Sunday Devotions: Accepting Jesus - Luke 4:24

Luke 4:24 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”

We live in a strange age. Our society and civilization, our culture and traditions have all been shaped, established, and blessed by Christianity. The freedoms we share have been formed by the faith we once held dear. In fact, if we were to erase Christianity from the last two thousand years of history, most of us would be serfs or slaves, ignorant and illiterate, cruelly treated and cast aside.

That’s what makes the living of these days very strange because Western society, in Europe and the Americas, is turning its back upon Christ, the true Founder of our freedoms and faith. It’s as if today’s verse from Luke could be rewritten to read: “No Savior is accepted in His world.”

Jesus lived and died almost two thousand years ago, but His Spirit still captivates most of the religious hearts and minds in other places throughout the world. Africa is a prime example of this. At the beginning of the 20^th century, 9% of the population was Christian and 36% were Islamic. A hundred years later, when we reached the year 2000, 40% of the African population was Islamic and over 44% of the population was Christian. The same thing is happening in China, where it has been estimated that by 2030 1.5 billion people will be Christians. Christ’s Church is growing at a rapid rate throughout the Earth, and yet on His home turf of Western Society people are forgetting what they really owe to His words and ways, His godliness and Gospel.

This morning our church has been closed due to the icy weather, so our people at Erin cannot collectively worship God. But for those of you who are reading this today, I want to say “Thank You” for taking time to accept Jesus into your heart and homes through the reading of God’s Word and the blessing of His Spirit.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, enable us to reconnect to Your words and ways, to find the time to rekindle our faith in order to make a recommitment to You. Help us to remember past days when we have needed You in our lives and the times that we have worshiped in our hearts and homes, as well as in our churches and cherished holy places. Thank You for being the Savior of our souls and the Lord of our lives. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s picture is John’s latest drawing called “Moonlight over Maybole West,” featuring his first parish church. If you would like to see a larger version of the picture, please click on the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/4317958402/sizes/l/

4 Minute Daily Devotions: The Least

1 Corinthians 15:9     For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Yesterday, I was sharing some laughter with a few church members. We were talking about God’s sense of humor and how funny we all must appear to Him at times. I also stated that I could prove God had a great sense of humor – after all, He had made me a pastor!

I think that I understand how Paul feels about his own ministry. He calls himself the least of all the apostles because he feels so unworthy. His past career as a persecutor of the Church stings his conscience from time to time. H realizes that it is only by the grace of God that he has been forgiven and redeemed, pardoned and remade. Paul’s past mistakes could have cost him his salvation; instead, the mercy of God and Christ’s great intervention has turned his life around.

I guess we all feel unworthy at times to be Christians. It’s a struggle to be good people everyday. We all fail through things like anger, greed, pride, and lust – and yet God keeps coming back to us, to allow us mercy and grace through Jesus Christ, His Only and Holy Son. A lot of people think that Christians are perfect, holy, and self-righteous people, but honestly, I believe that Christians are people who make mistakes, confess their sins, and look to Jesus to forgive them, restore them, and encourage them day after day.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, without Your grace we could never be restored to God’s favor and love. We know that at some point, we’re going to fail You today and we wish that we could avoid being sinful. However, we are glad that Your Goodness and Holiness, Your Sacrifice and Sovereignty allows us the opportunity of forgiveness and reconciliation, of pardon and reunification with God. In Your Holy Name, we humbly and thankfully pray. Amen

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.