Sanctification is the process of God making us more like Jesus. Not only does that mean developing good things, it also means that some parts of us must be cut out. The Galatians were caught up in trying to earn their salvation by obedience. They weren’t sticking to the core of the gospel: that God works restoration in us through faith in Jesus, not through what we can do.
We've started a new series about bricks and rocks. When we hear God's word we receive bricks of truth to build in our lives on a foundation of rock by putting the truths into practice.
This past Saturday at Fireside Church we finished our series “How did we get into this mess?” by talking about ethics in our government.
We are quick to point out corruption in our government but we need to acknowledge that our political leaders are a reflection of the people, and moral issues we see in their leadership represent the morality of the people as a whole.
With governmental programs that give financial aid, childcare, healthcare, and other assistance, we can come to depend on our government to provide for us and solve our problems. But ultimately, the government will fail. Both of these points should encourage us to put our hope in God, not in our government, and remind us to pray for our political leaders (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2).
Just as with ethics in business (our discussion last week), change doesn’t happen from the top down. Lasting change comes from the bottom up and is a slow process. It starts with us as we learn to be like Jesus. Then, it spreads to those in relationship with us.
Our video mentioned William Wilberforce, who spent his life in British Parliament fighting to end slavery in the British Empire. In his case, he succeeded in affecting change because he worked to change the minds of ordinary people, who in turn elected members of Parliament who ultimately abolished both the slave trade and slavery itself.
When we encounter something we want to change, the most effective thing we can do is practice the change ourselves. We can do this by getting to know Jesus and letting him help us do the right thing. Need a place to start? We have six small things you can do this week.
This week at CREATE Fireside Community was the fifth session in our series “How Did We Get Into This Mess?” We’ve been working through a video series on morality and ethics, and this week’s topic was ethics in business.
Halloween might be the best night of the year to connect with neighbors. If you have kids, you have the permission to go door-to-door and introduce yourself to your neighbors. If you don’t have kids, many neighbors will come to you seeking sugary candy. Yet you can give them something much better – friendship.
The following is from http://undergroundchurches.org:
CREATE launches churches specifically designed to reach the lost, last and least. We believe Jesus is pursuing every person in every nook and cranny of society. Because we focus on niche communities of people, we have churches with names, locations, and domain names that some people may find unsettling. However, we are committed to go to the places that Jesus would go, eat with the people Jesus would eat with, and create church for the people farthest from the organized church. For now, some of these churches are only known about by the people who currently belong in these niche communities and our members.
We are an invading force of hope @reggiemcneal
The church doesn't need to be fixed to change the world. It needs to be sent.
Homeless invited to wedding feast
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Matthew 22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Paying Taxes to Caesar
Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
The Great Commandment
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Whose Son Is the Christ?
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’?
If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
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We have probably all heard God referred to as “our heavenly Father” countless times, and this week, in honor of Mother's Day, we looked into some of God's more motherly attributes.
Research shows that explaining to kids what they should do is much more effective than telling them what they shouldn’t do when it comes to modifying their behavior. And let’s face it; most of us are just big kids.
So let’s look at this verse through that filter. Rather than focusing our repentance on the things we shouldn’t do, what if we focused on the things we should do? Things turning around and loving our neighbor, turning around and being generous with the gifts we’ve been given, and turning around and seeking God’s kingdom instead of our own?
In Matthew 18:3 It says, "truly I tell you that unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Considering that I'm 10 years old, that must make me an expert.... right???
