Going to church today? Here is something to rattle your Christian brains and make you think:
Church must not be the goal of the gospel anymore. Church should not be the focus of our efforts or the banner we hold up to explain what we’re about. Church should be what ends up happening as a natural response to people wanting to follow us, be with us, and be like us as we are following the way of Christ.
~Hugh Halter in “The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community”
the promise of God
spoken through the prophets of old…
proclaimed by the angels
to Zechariah
to Mary
to Joseph
to the shepherds…
all of whom sang with the angels
their praises to God in the highest…
because the Messiah, the Christ, God’s Anointed and Chosen One
was to be born…
had been born…
and through him and in him
God in the highest
would dwell on earth
among his people…
the prophets still lift their voices with the angels…
to proclaim the promise
and sing praises
to God in the highest…
because God’s Anointed and Chosen One,
the Messiah,
the Christ,
is still found in our world today…
prepare your hearts…
and make room…
sing with the angels his praises…
and proclaim…
Emmanuel… God with us!
Christ has come!
Christ is here!
Christ will come again!
~trekkerjay
I believe in you, Jesus Christ.
God’s only Son.
Begotten of the Father
not made.
Son of God.
Our Lord.
My Lord.
I submit to you, Christ.
Be my Master.
Be my Lord.
I am clay, mold me.
I am dirty, cleanse me.
I am broken, mend me.
I am weak, strengthen me.
I have sinned, forgive me.
You, Lord, are my Lord.
You loved me and I love you in return.
I love.
I surrender.
I yield.
I believe.
I believe in Jesus Christ
God’s only Son our Lord.
My Lord.
I believe.
Amen.
~ Keith Drury: Common Ground: What All Christians Believe and Why It Matters
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the LORD.“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. ~Jeremiah 31:31-34
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ~Matthew 26:26-28
But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. ~Hebrews 9:11-12, 15
Lent is the time of our lives where we are most especially called to reflect on our own lives and ask ourselves, how much do we thirst for an intimate relationship with our loving Jesus who is just waiting for us to respond to His love? It is the time that we must deeply ponder how much do we thirst for a life that is life-giving to others? ~Anonymous
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ~John 4:13-14
faith trek 