Happy New Year! Have you made a New Year’s resolution? Many people have. Yet most of them will not fulfill the goal that they set during the first minutes of the new year because they are trying to succeed in their own strength. Human strength has its limits. We grow weary. We lower our standards. We give up. However, in Christ 2010 can be your best year yet. I pray that you will know more and more of Christ’s amazing love for you this year and that you will allow Him to lead you on the amazing journey of life. May the following verses be an encouragement to you.
“I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit--not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength--that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. “(Ephesians 3:16-20, The Message Bible)
-Anna Spraker
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
What are we supposed to do?
It seems like the whole world has gone crazy. Everywhere we look there is evil going on it seems. There has never been a time such as this. We truly are heading toward the end of time as we know it. It is exciting and scary at the same time. We are not just to live for today—but for tomorrow as well. What do I mean by that? We should live like we are eternal now and live in a way that pleases God. When we have communion, do we leave the table and go out and betray our Lord by our lifestyle? What would Christ say about what we read, see, say, play, and do? Oh—it is just a game, a movie, a book or a habit. If it is against God’s word, it is against you and will harm you. Jesus said we cannot serve two masters; we will either love the one or hate the other (Matthew 6:24). How are you in your walk? Is Christ the focus of what you do each day or is He just to worship on Sundays? The priests in the Old Testament had to purify themselves from sin before entering the temple. This is not a bad idea for us. What would happen if each one of us asked God to convict us of the sin in our personal lives, cleanse us, and deliver us from every stronghold of the enemy? That would be so powerful! There is nothing stopping us from doing that—or is there? Have a blessed week in Christ.
- Pastor Connie Shinn
- Pastor Connie Shinn
Monday, May 4, 2009
Living Stones
In the New Testament, there are many references to the body of Christ. Peter, however, brings new insight into just how this body of believers should look and function by introducing a different analogy. In the book of 1st Peter, Chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, he calls us “living stones”. Every believer is to “come…and be built into a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ” (Amplified Bible). In this same chapter, Jesus Christ is referred to as a “Living Stone” and a “chief Cornerstone”(v. 5-6). Hegoes before us and shows us how to be what God wants us to be: Living Stones. And as always, Christ is not just an example, but also our foundation, the main Cornerstone (v. 7).
As stones, we stand beside one another to create one unified wall of the sanctuary that is the body of Christ, the body of believers. We are under, over, behind, in front of, and next to each other for protection and support. Other than Christ, our Cornerstone, no one stone is any more important than any of the other stones in the wall. Each has a role to play in creating that special, holy, spiritual place that we have when we come together for obedient and loving worship, service, and ministry (Eph. 2:5-7). It is a place that only exists among true believers who are all trusting only in Jesus Christ as Savior and living with Him daily as their Lord. In this spiritual place of unity, we see the life change and growth that come from each person presenting himself and herself to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2). One thing of particular interest in the 2nd chapter of 1stPeter is the dual role we have been given. Not only are we the stones that come together to create a building where sacrifices are offered to God, but we are also the priests who offer those sacrifices (v. 2 and 2 Cor. 5:17-18).
If you think generally about what a living stone or a wall of living stones might be like, there really is no earthly comparison, but thanks to the prevalence of computer animation in our culture, we can easily imagine it: the wall looks like a normal stone wall except that there are no mosses or weeds growing on or between the rocks. Being a living wall, the give and take between stones prevents the weeds (strife) that often come between normal dead (inanimate) stones and there is too much activity on and within each stone for moss and fungus (apathy, self-absorption) to get a foothold. If you watch from afar, you can see that the wall doesn’t stay in one place but moves as needed to gain more stones (believers). In this way, the wall is always growing because the number of stones is always increasing. Also, faces appear on each stone when it is that stone’s turn to take a lead role and then the faces disappear once that particular assignment has been fulfilled. In addition, the wall is fluid because the stones, in turn, move to the center of the sanctuary to either receive ministry from the other stones, or to minister to the other stones that are present. Everyone takes a turn in both roles (1 Cor. 12).
Taken altogether, this is a powerful image that should lead each of us to ask the following questions: Am I truly offering myself to God as a living sacrifice? Are there weeds that need to be pulled or moss that needs to be scrubbed off? Am I fulfilling the role that He has for me in the wall, the church, the world?
-Jenny Greene
As stones, we stand beside one another to create one unified wall of the sanctuary that is the body of Christ, the body of believers. We are under, over, behind, in front of, and next to each other for protection and support. Other than Christ, our Cornerstone, no one stone is any more important than any of the other stones in the wall. Each has a role to play in creating that special, holy, spiritual place that we have when we come together for obedient and loving worship, service, and ministry (Eph. 2:5-7). It is a place that only exists among true believers who are all trusting only in Jesus Christ as Savior and living with Him daily as their Lord. In this spiritual place of unity, we see the life change and growth that come from each person presenting himself and herself to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2). One thing of particular interest in the 2nd chapter of 1stPeter is the dual role we have been given. Not only are we the stones that come together to create a building where sacrifices are offered to God, but we are also the priests who offer those sacrifices (v. 2 and 2 Cor. 5:17-18).
If you think generally about what a living stone or a wall of living stones might be like, there really is no earthly comparison, but thanks to the prevalence of computer animation in our culture, we can easily imagine it: the wall looks like a normal stone wall except that there are no mosses or weeds growing on or between the rocks. Being a living wall, the give and take between stones prevents the weeds (strife) that often come between normal dead (inanimate) stones and there is too much activity on and within each stone for moss and fungus (apathy, self-absorption) to get a foothold. If you watch from afar, you can see that the wall doesn’t stay in one place but moves as needed to gain more stones (believers). In this way, the wall is always growing because the number of stones is always increasing. Also, faces appear on each stone when it is that stone’s turn to take a lead role and then the faces disappear once that particular assignment has been fulfilled. In addition, the wall is fluid because the stones, in turn, move to the center of the sanctuary to either receive ministry from the other stones, or to minister to the other stones that are present. Everyone takes a turn in both roles (1 Cor. 12).
Taken altogether, this is a powerful image that should lead each of us to ask the following questions: Am I truly offering myself to God as a living sacrifice? Are there weeds that need to be pulled or moss that needs to be scrubbed off? Am I fulfilling the role that He has for me in the wall, the church, the world?
-Jenny Greene
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Take Care of Your Temple
Let me just start by saying that I am not a fitness expert. I have never considered myself athletic. In fact, for most of my life I avoided any activities that even closely resembled a sport! Lots of us have tried exercising for the wrong reasons: to look like a superstar, to gain someone’s inappropriate attention, to reach an unrealistic goal weight, etc. However, God wants us to be fit and healthy because that is what is best for us, that is how He created our bodies to function. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) When God gives us a task to do, He wants us to have enough energy and strength to do it and do it well. I will not bore you with the ever-so-long list of the benefits of exercise that you’ve probably heard before. Let me just share my fitness journey with you and hopefully encourage you in an area where I have needed encouragement.
Three months after I gave birth to my first child, a friend who was also a new mom invited me to try out a weight training class at the Radford Recreation Center. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect or if I would actually stick with it. I was just tired of wearing the same old maternity clothes. It was a little intimidating at first. I did my fair share of tripping all over myself as I tried to learn the moves. There were days when I didn’t feel like going (Let’s face it, lying on the couch is definitely easier and there will always be something else on that to-do list!), but I made myself go anyway and was glad I did. I enjoyed building relationships with the other people in the class; was proud of myself for doing something healthy; and loved how relaxed I felt after I burned up all the stress from my day. I went to that class for over 5 years and have actually been teaching it for the past year.
You have to start with where you’re at right now. You can’t wait until you get into shape to go to the gym, or you may never get there. You have to experiment a little bit to figure out what type of exercise you enjoy (or can at least stand). You have to find what motivates you to stick with it. For me, I had to pay to take a class. Then I would make myself go (to get my money’s worth). Once I was there, I would try really hard and not give up during a tough exercise because all of the other people in the class were not giving up either (that’s the good kind of peer pressure). Believe it our not, hard work actually feels great! “But I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) Find what works for you and go for it! Take care of your temple!
-Anna Spraker
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