Category: First Steps



Worship is our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who he is and what he has done. It is expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.

How we live either affirms or contradicts what we profess about God. Our daily life, not what we do on Sunday mornings, is the gospel message other people receive. For the next two weeks, begin each day with this thought in mind. What you do and say does make a difference.

 

This week’s reading:

• Monday – Revelation 1-4
• Tuesday – Revelation 5-9
• Wednesday – Revelation 10-14
• Thursday – Revelation 15-18
• Friday – Revelation 19-22

Please Pray for:

• Our Nation and Our Leaders
• Phase 2 (Renovation of Current Facilities)
• Phase 3 (Construction of New Youth Building)
• For all those still affected by the flu epidemic
• For all those suffering in silence

The Winter Olympics have just begun. I love the Olympics, winter or summer makes no difference—I’m a fan. I marvel at each country’s athletes who train their entire life for the hope and chance of a gold medal.  I always watch the Olympic games full of anxiety for all who compete.

Often, just before and during each Olympics, past medal winners are interviewed. We are all reminded of their journeys, struggles, and accomplishments.  This past week, I listened to Michelle Kwan’s interview. She is the most decorated U.S. skater with two Winter Olympic medals, five-time World Champion medals, and nine-time U.S. Champion medals. I remember watching her compete. She was the epitome of grace.

What I didn’t know was that in 1993 she competed in her first U.S. completion finishing sixth. She fell four times! For a skater, that is the worst. Interestingly enough, she could have quit, stopped, given up to pursue something else. However, she stayed the course; perfected her technique through discipline and hard work. As I listened to her interview, I thought of the value of spiritual disciplines. For the Christ-Follower, spiritual disciplines are the countless hours of faith practice yielding the nature of Christ inside the nature of the believer.

Don’t discount the countless times you practice your faith, even if you can’t see the effects of it. Like an Olympic athlete, practice makes perfect. Moment by moment, God is perfecting your nature so that it looks like the nature of Christ.

 

This week’s reading:
Monday – John 12-14
Tuesday – John 15-18
Wednesday – John 19-21
Thursday – 1 John 1-5
Friday – 2 John, 3 John
 

Please Pray for:
Our Nation and Our Leaders
Phase 2 (Renovation of Current Facilities)
Phase 3 (Construction of New Youth Building)
For all those affected by the flu epidemic

Romans 8 is my favorite chapter in the Bible. In different seasons of my life, this chapter has been personally meaningful. I marvel at God’s love for humanity and the constancy of Jesus’ intercession on our behalf. He, Jesus, is our High Priest. When I think my prayers are inchoate mutterings, how comforting it is to know that one can take my struggling gibberish and present it to the God of the universe.

Scottish theologian Alan Torrance wrote about Christ as our High Priest and the comfort he received at a dark time in his life.  In his book, Reclaiming the Continuing Priesthood of Christ, he wrote:

“In January 2008, my wife, Jane, died of cancer. She was the most wonderful Christian woman, wife, and mother. Watching her die in pain as the cancer spread throughout her body was hard, and seeing our children witness her gradual disintegration not only physically but mentally as the cancer spread through her brain was extremely hard. There were times when, in my grief, I really struggled to find the wherewithal to pray and, indeed, to know how to pray and what to pray for. In sum, I did not know how to pray as I ought.  In the depth of that valley the continuing priesthood of Christ became more relevant than I can begin to articulate—the fact that as I held Jane in my arms, the risen, ascended Priest of our confession was present by the Spirit interceding on our behalf meant that we could repose in his presence and know that communion that is the beginning and telos [end] of everything.”

What powerful words! In the end of it all, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  Thanks be to God.

This week’s reading:
Monday – 2 Peter 1-3; John 1
Tuesday – John 2-4
Wednesday – John 5, 6
Thursday – John 7, 8
Friday – John 9-11
 

Please Pray for:
Our Nation and Our Leaders
Phase 2 (Renovation of Current Facilities)
Phase 3 (Construction of New Youth Building)
For all those affected by the flu epidemic

On a recent retreat someone asked, “How does one stop bickering and complaining?”  Though the question was asked in the context of marriages, it really is a question about outlook or worldview.  For many, their vision is skewed or over-weighted towards what one doesn’t like in a person or in the world.  Unfortunately, over time, this develops into a pattern.  Anything done repetitively over a long period of time becomes one’s behavior.

To change that particular behavior, I have found it helpful to consider these steps:

1. Acknowledge the bickering or complaining. Don’t sugarcoat it. Own it. Realize that it is there.  If unsure if it is an issue, simply ask a close friend or spouse. They will know for they can see things about us that we often miss or dismiss.
2. Each day look for 10 things that are good and right, either in a spouse or in the world. This step seeks to stop the existing (negative) behavior while introducing an alternative (positive) behavior.
3. Whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for each of the things you see that are good and right. This step reinforces Step 2 and ties your faith to the new practice.
4. Finally, ask God to change your heart. Here, one trusts the work of God’s Spirit to create a heart to naturally look for the things that are good and right.

I don’t know if you struggle with complaining; but if you do, give these steps a try.

This week’s reading:
Monday – Hebrews 5-8
Tuesday – Hebrews 9-11
Wednesday – Hebrews 12, 13; Jude
Thursday – James 1-5
Friday – 1 Peter 1-5
 

Please Pray for:
Our Nation and Our Leaders
Phase 2 (Renovation of Current Facilities)
Phase 3 (Construction of New Youth Building)
For all those affected by the flu epidemic

 “It is only right with all the powers of our heart and mind, to praise you, Father, and your only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Dear Father, by your wondrous loving-kindness toward us, your servants, you gave up your Son.  Dear Jesus, you paid the debt of Adam for us to the Eternal Father by your blood poured forth in loving-kindness. You cleared away the darkness of sin by your magnificent and radiant resurrection. You broke the bonds of death and rose form the grave as a conqueror. You reconciled Heaven and earth. Our life had no hope of eternal happiness before you redeemed us. Your resurrection has washed away our sins, restored our innocence and brought us joy.  How inestimable is the tenderness of your love!

“We pray you, Lord, to preserve our servants in the peaceful enjoyment of this Easter happiness. We ask this thorough Jesus Christ Our Lord, who lives and reigns with God, The Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.  Amen”

Overcome with gratitude for sins forgiven, St. Gregory pinned this prayer.  How wonderful it is.

 

This week’s reading:
Monday – Colossians 1-4
Tuesday – 1 Timothy 1-4
Wednesday – 1 Timothy 5,6; Titus 1-3
Thursday – 2 Timothy 1-4
Friday – Philemon; Hebrews 1-4

Please Pray for:
For 2018 and all those who will grow in Christ this year
Our Nation and Leaders
Phase 2 (Renovation of Current Facilities)
Phase 3 (Construction of New Youth Building)

One of my desires is to have wisdom—to know what to do and when to do it.  Granted, some decisions we make are relativity insignificant because the answer is right in front of us. However, it is here – in those moments that major decisions, answers to multifaceted questions that will have lasting consequences – that I need wisdom the most.

St. Teresa of Avila was a Spanish nun who struggled with major decisions. Born into a dysfunctional family, early in her life she was very rebellious.  Eventually, she sought a life of discipline that lead her to a convent.  After a stroke which left her paralyzed for over 3 years, she came to the conclusion that prayer wasn’t just the words said but an act of love.  In loving others, she loved God.  In loving others, she served God. She constantly prayed for wisdom so that God would guide her decisions.

Pray for wisdom in all things.

One of her prayers was:
“Govern everything by your wisdom, O Lord, so that my soul may always be serving you in the way you will and not as I choose.  Let me die to myself so that I may serve you; let me live to you who is life itself. Amen”

This week’s reading:

Monday – Romans 9-12
Tuesday – Romans 13-16
Wednesday – Ephesians 1-4
Thursday – Ephesians 5, 6; Psalm 119:1-80
Friday – Philippians 1-4
Please Pray for:

For 2018 and all those who will grow in Christ this year
St Paul’s upcoming Marriage Retreat
Our Nation and Leaders
Safe travels for all on the Youth Ski Trip