", however, this has been a difficult word for me to swallow conceptually probably because I read a lot and often relate books to stories. However, tonight the "story" finally clicked as we discussed the story of Joshua when God would send his people out to bring down the walls of Jericho. They were told to tell each other the story of Gods faithfulness; how God had brought them out of Egypt and had provided everything they needed. It finally struck me how important it is for we, as Gods people today, to revisit the stories of what God has done, not only in ancient times, but how he is working today. . And how it is remarkably all connected because it is all orchestrated by our loving God. I often forget this in the midst of the battle. Thank you for revisiting the story until it finally clicked!
Today I was thinking about how our culture views Christiandom as a whole . What kind of behavior, activities and culture does our city expect from people who bear the name Christian and who profess faith in the gospel? Have Christians become known for their subculture (Xian stores, movies, schools, toothpaste, etc), the protesting Moral Majority and simple irrelevance to the key issues? Is this what we have "adorned" our profession of faith with in the eyes of our culture?
This tells me that part of the task of the church, our call, is to "re-adorn" the gospel. What this means is that a whole new set of ideas, opinions and perspectives needs to come to mind when someone mentions the fast that they are a follower of Jesus to someone who is not in our city.
So what does a Christian community that properly adorns the gospel look like? Simply put it is a community that intentionally loves God and loves their neighbor. IT is a community that is learning to consider the needs of others, our neighbors, as more important than our own. It is a community that reflects the grace we profess and demonstrates the love we've come to know in Jesus.
Here is the seed bed of a gospel movement. We will begin to recognize that the gospel is moving in the city when the city begins to "know us by our love," when the gospel begins to be "re-adorned" in the thoughts and expectations of those around us. May the Lord grant us all the grace to live lives "worthy of the gospel."
2 Kings 6:14-17 So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Ah, my lord, what will we do now?" he cried out to Elisha. "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
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