Friday, June 15, 2007

Putting Faith Into Action

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. ~James 2:14-24


There was once a man stranded in the ocean. As he was treading water, a ship passed by and the crew asked him if he needed help.
"No," he replied, "God will save me."
The ship left. He continued to tread water and as he began to get weary and started sinking, another ship came.
"Do you need help?", they asked.
"No," he replied once again, "God will save me!"
The second ship left, and the man drowned. When he arrived in heaven, the man asked of God with an air of shock,
"Lord, I had faith and you did not save me!" To which God replied,
"Dude, I sent you two ships, you dummy!"


And let's not forget...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Monday, June 4, 2007

Communion

Communion was held yesterday as it usually is for every first Sunday of the month. After the morning's sermon, our pastoral staff would hand out the bread and cup to those baptized members of the church. We would take these materials in remembrance of Jesus Christ's sacrifice for our sins so we may be free to live our lives for Him.

During this time, the sanctuary was pretty quiet, almost in sorrowful reflection. While examining my own heart and remembering what Christ did for me, I couldn't help but start to form a small smile on my face. And the smile grew larger, almost turning into a huge grin as I consumed the items with everyone else.

Sometimes I think that while we do take time to examine our own hearts before God, it is also good that we take time to enjoy the food and drink that Jesus invited us to take with him. As believers in Christ, we are called to more than just his followers - we are called to be his friends, and he invited us in to have supper with him, to share our loaves and our lives with one another as a Body. There is a lot of hope and good news pouring from this meal that occasionally we should stop, take in His presence that fills the room, and really "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). =)


Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:16-17