Advent: A Time of Preparation

Scripture:

Matthew 24:36-44"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

37-39"The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah's. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.

39-44"The Son of Man's Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.

Observation:

In this passage, Jesus is describing for his disciples what the second coming will be like. He is warning them that there are a great many people who will claim to know the date and time but no one does except for the Father. He is also urging them to stay vigilant and prepared for the time. You don't know when, but you do know that it is going to happen and here he is warning them and us to stay prepared.

Application:

As we enter into this time of Advent (a time of preparation for the birth of Christ), Christians should also be taking inventory of our lives and asking the question are we ready for the second coming of Christ. We don't know when it is and that not knowing leads to complacent living. It's not something we think about on a day to day basis. We go on with our lives and give very little thought to the Words of Christ.

So, this morning I am writing on my bathroom mirror in dry erase marker the following question: "What if Christ came back today, would I be ready?" By reminding myself of that question, I hope to become more aware of what I do, how I do it, and to make sure it brings glory to Christ.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help me to live life to the fullest for your glory. All to often we get so self centered on what is best for us and we begin to make decisions and that are not the ones you would have us to make. We begin living our lives for ourselves and not for you. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon and give us the stength, passion and desire to be prepared for your return. In Christ. Amen

Evangelism

Tuesday night at The Bridge Bible Study (we call it a "Bridge Group"), I challenged the members of the group to pray a prayer every morning. I told them to pray that God would put someone in their path who they could talk to; witness to; share with; or pray with. I also told them they would be amazed at the people who would be placed on their path.

The next night, we had our first community event at a local coffeeshop. The coffeehouse is normally closed on Wednesday nights because the owner is a pastor at a small Baptist church, but he agreed to keep it open so we could have our event. His employee even placed a sign on the door that stated they were "Closed Due to a Private Party". When I noticed the sign, I asked the employee to take it down because "you never know who may just wander in" and she obliged my request.

As we began the presentation on the new church, a gentleman walks in and is greeted by one of our core team. He is polite but states he is not there for our meeting and just wanted a cup of coffee. Our Core Team Member was very gracious to him and invited him in. He sat right behind the screen and was approximately 6 feet from where I was speaking. I gave my testimony and told how I was raised in church, but there came a time when I kicked God out of my life completely. I wanted to do life on my on and from a worldly perspective, I did very well and yet I was completely empty inside. I continued to tell how the only way that I found to fill the hole in my life was to invite Christ back into it. All the time, this gentleman is sitting in the coffeehouse.

After the presentation, I was answering questions from the others who had come to the gathering in order to learn more about The Bridge and I noticed another one of our Core Team Members gathering some coffeecups that had the Bridge logo on them and were filled with candy and taking them to those who had come in (including the gentleman behind the screen). Our team member said, "We're a new church just starting in the area and we're glad you're here tonight. Everything you ordered is on the house, compliments of the Bridge and we also would like to give you this coffeemug." He politely slide the coffee mug back to the team member and said, "No thanks, I'm an Atheist." Our Core Team Member replied, "That's okay, we're still glad you're here and you can still have the coffee mug."

After everyone had left, the team member came and told our group what had happened and he said, "I prayed that prayer this morning and I didn't know God was going to place an Atheist in my path right off the bat!" Yet, one of his first experiences of sharing the grace of Christ was to an Atheist and he came away with all his fingers, toes, and no blood was spilled. As we aggressively reach out to people with the radical hospitality of Jesus Christ and as we sincerely pray that God will place people in our paths to share the Greatest Story Ever Told, we can expect to be reaching to those most people would not reach to. I believe with all my heart that there was a reason the Atheist was at a coffeehouse (that is normally closed) with a bunch of Jesus freaks! I believe that a seed was planted that night. We may never see the growth of that seed and it may not have been our seed that caused an openness of her heart to happen. It may take ten or twenty more seeds to be planted. Sometimes, we may be blessed to plant a seed, water it, nurture it and cultivate it as growth takes place and we can rejoice when that happens. However, there are going to be numerous occasions where we plant a seed and thats all we have the opportunity to do.

What Happens when we live God's Way?

Scripture: Galatians 5: 22-23But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Observation: Paul was writing this letter in an explanation of the faith to the church of Galatia. He was using these chapter to talk abou their individual lives and how to live in the faith. So many people today have a distorted view of what it means to live in faith. I have even known some people who believe if they go to church every Sunday, they are faithful people and yet the rest of the week is not taken into account. Paul goes on to talk about the freedom that is found in our faith. Not a freedom to do whatever we want to do, but a freedom from those things that keep distance between us and God. We are free from the sins of the world and they don't have control over us.

Application: The greatest gift that God gives us when we live God's way is true life itself. As we begin to follow the ways of God life explodes with affection for others and and excitement about life. Life truly is good even in the worst of times. Following God does not mean that there is not going to be tough times and that everything is going to be perfect from here own out, but it means that we are not alone and we will be given grace to help us through any situation. We become different people than we are today. We become someone who focuses on others more than ourselves. We become selfless instead of selfish. Its the most wonderful feeling in life. Try it, you'll like it.

Prayer; Most gracious God, you have changed my life in so many ways. Where I once was wandering aimlessly and living life solely for myself, you gave me direction and meaning. The things that I once thought were so important have lost their control on my life. I have found freedom and it is wonderful. I thank you for your love and grace and I thank you for your son who made all this possible, Jesus. It is in his name I pray...Amen

Scripture:

Mark 12:28-34 One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: "Which is most important of all the commandments?"
Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these."

The religion scholar said, "A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that's better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!"

When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, "You're almost there, right on the border of God's kingdom." After that, no one else dared ask a question.

Observation:

Let's cut to the chase...What is the greatest commandment. I want to make sure I do that one. In the Jewish faith, there are many, many commandments. So for this scholar to come and ask which one was the most important says this was a man who was cutting through all the other stuff to focus on what was most important. In life, there are so many things that have importance placed upon them and the church and religion is no different. Is it important to go to church every Sunday? Yes! But is it the most important? No or else Jesus would have answered "Go to church every Sunday" What has happened is that we have empowered church attendance and many other things with being Christian and that's way off base. I heard someone say,(just this morning) that sitting in a church makes me no more a Christian than sitting in my garage makes me a car. So what sets us apart as Christians? 2 things: Love God and Love our Neighbor.

Application:

Although these two things seem to be extremely easy, they are not! They are extremely hard. To love God with all your heart mind and soul means placing God before all else in our lives and that's not easy. We so often want to place even ourselves ahead of God. In order to place God first that means sacrifice and as humans sacrifice does not come naturally. It's something that we have to work at. There's an old saying that it's a lot easier to say than to do and that is certainly true in this case.

Loving others as we love ourselves is equally as hard because this is calling us to love even those we don't like very much. It calls us to love those who are not like us, who dress differently, who look different, talk different, live in a different way than we do. It's those people whom we want to critize and to judge, yet we are not called to critize and to judge...we are called to love them as much as we love ourselves. This is a prime example of Jesus calling his disciples way out of the box. Why are we called to do this? Because it is what Christ has done.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, what you have called us to do is extremely hard and difficult. To love you in a sacrificial way does not come naturally to me and it's something that I have to work at. I have a desire to put myself first always and to do what is best for me according to the ways of the world. However, what is best for me is your will and that is almost always contrary to the ways of the world. Help me to remember that you are desiring for me to become more Christlike and showing me the way to love in a way that leads to perfection. Yet, I can't do that without your grace. Please continue to pour it upon me as I struggle to become more like your Son and my Savior in Jesus Christ. Amen.