May 16 devotion - Precious People

1 Peter 4:16                However, do not be ashamed if you suffer for being a Christian; instead, praise God that you bear Christ’s name!

            This Sunday, four of our young people will go through the rite of Confirmation at church and publicly declare their faith in Jesus. They are very bright young people and each of them has prepared Faith statements about their Christian beliefs. They have been nurtured spiritually by their families and our congregation, so the whole event will be both a sacred and special time for all of us.

            They are all deep thinkers which is what Presbyterians are known for. However, they are also Presbyterians in the Bible Belt, which is not always easy to practice. Some of them have been confronted and demeaned by their evangelical peers, who seem to take great delight in telling them that they are not going to Heaven simply because they are Presbyterians. It must be very hard for our young people during those moments, but they are all strong in their faith and know who they actually are in Christ’s eyes. One day, each of them will become leaders in our church. They have great potential and we all feel both honored and deeply privileged to have them among us.

            When Peter was writing about the sufferings that Christians were experiencing in his time, he was reminding them that to follow Christ was never easy. During those dangerous times, Christians were persecuted by both Imperial and religious authorities. They were regarded as seditionists whose beliefs were thought to be corrupt and shameful. They were hunted down and arrested, humiliated and executed for believing in a religious fanatic who had been crucified for his criminal behavior.

            I wonder what Peter would have thought of today’s Christians who bait and provoke one another, causing our young people to reject the church? I think that he may have been both disappointed and righteously angry by our pride and arrogance, our heartlessness and hostility. Perhaps it is time to re-learn our faith from our young people; perhaps it is time to seriously rethink about our divisive ways. I know that I have been guilty of this, too. I know that I need to reconsider that how I express myself as a Christian is more important to our young folks than what I actually have to say.

Questions for personal reflection

How do I convey my Christian faith to those around me? Is my witness to Christ effective or aggressive?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, the world is constantly changing and our young people are the most precious gifts that You bring to our churches. Help us all to support them in their faith journeys, to nurture them spiritually, and to encourage them faithfully, so that they may develop their Christian beliefs in productive and positive ways. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to make comments or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Pentecost drawings called “After the Fire.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/14077009816_c339a8caf4_b.jpg

Love Confirmed - John 13:35

John 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (NIV)

For the last two months, I have had the pastoral privilege of leading five young people in our church through the process of Confirmation. This coming Sunday all of them will stand before our congregation and make special vows, by publicly declaring their faith in Jesus and promising to follow in His footsteps as His disciples. It’s always a very sacred moment in the life of our church and it gives everyone a sense of accomplishment. Most of the young people in this group have grown up in our congregation, so their confirmation affirms the years of support and encouragement that they have been given from their families, both at home and in the congregation.

It will also be a time when the adults in the church should personally review their commitment to being followers of Christ. Discipleship is a life-long process and never ends until we leave the surly bonds of Earth. Each day should be an opportunity to learn more about God in order to apply our faith and effectively display our Christianity. For Jesus, being a disciple meant showing love to one another, so a faith which is devoid of this is a mere religious fabrication. If other people cannot see Christ’s love in our lives, then our faith has a credibility problem and will be seen as inauthentic.

I have a lot of hope for the young people who are being confirmed, as well as their older peers who have already been through this wonderful process. They seem to care more about one another and have a high sense of what is unfair, unjust, and untrue. The world and its environment deeply matter to them, so they expect those of us who declare ourselves as Christians to be actively involved in caring for our planet and for one another. What they do not expect from Christians is a hard-hearted and contemptible faith which treats others disrespectfully and vengefully discriminates against people who disagree with them. Young people loathe self-righteousness and reject all forms of greed. In my opinion, they are truer disciples of Christ because they understand that love is what generates faith in the first place, and not pride or fear.

Point to ponder

What does Christian discipleship mean to me? What does it actually mean to Jesus?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we want to be Your disciples and show the world how much we love You. You also call us to be Your disciples but want us to show love to one another. Help us to follow Your simple teaching; help us to truly love one another. In your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Come and join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome 😊

Today’s image is one of John’s latest Pentecost drawings called ‘Spirit 2019.’ If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Spirit2019.

Gospel devotion - Gospel Readers - 2 Corinthians 9:13

2 Corinthians 9:13     Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 

            Sharing the Gospel these days is very different from how it was done during the Apostle Paul’s time. Usually, we try to encapsulate the whole Gospel into a couple of positive phrases like “love one another” and “do not judge,” making it easy to remember and simple to apply. However, Christ’s Gospel mainly comes to us in four New Testament books, compromising of eighty-nine separate chapters. Condensing the Good News into a couple of words can unintentionally diminish Christ’s life, ministry, and teaching. It may be convenient for us to carry a couple of verses in our hearts and minds, but we could end up with a very superficial understanding of what the Gospel can actually teach us.

In the first couple of centuries of our faith, people laid their lives on the line for the sake of the Gospel. They wouldn’t have done that for just a couple of moralistic mottoes. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection meant everything to them, even if it cost them their livelihood or existence. Those First Christians understood that the Gospel was greater than anything they encountered or experienced; to them, it was infinitely more important than life or death itself.

            Currently, our church’s Confirmation students are reading and studying the Gospel of Mark. By the time their classes are concluded, they will have read all of it, as well as completing homework assignments about each chapter. The young people also have their own questions, ideas, and opinions about Christ’s life, ministry, and death. They are learning that the Gospel has much more depth to it, as well as how it can radically influence their daily decisions and challenge their personal lives.

Perhaps if more church members were to consistently read and re-read the Gospels, they would also embrace and understand the real message of the New Testament narratives. Having only a couple of biblical verses in our hearts and minds is not enough to sustain our spirits or grow our faith. If we truly want to become committed Christians, then surely we need to know what the entire Gospel is about, so that we can positively apply and generously share Christ’s teachings.

Questions for reflection

What was the last Gospel that I fully read? How can I organize reading the Gospels on a regular basis?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, all that we know about You comes mainly from the Gospels. Without them, we would not know what You said or did. Help us to read and re-read the Gospels on a regular basis, so that we can learn to understand and know what You want us to do with the remainder of our lives. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions about today’s devotion, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s Gospel drawings called “A New Earth.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click the following link: Gospel.