Over and over for the past couple of weeks, I have been listening to the song "More than Life" by Hillsong. There is a bridge in the song with the following lyrics:
How can it be
That You were the One on the Cross
Lifted for all our shame
How can it be
The scars in Your hands for me
You are the King of all
Think about what this means. The scars in Jesus' hands for ME. The blood of Christ shed for YOU and ME. Not just for a select few but for EVERY one of us. God loves each and every one of us that He sent His Son to die for our transgressions. This is the GREATEST love of all and it cannot be said enough. We have the opportunity to live an eternal life for what our King did for us. We just need to latch on to God's offering to us!
The journey with the new Sunday school class begins this week. Though this week will merely be an introduction to Francis Chan and Crazy Love, we will certainly get a solid foundation of what to expect for the next several weeks. In his preface, Chan sums this book up perfectly with a description of where we should be both individually and as a church. Chan says:
"God put me in Simi Valley, California, to lead a church of comfortable people into lives of risk and adventure. I believe He wants us to love others so much that we go to extemes to help them. I believe He wants us to be known for giving - of our time, our money, and our abilities - and to start a movement of "giving" churches. In so doing, we can alleviate the suffering in the world and change the reputation of His bride in America. Some people, even some at my church, have told me flat-out, "You're crazy." But I can't imagine devoting my life to a greater vision."
Is Chan's vision really that crazy? If that is what God calls us to do, how can it be so crazy? Too often, we let wordly things dictate how we should live our lives rather than live a "crazy" life in love with God. I feel that this prevents us from going beyond the status quo of what people feel is just acceptable from church and as individual Christians. What's "acceptable" just can't cut it! Was what Christ did for us on the Cross just "acceptable"? Absolutely not! It was EXCEPTIONAL! We, as brothers and sisters in Christ, should be exceptional as we intentionally show our love to others through our time, money, and abilities.
Tomorrow, Aldersgate and a few other churches are getting together to participate in a project serving local schools with pretty much anything and everything needed. What a perfect opportunity we have to set an example of God's love by simply donating our time and abilities for a few hours. We can show this love in so many ways, not just in the big projects, but in the smallest aspects of our lives and the people we encounter everyday.
In Crazy Love, Chan points out a Bible verse that I have never considered for anything more than what is written. Acts 11:26 says, "...The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." I italicized the word called because it is so important to this verse. These disciples did not name themselves "Christians", yet they were called this by the people viewing their lives. They were called Christians because they were living their lives modeling that of Jesus and his love. This reminds me of the song "They will know we are Christians by our love..." It all ties together with the verse I mentioned in my first post when Jesus says, "Love each other as I have loved you." Based on the way we live our lives today, we need to ask ourselves two things: 1) Are we setting an example that those around us can call us Christians? 2) Will people really know we are Christians by our love?
In closing, I want to share a video with you. As you watch, don't think about Jose and his struggle but think about the love of Christ that we can show everyday. We don't always get to experience a story like Jose's but we can make a world of difference by showing Christ's love to our family, our friends, our coworkers, our neighbors, and even our enemies. I am having trouble embedding the video so please click the link below. You owe it to yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDrsGu33hfc&feature=PlayList&p=0340E96B90E0B45D&index=16
God Bless!
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I want to thank you guys for allowing me to come to your church today! I find that there is nothing in this world more fulfilling than praising our LORD! I look forward to getting to know you guys in this Sunday school class!
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading chapter one in our book "Crazy Love". It has already got me thinking new thoughts and has me wanting to do MORE. I really focused on trying to understand WHO it is that I'm actually praying to at night, telling my friends about, and WHO sent their only SON to die for my sins. Who is GOD? What does he look like? Is he in human form like me? Does he have arms and legs? Is he male? All of these things have always crossed my mind and have always keep me confused! Chapter 1 in "Crazy Love" helped me realize that I don't need to let those unanswered questions get in the way of me knowing who GOD is.
WHO is GOD?
GOD in my opinion is everything! He is the reason why I can write this message and the reason that you can read it! He gave me a chance to live on this earth! He selected me out who knows how many options, and for that I owe him everything! To love GOD is to love your neighbor. To love GOD is to love your brothers and sisters. To love GOD is to love your enemies.
From now on I will try and not let the fact that I have never seen GOD and know nothing of what he looks like confuse me as I pray and worship!
I look forward to falling in love with GOD! I think that this book is perfect for me and my religous postion. I am the perfect example of not doing enough to go beyond the status quo.
I look forward to seeing you all Sunday!