When most people hear the word Revelation they think, "Oh no the world is coming to an end!" At Campfire Church last week, we talked about Revelation 8, pennies, and the difference we can make.
Ever watched one of those YouTube videos where someone is preoccupied with their phone and walks into a pole or falls into a fountain? (Hopefully you haven’t been that person, but if you have, thank you for entertaining us and helping us with this metaphor.) A lot can happen by not paying attention to what's around you, both to you and to others.
Lists are what make the world go ‘round! Well, for someone like me that’s pretty true. The truth is that lists can be awfully helpful when trying to accomplish something: a successful grocery shopping trip, a thorough spring house cleaning, and even our spiritual growth. I bet you didn’t see that one coming! However, when we’re lacking an important component from our list, we may feel frustrated or even held back from moving forward in our efforts.
Andrea Nelson walked us through 1 Peter 3 last Saturday at CREATE’s Fireside Church. She shared a little of her story and how she has been hurt by someone else even when has done the right thing. Sometimes doing the right thing doesn't give us immediate benefit but, as Peter addresses in this chapter, it can be a witness to those around us.
As we sat enjoying another glorious Minnesota spring night, we got to hear from Angela as she shared part of her story and what faith has to do with our relationship with God. It seems silly, but sometimes they don’t play out the way we would expect. With our first campfire of the year blazing and the s’mores speaking to us, we got to really turn over the idea of faith.
The church may be a place to go, but it is the people that truly make the church a church. But if we just stay inside our church what good does that do? If Jesus stayed in his tomb it would have been the logical conclusion, and a good story, but Jesus (and each of us) had more to do.
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless."
Titus 3:4-9
This past week at Fireside Church, Jason shared with us a portion of his story and a connection to one of our daily Bible readings. Our focus chapter this week was 1 Timothy 5. In the passage, Paul specifically addresses how the widows and elders of the church should be treated. Jason expanded on that to explore what it means to honor someone.
What does honor look like?
First of all, honor is valuing someone else above yourself. Love is honor and honor is love; they are connected.
Honor is manifested in different ways. Sometimes honor comes with position or title; think about military members, presidents, or elderly people.
There is a cultural aspect of honor too. Jason's family is Japanese, and he highlighted the great value that that culture places on their family and the elderly.
Have you ever traveled to a different country? One specific way to show honor people in another culture is to eat their food without complaining about it and to try to get to know their culture.
Just as there are different honor systems in different cultures, you honor people differently depending on who they are and your relationship with them. We honor others by listening and being attentive and by showing gratitude. Disciplining your child is honoring them by valuing their growth and learning.
Honor also looks like letting someone else serve you. When we try to do it on our own and don't let someone help us, we are essentially saying that we don't need them. Not accepting a gift dishonors the giver.
1 Timothy 5 talked about some ways honor was being misplaced, specifically with widows. The practice of dishonor can be transferred down from generation to generation too.
A Dirty Dime's Worth
How much is an dime worth? Does its value change if it is old, dirty, or abused? Granted, if you put it through one of those machines that flattens it and imprints it with a different design, it’s value will change. But you could throw it in the dirt or run over it with your car and it would still be worth 10 cents.
In the same way, a person’s value doesn’t change if he or she is old, dirty or abused. Value doesn't come from age, or what has happened in life.
Your challenge this week
When someone places you in a position to be considered above themselves, a natural response is to want to honor them in return. Is God asking you to do something specific this week to honor someone else? Go forth and do it.
This week Tonya did the talk on 1 Thessalonians 5. We learned about intoxication, which is anything that can overwhelm our minds and distract us from following God's commands. We are told to be lights in the darkness, and encouraged to not numb our minds with distractions.
This week we talked about Philippians 3 and ants. We compared life as an ant in an ant farm to ants in the wild, connecting that to a personal story and Philippians 3.
If you didn’t make it to this past Saturday’s Fireside Church, we read Philippians 2 together and discussed humility and pride.
A CREATE church community is like a playground, where we learn together, play together, stretch our abilities, and discover new things we didn't know we are able to do.
