December
The Best of Gifts, by Cindy Hess Kasper
Please click on site below for devotional:
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2009/12/01/devotion.aspx
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November 21, 2009
What the Church Can Mean to the World
With the arrival of Advent, we are reminded of the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The deeply moving story of Elizabeth and Zacharias, Mary and Joseph, the Baby Jesus, and all the surrounding events and people captivates our minds as it has for centuries. Mark Lowry's beautiful Mary Did You Know? excites our imagination further and all of the contemporary and traditional music of Christmas blesses us as no other can.
The coming of Jesus (the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1:14) and the establishment of the church opened countless links between God and man. Not wealthy at first, the church had a myriad of gifts that brought healing and new life to the world. In what appears on the surface a simple story in Acts 3 Peter and John demonstrate the profundity of God's gifts to the world through His people. When a man lame from birth saw them at the temple called Beautiful, looked up to Peter and John and asked for alms, Peter then made a statement that echoes through the centuries, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." Acts 3:6
The gift of healing was just the beginning. The gift of Christ himself was the greatest of all. Through the Apostles and other disciples the early church was the channel for gifts of fellowship, service, evangelism, and much more. Now, in the early 21st century those gifts are still alive and available to all in the body of Christ and all that it touches. May this Christmas season embolden us to share the Reason for the Season!
Thomas R. Peake
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September 10, 2009
“Whoa!” Where did summer go? Most kids are back in school; mom is ‘maybe’ catching a break maybe. This whole scenario brings to mind a phrase I recently read.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today… well today is a gift from God. That is why we call it the present.”
As we enter the new month, be sure we are renewed: mind, body and soul by God himself. What was, “Yesterday” could be an element to learn from. We can put forth a plan for “Tomorrow.” But God has given us “Today” to live. A present - delivered to us from God himself and when opened properly, that is to say, opened by God instructions - puts forth an environment of Love, Joy and Prosperity that only the living and true God can.
As we assess the world today, we may be come concerned. However, God has commanded: “Be careful (i.e. anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6) God is in control. He made this universe, he made you and me, and he made everything else. Don’t worry, be happy! God has heard our prayers. “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24)
Let God’s people shout. I’m convinced that as the world spirals down, the Kingdom of God soars. Accept God’s present. Today let us unite in the word, the spirit, and the truth of our Lord Christ Jesus.
Talk to you next month. God Bless.
Jim Swoager
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August 2009
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
There is a return on every investment, isn’t there? Sin is no exception. Adam and Eve knew the wages of sin – death. So do we. Now, as then, Satan is trying to convince us that a “loving and gracious God” surely would not put his own creation to death. But God is not only loving and gracious, but he is also just. He doesn’t lie. He has informed all, and he has kept his word.
Despite the historical evidence of the consequences of iniquity, the world continues to violate the laws of God and dares to ask why. Why are children abused? Why do teens take their own lives? Why are there poor and hungry, desolate and lonely? Why…why, why? It is simple: we have abandoned the ways of God.
Greed, I believe, has led us down this ugly path of destruction and death. God’s Word says in I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Today’s worldly consensus (which is not new) is “Me first! Others (if at all) later!” It has produced greedy politicians, greedy executives, greedy leaders have produced greedy, self-centered people who defy God’s commands. In the long run, even their seemingly good actions and comments are often revealed to be selfishness in disguise.
As the new month begins, let us return to the word of God, the principles of God and the ways of God.” Let us open our Bibles and read; fall on our knees and pray that our eyes may see, our ears may hear and our hearts opened to the truth of Christ. Personally receive the gift of God, make others aware of this gift, as a creation in the image of God. Shout to the world “Awake! The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
James Swoager
August 2009
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July 3, 2009 A Time to Turn to God in Behalf of Our Country"
Once again, the greatest of all our patriotic holidays is upon us. The 233rd Independence Day (4th of July) comes in the midst of global and domestic crises from economic recession to violence and political unrest. The Iranian government is clamping down viciously upon dissidents there. North Korea under Kim Joon Il is flexing its muscles in a pretentious and arrogant displays of its rockets and bombs. Countless people are putting their own unerstanding and desires above those of our God.
Courage and defiance of tyranny have always marked the American spirit and, no doubt, will continue to be a quintessential part of our memories and celebrations. The 4th of July, in that sense, will be little different from other Independence Days. We still recall and celebrate Patrick Henry's courgeous "Give me liberty or give me death!"
But it seems more compelling than ever that we hear the Old Testament voice of God that is echoed a hundredfold in the New: "If my people who are called by name shallchumble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from their heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land." II Chronicles 7: 14 June 10, 2009
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Room For All
In the great hymn There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy by Frederick Faber and Lizzie Tourjee, that broad mercy is compared to “the wideness of the sea.” In Ira F. Stanphill’s Room at the Cross for You the grace of God is said to be as deep as a fountain, as wide as the sea.
Jesus himself used a powerful inclusive image in John 14 when He noted that his Father’s house had many mansions (some translations say ‘many rooms.’) Indeed, the overwhelming message in both the Old and New Testaments is that God’s love and mercy are boundless. A few years ago, a man who had fallen on bad times – jobless, addicted to drugs, and unable to function normally – dropped in to see a minister as part of his three-front attack on his devastating problems. He was seeing a medical doctor, a counselor, and now wanted the advice of someone with knowledge of spiritual matters. The minister he visited reports that the man asked him a question that had haunted him for years: “Pastor, be honest. Is there room for a person like me in a church like yours?”
Perhaps we should all ask ourselves that same question. Do we welcome every person who seeks to know about God? The answer of Scripture is a resounding “Yes!” John 3:16 knows no boundaries other than ’whosoever believeth in Him’. We can see the astounding results of Peter’s inclusive Pentacost sermon in the fact that some 3,000 people (Acts 2:41) were added to the church on that very day. Peter said near the end of his message “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.” A few verses later, furthermore, the ongoing witness of the early Christians won many more to Christ. As Luke expresses it “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)
Our historical model from the Scriptures is clearly inclusiveness. And the boundless love of God reinforces our calling to reach out to everyone. Back to Room at the Cross for a moment where we find these words “though millions have come, there’s still room for one; yes, there’s room at the cross for YOU.”
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May 12, 2009.
Just Do It!
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16
I am sure that all devoted Christians would be happy to do good deeds that would cause others to glorify God. But sometimes there are obstacles, some of which are common to all of our lives. One of these is fear. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, even fear of looking obstentatious or showy. In parts of the world where religion is an object of persecution, some even fear bodily harm.
Jesus tells us in the passage from which the above cited verse is taken, that if we actually do good deeds for the Father's Kingdom, we will be blessed. That is to say, we will have a special kind of happiness or internal joy. When we are persecuted, we are told, God will reward us greatly in Heaven (v.11). Nor will we ever really fail or need to fear rejection.
The key is staying focused on who we are as God's children. Jesus says in this passage, linked to the Beatitudes, that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, even a city that is set on a hill. God uses us to make His truth known to the world. So if we keep our focus on glorifying God, our good deeds will be indeed blessed and influential
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