Pentecost
Today we talked about Pentecost - when the Holy Spirit came to live in the hearts of believers and the church began. We read about the new community of believers in
Acts 2:42-47 and talked about many of the characteristics that described them: they were devoted to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer; they were filled with awe; many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles; they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
We then looked again at
1 Peter 3:8-18 through a "we" lens this time. Instead of thinking individually about the reason for the hope we have, Pastor Amy talked about the reason for the hope we have as a church. Using the image of a door, she talked about the many doors of opportunity MCC has had and the blessings that have come when they are walked through by faith. After talking about new doors of opportunity, we were encouraged to pray for these. We have a reason for the hope we have, but many people don't have a community that cares about them, and we have some opportunities to reach out to them.
Where have you seen God working at MCC?I think that we have such a strong encouraging community at MCC that is focused around God's word and is looking with expectation for what He will do next. As we crave spiritual milk and are built into a spiritual house, we can declare His praises by letting what we believe shine through our lives like we talked about a few weeks ago. And we have been given some new doors of opportunity to do it!
Labels: 1 Peter, Pentecost
Being Prepared
Today we read 1 Peter 3:15 -
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
Pastor Henry talked about how this verse means we should be prepared to give an answer, and not an argument and not to convert or convince people of your reason for the hope you have. A helpful answer should be brief, clear, use everyday language and be done with gentleness and respect. A helpful answer answers the question, "What difference has Jesus Christ made in your life?"
If someone asks you, do you feel prepared to give an answer for the hope you have in Jesus Christ?I do feel prepared to tell people about the hope I have and even more so after working on it at church and talking about it with the people at my table because now it's more personal.
Labels: 1 Peter
Living in Harmony
After I wrote that title, I started to think about how I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. But what does it take to bring harmony to even our own little part of the world? That's what we talked about today at MCC - getting our instruction through Pastor Henry from
I Peter 3:8-15. Here we learn that to live in harmony, we should be humble, sympathetic, compassionate, and loving to one another.
We talked about barriers which prevent us from living this way:
fear of what others think
time
fear of rejection
selfishness
ignorance
prejudice
status concerns
lack of energy
low self worth
mixture of messages
lack of preparedness
assumptions about people or their intentions
lack of confidence
anger
not believing who we are in Christ
unfair expectations
apathy
leaning on our own understanding
But with God's spirit we can overcome these barriers so we can invade people's lives with grace, mercy, love and compassion. Who will harm us if we are eager to do good?
Where can I bring some harmony this week? And what barriers can I break down in order to do so?I was thinking about how sometimes what breaks down the peace is miscommunication and how any of the reasons listed above can contribute to this. In the coming week, I need to take the time to listen to people and look for opportunities to bring grace, mercy, love, or compassion.
Labels: 1 Peter
What is the Mission of Submission?
Today we read
1 Peter 2:13-3:7 and talked about submission. Pastor Amy encouraged us to think about how we define submission since the term sometimes carries negative baggage or connotations with it. Amy reminded us that submission does not necessarily mean that we are forced, threatened, or bullied into compliance.
We are given the example of Jesus as the best example of submission -His faith was not in those who judged Him unjustly but was in God, and therefore He submitted to God's will by being obedient. As much as submission is an action it is also an attitude. Jesus was also humble, patient, gentle, loving and compassionate.
Do you understand submission any differently after today?My understanding of submission has been expanded to include the reason why we should be submissive. We should be submissive and live as Christ lived to be a witness to the world. As Amy said, "Christians are to live such holy lives that nothing can be lodged against the Gospel because of their example."
Labels: 1 Peter
Craving, Building, Declaring
This morning, we read
1 Peter 2:1-12 and talked about 3 things that God wants us to do.
1.
Craving - we should crave pure "spiritual milk", that is, the things that Jesus offers that make us grow.
2.
Building - as we come to Jesus, the living stone, we also, like living stones, are built into a spiritual house.
3.
Declaring - we are a chosen people belonging to God that we may declare His praises by letting what we believe shine through our lives.
Which of these 3 images used by Peter in this section spoke the most to you today?I loved all of these images but if I can only pick one, I would pick the "building" image. Pastor Henry picked up some lego-duplo pieces and the first one represented Jesus, the living stone. As we are all built into Jesus, the foundation or living stone, we, like living stones, are built into a church.
Labels: 1 Peter
Four Words to Live By: Hope Holy Fear Love
Today at MCC, Pastor Amy talked about the next part of I Peter 1 in
verses 13-25. Here we learned 4 teachings that show us how to live the gospel:
1. Set your
hope on Jesus' resurrection and eternal life with Him.
2. Be
holy as God is holy.
3. Live your lives in reverent
fear, awe and gratitude for Jesus' sacrifice.
4.
Love one another deeply - with depth and duration.
Which of these is the hardest for you?These are all hard and I fall short on every one of them! The hardest is probably to be as holy as God. Thankfully, Jesus' righteousness has been credited to us because it is impossible for us to do it on our own, but to live by faith in this sacrifice is difficult.
God's Gift of Mercy
Today, Pastor Henry talked about what God in His great mercy has given to us as we read in
1 Peter 1:1-12. Because Jesus has been risen from the dead, we have been given a new life through Him and now we have everything to live for - including a future with Him in heaven. Because of this faith in His sacrifice, we are able to put up with suffering and hardship until the day when we are home with Him at last.
What does a life that is defined by God's gift of mercy look like? I think knowing that God in His great mercy has given us this gift of faith, we can be thankful and always ready to live for Him. We are told in these verses that our faith is worth more than gold, so even as gold is refined by fire comes out pure, so faith refined by suffering is proved genuine. And this glorifies God. As it says in the Message, God will have this on display as evidence of His victory.
Labels: mercy
