For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
TO PONDER
Every Christmas I watch the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” and every year allergies get the best of me and cause my eyes to get watery (I’m not crying, you’re crying!) when George Bailey is shown all the lives he has touched and what the world would have been like if he hadn’t lived.
If you have never watched this classic movie, I would suggest you change that and if you have, watch it again but watch it through the eyes of being part of church, watch it as a parable about you and being part of the body of Jesus, the church.
Today’s verses could almost be a synopsis of the parable of church that is “It’s a Wonderful Life” as Paul compares church to the human body and how every part of that body has a role to play. If any part of the body is not fulfilling its role or is missing, the body is handicapped in some way.
And, just as George Bailey was shown that the life of those around him was handicapped/lacking without him, so to church is handicapped/lacking without us fulfilling our function.
Everybody is needed in the church, everybody has a role to play, everybody has something to add to the body.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I give you praise for inviting me to be an integral part of your body, that I have an ordained function to fulfil within the church. Help me to faithfully play my part. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
TO PONDER
For a little over thirty years my body was attacking itself, my immune system was misunderstanding signals it was receiving and as a result was attempting to destroy an otherwise healthy central nervous system. All the damage was happening hidden away, unseen from the outside, but none the less destruction of the central nervous system will eventually manifest in a myriad of symptoms that will eventually become obvious, even life threatening.
In today’s verses Paul is writing to the Ephesian church from prison and instead of urging them for their support in his difficulties he urges them in the previous verses “to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Paul wanted the church to understand that in a fallen world trying to keep God’s people captive, outwardly attacking the church, it was important to be a unified body, not a body attacking itself as a result of misunderstandings and unhealthy attitudes and pride. The Message Bible puts it this way “And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.”
Mixed signals and misunderstandings within a body can and does have serious consequences.
PRAYER: Almighty Father, I thank you for your body, the church, you have placed me in. I repent for any pride, misunderstandings and judgements I have had towards my church family and ask you to help me be quick at mending fences. Amen.
But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
TO PONDER
I don’t know about you but when I watch a movie, hear a story, read a book, or even read the Bible, I usually relate to the hero/protagonist in the story, never really the bad guy.
Today’s verses are from the parable most of us know as “the story of the prodigal son” but I would often struggle with relating to the prodigal son as the main protagonist in this parable. Sure, I admit I am a sinner, I was lost but now am found as the great hymn, “Amazing Grace” proclaims but I really couldn’t relate to the wayward son.
I think the issue here, at least for me, was this parable was given the wrong title. So if you would allow me to flip the protagonist here and as result rename the parable, at least for this post, to “the story of the prodigal church.”
I do think that Jesus was addressing the church in these parable, the church being the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you know, the “righteous ninety-nine”, or the “older brother”.
The early church was a Jewish sect, they worshiped in the synagogue, they debated whether you could be a follower of Jesus without converting to Judaism, attending synagogue, follow the rules and regulations required to be a righteous Jew, being circumcised, etc…
Reread today’s verses but this time as the prodigal older brother, can you relate?
PRAYER: Forgiving Father, I repent of my pride and boastfulness, I ask for your forgiveness as the sinner I am, I repent as the older brother and once again accept your grace and forgiveness, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay WestSide
I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. (MSG)
TO PONDER
When I was in my mid-twenties, I was moving from one house to another. I was moving to share a house with my younger brother and on the move in day my brother had around ten to twelve friends helping him, and I struggled to get four.
Sure, you could say maybe I didn’t have many friends, but I was part of the pastoral staff of a large church, and I still struggled to come close to the number of helpers my ‘heathen’ brother was able to muster with the promise of beer and pizza.
Today’s verse is from a letter of Paul’s written to the Corinthian church to address a few issues he had heard about in this established church. The first topic he discusses in today’s verse is in regards to which denomination they belonged to, pretty much, they were arguing about whose teachings they followed. The people who made up the Corinthian church were allowing partisanship to cause division. Paul says in today’s verse “You must be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.” Paul was arguing that they should find what they have in common with each other rather than arguing about which man-made differences they were using to draw ‘party lines’.
A group of unchurched, heathen, non-Christian, alcohol drinking, (insert your chosen partisan bias here) philistines came together out of consideration for the need of one of their friend. They didn’t need to have a discourse about the intricacies of moving house, or what the underlying causes of homelessness were. My brother’s friends saw a friend in need, had a common goal to help and cultivated a life in common over beer and pizza.
Paul’s letter is reminding us that we share a life of grace together as the church, we share a commonality of eternal proportions or in the words of Jesus ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’
Imagine a house moving experience where there are too many people helping because the person moving was part of a church…
PRAYER: Loving Jesus, I thank you for the sacrifice of your life, given for me a sinner, an act of incredible love. I ask you to help me, empowered by grace, to walk out your love daily. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
TO PONDER
As a kid I remember my mum trying to get into a fake argument with me about whom loved whom more, she would quickly respond to my reply of ‘I love you, too.’ with a ‘I love you more!’, to which I would roll my eyes ‘more’ as I got older…
What my mum was hoping for was one of those engineered, cute arguments where the parties involved in this competition would each increasingly insist that their love for the other was indeed the greater. Unfortunately, having 3 male children to only 1 female child her attempts at concocting said fake argument usually hit a dead end after her use of the word ‘more’.
In today’s verses Paul is inviting us into a holy competition of love.
The Greek word used here for love is ‘agapē’. Agapē is one of four Greek words for love, denoting an active/sacrificial kind of love and due to what appears to be its primarily Biblical and ecclesiastical usage amongst Paul’s contemporaries, it has come to be identified as the love of God. Agapē is a ‘love you more’ type of love, a driven love, not a passive roll your eyes type of love but rather a love that requires action, a love that is outworked daily, a love that is sacrificial.
Agapē love walks hand in hand with God’s ‘aggressive forgiveness’ or grace talked about in Romans 5:20 (MSG), it’s a love of more.
PRAYER: Loving God, I thank you for your agape love you have shown to me, that sacrificial love demonstrated through Jesus and your grace that empowers me. I ask you to use me as a carrier of your agapē to everyone around me. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.
“If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.” (MSG)
TO PONDER
Does your morning routine include deciding to worship God or, like 90% of Australians, do you religiously check your phone within 10 minutes of waking up.
Now, I am not judging those of you who are part of that 90%, as I am more often than not, part of that 90%. Obviously, if the study this figure comes from is correct, most of us are in this habit.
The study went on to find this habit was detrimental to our emotional and physical health as it jolts our brains into a wave of high stress. This abrupt jolt as we wake up causes feelings of worry, paranoia, fear, anger and irritability.
Today’s verse reminds us that everyday we should wake up and decide who or what we will worship/serve today. Do we choose to worship the need for information or do we decide to worship God. One of the spiritual practices we talk about at LifeWay Westside is starting the day with, what we call, “Headline Prayer”. That’s praying three single sentence prayers; Pray for LifeWay, pray for somebody else, and finally pray that God would use us today.
It’s as simple as, “God I pray that you would bless everybody who is part of LifeWay, I ask you to move in (inset name here) life today, and Father I ask that you would use me to be your tangible presence in somebodies life today, Amen!”.
As for me, tomorrow I will choose not to check my phone first thing in the morning but to pray instead.
PRAYER: Almighty Father, I repent for the times I have chosen other things before you, for the routines and habits I allow to crowd you out of my life. Today, I choose to serve you. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
TO PONDER
Growing up, my family was not well off. We often had to make do with the bare essentials and hand-me-downs. I remember how, at the beginning of every school semester, Mum would tear the used pages out of my older brother’s and sister’s notebooks and exercise pads before giving them to me. School uniforms were re-used, generation to generation. A single pair of Oxford shoes was expected to last the whole year. At times I would get angry, my brother’s uniforms were a poor fit for me, and the books crumpled and hollow between the covers. Worse still were all the cool things other kids had – toys, games, new bikes and shiny helmets. “Why does my family have to be so poor!?” was my unvoiced complaint.
Yet despite how terrible it seemed at the time, we never missed a meal. We always had enough. Mum was an expert at turning a little into a lot. We had clothes, warm beds, and parents that dearly, dearly loved us.
At times it is tempting to look at our own churches and think “Why does my family have to be so poor!?”, and to look at other churches with their shiny big-screen TVs and media equipment, packed pews, and generous parking lots and think “Why don’t we have that?!” It is easy to fall into envy. But God has a message for us: don’t love the things of the world, be content with what you have and what I have given you. Have no fear, I will not forsake you.
We can learn to do a lot with a little. Let us look at how we can use what God has given us, for His glory, and so that others may come to know the unfailing love of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Let us trust wholly in God our Helper, who has done all things.
PRAYER: Jesus Christ, thank You for loving me, thank You for providing for me, thank You for all that You have done, are doing, and will do. Help me to see what I have, and to use my time, talents, and treasures for Your Kingdom. Show me how to be an effective steward of all that you have given me. In your precious and Holy name, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Anthony Fawcett, St. Paul's Sydney & on loan to LifeWay Westside.
and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
TO PONDER
Although we are saved by Christ and have the Holy Spirit in us, Christians can still act unlovingly towards others. We may fall back into old habits of gossiping, laziness, drama, and ungratefulness. Instead of being a reflection of Christ's light, we show our human weaknesses in how we treat each other.
This passage from Paul's first letter to the fledgling church in Thessalonica reminds us of how we should live as a functional family of God. Paul writes that we should live quietly and avoid unnecessary drama, mind our own affairs, and work with our hands. Seeking help is okay, but we should not burden others unfairly. Doing so is not loving and does not show God's grace. From the Gospel of John we read:
"Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35).
Let us live as the functional family of God, loving one another as Christ loves us. Let us be graceful, patient, diligent, united in one body through the washing of Word and Water, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God our Father, and Christ our older brother.
PRAYER: Holy Spirit, help me to live as a child in your functional family. Help me to treat others with love, grace, and patience, and to work diligently with the talents and gifts I have received from my Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Anthony Fawcett, St. Paul's Sydney & on loan to LifeWay Westside
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
TO PONDER
Families are tough. Often, the bigger the family, the harder it is. There’s almost always one relative we don’t get along with, an uncle, aunt, sibling, nephew, niece, or in-law who rubs us the wrong way. How often do we dread that family reunion when we are forced to “play nice” and not to cause a scene when they aren’t extending the same grace to us?
The family of God is the largest family there is. Our own Lutheran branch of that family numbered 77.5 million in 2019, and our individual congregations can be anything from the tens to hundreds. How are we all expected to get along?
The Word of God and the Holy Spirit encourage us to be graceful, merciful, and patient. If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and when we stumble, remember that the precious blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. As we hear from Colossians 3:13, let us live:
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
PRAYER:Lord, Heavenly Father, I humbly admit that I don’t always show others the grace, patience, and forbearance I ought to. Jesus Christ, forgive me and help me to also forgive others. Holy Spirit, encourage and guide me to live in a way that is pleasing in your sight. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Anthony Fawcett, St. Paul's Sydney & on loan to LifeWay Westside