06 Dec Take it home – make it real
Happy Wednesday everyone!
I do pray that your week is moving along well & you’re finding ways to enjoy the beginnings of Summer.
Speaking of Summer…as you plan your travels away, or your visits by family travellers coming to you, it’s always appropriate to plan worship as part of your travelling. We’ve found visiting in churches not-like-us to be very encouraging & often we hear God speak in a way we hadn’t before. So…if you’re here & your guests are here please include Living Water in your plans, and if you’re away, please find a nearby congregation for worship while you’re visiting elsewhere. Worship is a never-miss part of the disciple’s life.
And while you’re making worship plans…please plan on joining your Living Water family for…
- Zoom Bible Study Catch-up
Friday – 8th December 2023 @ 1:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83586782734 — Meeting ID: 835 8678 2734
- Worship this week – The Christmas Advent-ure: The Conceived Advent-ure — Luke 1:26-38
- Christmas Worship
Christmas Eve – Sunday 24th December – One Service 7:00 p.m. (no morning service that day)
Christmas Day – Monday 25th December – 9:00 a.m.
I was visiting with a local pastor today who was feeling pretty downcast about the lack of worshippers in their Christmas Day worship over the last few years…not many more than the worship team & helpers. So let’s pray for the congregations around us too…that the Holy Spirit that empowers us in our gathering in the Name of Jesus would also flourish all throughout our city.
I know I’ve shared before a book I read way back when: God Makes Me Laugh. It’s an interesting take on Luke’s gospel…the humour that Luke weaves through the narrative of Jesus’ life. He’s not wrong. There are parts of the Bible that are fall-out-of-your-chair funny. For instance (remember Luke also wrote Acts) so…Acts 19… Paul’s missionary journey that takes him to Ephesus. The Spirit is working powerfully & Jesus is calling people to faith in him. Paul is also seeing great wonders occurring by the work of the Spirit. At the same time there’s a family of Jewish exorcists also casting out demons in Ephesus. It seems that God was using his people both Jewish AND Christ-follower to drive back the evil one. BUT…
In Acts 19:13-16 they tried to cast out a demon from a man saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” To which the demon-possessed man replied, “I know Jesus & I know Paul, but who are you?” What comes next is priceless: Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, & attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked & battered.
Imagine a demon-possessed man jumping up from the ground & his failed exorcists being run off with a hiding buck naked! That’s funny stuff.
It’s obvious that a derivative faith is no faith at all. Someone else cannot believe for me expecting a result in my life. I can’t trust my ancestors’ faith to have an effect in my life. I do my own living & dying. I must do my own believing as the Spirit calls & empowers me.
Then so many people in Ephesus are drawn to trust Jesus for salvation that they start burning their books of witch-craft spells & throwing away their idol-statues of the Greek goddess Artemis. They are so transformed that the idol-making craftsmen are economically thrown into disarray. (Imagine Christians being so transformed that the economics of a region are transformed too!) Of course the craft guild riots…they’re losing money hand over fist! Finally the mayor steps in to put a lid on the mob & keep the local Roman garrison from marching in a beating them into silence & good behaviour. He says, “Citizens of Ephesus,” he said. “Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven. Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash…” You see it…he presents an impossibility, Artemis’ statue falling down to them from heaven, as established fact. Again, there’s subtle humour here. Fake faith, like derivative faith is powerless to transform, anything. Faith in the Risen Jesus, however, changes everything! Eternally!
Think about that for a minute…Faith has to be real. It has to have some working context in your life. You can’t depend on what someone else believes & you can’t trust fairy tales or stuff you wish were true to make a difference for you. Only a living relationship with the living Jesus has power.
That is why every Sunday I invite you to consider a Take it Home scenario…It’s an intentional effort for each of us to say “From what God’s word has said today I’m going to do ‘THIS.’” Trusting Jesus is not an idea. Trusting Jesus is a way of living…every day living…wherever you are with whomever is there real life. Faith in the Risen Jesus changes everything! Eternally! AND wherever you are in the next few days…every day.
Keep your heart locked onto that reality this week, share it with someone & I’ll see you Sunday!
John
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