SUMMER ON THE HORIZON
I appeal to you to remember God’s church this summer. You’ve heard the plea before. “The church still has to pay the bills even when you are on vacation!” As necessary as bill paying is, what concerns me more is how close we stay to the fount that gives us the living water of life. We need God. We need one another. We need the living water, especially when our tanks may be running dry. Stay close to the church this summer and to the people who are the church. Reach out and bring a friend to church. Introduce someone else to God again or for the first time. You may not know the difference you’ve made, but that person will. Share a lunch or a walk, smell the roses, drink the living water, serve others. You’ll be glad you did.
Happy summer! I’ll see you at the church house!
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace, (Num. 6:24-6)
Lucia
Friday, June 06, 2008
A Word from Your Pastor
FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
Never has there been a time when we need prayer more than now. Scripture, in fact, identifies our continual need to pray and in the 17th chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus gives us another model for prayer. His first model was the Lord’s Prayer. This second model teaches us how to live a life of prayer. First, Jesus petitions God to glorify Him. He knows that a life of prayer must begin by looking within. In a prior teaching moment, Jesus says, “Remove the log from your own eye before you worry about the speck in another’s!” First, we must look within in order to give God glory from the inside out. Secondly, Jesus prays to God on behalf of others: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Jesus goes to God on our behalf! This is the outward focus of prayer. We ask for help for others. By turning to God in prayer, we honestly lay who we are at Jesus’ feet and then pray for others. Thirdly, Jesus prays for unity. “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Our unity in Christ is the starting point for making the world a better place. Together, we do make a difference—you and I together in Christ. As we move toward summer, may we remember: pray without ceasing; give God the glory; intercede for others; pray for unity, and then get busy living for God and loving one another!
Love in Christ, always,
Lucia
Never has there been a time when we need prayer more than now. Scripture, in fact, identifies our continual need to pray and in the 17th chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus gives us another model for prayer. His first model was the Lord’s Prayer. This second model teaches us how to live a life of prayer. First, Jesus petitions God to glorify Him. He knows that a life of prayer must begin by looking within. In a prior teaching moment, Jesus says, “Remove the log from your own eye before you worry about the speck in another’s!” First, we must look within in order to give God glory from the inside out. Secondly, Jesus prays to God on behalf of others: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” Jesus goes to God on our behalf! This is the outward focus of prayer. We ask for help for others. By turning to God in prayer, we honestly lay who we are at Jesus’ feet and then pray for others. Thirdly, Jesus prays for unity. “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Our unity in Christ is the starting point for making the world a better place. Together, we do make a difference—you and I together in Christ. As we move toward summer, may we remember: pray without ceasing; give God the glory; intercede for others; pray for unity, and then get busy living for God and loving one another!
Love in Christ, always,
Lucia
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