Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
TO PONDER
When God's power and grace touch a human heart, a spectacular change happens. It's not some kind of plastic surgery but is a wholesale change. In Christ, a former sinner becomes a brand-new person on the inside. Let us remember that in the very beginning all things were made through Christ. But the original creation became polluted with sin. And now--again through Christ--we can become restored or created anew. In Christ we become reconciled to God. Our relationship with God cannot be reestablished without his Son. And once we are reunited to God, we become Christ's ambassadors. God is making an appeal to others through us. Are you a new creation in Christ? If so, have you tried to invite others to be reconciled to God?
PRAYER: Our heavenly Father, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ! In him we become a new creation. Bless our ministry for your sake as Christ's faithful ambassadors.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
TO PONDER
There is a message that challenges us. Do we admit that we are dirty and in need of cleansing? But scrubbing can be uncomfortable and even painful. People need to be ready for spiritual cleansing. The message of baptism symbolizes a spiritual cleansing, and not everyone thought they needed it. John the Baptist promised that Jesus would come with a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. A life committed to Jesus Christ is a life submitted to the cleansing and refining work of the Spirit of God. The process is frightening; it requires loss. But what is found is worth much more than what is lost—new life, freedom, courage, joy, peace, love, and much more. Are you willing to submit to God’s gracious cleansing?
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, cleanse us with your Spirit. Take away our sin and shame and fill us with beauty and integrity. Help us submit to you. In your name, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.
TO PONDER
Where have you recently heard arguments over doctrine, speculation over ancient myths and legends and conspiracies, or people creating controversy for the sole purpose of getting themselves noticed on the internet? It seems to happen on almost a daily basis.
Ritual and tradition are important. Some rituals and traditions bring stability and comfort, a sense of familiarity and reliability, in a world where change and chaos seem to be the headline of every newspaper. Yet when we get bogged down by those traditions and rituals, when they become the focus of debate and argument - they can sometimes have a negative effect. Provided that we remain faithful to the Word of God in Scripture, then how a church conducts its Sunday worship services is somewhat irrelevant. These things can distract us from what is really important, and that is, tending to the mission that God has given his church. To advance the work of Jesus and make disciples of all nations, baptising and teaching them the ways and the life of Jesus.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank you for the heritage and traditions and faith of those who have helped lead me to faith in you. Help me to hold those things dearly, but also loosely, so that I may lay them aside if or when they become a barrier to others receiving the same gift of faith in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.
TO PONDER
The New Testament talks quite a bit about striving and perseverance in the life of a Christian. This suggests that there is something significant or important about these qualities.
both striving and perseverance are important qualities if you are going to advance a cause or a story, even an adventure. To move something forward takes effort, that's a basic law of physics. Things that are stationary don't move forward unless someone or something applies a force or 'effort' to get them moving.
Our adventure with God, and his adventure with us is an advancing adventure. It does not end when we come to faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. That is when the adventure really gets going. There are obstacles and hurdles that challenge our faith. There are situations and relationships in our lives that make other paths more attractive than the ones God lays out for us.
Yet one of the ways God moves the adventure forward is by the consistent efforts of his people to live lives, and to conduct ourselves, in a manner worthy of the precious gift we have received in Christ Jesus. There should be no question, whether people encounter us face-to-face or hear about us 'through the grapevine', that we are a people bound together in the unity of the Holy Spirit, working together as one for the sake of the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Please help me when it is hard to walk the road that you set out for me. Help me to remember your promise to be with me and provide me with whatever I need to navigate the difficult parts of life. May the way I live and conduct myself be a witness to the love and grace I have found in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
TO PONDER
I know we have asked this question at LifeWay before, but do you know your neighbours? I mean really know them. you might know their names, but do you know what they do for work? Do you know any of their hobbies or interests? Do you know anything more about them than the fact that they live in the house next door or across the street from you?
Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan (in the preceding verses of todays reading) as an answer to the question, "Who is my neighbour?" and in today's reading we see the answer to that question. Jesus wants us to think bigger to look out into the world and see the opportunities we have to step into the lives of others and bring with us the grace and love of Jesus. But consider this, how are you going to do that if you have not even taken the time to get to know those who live in your own neighbourhood.
Being a neighbour is not about sharing a fence. The way Jesus talks about it is that it's about showing kindness and love to those who we see are in need. This is how God advances his story and adventure with us, as we serve those who we see in need around us. Seeing to the needs of the man attacked by robbers was a large inconvenience to the Samaritan; he went out of his way to find an Inn where the man could rest and recover and He paid the innkeeper from his own purse to ensure the man would be fed and cared for while he recovered.
Being a neighbour may not always be convenient, but it is what we are called to be as those who now find their life in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I forget all to easily that you came to earth to be my neighbour. Not just to live in my neighbourhood, but to show me the love and mercy of God the Father. May my life be one which brings and shows that Love and mercy to others. Please help me to be a 'good neighbour' to all those that you call me to love and serve. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish."
TO PONDER
I don't know how many of you go fishing regularly. Growing up as a kid my dad regularly took my brother and I fishing. I'm ashamed to say I did not learn as much from my dad about fishing as I probably could or should have, but I do remember one specific conversation very clearly.
We were sitting in his boat in Portland Harbour and had been catching a few fish. It was not a super productive fishing day, but we had at least caught a feed. When we pulled back into the boat ramp at the end of our trip, many others who had been out on the water fishing that day, were surprised to see anything in our fish bucket. My dad engaged in polite conversation with these people, not wanting to be rude but also not wanting to give away all his fishing secrets. On the way home even I asked him, "dad how come we were able to catch fish today when so many other people did not catch anything?" To which he replied, "Most of those people went fishing without a plan about what fish they were trying to catch. I knew if we were going to have any chance of catching fish today it would be to target this particular fish and so everything we did was aimed at just catching those fish and ignoring any of the others.
I guess fishing with a net is different to fishing with a line. A net will catch whatever type of fish happens to be in the area of the net. When you fish with a rod or a line, you can really only catch one or maybe 2 fish at a time. The net Jesus describes caught all kinds of fish and that is what is special about the advancing and continuing story of God is that his kingdom is for all people. And yet, sometimes we can see large groups of people come into the kingdom at once, like fishing with a net. Other times a more individual or targeted approach is necessary. That is why each of us have a part to play in Jesus mission to be 'fishers of men'. God has uniquely gifted each of us with the right skills, personalities, and interests, to draw different individuals, different types of people, into his kingdom. We each might take a different approach, use a different technique, but neither might be right or wrong, it depends on what fish Jesus is asking you to catch.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you called your disciples to be 'fishers of men'. Please continue to help me to become an effective 'fisher of men and women' so that people of all nations, backgrounds and cultures might come into your advancing kingdom of love and mercy. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
TO PONDER
I don't know how many of you have ever taken the time to make your own bread. It's one of the things I like about summer holidays, Elise and I have the time to make our own fresh baked bread and we often do. The biggest problem being that a fresh baked loaf of bread is usually half eaten before it has had time to cool.
The thing that is cool about the whole process is physically being able to see the effects of the yeast on the dough. There is almost nothing as exciting in the bread making process (except eating the finished product) than seeing the dough 'come to life', often more than doubling in size as the yeast gets to work on the gluten and does its job as a 'rising agent' by introducing gas bubbles to give that fluffy bread texture.
This is another image that Jesus used to describe what the Kingdom of God is like. It is like yeast in the dough, it expands the dough, it works its way through the whole batch and makes it ready to bake and pleasing to eat.
As part of God's kingdom, as His sons and daughters, we also should be like yeast in the dough. God equips and prepares us with his Holy Word and Holy Spirit, to His bring life to those around us. Our presence in the world should be something that permeates the communities in which we live, that spreads to those who we encounter regularly and that brings a 'light and fluffy' texture to those whom God brings us to love and serve.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Thank you for my daily bread, for the way that you provide for all my needs. Thank you also for your Son Jesus, the Bread of Life. Help me to be a 'rising agent' in your world, bringing the love and life of Jesus to all those who cross my path each day. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
TO PONDER
I have heard this parable explained in multiple ways, but the one that resonates for me the most is to think of the church as the mustard seed and God as the man who plants it.
It is easy for us to lose sight at times of how big the church of God really is. because it is not just about us in our 'little' LifeWay churches. It's not even about the whole Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand; nor is it about only Lutheran churches or in fact people who regularly go to any church.
Luther sometimes talked about the visible and invisible or 'hidden' Church. He recognised that there are people who regularly attend church services and who appear to be 'members' of a church but who have failed to grasp the good news of salvation through faith in Christ alone. He also recognised that there are likely people who the Holy Spirit has called to faith, who regularly read Gods word, and pray and trust that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is all that is necessary for their own salvation, who have never set foot inside a church. The point being, we may never know exactly how big the church of God really is, but it is supposed to grow, to advance, to take up an ever increasing amount of space so that birds of all kinds (ie, people of all nations) will come and perch in its branches, find shelter in it, and a place where they can find rest and safety.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you are Lord of the church, you know where your people are and how you want us to bring your peace and comfort to all the world. Help me when I see data and statistics that show church decline in our society. Help me to trust that you are advancing your kingdom here on earth, and help me to play my part as a member of your body. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
TO PONDER
Simeon was a man who God had promised would live to see his promised messiah. When he held the child Jesus, he instantly knew that what he held in his hands was the fulfilment of God's promise of redemption.
Yet the Holy Spirit also gave Simeon the insight to recognise that the path forward for Jesus and also for Mary, was going to be a difficult road, one which involved social ad political upheaval, personal slander and rejection and ultimately pain and suffering.
Jesus' birth is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of a new chapter. Jesus had to grow up, become a man, makes disciples, teach the kingdom of God and lay down his life so that we might truely live.
In the same way, our coming to faith is not the end of the story, it is the beginning of a new chapter of a continuing adventure. Now that we have passed from death to life through faith in Christ we have to live that new life. It's a life modelled on the example of Jesus. A life of growing and maturing in our faith, of making disciples, of sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God, and of service to others. This is how our lives, our stories, and the story of God-with-us moves forward and advances into all the world.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank you that your story and adventure for me continues, that as long as I walk upon this earth you have adventure planned for me. I thank you that the path you have set out for me is to advance your work both in me and through me to all the world. Please help me to keep this in mind when the excitement and joy of Christmas fades and the routine of everyday life takes hold. In Jesus' name, Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle