Sunday Shorts: The Gift

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

            Every day, I pray for my family, for those living here in the United States and those across the world. I ask God to bless and protect them, to guide and to support them, to love and cherish them. It’s a ritual I go through each morning and whether or not I’ll see or hear from them that day, they’re in my prayers, on my mind, and in my heart. No matter what they’re going through or how they are feeling, I know that God is with them and that comforts me.

            The most important part of my daily prayer takes place at the end. I ask God to give them opportunities to draw closer to Him and accept Jesus as their Lord in Savior in their lives and hearts. I want them to know the love of God and the price that He decided to pay so that all of them could be favored and forgiven, renewed and restored to God’s Kingdom. I pray this, not just because I want them to know that they are not alone, but I believe it’s what God wants for them, too. This is why He sent His Son to the Earth long ago to reach out to humanity and gather us safely from the chaos, confusion, and commotion that we all experience in our lives. You see folks, God didn’t create us to be fearful or lonely; He made us to be thankful and loved.

            I hope that you understand this devotion and these prayers are also for you, your families, and your loved ones. Jesus gave everything so that we can gain everything about God that is everlasting. Our lives on Earth may be finite and the years go by too quickly, but God cherishes us so much that He wants our lives and love to continue beyond our time on this planet. God doesn’t want us to perish at all, but to gain everlasting life.

Point to ponder: Do I know God loves me?

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for creating us to be loved and not to be alone. Help us to reach out to You today and receive the blessings of Your acceptance and eternal love. Enable us to overcome our doubts and fears so that we may cherish the gift of Christ and receive His peace in our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. In His Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Prayer for Today

Prayer for Today

Gracious Lord, remind us that we live under Your Sovereignty and dwell in Your creation.

Direct our daily paths toward Your righteousness and speak the truth to our hearts.

Keep us from demeaning others or gossiping about our neighbors.

Teach us to recognize all that is wrong; enable us to promote all that is good.

Help us to keep our promises, even in difficult times; protect us from becoming unreliable.

Encourage us to give to those in need and prevent us from pre-judging the powerless.

Allow us to do these things faithfully and cheerfully in Christ’s Name. Amen.

(based on the words of Psalm 15)

A Prayer for Today

John 7:6-7 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.” (NIV)

Lord Jesus,

These are complicated times

Which try our souls,

Test our spirits,

And conflict with our faith.

The specter of hatred

Has overshadowed our land,

And the confusion of evil

Has frightened our people.

We have lost the path

That promotes peace,

And have fallen from the way

That leads to love.

Lord Jesus,

We need Your Spirit to guide us.

We need Your words to save us.

We need Your ways to mend us.

The Spirit of justice and liberty

Weeps over our land,

Our leaders, and our people.

We know that we have sinned

By allowing ignorance, intolerance,

And injustice to divide us.

Lord Jesus,

Forgive our false ideas

And foolish notions.

Protect us from ourselves,

And the pain we cause

Through pride, self-righteousness,

And indifference.

Give us the courage

To denounce evil,

And disavow ourselves

From prejudice,

Chaos, and hopelessness.

In Your Holy Name,

We pray. Amen.

Into Your Hands - A Prayer for Today

Luke 23:46a Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (NIV)

Lord, do You have a moment?

I need to speak to You.

I’m worried about the world

And anxious about the future.

I don’t know where we’re headed

Or what’s going to happen.

There’s a lot of hatred

And it’s impacting my faith.

I’ve never known such turmoil,

So I’m concerned for the Church,

Society, and the World.

You see, Lord,

I think I am a Christian,

But I also see so much

Bitterness coming from other folks

Whose faith in You

Is meant to be the same as mine.

I don’t understand

Where this is coming from,

How it got here,

And where it will end up.

So I’m confused about my faith, Lord,

And need Your help to sort this out

In my heart, mind, and soul.

Lord, I only have

This moment called Life

And this space called Earth.

I want to do what’s right

And make this world

A better place

And not a bitter planet.

I want to spread Your love

And not shred other lives.

Lord, I want to be Christian,

A real one, not a religious one.

A true one, not a tormented one,

A faithful one, not a fake one.

Lord, thanks for giving me

This personal moment.

Into Your hands,

I commit my spirit,

My questions,

And my struggle.

Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org. You can also contact John by email at Traqair@aol.com.

Morning Devotion: A New Day - Isaiah 45:6

Isaiah 45:6      From the rising of the sun to the place of its setting, people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

            I’m usually awake before each sunrise, so I get to watch the sun’s red glow permeate slowly across the morning sky. It is a peaceful and sacred time which helps me get into the right frame of mind for my daily work. Soaking in a sunrise enables me to embrace the day ahead by allowing me some quiet time to collect my thoughts and plan out my working hours.

            Today’s chosen verse also reminds me that each day comes as a gift from God as another opportunity to praise and serve Him in all that I seek to accomplish. My life belongs to God, so whatever I do should reflect both His goodness to me and my glory of Him. I don’t always get it right, but when I do, I draw nearer to God and deepen my relationship with His Son Jesus Christ. Then, when sunset occurs at the end of the day and I rest my head upon my pillow, I can smile as I pray and thank God for all that I’ve experienced and completed.

            As we embrace this new day, let’s look for the opportunities that God gives us to share our faith with others through Christ’s compassion, care, and love. If we set out to do this, then the people around us may come to know of God as our Living Lord.

Prayer:            Lord God, thank You for the gift of another day. You know all that we seek to accomplish; You understand all that we need to do. Help and guide us to do whatever we can to accept, support, and encourage others, so that we may serve You effectively, positively, and lovingly. In Christ’s Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Please feel free to share this message. You can also contact him via email at Traqair@aol.com.

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

Christian devotions: I Like Bread - Luke 11:3

Luke 11:3 Give us each day our daily bread.

I like bread. I like it a lot. Whether it’s the bread that I toast in the morning, the sandwich that I eat for lunch or in the roll that I may have with dinner, my conclusion is the same: Bread Rules! When I was growing as a teenager, I could sometimes eat half a loaf loaf at night with butter and jam. I don’t know how my folks afforded it, but there was always bread in the pantry for all of us hungry Stuart kids.

In Scotland, there is something called a plain loaf which is a doughy loaf of sliced white bread. At each end of the loaf is a thick slice which is either called the ‘heel’ or the ‘outsider’. In our house, getting the outsider was an extra helping, so we took it turns to receive it. Whenever it was toasted, covered in butter, and put on a plate, I felt as though I was feasting like a king. As I am writing this, I can still experience crunching through the dark crust and tasting the texture of the bread. As a poor kid, from a large family, living in a deprived area, white bread was my staple diet. Eating the thick crunchy heel was a wonderful blessing that meant a lot to me.

When the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, He instructs them to ask God to give them their daily bread before they ask Him to forgive their sins. He wants them to rely upon God to sustain them first and then forgive them second. It’s not that forgiveness is less important than meeting their needs; it’s just that Jesus wants them to be grateful first and then seek God’s mercy.

Sometimes I need to remember that lesson. Frequently I feel guilty about my mistakes, so that when I talk to God in prayer, I reel off a list of sins in order to seek His mercy first. I forget to be grateful and thank God for His daily goodness; instead I focus on being forgiven in order to make me feel good. Perhaps if I changed my prayers to concentrate on thanking God first, then I would not dwell upon how much I disappointed Him again.

Questions for personal reflection

What are the daily gifts in my life for which I should be grateful to God? Are my prayers more about me or God?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, thank You for teaching us how to pray and for drawing our attention to the daily blessings and needs that God provides. Keep us from being self-centered or ungrateful. 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 image is a bulletin cover design for Communion drawn by John based upon Christ’s own words, “I am the Bread of Life.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3560/3770073328_9c57843113_b.jpg

Daily Advent Devotions: Christian Contenders - Philippians 1 v 27,28

Philippians 1:27b-28a                       I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.

Like most kids, I was bullied at school by several people who loved to intimidate me on a daily basis. They would bump into me on the soccer field and trip me up deliberately, or they would gang up on me in a quiet corner and seek to terrify me.

It got so bad that I didn’t want to go to school. My grades plummeted and instead of being in the top ten group in my class, I sank almost to the bottom. My mom wanted to go and face my daily oppressors, but that would have shamed me even more. She wasn’t mentally fit anyway, so I didn’t think that she could make any difference.

And then one morning during recess, just as the bullies were coming to get their usual sadistic pleasure out of intimating me, my mom appeared out of the blue. She verbally tore into them and publicly humiliated them. As I watched their faces get redder with embarrassment I realized that they were just children like me. My mom gave them a dressing down and the other kids in the school playground cheered her on. I guess that some of the other kids had been bullied by them too.

After that incident, things got better. I wasn’t afraid any more and got back into the top ten students in my class. The bullies’ reign of terror was ended and my mom became the heroine of my heart. Sadly, insanity and schizophrenia would expunge the incident from her mind, but even although it has been more than forty years since the event occurred, I still admire her what she did for me that day.

These days, Christians are contending for the Gospel in the face of persecution and harassment, imprisonment and even death in many lands. Their undaunted faith is a living testimony to the truth of the Gospel and work of Jesus Christ in the world. Society sometimes seeks to diminish Christianity and make it irrelevant. But the more that we are philosophically and socially opposed, the more true Christians appear to contend for the faith of the Gospel and stand up for Christ’s holy words. We will not be bullied, berated, or beaten down.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, faith is a precious gift and one that world desperately needs. All over the earth, Your Church and Your people are being made to feel insignificant and irrelevant. We are told that we are intolerant by intolerant people. We are viewed as being reactionary by those who violently react to Your teaching. We are humiliated and harassed all over the world by brazen bullies and godless governments. Help and empower us to contend for the Gospel, just as our brothers and sisters in our faith did so long ago. In Your Sacred and 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, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Daily Devotions: Hopes and Fears - Advent 3 - Job 23 v 16

Job 23: 16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.

I feel sorry for Job. He was living at a time when people believed that personal pain and suffering occurred because God was angry with them. This meant that any tragedy was clouded with a terrifying fear that God was punishing the people. Any illness or sickness, any setback or obstacle was seen a sign of God’s wrath. Only repentance and sacrifice would suffice to appease God. Only humility and contrition would placate the Almighty.

Thank God then that we are New Testament people! We are no longer bound by those primeval fears. Christ has come into the world to tell us not to be afraid. Christ has given the ultimate sacrifice for all of our mistakes and sins. The threat of divine punishment is no longer to be dreaded. Instead of being terrified of God, we are attracted to Him through the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Out of the 6.5 billion people on this planet, about 5 billion live under the religious fear of God’s wrath. They are terrified of plagues and famines, wars and earthquakes, floods and disasters. They are anxious about offending God and worry over the smallest of mistakes. They constantly spend their resources on appeasing false gods and try to buy divine blessings. Christianity, however, has a real message of hope for all of these people who are plagued by superstition: Do not be afraid and be of good cheer.

In this pre-season of Christmas that we call Advent, we should constantly pray for the world to be open to Christ’s message of goodwill, forgiveness, and peace. It has the potential to save the entire world from its fears and to lovingly restore everyone to God’s favor and blessings. If only Job knew way back then what we know now, he would never have been driven to despair through his fear of God. He could have been comforted, embraced, and encouraged by God through the presence of Jesus Christ in his life.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we all carry hopes and fears in our hearts and minds. We pray that You will diminish our anxieties by graciously responding to our concerns. Guard us and guide us. Embrace us and bless us. In Your Holy Name, we confidently 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. He enjoys reading your reflections.

4 Minute Daily Devotion: A Great Christian - Acts 11 v 26

Acts 11:26b     So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Barnabas is one of my favorite people in the Bible. He always seemed to do the right thing at the right time. When his Christian community needed money to survive, he sold his property and helped to sustain them. When no one else would trust Saul, Barnabas befriended him and taught with him. Barnabas was a great encourager, so it’s no surprise to me that he happened to be teaching in the very place where followers of Jesus were called Christians for the first time. Barnabas was and still is a great example of what it means to be a Christian.

Encouragement is something that we call can use each day, but it’s also a gift that we in the church could do better at sharing. As a pastor, I have seen people come and go to church as they please and I wish for their sake they could be more regular worshippers. I guess they are just waiting for the right word of invitation and encouragement, acceptance and love.

Perhaps today our mission is to be a Barnabas amongst our families and friends. An encouraging word goes a long way, even amongst Christians.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, help us to reach out to those who find it difficult to be in church on Sunday mornings. Enable us to encourage and embrace them, and not treat them as outsiders or backsliders. Let us see and accept them as God’s children and Your followers. Remind us also that we are far from being perfect ourselves. In Your Holy 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.

4 Minute Daily Devotions: One of Us - Habakkuk 2 v 13

Habakkuk 2:13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?

Our Monday night study group at the church is looking at J B Phillips wonderful book, “Your God is Too Small.” It was written just more than half a century ago, but it is still relevant for Christians today. Phillips discusses the various conceptions that people have about God and how those conceptions are inadequate for modern people. Our group is enjoying the study because we all get to share our individual ideas about God and see how these relate to Phillips’ book.

At one point in the book, Phillips suggests that sometimes people conceive God as a Supreme Distant Being, with no opportunity of establishing a worshipful, prayerful, and personal relationship. Such deists end up feeling spiritually empty, and so they intensely devote themselves to do good deeds and make the world a better place. In the end, their purpose is futile and their mission does not last beyond their years on Earth. In other words, they exhaust themselves for nothing in trying to please the world and a Supreme Being, who is remotely not interested in anything they accomplish.

As Christians, we are thankful for the nearness of God and His intense interest in each of our lives. Jesus came down to be with us, to fully experience human life, to know of its pains and joys, and to recognize our weaknesses and strengths. We live for the Lord and the good that we do is not to bolster ourselves or better the world. We do it to glorify Christ and to continue His mission on Earth, even until the end of time.

Our God in Christ is not too small or remote at all. And our lives are His forever.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we thank You for becoming one of us and connecting our lives to God’s Kingdom. We praise for truly experiencing the human condition and for granting us the glorious opportunity of restoring us to God forever. Thank You for being one of us and for being with us. In Your Holy Name, we gratefully 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. He enjoys reading your comments.

4 Minute Daily Devotions: The King's Business

Isaiah 9:6        For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

A friend of mine was writing on the web the other day that it’s only just more than fifty days to Christmas. My first reaction was: WOW! Where did the rest of the year go? I’ve been extremely busy all 2009 and here I am heading into the ‘busiest time for the church.’ I don’t feel like I’m ready for it. I’m wondering if the Lord will slip in another month before Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas, just to let me catch my breath.

And then I read this beautiful verse from Isaiah again and calmly exhale. Christmas isn’t about what we do, or what the church does; it’s all about what God has done and will do again. The busy-ness of the holiday season is all about the King’s business.

If we’re under pressure and stressed out, God provides a Wonderful Counselor.

If we’re weak or feeling weary, we are given a Mighty God.

If we’re bewildered or fearful, we are guided by our Everlasting Father.

If we’re troubled or unsettled, in Christ we have the Prince of Peace.

With all of these marvelous qualities and attributes of God, I am really looking forward to spending Christmas with Christ.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You are all that we need, especially at this time of year. Prepare our hearts and minds to receive You gladly, cheerfully, and faithfully in our churches, our homes, and our hearts. In Your Wonderful 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, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Daily Devotions: God's Timeline

2 Peter 3: 4     They will say, "Where is this 'coming' He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

Podcast version here

Every now and then, I have to remind myself that Christ can return at any minute. I often take it for granted that the world will continue indefinitely and that the seasons will come and go, just as they usually do each year. But then I remember that I am a Christian first and a citizen of this world second. The Earth will not last forever and when Christ appears, human history will be over.

I get so caught up in my own routine and my own wee world that I forget about God’s intentions and Christ’s promises. The ultimate reality is the eternal reality and my ways, my words, and my works are just mere blips on God’s timeline. He is center of the Universe; He is the real thing.

It sounds cliché to some, but perhaps today is the Day when Christ will come back. Am I ready for such a cataclysmic event? Or will I just put it to the back of my mind and trivialize it, so that I can focus upon what’s in front of me and what’s happening now?

Within me, a quiet voice is saying: “Time marches on, John, but not forever.”

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, forgive us when we unintentionally set aside the thought of Your Return. Pardon us when we are so selfishly focused upon ourselves, that we forget about Your words, Your ways, and Your works that are still to come. Help us to remember that we serve You and await Your arrival on Earth. In Your Holy Name, we expectantly 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.

Daily Devotions: Anxious Living

I was reading the other day that film director and actor Woody Allen cannot sleep at night because he suffers from an anxiety about death. He’s an atheist and he can’t come to terms with the fact that his death means the end of all his accomplishments. When asked about death, he says: “The trains all go to the same destination. They all go to the dump.”

I pity him because he’s such a talented and creative person, and you would think that such creativity would help him to see beyond himself. But he has chosen not to believe in God, so he walks around his apartment at night time fretting about death.

For me, faith is real wisdom because it gives us an understanding that we are not the center of everything and that there is a structure, order, and a plan for the universe. God’s creativity is all around me, so I can look at the Smokey Mountains and see His grandeur; I can listen to birdsong in the morning and hear God being praised; I can be in the company of good friends and Christian people and experience God’s presence. Life is good. Death may come, but life goes on eternally.

Proverbs 15: 24 The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave.  

The writer of Proverbs knew what he was expressing when he wrote today’s verse. Those who are faithfully wise go onward and upward in life; those who are foolishly miserable end up digging graves for themselves, or just get on board trains that are heading to the dump.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life and the hope of things to come. Thank You for sacrificing Yourself, so that we may live forever in the embracing love of God. Help us to help others discover this divine happiness. In Your Holy Name, we 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.

Daily Devotions: Picking on Paul

1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

It’s very theologically fashionable these days to bash Paul and his writings. I come across many people who want to discard any of Paul’s statements and just concentrate on the Gospel. After all, these people insist, “why should I listen to Paul when Jesus can tell me everything I need to know?”

What they really mean is that they want to practice their faith on very loose terms. Their whole theology tends to be summed up in two neat phrases: ‘Jesus loves me this I know’ and ‘I’m OK ,You’re OK.’ It’s a very infantile form of faith and one that has no merit in God’s Kingdom.

You see if our faith was very simple and agreeable to everyone, Christ would never have been crucified and people like Paul would not have been martyred. We need to take seriously what Christ and Paul both have to say, because they’re working off the same page. Christ dies to save the world and then chooses Paul to spread the Gospel. What Paul writes doesn’t come from him alone – it all originates in Christ.

That’s why when we read a statement like ‘by the gospel you are saved’ with the condition ‘if you hold firmly to the word I preached’, we have to take them both together. The Gospel is not just a collected bundle of holy stories about Christ, the Gospel is an invasive forceful word of God that challenges our lifestyles and changes our souls for all of eternity.

Paul also gets it right when he states “otherwise you have believed in vain.” People are constantly diluting the Gospel to suit themselves and end up with no salvation. They believe what they want to accept, and end up with a cozy version of an uncomfortable faith.

So the challenge for us today is this: what Gospel do we believe in? Our own or Paul’s?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are so fiercely independent these days that we become indignant when Your teaching or Paul’s writings interfere and meddle with our lives. We sometimes resent the constraints that the Gospel places upon us, but instead of accepting Your words, we make up our own ideas and opinions. Forgive us, Lord, for disrespecting and disassociating ourselves with You and Your Chosen Apostle. Help us to honestly reevaluate our commitment to You, Your Church, and Kingdom. 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.

Daily Devotions: Faithful Foundations

Psalm 11:3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Our modern Western Church is facing a dilemma and we are at a turning point in our history. For centuries, Western Christianity has been one of the most dominant forces on the planet. Much of history has been shaped by the ideas, beliefs, and teaching of the Western Church, and our modern civilization would not exist today without it.

The crossroads that we have come to has a lot to do with our foundational beliefs. People no longer apply them in their everyday lives. In fact, we have so “dumbed down” the teachings of the Church that many of our own people would find it difficult to recite the Lord’s Prayer, list the Ten Commandments, or even name all the Twelve Disciples of Jesus. It’s almost as if we’ve given the importance of those sort of things over to the church professionals and so long as they don’t meddle with our individual rights, opinions, or beliefs, we can all live in harmony.

Sadly, that was the condition of the Church before the Reformation. People let their priests hold the keys to salvation and biblical knowledge. Church people tolerated ignorance and illiteracy, placing too much authority into the hierarchy of the church, rather than paying attention to the substance and foundations of the Christian faith.

I have been a pastor for almost 25 years and I would love to say that Christians have become more dedicated, influential, and effective. Sadly, the reverse is more often true: people talk the talk, but really don’t care to walk the talk.

If God allows me to pastor for the next 25 years, then I think I’ve got to work on establishing foundations of faith in the lives of the people I serve. It may not be as exciting as being innovative or creative, but it will have a lasting effect. After all, if the foundations of our faith are being so easily destroyed through our desire to be accepted by the world, then what is the point of being a Christian? To make a difference in the world, we’ve got to be different.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to focus on the foundations of our faith. Give us the grit and determination to follow through on applying our beliefs in our everyday encounters and circumstances. Re-teach us the merits of our faith and put us back on the right track. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

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

4 Minute Daily Devotions: Oscar Month

John 6:15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

I love February because it’s Oscars month on Turner Classic movies. I get to record and watch the old movies with famous actors like Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Greer Garson.

For the past two night, I’ve been watching Laurence Olivier in Richard III. He plays one of the sleaziest, greediest, and wickedest villains on the screen. I love Shakespeare’s plays anyway, but Olivier’s acting is absolutely amazing.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, cheats, conspires, and kills his way into becoming the King of England. Along the way, he makes many enemies and at the end of the play, he is left destitute on the battlefield. That’s when Olivier utters the immortal lines: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” Justice is served and the villainous king is cut down and killed by his rival.

When I read the Gospel passage this morning, I was reminded that the people wanted to make Jesus their king, just because He supplied them with fish and bread. They wanted Him to provide for them, to heal their sicknesses, to satisfy their hunger, and to make their lives pleasant.

But Jesus was on a mission from God, so He couldn’t be tempted by such an offer. He was serving God, not Himself. He was doing God’s will, not His own.

This also reminds me that our faith in Christ is purely meant to glorify and honor Him. If we seek Jesus to bless us all the time and to make our lives easier, then we’ve crowned the wrong kind of king in our hearts. If we place our lives into His hands and seek to serve His kingdom here on earth, then we’ve truly made Him the King of our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to place You at the center of our lives and to honor You with our service to Your Kingdom. Enable us to keep You as the King of our hearts and Lord of our days. 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, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Living with Loneliness

For some people, this is a very lonely time of year. The celebrations of Christmas have come and gone. New Year resolutions are beginning to fail, and the hopes of making a difference or being successful are starting to fade. Loneliness sets in and depression, like a creeping shadow, slowly overcomes some people.

Podcast version here

Finding God in loneliness can be hard at times. And yet the Bible is full of lonely people. Joseph is kidnapped and finds himself in a foreign land. Moses is exiled from his people until he is eighty. Ruth and Naomi feel abandoned by their community when their husbands die. David has to flee for safety and live in caves several times throughout his long life. Elijah is a fugitive and just wants to die because he is so lonely. Daniel is isolated in the lion’s den where no one can help him. Jesus gets so lonely at times, even in the midst of crowds, that He has to go off early in the morning to solitary places just to have some quiet time with God.

And how lonely must it have felt for Christ, when the whole world turned against Him and nailed Him to a cross of shame?


Verse of the Day


Psalm 118:29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.



Loneliness is a tough part of life and a hurting of the soul. A recent study suggests that people who are lonely, who feel disconnected to society, look to God for solace, friendship, and companionship. Perhaps they understand that loneliness and isolation will come to us all one day. Perhaps lonely people are one spiritual step ahead of the crowd, because they understand that in the end it’s our relationship with God that will eternally matter. And perhaps they know, in the midst of their hurt, disappointment, and loneliness that only God’s love endures forever.

In the midst of our busy, stressful lives, we should set aside sometime to be lonely – lonely and looking for God. Our loneliness can lead to faithfulness in a sacred way that only the lonely understand. Their loneliness can become a gift from a loving God, for better than others, they know that He will never abandon nor forsake them, nor will He ever stop loving them or let them go.

Prayer: O Love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee

Looking Back & Glancing Forward

I watched one of my favorite movies recently that I haven’t seen in decades. It’s called “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and stars Alan Arkin as a deaf mute, and Sondra Locke as a teenager. It’s a precious movie which deals with loneliness, mental illness, injustice, racism, love and life all at the same time. I would heartily recommend that it be viewed by parents of High Schoolers, as well as teenagers themselves.

It’s a beautiful story that has a sad ending. It evokes a lot of emotions, but what captivated me when I watched it this time, was the Americana throughout the movie. It was filmed in 1968 in Selma, Alabama, and watching it was like going back in time. The buildings, the stores and the streets were attractively small town America; the people, their hairstyles and clothes were all Southern mid-sixties styles - the likes of which we shall probably never see again.

Sondra Locke’s character, Mick, is a young girl who wants to learn to play music. Sadly, her dreams are shattered when her father cannot work due to disability. In a poignant moment, she pleads with her mother to let her stay at High school: “I feel as though I’m going to be somebody, momma. I want to do something with my life.” Stoically, her mother responds, “Well, you’ll soon grow out of that.”

It’s at that moment that Mick realizes she will have to give up her dreams and work for the sake of her family.

Verse of the Day

2 Corinthians 12:14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

Most of the time, parents try to work hard for the sake of their children. They make sacrifices and save up, so that their kids can start off on the right foot when it comes to establishing themselves, their careers, their hopes and dreams. Paul mentions this when he is writing his second letter to the church at Corinth. He feels like a parent to them, and is willing to expend his resources of time, talents, and money so that the church will grow. He sees it as his gift to them. He wants them to grow strong in faith, in numbers, and influence. Happily, his work and devotion, sacrifice and blessings enabled the church to fulfill its potential.

So, how do we apply this lesson today? Firstly, if we are parents, we should remember that we brought our children into the world, therefore we need to support them when they seek to find and fulfill their dreams. Secondly, we should be thinking about the future of the churches to which we belong. Instead of looking for what we can get from church, we should be investing in its future. That way, we allow future generations to benefit through the blessings and gifts we bestow today.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we pray for our children. We ask that You will enable and empower us to love and support them, to honor and encourage them. We pray that they will find and fulfill their dreams. We also pray that they will find faith in You and seek to serve You through Your Church. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Erin Church Growth Ideas: The Coffee Club

Years ago, when I ministered in Maybole, Scotland, I set up a weekly Bible study at the church and called it “The Coffee Club.” It started with about ten people and we gathered in the church hall. We sang some hymns, shared some prayers, and discussed different passages from the Bible. It was a wonderful group and as the years passed, it grew in size, faith, and fellowship.

Podcast version here

Isaiah 2:3 Many peoples will come and say,” Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

Recently, I’ve wanted to get back to some basic Bible teaching, so I have decided to establish a similar group over here in Knoxville, Tennessee. Like the Maybole group, we’re going to meet on Wednesday mornings, have coffee and discuss a chapter of the Bible each week. It will be similar to the Maybole Club, but with the new technology that is available, the club will be extended in several ways.

First of all, there will be a Coffee Club extra held on Wednesday nights for those who can’t make it in the mornings. Secondly, home study material will be made available to everyone on Sunday mornings, that way if they can’t be at the Wednesday meetings, they can study at home.

Thirdly, the study material will be available online via email – which means that anyone, anywhere in the world, can sign up for the studies, just by sending me an email at pastor@erinpresbyterian.org

These are exciting times for the ministry of the church, both here at Erin and throughout the world. We begin a 17 week session with the Gospel of Mark, starting next Wednesday. I’m looking forward to this new journey of faith.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the stories about Your life that are contained in the Bible. Thank You for the words of encouragement and inspiring events that mean so much to us even today. Help all of us to make and take time to study Your ways, works, and words. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Daily Devotions: The Road to Africa

My youngest daughter Lauren has just set up her own blog at www.theroadtoafrica.blogspot.com
She is planning to go on a special mission trip this summer to Tanzania in Africa. She’ll spend thirteen weeks working with children who have been orphaned through the AIDS epidemic that has swept through that region. It will be hard work and physically demanding. It will cost a lot of money, but Lauren believes that God is asking her to go, so she doesn’t want to disappoint or disobey Him.
Podcast version here

As a parent, I am both concerned and proud. It’s a major task and one that will almost certainly change her life. As a pastor, I am pleased that she is listening to God and I pray that He will both guide and protect her.

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.

Her willingness to do missionary work like this reminds me that Christ’s Church reaches all over the world. People in other places, nations, and continents have come to know the Lord and, as the psalmist wrote so long ago, “all the families of the earth bow down before Him.” I would love to be with Lauren as she worships with the Tanzanian people. I would love to experience their joy for the Lord in the midst of such trying and hard circumstances. I think if I did, it would also change my life forever. But this is Lauren’s calling, not mine.

One day in eternity, we are going to gather in heaven and we will see countless numbers of people of different races and cultures cheerfully and joyfully worshipping the Lord. I don’t know what I’ll feel at that point, but I expect that my heart will be bursting with a joy that can only be experienced in heaven. I guess John Newton best summed up the feeling:

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, Than when we’d first begun!”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, all around the world billions of people are praying to You today. They are expressing their concerns and joys, their hopes and fears, their dreams and problems. It is amazing to think that You hear each one and You love them all individually. Help us this day to meet and greet people everywhere as children of God and servants of Your Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.