We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
TO PONDER
This past Sunday Pastor Mark was talking about excuses we come up with to justify not practicing expansive hospitality (if you happened to miss the message you can listen to it at (https://www.lifeway.net.au/sermons) and the main excuse I remember was “I’m too tired.”
When he said that excuse, I remembered vividly times I used those exact words with “I’ll do it tomorrow…” tacked on the end.
Today’s verse’s are talking about God’s expansive hospitality in that even when we were strangers/enemies of God He chose to love us, displaying expansive hospitality, giving of himself so that we could sit at His table as family.
In 2024 at LifeWay, across all our sites, we will be actively practicing expansive hospitality in its simplest/easiest form through “Table Moments”, where we will invite people over for a meal. A meal where we get to listen to other people’s story and tell our own, where we get to practice hospitality in a tangible way through food and listening.
Now for the scariest part of Table Moments and that is to say a short blessing prayer at the end of the meal. I say “scariest” because I know that, for some, would be a deal breaker, to actually pray in front of people sends you into a panic. In his book “Happy Hour: Etiquette and Advice on Holy Merriment”, Hugh Halter suggests making a toast during the meal, a toast of gratefulness for the blessing of friends, family, good food, health and God’s blessings in our lives.
Remember my above excuse of “I’m too tired, I’ll do it tomorrow…” and how I had vivid memories of using those exact words?
The reason those memories were so vivid was because tomorrow is not guaranteed, and I have experienced this lesson on several occasions throughout my life.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for showing me your expansive hospitality even when it cost you the most and I deserved it the least. I pray that I can demonstrate your expansive hospitality to others, even when I am too tired. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
TO PONDER
I was shocked when I got married. Well, I guess not so much when I got married but when I started living with my new bride and realised she did everything wrong.
Now, I am not exaggerating in the above statement, I mean literally everything! From how she squeezed the toothpaste tube to how she placed the toilet paper roll onto the dispenser thingy. It was as if she didn’t know how civilised people lived…
Going from being single to living with somebody else can be a shock, suddenly realising that everything was not actually about me and the way I did things was not the only way of doing them and sometimes ,maybe even the wrong way, was life-changing. At least I hope I changed from my selfish ways to become a better person.
Today’s verses remind us that a big part of living a life of sharing is to stop thinking about your needs and hopes ahead of others’ needs and hopes.
In fact the words of Jesus were recorded in Matthew 22:39 when he does away with a distinctive separation of people, he told us to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Jesus did away with the idea of the ‘other’ when he told us to make everyones’ hopes and dreams as important as our own hopes and dreams.
PRAYER: Amazing Jesus, I give you thanks that you moved into our neighbourhood when you came to earth as a human, to demonstrate a sacrificial love towards me I didn’t deserve. Please help me to show the same love to my neighbour that you showed to
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay WestSide
Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. (MSG)
TO PONDER
You would think it is a simple thing to do, quite natural in fact, to love your family, right?
Unfortunately, as anyone with a family will often find, our family can frustrate, exasperate, irritate, and dare I say, irk us in a greater way than anyone else…
Today’s verses are talking about just such relationships within the church community, our spiritual family who we sit with every Sunday in worship, and who we, regularly share our lives with… hopefully.
So, the simple thing John is telling us in these verses is not to hate your spiritual family but to love them; again, simple right?
Here is the good news, yes, the gospel of vibrant relationships. The first part is we get to reflect God’s love, God’s love light, His grace which He has already lavished on us. The second part is we get to practice on family, people who are called to expansively love us back.
Paul puts it this way in Romans 12:13 “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Because, true hospitality is expansive love, or love expanded outward.
Paul tells us to practice/train-in love “in-house” through providing hospitality within our spiritual family. He tells us to become expansive in hospitality to create vibrant relationships.
PRAYER: Almighty God, I thank you for your aggressively persistent forgiveness which you have shown to me, the expansive grace you pour out onto me and your invitation to join you in displaying this grace through expansive hospitality. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
TO PONDER
I don't know if you have noticed during the week, but I think perhaps this verse shows it most clearly - the contrast between the kind of community God's people are to be and the kind of culture/society that surrounds us today.
'Devote yourselves to one another in love' could this be any more opposite to what we are seeing in the Middle East, between Russia and Ukraine, even between political parties right here in Australia. No one seems to be thinking about what is best for others but we are all encouraged to think about what is best for us, for me and my family and to fight tooth and nail until we get what we think we deserve.
Our world does not seem to honour others, unless they can help us to get more honour for ourselves.
We might see a lot of zeal and fervour over a number of issues on the TV news. It seems almost every one is prepared to take a side on any issue and fight to the death until they have their way, but it's never about the things that God seems to care about in His Word. Our passion and zeal only seem to show when they serve our own agendas, not God's.
Joy, patience, and faithfulness seem in short supply and are more often replaced with anxiety, intolerance, and corruption. Sharing and generosity are forgotten as we tighten our purse strings in order to look out for number 1, and hospitality seems almost missing from our communities where people are increasingly feeling alone and isolated.
Our community is to be different, we are to be different. Can you imagine the kind of community described in Romans 12? That is what God is calling us and wanting us to be. That is what God, through Christ and by the Holy Spirit is empowering and equipping us to be.
So what are we waiting for. What's holding you back?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, you have called us to be different and often different is hard, but you know that because people saw that you were different and as a result they hung you on a cross. Please help me to bear the cross of looking and being different than the world around me. Help me to know that while the world may reject me, as it rejected you, that you have accepted me and that I am yours. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
TO PONDER
If 'vibrant community' were a dish on a restaurant menu, then this verse from the book of Acts would be the recipe. And while it seems like a pretty simple recipe there is perhaps a little more to it that what you might think at first glance.
These days, when I hear people talking about this verse, I often hear them talking about 'dedication to the teaching of the apostles' as a commitment to going to church and listening to a sermon. Now don't get me wrong, I love when I get feedback that God has used a Sermon I've put together to speak into someone's life or heart, but that's only a small part of what it means to be dedicated to the apostles teaching. Think about it for a moment, the teaching of the apostles is what we have recorded in the books of the New Testament and most of their teaching was about helping people to recognise that Jesus was the fulfilment of what God had promised in the Old Testament. Dedication to the apostle's teaching is more than just listening to a bunch of online preachers preach, it's about being dedicated to reading and understanding the word of God and doing that together. So the first and main ingredient in vibrant community is the Word of God
Breaking of bread is often understood as receiving the Lord's Supper in this context and I'm sure that is true, but these people did more than that. The phrase 'breaking bread' was and still is commonly used to describe the sharing of hospitality, usually including a meal. They met together, ate together, and in many cases, lived together. So the second and third ingredients are spending time together, or perhaps more accurately sharing life together and generously expressing Christian hospitality toward one another.
Finally, prayer. I think prayer is how God flavours a community, it is what brings the vibrance to the community. Through it we have real time connectivity and communication with God. As we come to him in prayer he leads and guides us, in real time, through the processes we need to to experience to become more of what he intends for His church, His people, to be.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me and my church to be dedicated to your word, to living and sharing together in your grace and in bringing our cares, concerns, and praises to you in prayer. Make us a vibrant community that draws people into your love and grace. Amen
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.
TO PONDER
The Bible often makes the connection between spiritual health and maturity and physical health and training. I find that analogy helpful for this text too.
I have tried, at various times in my life, to get a regular exercise routine happening. I have signed up for gym memberships thinking that the financial investment might motivate me to get going. Sadly, that wasn't enough. I participated, a little more successfully in regular Saturday morning 'ParkRun' events and group cross training sessions where the presence of others working at the same thing as you did have a positive encouraging effect. But the most successful physical training I have ever done has been under the watchful eye of a personal trainer.
Now don't get me wrong, there were days when I thought my personal trainer had been personally sent by the devil himself to torture me as my muscles burned and protested under the days training routine, and yet without that trainer in my ear, spurring me on to do just one more squat, one more lunge, one more rep with the weights, I would never have seen the same kind of results. I was too inclined to give up at the first sign of struggle or pain.
It might not always be what we want to hear, but in a healthy and vibrant Christian community, people should be prepared to challenge and encourage one another to take their faith further, to trust God with bigger and bigger things. Challenged to lay down bad habits that endanger the spiritual health of the individual or the community and to take up behaviours and habits that edify and build up the faith of the individual and the community.
Unlike the rest of the world, which seems to immediately respond with outrage and offence when people challenge or question their beliefs or actions, people in a healthy and vibrant Christian community should respond with gratitude when their community challenges or encourages them to take greater strides along the path of following Jesus. Perhaps that is a challenge for you today?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Thank you for the Christian community you have placed around me. Help me to appreciate the spurring on and the challenge and encouragement that they offer. Please help me to not react with offence or anger when you use my Christian friends and family to gently correct and guide me on the path of following you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
TO PONDER
Too often I think that the church (generally speaking) is too worried about being perfect and having all the answers. To some extent I think it is why our society and culture make such a big deal when the church fails in so many ways as we have seen it do time and again throughout its history. We say, 'come to us we have all the answers' but then more often than not we become part of the problem.
What if instead, we acknowledged the reality that we are in fact no better at life than the rest of the world. What if we actually shared the gospel of Jesus which says, you don't have to get it right or have all the answers because Jesus has taken care of all that on your behalf. What if we were truly a community where it was okay to acknowledge or failures to each other, to admit our faults and our flaws and trust that we would be met with grace and forgiveness?
It seems to me that this is what many people in our communities are desperately searching for, a place to belong and be accepted as they are. That is exactly what a vibrant christian community should be.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, please forgive me for the times I fail to accept people openly, the way you have accepted me. Help me to be ready to humble myself and take the time to really listen to and appreciate the people that you bring across my path today. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
TO PONDER
I sometimes struggle with verses like this. I'm not really one of those Christians with a 'before and after' story of my life with Jesus. I was baptised as an infant and raised in a wonderfully nurturing Christian home. I don't recall a dramatic conversion experience like Paul on the road to Damascus, or like Peter - a fisherman on day and professional Jesus disciple and fisher of men the next. I don't recall walking in the darkness and being called into the light.
And yet I am confident that on the day of my baptism that is exactly what happened. However, there are times I feel like I'd maybe be better at witnessing to Jesus if I had a good 'before and after' story, a testimony of life before encountering Jesus and what it has been like since.
The good thing about this though is that these words from 1 Peter as not just words to us as individual believers, they are words for the whole collective body of Christ. Now that's not an opportunity for the more introverted among us to 'opt out' and leave the evangelism to those with cool conversion stories. On the contrary, it is an invitation to work collectively, to hear and listen to each other as we share our stories of life with Jesus. My faith story might not be the best one to reach my friends and family, but yours might be. No single one of us has all the tools for every situation. God has given us each other so that together we can be his chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation - His treasured possession and together declare his praise.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me to remember that my life with you is not intended to be a private thing. It might be intimate, it may be personal, but it is a life to be shared in the vibrant community of your church in the world. Help me to faithfully fulfil my role as one of your chosen people and treasured . Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
TO PONDER
I have not yet experienced the vibrant lights of Sydney's VIVID festival, but the people that I know who have seen it all tell me the same thing... "It was so crowded". While I am not much for gathering with those types of crowds, I hope that one day I will find the time to join the throngs of people who gather at various landmarks and buildings around the city to witness the beautiful light and laser displays that are on show because their is something fascinating about light that draws people in.
Whether it's the bright lights of a VIVID festival or the spectacle of a New Years Eve fireworks display, or simply the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, there is comfort in seeing the light, knowing that there is an end to the darkness, that there is a place where we will see clearly the obstacles and pitfalls around us and they will no longer be able to threaten or harm us.
That's what Jesus wants his church, his people, you and me, to be; a light amid the darkness. A beacon to those who are searching in the dark for that pin prick of light that promises that there is a different experience ahead, something vivid, something vibrant and life giving, something warm and inviting rather than the cold lonely experience of the darkness that so many people experience on a daily basis.
So how will you let your light shine today?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Today I pray not just for myself but for all your people around the world, that we might shine your light and life more brightly and vibrantly than ever before so that those who are living in darkness may see and be drawn to your light and life. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.