Unity

20130527-130955.jpgBut grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-16, ESV)

We have been given gifts to use for the better of the world around us. They gifts are for the building up of the body of Christ, but the gifts are also for the spreading of the message of mercy and grace to all of the world. We are each given a gift to us and no be can do what God has created us for.

We need to work through our gifts until we have obtained unity n faith and knowledge of Jesus, so until we are all one and agreed on everything about Jesus, then we have not obtained all maturity. How do we get to that point?

We have to learn to accept each other as we are and allow God to be he change agent. We can not make people agree with us, we can not make them act a certain way. God will change all,of us if we allow Him to work in our lives.

Remember we are all one tribe, we all came from Adam and Eve, and we are all made by the same maker. We have to be united.

Hope

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5 ESV)

We are justified by faith. Not by anything we have done or not done or anything we have tried to stop someone else from doing.

You see the faith by which we are justified is a gift from God and we have access to this through Jesus. Jesus is how we are justifies by grace. See Ephesians 2:8-10, make sure you don’t leave off verse 10. Even though we are justified by faith through grace so we can not boast by our works that does not mean that we do not do works.

And these works will lead us to suffer because these works of love will be things that the world will not like and they will persecute you for doing these works. But maintaining through this suffering will lead to you growing in endurance and this endurance will shape you and build your character in the way God wanted you to be. This character will give you hope. And it is this hope in the grace and the faith of Jesus to give us this gift.

So strive to live in the hope that God has given you. Live in the faith that nothing you have done will get you in to heaven or keep you out if you live in the grace and faith showing His love to everyone.

Glory…

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalms 8:1-9 ESV)

The glory of God is set above the heavens…

His strength is established and the enemy and the avenger has not place to stand.

Yet man is only a little lower than the heavenly beings. We are His creatures and He loves us and wants to protect us as a mother hen protects her chicks. We can hide in the shelter of His wings…

Man has been given dominion over the works of God’s hands, and therefore we should allow Him to have dominion over our lives…

Allow His glory to over shadow your life and live the life He has for you. Using His love to work His mercy throughout the world!

Differences in a photograph…

In these two photos there are 6 differences…

 

 

 

1. Changed the golden throne to a wooden chair …
Something more appropriate for
The disciple of a carpenter.

 

2. Did not want the gold-embroidered red stole,
Heir of the Roman Empire, nor the red cape…


3. Uses same old black shoes, not the classic red.


4. Uses a metal cross, not of rubies and diamonds.


5. His papal ring is silver, not gold.


6. Uses the same black pants under the cassock,

To remember that he is another priest.


Have you discovered the 7th?

Removed the red carpet …

He is not interested in fame and applause …

Every day we like
Pope Francis more!

Walk…

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6, ESV)
How many of you are a fan of something? A NBA player? An NFL player? A MLB player? Maybe a college sports team, or a professional team? Maybe a NASCAR driver?
We idolize sports figures and follow their every move and know all of their stats…
But how many stats can you name for Jesus? Can you talk about all of the things that God has done for you? Are you merely a person who gives God some time, or are you committed to the cause?
You see Paul is urging the Ephesians (from prison!) that they should walk in a way fitting for their calling! And you have the same calling as a child of God. Does all of your life point to God? Do people know Monday through Saturday that you are a believer and follower of Christ? Do your actions speak for God or for you? Do your actions show that you follow Christ and you are more than a fan?
You see we are to be the light to the world, not to be hidden under a basket, we are to shine and our every action point to God. We can not show that we are not followers of Christ Monday – Saturday and try to make it up on Sunday. We have to show the world, not make a point of being there on Sunday to check in…
God wants more than a weekly or daily check in, He wants you to give Him your life and let Him have control. So give it up and be more than a fan.

Fear not failure…

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (Ephesians 1:17-19 ESV)

Knowledge doesn’t do you any good if you don’t have wisdom. You can know everything in the world and if you don’t have wisdom, then you won’t know what is important. What needs my attention, what can I let go. 

You see knowledge and wisdom go together, but with out wisdom to know what needs to be followed through on or just let go of you will be as Paul tells the Corinthians they are without love.

Francis Chan said we should not fear failure but success at something that doesn’t matter. So what are we chasing after that is not something we should be? What are we waisting resources in that would be better spent somewhere else? Or what are we following up on that is something worth our time and resources?

Use the spirit if Wisdom to not be a clanking gong or a rusty nail, but to be a wonderful resource for the world to see the love of God ever flowing through you!

Because if you are following where God is leading there will never be failure, there might be an outcome we did not want or expect, but God’s mission is done, and through that there is never failure!

a little ark like…

Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord Godwill give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38, ESV)

Greetings favored one!

What would you do if an angel came to you and said, “Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.”

I have to be honest I would run screaming! I know the Lord is with me, but if I’m favored of the Lord, I know that that means there is going to be trouble ahead. Now don’t get me wrong, God will be there to guide me and comfort me, but I also know that following the Lord brings on troubles or situations we would not enter if it was our own choice.

But that is just it isn’t it. God calls us to be a little ark like and carry His word and light into the world, and that is what each of us is.We are a little ark like when we partake of communion, we are the carrier of Christ into the world. So remember you are like Mary, beloved and blessed by the Lord to be a carrier of God into your community. So go and be an ark to send forth His love and light!

10 Ways to Stand Up for Your Great Idea

Dan Rockwell's avatarLeadership Freak

Shooting down

Your idea got shot down. Give up, play safe, or push forward?

Courage and boldness create your future.
Cowardice solidifies your past.

Leaders don’t give up quickly.

Boldly advocate.
Courageously stand up.
Tenaciously push forward.

How to stand up for your ideas:

Courage and boldness don’t have to be rude, irritating, and adversarial.

Jerks aren’t courageous they’re fearful.

  1. Build alliances. Boldly support the ideas of others as much as you support your own. Stand with others if you expect them to stand with you.
  2. Forget defending. Adversarial relationships emerge during defensive conversations. You defend and they shoot down. It’s lose – lose.
  3. Explore. Defending pushes away; exploring invites in. “I’d like to explore an alternative outreach program. What if …”
  4. Choose private first. Don’t put people on the spot in front of colleagues. Introduce and explore ideas in one-on-one conversations.
  5. Align with current circumstances and organizational values. When values collide…

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Wisdom?

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Wisdom from the Spirit Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-11, ESV)

Have you ever listened to somebody talk about something and you didn’t understand anything they said? You heard the words and could make sense of the sentence structure and the language, maybe some of the words they said you didn’t know, but you got most of them, but it was just not making sense to you. Like they had a lot of knowledge but they were not able to convey it to you.

Paul says here, when he first came to Corinth he did not speak in lofty language, but spoke to the Corinthians on a level they would understand. How often do we, who claim to be Christian, use words that mean something to us, but to someone not a part of our inside group don’t understand? Can you think of some of them?

Eucharist
Communion
Narthex
Sanctuary
Kyrie
Sanctus
Nave

Can you name some more? Do you know all of the above words? We use these words and expect people not part of the inside group to get it. We are not speaking on their level, on a plain they can understand. That is what Paul speaks about. We can not use terms or words to describe God to people that do not know those words. It is the great quote from Attack of the Clones “Seems you Jedi would know the difference between knowledge and wisdom…” You see we can know all the right things and use all the big words in our vocabulary, but the wisdom of the situation deems we speak on a level not at that point and to the community and place we are at. Our knowledge will not get us any where, and no one will come to an understanding of who God is through our lives if we do not become part of the community and impart the wisdom we have.

Don’t dumb it down, because that is not it at all, it is making so the audience can understand.

The people are listening, will you help them see God, or will you confuse them with your knowledge of your redeemer?