Category: Be Inspired

Check out this month’s GCI Profile to get to know Hazel Tabin, GCNext Leader in Los Angeles, CA. To read her full profile, click the image below.

We want to hear from you!

What does your Hope avenue look like right now?

Please comment below.

---

If you need a refresher on the three avenues, please click on the image below to view and download the full Team-Based – Pastor-Led infographic, or scroll down to the bulleted summary.

• Hope avenue (worship)—the Sunday worship service—intentional preparation, inclusive gathering, inspirational worship.
• Faith avenue (discipleship)—discipling people in the faith—connect groups, discipleship classes, Bible studies, church life activities and events.
• Love avenue (witness)—mission and outreach—identifying a target community, building relationships, missional events.

 

Acts 2:42 (ESV) “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Though this verse speaks to a specific moment in the history of the church (the days immediately following the birth of the church in Jerusalem), it describes the basic content of the church’s public assemblies—a content that endures to this day: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread (the Lord’s Supper) and prayers.

Being unable to assemble during the pandemic has reminded me of the great importance (and blessing) of our times together in public assembly as the body of Christ. Something we can still take part in, albeit virtually, through our church services online. (I am grateful to those who worked so hard to make this resource available, it has been a lifeline!)

Robin Parry, in Worshipping Trinity: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship, states (referencing the writing of Susan Wood, emphasis added):

Taking part in Christian worship is essential for Christian spiritual formation. We may not pay conscious attention to all the individual elements of the faith that we sing or act out in worship, but we are immersed in the practice of communal devotion to God. We internalize the shape of the faith through the sights, sounds, smells, tastes of the whole experience. Liturgy… creates an environment that, when we indwell it, shapes our vision, relations, and knowledge of God in Christian ways. The knowledge of God we gain in worship is not the knowledge that one can learn from a book but the participatory knowledge that comes from being involved in a relationship.

Because we worship a relational God—the Holy Trinity—our worship is communal. By God’s design, it involves assembling together—Sunday-by-Sunday, season-by-season through the course of the Christian year. In our assemblies, through the liturgy of worship, we reenact the story of the gospel—the story of Jesus, our story. So important. Such a blessing!

Prayer: Lord God, we are grateful for your church; grateful we are part of it—members of Christ’s body. Lord, you created us and created the church so that we might share in your life and your love. We do that sharing together, and through that life together we are transformed. Lord, we pray for those who due to circumstances beyond their control, are unable to assemble with us. May we reach out to them so that they know they are part of us, and we a part of them. Help us to assemble faithfully, safely, with joy, reverence, and awe, for our sakes, and for the sake of the world that you love. Amen

 

Ted Johnston
Instructor, Grace Communion Seminary
Retired GCI Regional Pastor and Publications Editor

 

 

 

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Sometimes I get discouraged when thinking about many I used to know at church, who, for a number of reasons, have left our fellowship, and as far as I know, just aren’t “going” anywhere. I don’t know their hearts, and what their relationship is with Jesus, but humanly, I grieve for them, wishing that they were again in community with me, that we could journey together in the love of our Triune God.

When I read this passage in his letter to the church in Rome (part of a discussion in chapters 9-11), I see Paul had similar concerns. Here he struggles with the fact that the descendants of Abraham, God’s chosen people, the covenant people and his own people, have rejected Jesus as their Messiah.

In addressing Gentile Christians, Paul explains that although they were once disobedient, God has shown them mercy, and he still offers mercy to those who are the original covenant people.

What does that mean for us when we reject God through our actions, or for those we may know who seemingly have walked away from God?

I take great encouragement from two statements in this passage:

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God has not abandoned the original covenant people. And he continues calling to me, even when I find myself in a state of disobedience to him. He also continues to reach out to all who have “walked” away from their calling.

Why? So he can show that he is merciful to all.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for showing mercy to all through your Son Jesus. Thank you for not judging us as we would tend to judge ourselves and others. May you show us how to be merciful the way you are merciful to us.

 

 

 

By Bill Hall
National Director, GCI Canada

Revelation 3:19-22 The Passion Translation: ¹⁹ All those I dearly love I unmask and train. So repent and be eager to pursue what is right. ²⁰ Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me. ²¹ And to the one who conquers^. I will give the privilege of sitting with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² The one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying now to the churches.

My imagination is captured by an artistic rendition of this scripture showing Jesus calling in the dark. He stands holding a light waiting to be let inside. Maybe because it’s our choice, since the doorknob is on our side. To feast with Jesus was an invitation to an international family meal. To become family meant there were cultural and social barriers to overcome.

This worldwide pandemic has forced us behind closed doors. It has exposed the dark underbelly of our institutions marred by injustice. Can we ignore the knock on our collective hearts? How do we hear Jesus’ invitation to his table today? If we could hear his prayer we might hear “Father, may they be one as we are one, so the world may believe.”

Since the heart that is open listens carefully, I invite you to listen like this:

• Find a quiet place without distractions.
• Pray: “Lord give me ears to hear.”
• Take a few deep breaths. Close your eyes. Imagine yourself feasting at Jesus’ table. What are you thinking? and feeling? Discuss it with him.
• Stay still and listen. If distracting thoughts come, let them go and repeat, “Lord, give me ears to hear.” Listen for any scriptures or images that might bring comfort or for an invitation to become the change the world needs.
• As you go about your day, listen for Jesus’ knock on your heart and the grace to respond.

 

By Carmen Fleming

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are death.
Proverbs 27:6

I was 21 years old when my father died suddenly and no one in my family knew how to cope with that…especially at first. We were all hurting and finding our way through the initial stages of grief. For me, it was rage, pure rage. My world felt so foggy that every line seemed blurred.

The day after we buried my father I got in an argument with my sister and shouted, “If you don’t get out of my way, I’m gonna punch you in the face!” I love my sister and would never hurt her, but rage just came out of my heart through my mouth. My best friend Mike was standing there with us and he stepped between us and said to me, “If you punch her, I’m gonna punch you!” He would have done it, too, and Mike was a big dude. I was so emotionally immature and so damaged in my grief that I took offense that he seemed to turn on me.

What I didn’t realize at the time is that he was loving me like Jesus. Proverbs 27:6 tells us “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are death.” Faithful loving friends will hurt our feelings, if necessary, to help us see and correct destructive behavior. A true friend is willing to say the hard things, in love, to help us be our best selves in Christ. Today let’s stop and thank the Father, Son, and Spirit for the true friends in our lives who correct us in love.

 

By Bill Winn
Pastor, Grace Communion Hanover, Virginia

 

Click the image below to view and download this month’s Prayer Guide.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:9

This section of scripture is called “Love in Action,” revealing that sincere love is not reflected merely in our words but in our interactions with one another. From this one verse, it seems like real love acts a lot like Jesus, thinking of others first and clinging to what is good. Looking at love through this lens, I see the conditional, pretend love that can far too easily manifest in my relationships – love that depends on how the other person treats me or my mood.

Real love, loving others like Jesus, isn’t always easy. It takes working through our natural response and choosing to respond with the other person in mind. Real love speaks the truth when it could be easier to say what the other person wants to hear. It can mean asking questions to get to the root of the other person’s perspective and motivations. The good news is that we do not manifest this love ourselves. We love, because God who is love, loved us first. Our capacity to love is much more than a natural response to a feeling. Our capacity is supernatural because we are children of God, and through the Spirit, God lives in us.

Prayer:
Father, Son, and Spirit, thank you for including me in your life and love. May your love overflow into all of my relationships, and help me to choose actions that reveal your love.

 

 

By Michelle Fleming
GCI Media Director

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Luke 15:1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

The story of the lost sheep is one of the most beloved of Jesus’ parables. How encouraging to hear, as a sinner in need of continual repentance, that God pursued you while you were still lost. Surely, you delight in the thought that God chases after you.

God’s movement toward you is profoundly personal. God was delighted to choose you before the creation of the world and embrace you into the life of the Father, Son, and Spirit. And based on this parable, it is correct for you to perceive yourselves as being sought after individually by God. Yet what if your only gaze for this parable is on God’s pursuit of you? Could you be missing part of the beautiful imagery and meaning? What gets lost when you are focused solely on your own salvation?

In the metaphorical language of Luke 15, to be rescued from wandering, to be saved from individual lostness is only the Shepherd’s first salvific action. The story is incomplete without the Shepherd restoring the lamb to the other ninety-nine. This is so important! We have all been gathered back, not just back into union with God but back into fellowship with one another. It is within this context of a community, a holy people, that we participate in the mystery of God’s renewal and we experience being conformed to Jesus’ image.

Dear one, be encouraged that your story does not end at Jesus saving you from your personal sin and private darkness. That was just the beginning! You were made for so much more than to merely be saved from something. You were saved for true life and flourishing in communion with the Triune God and with your sisters and brothers.

Prayer: Father, Son, and Spirit, open our eyes to the wonder and hope that we belong to one another. Plant it in our imaginations, to be expressed in our creativity, and to be lived in our bodies. Thank you for the privilege of participating with your eternal, loving purposes through your Body.

 

 

By Elizabeth Mullins

Click the image below to view and download this month’s Prayer Guide.