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Discipleship

Commitment to Christ - Prayer

on Wed, 10/21/2015 - 17:21

:: 8::  Do not be anxious about anything; rather bring up all of your requests to God in prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. (Philippians 4:6)

What are you most anxious about? Do you juggle to make ends meet? Is your marriage not the best? Are you unhappy with your career? Do you have relationships that are under strain?

Life is not easy. We are burdened by the concerns of the commonplace, the small yet continuous concerns that come with being in relationship to other people, with having responsibilities in the workplace or school, with keeping our commitments.

Commitment to Christ

on Wed, 10/21/2015 - 01:58

:: 7::  “The Lord proclaims, the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord; call to me and I will answer and reveal to you wondrous secrets you haven’t known.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

You have been claimed by God in Christ. You are a child of God. God, “the Lord who made the earth,” invites you to bring all your questions and your thoughts, both great and small, and place them before the One who loves you give up his Son.

Often, we think of God as the one who grants our requests: our divine waiter or cosmic vending machine.

Commitment to Christ

on Tue, 10/20/2015 - 04:03

:: 6 ::  Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Following after Jesus is costly, and the grace we freely recieve, was obtained at a price. This paradox stands at the heart of the Christian faith. You must deny yourself and follow Jesus

What keeps you from following Christ? Do you have an attachment to money? Is your identity so intertwined with a social group or class of people that you fear following Christ might transform your understanding of yourself?

Commitment to Christ

on Tue, 10/20/2015 - 04:03

:: 6 ::  Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Following after Jesus is costly, and the grace we freely recieve, was obtained at a price. This paradox stands at the heart of the Christian faith. You must deny yourself and follow Jesus

What keeps you from following Christ? Do you have an attachment to money? Is your identity so intertwined with a social group or class of people that you fear following Christ might transform your understanding of yourself?

Commitment to Christ

on Mon, 10/19/2015 - 15:45

:: 5 ::  The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. (Acts 2:42)

In Acts chapter 2, we find an amazing story. We are told that on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter and other disciples were given the gift of the Holy Spirit and began to announce the good news of Jesus Christ to all those gathered in Jerusalem. The result was overwhelming: three thousand were added to the number of disciples that very day.

Commitment to Christ

on Sun, 10/18/2015 - 01:38

:: 4 :: “Be very brave and strong as you carefully obey all of the instruction that Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t deviate even a bit from it, either to the right or left. Then you will have success wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7)

As you commit your life to Christ more fully, you may not fully understand what it all means or if you really want to become a radical disciple. You may be scared. It is daunting to imagine yourself becoming a different person.

The good news is that You are not alone.

Commitment to Christ

on Sat, 10/17/2015 - 17:51

:: 3 :: “So now, revere the Lord. Serve him honestly and faithfully. Put aside the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14)

We were created for God, to be used for God’s purposes, if we would only listen. But often we give in to enticements, other voices, and we serve other gods - things the world thinks are important, things that promises false security, things that give us short term pleasure. When we do this, we often tread a path of destruction, leaving in our wake broken hearts, broken lives, disappointments, and failures.

Commitment to Christ

on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 18:54

:: 2 ::  We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Before you made any move toward God, before you discovered or contemplated or considered Jesus’ invitation to follow him, God moved toward you. Before you did or said anything, God declared a deep, abiding love for you. God loves you. God loved you first. This is a life-altering truth. This is a central reformed understand of our faith.

Our capacity for love is influenced significantly by the love we have received.

Commitment to Christ

on Wed, 10/14/2015 - 23:21

“Come, follow me.” (Mark 1:17)

Knowingly or not, all of us follow someone. We can do so with great intention and care, or we can do so haphazardly, stumbling from here to there but nevertheless moving in a general direction. We identify those persons whom we most desire to emulate, and we make our decisions accordingly. We all have some general conception of what an abundant life looks like, either through exposure to a model, or by piecing together a patchwork ideal all our own.

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