Image Credit:  Joshua Earle - Public Domain Image via Freely Photos

This post is based on my pastor's sermon title "Neighbors in Every Place."

Neighbors in Every Place

You are invited to watch and listen to this message in its entirety here.

Every Place - Neighbors In Every Place - February 17, 2019 (Message) from Christ Place Church on Vimeo.

Our neighbors are not just the people who live next door to us, but also people who are around us often.

Our focal passage for today is Luke 10:25-37.

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” ²⁹ But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

The Good Samaritan

³⁰ Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. ³¹ And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴ and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” ³⁷ And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

1.  Our neighbors are the people we go to church with.  People in church are broken too and they need building up.

2.  Our neighbors are in our communities.  They are in the coffee shops we often visit - ballparks, restaurants - any place we frequently visit.

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” - Galatians 5:14

 Get to know the people around you.

Establish a routine so that it is easier for you to make introductions.

Practice the Golden Rule.

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. - Matthew 7:12 (The Golden Rule)

 Ask them for help.

Ask how you can pray for them.

Invite them to church.

Tell them your personal story as a Christ-follower.

3. Our neighbors in the culture.

Don't throw rocks at people who are not just like us.  Throw ropes.

What keeps us from being good neighbors?

*Prejudices
*Busyness
*Lack of Generosity
*Absence of Christ-likeness

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2

We look like Jesus when we serve and love others.

You can't reach people who don't know Jesus if you don't know people who don't know Jesus.

You'll find all my posts about this Bible study series here.

Running from God's Calling (Jonah Bible Study by Priscilla Shirer)

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 Running from God's Calling

Our second week in our Bible study on Jonah by Priscilla Shirer focuses on running from God's calling.  Here are a few highlights from the week:

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

There is no gray area in obeying God's will either, you know.  When God speaks or allows you to see His hand, giving you the opportunity to participate in His purposes, you don't have an array of options to choose from on how you will respond.  It's clear-cut, plain and simple . . . black and white.  You can either choose to obey or choose to disobey.  No neutral ground.  Choosing to "do nothing" is really a decision to delay obedience - and the word for delayed obedience?  Disobedience. - Priscilla Shirer

Something else Priscilla brought to my attention this week is how easy it is to get away with disobedience when it is internal.  It's not as easy to disobey when others can see our calling and can see our response.  When we "run away" in our hearts where others can't see open disobedience, it is easier for us to justify our actions and pretend that we are living in obedience.

Sometimes we justify our response to run away or ignore a calling because it seems to be in direct conflict with an area in our lives where we have pledged our worldly allegiance.  This is when we must ask ourselves whether our true allegiance lies with God or with something else.

A way to determine where our allegiance lies is to consider how we respond to a divine intervention.  Will we go with God even when He is calling us to our Nineveh, even if Nineveh goes against everything we thought we'd be doing?  Sometimes heeding divine intervention requires breaking with that to which we have pledged our allegiance. - Priscilla Shirer

Stepping further and further away from God's calling on our lives only takes us further and further from him.  In the same way that a lie ends up entangling us in another lie and another and another, so running from God's calling takes us further and further away from His blessing on our lives.

The decisions you are making today will impact your tomorrows.  How you choose to respond to God's leading right now will determine how your future unfolds.  Every "David" will end up in a web of deception.   Every prodigal will find himself in a pigsty, and every "Jonah" will look up and see storm clouds gathering.  It's only a matter of time. - Priscilla Shirer

It is interesting how we can be asleep spiritually in the middle of a storm and not even realize it (like Jonah on the ship) until we are awakened by a storm.  Thank God for the storm.

We can make a big mess out of our lives, but there is good news.  God can take our mess and make something beautiful from it.  Our lives might not have been what God had originally intended, but God can take the messed up, broken pieces and put them together into a beautiful tapestry that will bless others.  It is never too late to step back into the realm of obedience and allow God to use you in mighty ways. 

God's good at taking our messes, our leftovers, and doing something good with them.  Parts of all of our lives we'd just as soon forget, yet in the hands of a Master, our mess can become the greatest miracle of all.  He has a way of chopping, dicing, and reconfiguring the parts that we thought were of no use.  He's got a knack for pouring on His Spirit and sprinkling on a bit of grace and mercy.  Then, voila!  Fresh out of the oven of a trial or two, there's something delicious from you life that you never thought possible. - Priscilla Shirer

You'll find all my posts about this Bible study here.

 You can get Jonah:  Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer here.

This item is available here.

 

Focusing on a Vision for Your Christian Walk? Don't Make it Complicated.

Image Credit:  Benjamin Davies - Public Domain Image via Freely Photos

Focusing on a Vision:  Don't Make it Complicated

Our focal passage for today is Luke 5:27-32.

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.  And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.  The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” - Luke 5:27-32

 Focusing on a vision:
*causes us to pray more.
*takes our eyes off of ourselves.

Two Main Points for Today:

1.  We need to make Jesus first place.
2.  We need to take Jesus to every place.

You are invited to watch and listen to my pastor's entire sermon on this topic here.

Every Place - Don't Make It Complicated - February 10, 2019 (Message) from Christ Place Church on Vimeo.

We are all sick.  We are all sinners.  We need to make Jesus first in our lives.  We need to take our eyes off of everything that will distract us and keep our eyes on Jesus.

We must follow Jesus completely!

We cannot pick and choose what we like and what we don't like.  We must make Jesus first.

Then, we must take Jesus every where we go.

The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. - Luke 5:30-31

Matthew wanted his "rowdy" friends to know Jesus.

I am not afraid of failure.  I'm afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter.  - William Carey

Don't make it complicated.  Just love people like Jesus loved them.

1.  Move closer to those who don't follow Jesus.

2.  Try new ways of taking Jesus to new places.

Remember:  It's not about me.  It's about taking Jesus to others.

Build relationships.

B - Begin with prayer.
L - Listen, Learn, Love
E - Eat (The fork is an effective evangelical tool.)  :)
S - Serve (Serve THEM, Serve WITH them.)
S - Share

Sin is complicated.  You can't manage it.  You can only be redeemed out of it.

You'll find all my posts about this Bible study series here.