Midweek devotion - Hallmark - Luke 6:31

A short devotion on Christ's words from Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you."


 

Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. (NIV)

Mutual respect. Equal opportunity. Loving one another. Those are three teachable and reachable qualities that Christ encapsulates into this mind-blowing sentence:

‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’

Many years ago, an old Scottish minister introduced me to this Bible verse and called it ‘The Golden Rule’ because it is basically taught by most religions throughout the world. It is also meant to be the hallmark by which Christians are recognized all over the Earth. Sadly, especially these days, that hallmark has been defaced and replaced with defiant un-Christlike words such as “Don’t tread on me,” or selfish, unbiblical phrases like “God helps those who help themselves.”

I find it deeply disappointing to come across Christians who are very selfish and insensitive to injustice. It makes me wonder what has made them so insecure and unsure about Jesus. His way of transforming human society was meant to bring out the best in us; however, we ended up idolizing the wrong things and, in the process, we have cast aside Jesus as the Liberator of our lives, choosing instead to embrace hostility, paranoia, conspiracies, and prejudice.

I believe we are at a significant crossroads today – not only as a nation, but as a worldwide faith. If we allow fear and falsehood, arrogance and indifference to publicly display our beliefs, then we will be called hypocrites and fools, driven by greed and power, defined as bullies and racists. People will walk away from our churches and reject anything we have to say. We will neutralize, marginalize, and stigmatize ourselves because of our failure to follow Christ’s path through selfishly pandering to our self-centered opinions, prejudices, and pride.

If we honestly believe ourselves to be Christians, then we will receive, embrace, and apply His teaching without polluting it with excuses, explanations, or exhortations that are definitely not what Jesus would ever have said or done. As always, the choice is ours to choose what is right or wrong; to select what our Savior says or to decide to follow something else. We will only have ourselves to blame for losing the world by pandering to our own souls.

Q: How do I display my faith in Jesus? Do others see Him or only me?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us for failing to follow You. Pardon us for permitting our prejudices to conceal Your truth and display our inhumanity. In Your Holy Name, we shamefully pray. Amen.

If you would like to respond to today’s devotion, just send me an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

God bless and be with you all.

Christian devotion - Fake News - John 8:45

John 8:45 Jesus said, “Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me!” (NIV)

            Personally, I’m tired of the over-used term “Fake news,” because it’s being employed by all types of folks to close down any dialogue or discussion of different opinions. I see it on Facebook, news reports, and newspaper articles all of the time, especially in the comment sections. I thought it was just an American thing, but sadly, I’ve come across it in the Scottish and British newspapers that I read online from time to time. It seems that everybody has their own personal truths about every situation under the sun, and nobody has any time or notion to honestly discuss contrasting viewpoints, ideas, or beliefs.

            ‘Fake news,’ however, isn’t new. In the Gospel passage John 8:38-59, Jesus confronts His opponents by rebuking them for not accepting the truth He was expressing about God. Instead of accepting Him as a genuine source of God’s grace through the miracles and lessons that Christ displayed, some people opted to believe what they wanted to believe, and wouldn’t let Jesus convince them otherwise. I get the feeling that Christ was frustrated by some of them, not because they opposed Him, but because they were missing out on a wonderful opportunity to be embraced by God in a new and encouraging way.

            As Christians, we are expected both by God and the world to be truthful followers of Jesus. We have been given the Gospels to enable us to share God’s gracious blessings with all kinds of folks. If we mix our faith with the trappings of so-called ‘fake news’ or pass on false stories, then our credibility as a religious people is diminished and our reliability as witnesses to Christ is undermined. In other words, we have a responsibility to not only seek the truth but to express and share it with the rest of the world. Our allegiance belongs to God and our devotion as disciples of Christ is owed solely to Him. If we let anything or anyone else get in the way, we become ‘fake news’ messengers, instead of followers of Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Point to ponder

Am I dismissive of other views? Am I willing to listen to contrasting ideas and opinions? Do I accept Christ as the source of Truth?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we live in turbulent times and often seek security in thoughts and people that reflect our own ideas, opinions, and beliefs. Sometimes, we displace You with those very same things. Forgive our fallen and prejudicial ways. Help us to seek Your guidance and truth for our lives. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org. If you have any questions or feedback for John, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest drawings called “Eclipso Calypso.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Calypso.

Advent devotion: Poles Apart - Mark 6:20

Mark 6:20       Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

            Even evil people know the truth when they hear it. King Herod was no exception. Like his wicked father before him, he was a cruel despot who retained his power by wiping out his enemies. He was also a puppet-king who sovereignty solely depended on the reports of the Roman Governor and the whims of the Emperor. If Herod did anything to displease the Romans, he would have been immediately assassinated or executed. On the other hand, if he did anything which displeased the people, he could always rely upon the Roman garrison to back him up.

            Herod’s fascination with John the Baptist is full of contradictions. He imprisons John for preaching against Herod and his wife, and yet the king visits him in prison because he liked to listen to him. He was a despotic ruler who ruthlessly crushed his enemies, and yet he is afraid of John because he speaks the truth. Herod is used to being pampered in his palaces and lives a life of luxury; John, however, is the exact opposite – he lives in the rough outdoors, surviving on locusts and wild honey. The two men are worlds and poles apart – and yet Herod protects John because likes to listen to him.

            I wonder what would have happened if Herod had not made the rash promise which resulted in John’s beheading. Would Herod have eventually repented and been restored to God? If so, would he have intervened on Christ’s behalf or kept him protected as a prisoner so that the king could listen to the carpenter? We’ll never know, but at some point in his life, Herod listened to what God had to say through John; his only trouble was this: he never fully accepted or personally applied the truth of John’s words.

            As we approach Christmas, our churches become fuller because of the special programs and great festivals that take place in our sanctuaries. People like to listen to the Christmas carols and hear the Christmas story. However, just like Herod in the past, they miss the wonderful opportunity to make a direct connection to God through Jesus. They like listening to Christ’s words; they’re just not ready to live accordingly.

Questions for personal reflection

What truths do the Gospels convey to me, especially during this season of Advent and Christmas? Do I like listening to them, or am I willing to go further and live by them?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, speak Your Truth to us throughout this season of Advent. Allow our hearts and minds to embrace Your words and to live according to the challenges that they contain. Be with us and strengthen our faith in You this day. 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 message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is John’s latest nativity drawing called “Long Ago.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: Long Ago.

Daily devotion: Gospel Truth? - Galatians 2:5

Today’s readings: Judges 13:8-16 and Galatians 2:1-10

Galatians 2:5              We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

What is the Gospel Truth? Is it what I say it is, or what I show it to be? Is it what Paul declared it to be, or what he displayed in his life? Is the Gospel Truth what the Church expresses in its doctrines, or what a congregation practices in its mission?

Today, we are all struggling with the Gospel because there are so many different variations of its teachings and interpretations of its practices that one size doesn't fit all anymore. Christians are as diverse as the human population in the world; as each generation comes and goes, our faith evolves and expands into something different, something unexpected, and something new.

For long term Christians like me, this becomes an honest hardship because the Faith that I was attracted to almost forty years ago, has developed into something unimaginable for me. The spiritual safety barriers and sacred security fences that I had built and maintained are no longer there. The boundaries that I once bellowed about, have all been broken down and there’s nothing that I can do to change this. To even attempt it, would be like trying to rebuild the Berlin Wall in Germany – it just cannot be done ever again.

So what is Gospel Truth? Who decides? Has what Paul battled for been forsaken? Are we in danger of shaping our beliefs and molding Christ into our own idolatrous standards and ideas?

Of course, we are. We are only human and we need to create our own Christianity in order to cope with life. My Christianity is as different from your Christianity as my interests, pursuits, and goals are from yours. But that doesn't make our faith ineffective; instead it makes our beliefs relevant to both of us. Christ died for all of us – liberal and progressive, conservative and assertive Christians alike. In His wisdom, He created a multi-colored theological tapestry of all nations, which He calls The Church – therefore we are all made and shaped by Him – and that’s the Gospel Truth.

Questions for personal reflection

What personal beliefs do I hold strongly about Jesus? Do my deeds display those beliefs?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You have called us to Your heart independently and individually of each other. We each have something special to contribute to the Christian faith. Help us to see Your influence in how we all practice our faith. 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 on today’s message or ask a question, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest drawings. It’s called ‘Star of Gethsemane.’ In it, Jesus is depicted with eyes puffed up from crying and his face is covered with blood and sweat as He agonizes over accepting God’s Will. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7320/11183575774_4971232f95_b.jpg

Advent Devotions: Embracing Advent - Psalm 115:2

Psalm 115:2    Why do the nations say, "Where is their God?" 

Q:        What’s the best way to keep Christ in Christmas?

A:        Go to church on Sundays.

It always amazes me that so many people complain that Christmas just isn’t the same and yet they never seem to connect their spiritual emptiness with their lack of attendance at Church worship. If they are bombarded with commercial pressure for well over 60 days, then they are bound to be overwhelmed, especially if they don’t take time out to be with the Lord and His people during the season of Advent.

Over the years, I’ve sadly watched young parents crucify themselves emotionally and financially in order to make Christmas perfect for their children. I’ve seen families get frantic and fight over details about who is hosting Christmas dinner this year. And I’ve looked at beleaguered workers and sales people practically killing themselves in order to boost their figures in the last month of the year. In the midst of so much pressure, it’s so much easier to let go of God and miss the point of the whole celebration.

The Church prepares us for Christmas in meaningful, traditional, and time-honored ways. The four Sundays in Advent are worship vehicles to bring us closer to God in peaceful, priceless, and precious ways. Instead of wondering what Christmas is all about and turning it into a nightmare, we honestly and simply need to get with God’s program and make Advent a spiritual adventure where we refocus our lives on Christ.

The Gospel Truth is always this simple. We don’t need to put Christ back into Christmas; He is already there. We need to put ourselves back into Christ – Church gives us that wonderful opportunity every Sunday.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, keep us from the merciless busy-ness of Christmas and lead us to the stillness of God’s Kingdom. Protect us from going overboard in order to please other people and enable us to make and take time to please You. Give us a heart to be in worship on Sundays and open our souls to Your Holy Presence. In your Sacred Name, we sincerely 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 image is part of John’s New Yorker series. It features Central Park in winter, surrounded by the city’s buildings. If you would like to see a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/5141644080_1b3f84222c_b.jpg

You can also view John’s latest drawings at any time on his art blog, which you will find at http://www.stushieart.wordpress.com

Daily Devotions: Handling the Truth

1 Samuel 3:17 "What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you."

Did you ever see the movie ‘A Few Good Men?’ it stars Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. It’s a courtroom drama and its gripping climax comes when Tom Cruise is cross examining Nicholson near the end. In a battle of words, Cruise passionately insists that he wants to hear the truth, to which Nicholson aggressively replies: “You can’t handle the truth!”

When old Eli insists that the boy Samuel tells him what God has spoken to him, he wants to hear the truth, no matter what it is. Samuel is reluctant to tell him because it is a prophetic curse upon Eli and his sons. But Eli persists and even curses Samuel with the same fate if he does not tell him what God has said.

I wonder if moments later Eli had wished he hadn’t been given the message. The truth was ruthless and full of judgment upon Eli and his family. Would he have been better off being ignorant of God’s wrathful message?

I try to preach the Gospel from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Sometimes when I’m looking over a chosen passage, I wish that Jesus hadn’t said what He did. I know that when I start preaching the truth, it is sometimes too much for people in the pews to handle. So I’m left with a dilemma, do I please the people by diluting the Gospel, or do I please Jesus by not mincing His words?

The truth about the Gospel is this: some people can’t handle it, so they shape it into something that makes them comfortable and spiritually cozy. But they ignore this truth – how cozy is the Cross? How comfortable are the calls that Christ makes to us to repent, challenge our ways, and change our lives? A Gospel that is comfortable makes us all spiritual couch potatoes; Christ’s Gospel, which is awkward and challenging, makes us who God calls us to be.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we’ve let society become our Savior and allowed the world to become the Word. We’ve surrendered our souls to coziness and peacefulness, instead of aligning our spirits to the Gospel and You. We honestly can’t handle the Truth and so we make up our own Way, which leads us to no Life. Forgive us and rebuke us; direct us and renew us. 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.

4 Minute Devotions: Just Stories

Some people say that the Gospels are just mere stories. Peter, however, declared that they were eye witness accounts of what truly took place in Christ's lifetime. Our challenge today is this: do we accept Peter's testimony?

Podcast version here

I love making up stories, especially for the children of our church on Sunday mornings. I guess I started telling stories for my brothers late at night when we were kids. Three of us shared the same bedroom and each of us had to deal with my mother’s insanity in different ways. At night time, sleep never came easy for any of us, so I would tell stories to my younger brothers and eventually they would sleep peacefully. I can’t really remember what any of those stories were about – it all took place about forty years ago – but those storytelling skills have stayed with me, which is why I enjoy giving the kids sermon during worship.

Some people believe that the Gospels are just made up, and have become stories that people must accept or they will experience the Church’s wrath. Eckhart Tolle in his book, “A New Earth” makes such a complaint. He writes about the Bible being a collection of stories with morals within them that are imposed upon the readers or hearers. What he is trying to do is to undermine the value of the Bible and diminish the faith of Christians.

2 Peter 1:16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Peter, in his second letter, faced similar opposition, which is why he reminds his readers that the events he relates about Jesus were not just stories, but eye witness accounts of what actually happened. Peter insists that he was there when Christ was transfigured. It is not a magical story, which is meant to charm the listener; it is an actual reporting of what truly happened.

Tolle may wish that the Gospels were mere stories so that he can pursue his own misguided philosophy. Peter, however, was willing to die for what he knew to be true, so for me, his testimony has more authenticity than anything Tolle can make up.

The question for all of us today is this: are the Gospels mere morality tales to help us through life, or are they God’s truth to lead us to eternal life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your life is so different from all others and Your messages are meant to challenge our lives and change our ways. Some voices in the world would have us believe that Your teaching, Your existence, and Your purposes are just mere myths. Help us to hold fast to Your ways and keep us from falling into the temptations of unbelief. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Authority: Debunking the Jesus Seminar

There’s a group of liberal theologians who meet together on a regular basis to discuss their ideas about Jesus. They call themselves “The Jesus Seminar,” and their mission is to seek the real, historical Jesus behind the Gospels. They believe that the Gospels have been tarnished with stories and myths, additions and subtractions that the Church produced and tailored over 400 years. By reducing the text to what they believe is its original context, they hope to re-discover who Jesus actually was and present Him to the world.

Podcast version here

The trouble is this: when they come across something like the bodily resurrection of Christ which they don’t believe, they pick and pull at the Gospel narratives until nothing is left. Or if Jesus is being critical and judgmental, they say that this was 2nd or 3rd century Church teaching and didn’t originate from Christ’s mouth. And whenever they come across something that is enigmatic or troubling, they try to reduce the Gospel to something palatable and acceptable to them. In other words, they’re revising the scriptures to suit themselves, in order to reflect their own cultural world view. Rather than accept the truth of the Gospel and the authority of Jesus, they declare that their own research and interpretations are authoritative and exact.


Bible verse of the Day


Mark 11:33 So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."



What the Jesus Seminarians are doing is nothing new. Jesus faced this all of the time. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Greeks, and Romans all questioned His authority. We even have examples of this in the Gospels. On Holy Tuesday, we focus upon the questioning that Jesus faced in the temple courts by the high priests and teachers of the law. They did not recognize His authority either. They wanted to reduce Him and His influence to that of being a backwoods carpenter from the boonies of Galilee, who got above His station and met His match with the theologians and priests in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Doesn’t it all sound too familiar?

The Jesus Seminarians are the Pharisees and Sadducees of our present generation. They seek to destroy the Gospel, the Church, and the Truth about Jesus. They want His authority over our lives to be diminished, and they desire that their own intellect and opinions be exalted above anything that is reported about Jesus in the Gospels.

As for me, I’m sticking with the Jesus that I personally know through the scriptures and especially the Gospels. His authority comes from God and He is the Only Savior that our world needs in every generation. The Jesus Seminarians may babble and squawk till kingdom come; they may stroke their own theological egos and esteem themselves in each other eyes, but when the King of Creation returns, it will be the Christ of the Gospels, and not the theological figment that they have imagined.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, for centuries Your Gospels have enlightened us about Who You were, Who You are, and Who You shall be. Come into our hearts and change our lives. Come into our minds and change our misconceptions. Enable us to rely upon the Gospel Truth and may we share it with the world. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Preaching Heresy - Mega Churches & the Prosperity Gospel

Luke 12:31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)

A lot of Americans are buying into what has been coined as “the prosperity gospel.” Its message goes something like this: God will be good to you, if you believe in His promises; God will make you successful, if you ask Him. It ties up the American dream with the Christian faith, and a lot of mega-churches are promoting this rags-to-riches, gospel-to-glory type of message.

It sounds like a good idea and certainly makes for great marketing, but it’s not what Christianity is all about. The promoters of the ‘prosperity gospel’ are actually peddling a heresy. In other words, they’re twisting the truth of the gospel into something that it was never meant to become. I mean think about it: can you imagine Jesus telling the folks of His day that their debt would be taken care of, just by giving money to His Galilean ministry? Do we really think that Christ, who told the rich young man to give up all of his possessions, would preach a message saying that God would supply everything we ever wanted? If we all read the Gospels properly, we find that Jesus talks more about giving than getting.

It’s very easy to get caught up in a cycle of fulfilling our desires and meeting our wants than it is to sacrificially give and be content with what we need. The world tells us to fulfill our goals and not to deny our dreams. Jesus, on the other hand, tells us to seek God’s kingdom and find all that we need in Him. Instead of a prosperity or property gospel, Christ preaches and teaches an uncomplicated, uncompromising message about self-denial, self-sacrifice, and selflessness. The old adage of “God helps those who help themselves” was never spoken by Jesus. You won’t find it in the Bible either; it was first uttered by Benjamin Franklin.

The danger of this prosperity heresy is that we can become envious of those who succeed in life by applying this false teaching. And that in itself becomes a subtle temptation to give up on what we know to be the truth, and turn to populist teachings to fulfill our lives. If you take time to read all of Psalm 73, you will discover how one person goes through this temptation, but eventually turns away from it and seeks God’s presence instead.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are many who preach Your words today and use them for their own profit. Help us to discern between those who remain faithful to Your lessons for life, as opposed to those who peddle Your Gospel and Holy words for their own wealth and success. In Your Sacred Name, we pray. Amen.

Meeting

Audio version here ... or here

1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. (NIV)

I’m meeting with the care team sub-committee of the Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry this morning to have a discussion with them about what happened at the last Presbytery meeting. If you read these devotionals on a daily basis, you may remember that I asked several questions of a candidate for ministry, whose answers revealed that she would not be bound by the scriptures, nor would she confirm that Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Both of those answers perplexed me, for what is the point in being a Christian pastor if you don’t believe fully in Christ, nor do you fully trust the scriptures about Him? I feel as though that seminaries are beginning to universalize faith, and that the current theologians who teach our ministerial candidates are so far off the orthodox mark that we should seriously begin to question who is teaching what to our future pastors.

Now already I can hear some people saying, “That would be a witch hunt. You want to condemn those who have given their lives, intellect, and academic skills to theology and make them conform to your standards, John.”

No, I don’t, because like Paul before me, I am one of the worst sinners in the world. I don’t want people to follow the Gospel according to John Stuart, I want them to follow the Gospel according to Christ, as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Not one of the Gospel writers believed that Jesus was any less than He declared Himself to be. Not one of them would have glibly cast Christ aside in favor of appeasing other faiths, other deities, other gods. If that was the case, they would never have spread the Gospel and the Jesus stories would just have been circulated locally. Christ would just have been another Palestinian prophet, a religious rabble-rouser who was squashed by the politico-religious system of His day.

Like the present Pope, Benedict XVI, I can say this: I trust the Gospels.* To me, there is no other legitimate source of my faith other than Bible. I may not be able to live up to the demands of the Scriptures (who can?), but my faith is bound up in them. The Christ of the Gospels is the One I worship, proclaim and follow. He is the only source of salvation. He is the only source of truth and meaning.

Whatever the outcome of the meeting this morning, I thank God for the opportunity of witnessing to Christ with my peers. I may not be the best pastor in the world, and I fall short of God’s expectations, but that will not disbar me from declaring that Christ is the most perfect, holy, and sacred Savior that the world has known, knows today, and will ever know. In Christ, I stand. I can do no other.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give our people hearts that are loyal to You, and faith that witnesses to Your True Power. We admit that we are all sinners, in need of forgiveness, and in need of salvation. Help us to give up our proud and stubborn ways. Grant us the courage to declare Your Uniqueness, Sovereignty, and Authority over all religions, over all creation. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen

* as written in his new book, “Jesus of Nazareth” – Joseph Ratzinger –we’ll be studying this at Erin later this year.

Testimony

Audio version here

John 4: 42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world." (NIV)

This is one of my favorite Bible verses. It comes at the end of the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. He has confronted her in a non-judgmental way, exposing her sin, and freeing her from a deceitful life. The woman is so moved by Him that she tells all of her neighbors she has met the Messiah. Her testimony is so sincere that they believe her and go looking for Jesus themselves.

When they find Him, they ask Jesus to stay for a couple of days during which He teaches them many things. Many more of them became believers and, at the end of the story, the Samaritan people tell the woman that they no longer believe just because of her testimony; they have heard Jesus for themselves and they, too, personally know Him to be the Christ, the Savior of the world. It’s a beautiful moment in the scriptures and one that must have deeply gladdened Jesus.

That’s what our faith is for; that’s what the church is all about. We are called to lovingly and sincerely share the Good News of Jesus Christ with other people – our families, our friends, our neighbors – in the hope that one day they will personally experience Jesus for themselves. As a pastor, I’ve been privileged to see that happening with all sorts of different people. Each time it occurs, I feel happy and humble – happy because it positively changes their lives; humble because Christ has personally touched their hearts.

So, wherever we go today and whoever we meet, let’s make and take opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, for who knows how many lives will be changed forever by the power of Jesus and His Gospel.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are loved ones in our lives who do not personally know You. Grant us perfect opportunities to express our faith to them in non-judgmental ways. Give us the courage to sincerely share our beliefs, so that seeds of faith may be planted in their hearts and minds that one day will grow. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.