Category: First Steps

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First Steps – August 6, 2018

This Monday morning, I invite you to pray this prayer with me:

“My God, every fiber of my being vibrates at the touch of your grace, because I have been given the privilege of being your child. What joy it is to receive this overwhelming gesture of love and mercy.  Lord, thank you for the high privilege you extend to me of entering into the life of Christ that invades my being with an acute sense of your closeness.  I can only respond with gratitude.

Yet, My Lord and God, how often I’m cold to you.  I forget to love and respond with graciousness.  This always leads to my own harm and something I regret.  Forgive me Lord!  Please set my life aflame so that my heart burns with your Spirit.  Help me to reflect your image this week so that when others observe me they see what you are doing inside of me.  It is then that I hope they are convinced of your love for them from what they witness in me.  Amen.”

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Matthew 13
  • Tuesday – Matthew 14
  • Wednesday – Matthew 15
  • Thursday – Matthew 16
  • ​Friday – Matthew 17

Please Pray for:

  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • ​Our nation and our leaders.
  • Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
  • ​Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • Upcoming activities and studies planned for this fall/winter.
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First Steps – July 30, 2018

When one is baptized they are commissioned to mission and mentoring.  It is also an entrance into a faith community.  Jesus invited disciples to be coworkers with him inside God’s Kingdom that He [Jesus] ushered in.  He promised to be with them as they work and serve.  It has been proven over and over, the best path is when the whole faith community of disciples, who are gathered around the feet of Jesus, teach others his way of life.  It is a corporate effort that yields effective ministry.  As people on the go, we should be imparting the message and life of the kingdom by starting disciple-making communities wherever we are and wherever our travels may take us.

The sign at the door says, “Welcome To The Neighborhood” and “What We Do—We Do Together.”

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Matthew 8
  • Tuesday – Matthew 9
  • Wednesday – Matthew 10
  • Thursday – Matthew 11
  • ​Friday – Matthew 12

Please Pray for:

  • ​Our nation and our leaders.
  • Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • ​Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • Upcoming activities and studies planned for this fall.
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First Steps – July 23, 2018

Last Monday, I asked you what does baptism mean?  However we define it, part of the definition is linked to mission.  Another part of baptism’s definition is a COMMITMENT to faith mentoring.  In the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20), Jesus said, “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  Therefore, “as we go” we teach, witnessing to our faith in our daily lives.

Jesus also used the words “obey everything.”  The real challenge is not merely helping new disciples to understand all the commands of Jesus, but helping them to put his teaching into practice.  The perennial challenge facing discipleship isn’t knowing what we should do; it is doing what we already know we should do. The challenge is obedience. It is about a way of life that is marked by joyful obedience, flowing from the heart of our new identity as children of God.

 

 

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – Matthew 3
  • Tuesday – Matthew 4
  • Wednesday – Matthew 5
  • Thursday – Matthew 6
  • ​Friday – Matthew 7

Please Pray for:

  • ​Our nation and our leaders.
  • Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • ​Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
  • Upcoming activities and studies planned for this fall.
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First Steps – July 16, 2018

What do you believe about baptism?  Baptism is a commitment to mission.  It does not make sense apart from the practice of evangelism, conversion to Jesus, initiation into the kingdom of God, and the life of discipleship.  When Jesus gave the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), he used the word “Go.” It is in the present continuous tense that could be translated, “As you are going… .” It doesn’t mean exclusively going overseas on long or short-term mission projects.  Nor does it mean staying to do the same kinds of projects with needy people at home. Rather, it implies that the business of making disciples is something that emerges organically as we go through everyday life and among the networks of relationships we make along the way.

This is what Jesus did. Wherever we might live, the mission field is on the doorstep of our everyday lives. For some of us, going where Jesus sends will mean leaving home and living with a doorstep that opens onto a very unfamiliar world.  But for all of us, going where Jesus sends means crossing the threshold as ordinary missionaries into the world around us that needs to hear the gospel.

 

 

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – 2 Corinthians 11
  • Tuesday – 2 Corinthians 12
  • Wednesday – 2 Corinthians 13
  • Thursday – Matthew 1
  • ​Friday – Matthew 2

Please Pray for:

  • ​Our nation and our leaders.
  • Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • ​Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
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First Steps – July 9, 2018

Someone once told me our gifts and spiritual abilities are not given to us fully developed. We must grow into our gifts.  When we receive the gifts, however, they already have all the power or energy to fulfill God’s purposes.  Yet, we must discover the nature and scope of our gifts.  We must grow into our gifts and allow them to fully develop by using them.  The more we use them, study them, talk about them, and even experiment with them, the more effective they are.  The key is for us to have the courage to use what God has already given us.  Even if it is uncomfortable or you think you can’t do it, use them.  Trust what God is doing in you and in the world.

This week’s reading:

  • Monday – 2 Corinthians 6
  • Tuesday – 2 Corinthians 7
  • Wednesday – 2 Corinthians 8
  • Thursday – 2 Corinthians 9
  • ​Friday – 2 Corinthians 10

Please Pray for:

  • ​Our nation and our leaders.
  • ​St. Paul Church family.​
  • Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • ​Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
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First Steps – July 2, 2018

This week’s First Steps comes with a task—The Fourth of July is about freedom – liberty. Yet, it’s something we take for granted.  So, make a list of 15 things you are grateful for, AND then give thanks to God for the freedom you have.  How fortunate we are to be living at a time like this and in a country like this.

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This week’s reading:

  • Monday – 2 Corinthians 1
  • Tuesday – 2 Corinthians 2
  • Wednesday – 2 Corinthians 3
  • Thursday – 2 Corinthians 4
  • ​Friday – 2 Corinthians 5

 

Please Pray for:

  • ​Our nation and our leaders.
  • ​St. Paul Church family.​
  • Those grieving the loss of loved ones.
  • Our families, homes, workplace, church, and community.
  • Ongoing Building Renovations, Modifications, and Phase 3: Construction of New Youth Building and rear parking.
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