Romans 12:5 so there are many of us, and in union with the Messiah we comprise one body, with each of us belonging to the others. 6 But we have gifts that differ and which are meant to be used according to the grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, use it to the extent of your trust; 7 if it is serving, use it to serve; if you are a teacher, use your gift in teaching; 8 if you are a counselor, use your gift to comfort and exhort; if you are someone who gives, do it simply and generously; if you are in a position of leadership, lead with diligence and zeal; if you are one who does acts of mercy, do them cheerfully.
9 Don’t let love be a mere outward show. Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good. 10 Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect.
13:8 Don’t owe anyone anything — except to love one another; for whoever loves his fellow human being has fulfilled Torah.
-------
We know, as a matter of history, that there were no Christian church buildings in Rome when Paul wrote this letter to the Christians there. We also know, from the content of his letter, that disputes over how to live out their faith divided Roman Christians (cf. Romans 14:1-10). Even without impressive buildings, Paul believed that building stronger relationships could make them stand out in that cutthroat city: “Be the best at showing honor to each other.”
• For Paul, loving others was not just something to be done with gritted teeth. “Whoever loves another person has fulfilled the Law,” said the former Pharisee, who once thought of the Law very differently (cf. Philippians 3:4-7). Honest love (“without pretending”) reshapes our life, and fills it with meaning and joy. When have you found in your own life, and in the lives of people you know well, how genuinely loving people makes all of life better?
• John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, asked in one of his best-known sermons, "Though we
cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?” Who has lovingly helped you in your personal journey to "know, love, and
serve God," without trying to make your journey into a clone of their own? How can you best extend that same kind of supportive, generous love to others?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes it seems so much easier to pretend to love certain other
people than to genuinely love them. Teach me that “pretend” love impoverishes my life, and
keep leading me to your kind of genuine love. Amen.
-------
Insights from Chris Abel
Chris Abel is the Young Adult Pastor at The Church of the Resurrection’s Leawood location. Find out more about Chris and 20/30 Young Adults at http://cor.org/leawood/youngadults.
I was standing in front of a hundred teenagers. My stomach was in knots and my voice quivered as I spoke. I wasn’t a pastor, not yet, but I was a youth group volunteer who had been asked to preach. I’m not sure what the Youth Director saw in me, but for some reason I had this chance.
I will never forget this moment. See, it was in the middle of this amateur sermon when I realized I knew I was supposed to do this. I was in my element. I was in the groove. It just felt right.
There’s a term in positive psychology called “flow.” It’s that moment when you face a challenge and you rise up to meet it and you are focused and energized and happy. Maybe you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s like you were meant to do this.
I share this because our scripture reading from Romans 12 talks about this exact concept.
“If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful.” –Romans 12:7-8 CEB
See, you have a gift. You have something to offer the world. And there is a place of “flow” for you—a place where your puzzle piece fits.
So often what we do is we take our gifts and we twist them to serve us instead of others. Sometimes we sell out to the man, or simply need to make a living. Sometimes we hold back our lives. Perhaps we’re burnt out, afraid, or even plagued by self doubt.
Push through it.
There is a peace and a happiness that comes from finding your flow that almost nothing else in life can compare to.
Maybe you need to hear this today: Your gifts are meant to be used. God actually designed you with this strange itch that can only be scratched when you are generous of yourself! Frederick Buechner put it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” So if you’re going to create, create for the sake of the world. And if you’re going to dream, dream about the Kingdom. And if you’re going to work, work as if it’s for the Lord.
It’s not a demand. It’s a recipe for purpose.
And so I pray that you find the unique joy that comes when you find a way to be generous with your life. I pray you find your flow. The world needs it.
-------
"Love—'the perfect bond of unity'”
Friday, 28 October 2016
Colossians 3:9 Never lie to one another; because you have stripped away the old self, with its ways, 10 and have put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator. 11 The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.
14 Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; 15 and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body.
And be thankful — 16 let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts.
-------
God offers us a new nature that changes the ways we relate for the better. God can help us relate to all the people we worship with, rub elbows with, see at the market or pass as we walk the dog with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” This letter calls us to forgive one another the same way God has forgiven us. That may be hard when you need to forgive someone else—but what a blessing it is when someone else extends that treatment to you!
• This is pretty radical language: take off the “old human nature,” put on a “new nature.” Can you see elements of your “old nature” that you and God are in the process of “taking off”? Which of the beautiful “new nature” qualities named in these verses do you see thriving? Which ones do you want to ask God to grow in your life in the next six months?
• “Autoimmune” diseases happen when our body “turns against” itself. They can cause a
great deal of suffering. Colossians said we need to live in peace because we are members
of one body, the body of Christ. What steps can you take to make sure you aren’t the
source of any “autoimmune” problems in Christ’s body?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, I’ve learned the hard way that even when I manage to change an outward behavior, too often the inner struggle remains. Keep changing and growing me from the inside out. Amen.
-------
-------
"Living in love—the good life at all times"
Saturday, 29 October 2016
1 John 4:7 Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. 8 Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
11 Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another.
2 Corinthians 4:8 We have all kinds of troubles, but we are not crushed; we are perplexed, yet not in despair; 9 persecuted, yet not abandoned; knocked down, yet not destroyed.
-------
Loving God and other people is much more than just being “nice.” Loving one another (both in giving and receiving) aligns us, like nothing else, with the heart of the God of the universe. God loves us, John wrote—and that is the reason that we can love God and one another. The apostle Paul drew on a theme from Scripture passages like Psalm 13:5-6 and Psalm 40:1-2. God’s loving presence, he affirmed, makes it possible for us to experience the good life even amid circumstances which, from a human perspective alone, might look like a terrible life.
• Most of us know the words: “God is love.” But are there life experiences and inner
messages that make it hard for you to rely on God’s love? In what ways do you perceive
and experience God as loving? What helps you trust God’s love more? Which people do
you find it hardest to love as God loves them? In what ways has God’s love, and the love of other people you know, helped you to keep living the good life even at times of trouble, confusion, harassment or being knocked down by life?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the ultimate source of love, and the awe-inspiring model who shows me the lengths to which love went to reach me. Keep growing my ability to love you and others, to lead the truly good life in all circumstances. Amen.
Family Activity: Read Luke 21:1-4[Luke 21:1 Then Yeshua looked up, and as he watched the rich placing their gifts into the Temple offering-boxes, 2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small coins. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 For they, out of their wealth, have contributed money they could easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given all she had to live on.”]. Discuss how the widow gave all she had, and that even though people didn’t view it as much, God viewed her heart and saw her giving everything she had! Over the next few weeks, become more of a giving family. Select a container to be used as a “Kindness Counts” collection spot. Let your children know that every time you hear them say, “Thank you!” or each time they are kind to someone else, you will place a coin in the container. Each week, use half the collected change for a fun family treat and give the other half to church or to missions. Thank God for the opportunity to give.
-------
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
Prayer Requests – request cards are in the attendance notebooks or visit cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Claudia Fuleihan and family on the death of her father Alberto Castelblanco, 10/18
• Brenda Ludeen and family on the death of her father Ron Halverson, 10/16
• Charlene Perry and family on the death of her father Raymond Karel, 10/14
• Don Lewis and family on the death of his wife Nancy Lewis, 10/12
• Chris Hammond and family on the death of his mother Yosene Hammond, 10/11
• Larry Anderson and family on the death of his father John Anderson, 10/11
• Sue Spencer and family on the death of her mother Martha Thimmel, 10/11
-------
9 Don’t let love be a mere outward show. Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good. 10 Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect.
13:8 Don’t owe anyone anything — except to love one another; for whoever loves his fellow human being has fulfilled Torah.
-------
We know, as a matter of history, that there were no Christian church buildings in Rome when Paul wrote this letter to the Christians there. We also know, from the content of his letter, that disputes over how to live out their faith divided Roman Christians (cf. Romans 14:1-10). Even without impressive buildings, Paul believed that building stronger relationships could make them stand out in that cutthroat city: “Be the best at showing honor to each other.”
• For Paul, loving others was not just something to be done with gritted teeth. “Whoever loves another person has fulfilled the Law,” said the former Pharisee, who once thought of the Law very differently (cf. Philippians 3:4-7). Honest love (“without pretending”) reshapes our life, and fills it with meaning and joy. When have you found in your own life, and in the lives of people you know well, how genuinely loving people makes all of life better?
• John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, asked in one of his best-known sermons, "Though we
cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?” Who has lovingly helped you in your personal journey to "know, love, and
serve God," without trying to make your journey into a clone of their own? How can you best extend that same kind of supportive, generous love to others?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes it seems so much easier to pretend to love certain other
people than to genuinely love them. Teach me that “pretend” love impoverishes my life, and
keep leading me to your kind of genuine love. Amen.
-------
Insights from Chris Abel
Chris Abel is the Young Adult Pastor at The Church of the Resurrection’s Leawood location. Find out more about Chris and 20/30 Young Adults at http://cor.org/leawood/youngadults.I was standing in front of a hundred teenagers. My stomach was in knots and my voice quivered as I spoke. I wasn’t a pastor, not yet, but I was a youth group volunteer who had been asked to preach. I’m not sure what the Youth Director saw in me, but for some reason I had this chance.
I will never forget this moment. See, it was in the middle of this amateur sermon when I realized I knew I was supposed to do this. I was in my element. I was in the groove. It just felt right.
There’s a term in positive psychology called “flow.” It’s that moment when you face a challenge and you rise up to meet it and you are focused and energized and happy. Maybe you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s like you were meant to do this.
I share this because our scripture reading from Romans 12 talks about this exact concept.
“If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful.” –Romans 12:7-8 CEB
See, you have a gift. You have something to offer the world. And there is a place of “flow” for you—a place where your puzzle piece fits.
So often what we do is we take our gifts and we twist them to serve us instead of others. Sometimes we sell out to the man, or simply need to make a living. Sometimes we hold back our lives. Perhaps we’re burnt out, afraid, or even plagued by self doubt.
Push through it.
There is a peace and a happiness that comes from finding your flow that almost nothing else in life can compare to.
Maybe you need to hear this today: Your gifts are meant to be used. God actually designed you with this strange itch that can only be scratched when you are generous of yourself! Frederick Buechner put it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” So if you’re going to create, create for the sake of the world. And if you’re going to dream, dream about the Kingdom. And if you’re going to work, work as if it’s for the Lord.
It’s not a demand. It’s a recipe for purpose.
And so I pray that you find the unique joy that comes when you find a way to be generous with your life. I pray you find your flow. The world needs it.
-------
"Love—'the perfect bond of unity'”
Friday, 28 October 2016
Colossians 3:9 Never lie to one another; because you have stripped away the old self, with its ways, 10 and have put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator. 11 The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.
14 Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; 15 and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body.
And be thankful — 16 let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts.
-------
God offers us a new nature that changes the ways we relate for the better. God can help us relate to all the people we worship with, rub elbows with, see at the market or pass as we walk the dog with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” This letter calls us to forgive one another the same way God has forgiven us. That may be hard when you need to forgive someone else—but what a blessing it is when someone else extends that treatment to you!
• This is pretty radical language: take off the “old human nature,” put on a “new nature.” Can you see elements of your “old nature” that you and God are in the process of “taking off”? Which of the beautiful “new nature” qualities named in these verses do you see thriving? Which ones do you want to ask God to grow in your life in the next six months?
• “Autoimmune” diseases happen when our body “turns against” itself. They can cause a
great deal of suffering. Colossians said we need to live in peace because we are members
of one body, the body of Christ. What steps can you take to make sure you aren’t the
source of any “autoimmune” problems in Christ’s body?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, I’ve learned the hard way that even when I manage to change an outward behavior, too often the inner struggle remains. Keep changing and growing me from the inside out. Amen.
-------
-------
"Living in love—the good life at all times"
Saturday, 29 October 2016
1 John 4:7 Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. 8 Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
11 Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another.
2 Corinthians 4:8 We have all kinds of troubles, but we are not crushed; we are perplexed, yet not in despair; 9 persecuted, yet not abandoned; knocked down, yet not destroyed.
-------
Loving God and other people is much more than just being “nice.” Loving one another (both in giving and receiving) aligns us, like nothing else, with the heart of the God of the universe. God loves us, John wrote—and that is the reason that we can love God and one another. The apostle Paul drew on a theme from Scripture passages like Psalm 13:5-6 and Psalm 40:1-2. God’s loving presence, he affirmed, makes it possible for us to experience the good life even amid circumstances which, from a human perspective alone, might look like a terrible life.
• Most of us know the words: “God is love.” But are there life experiences and inner
messages that make it hard for you to rely on God’s love? In what ways do you perceive
and experience God as loving? What helps you trust God’s love more? Which people do
you find it hardest to love as God loves them? In what ways has God’s love, and the love of other people you know, helped you to keep living the good life even at times of trouble, confusion, harassment or being knocked down by life?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the ultimate source of love, and the awe-inspiring model who shows me the lengths to which love went to reach me. Keep growing my ability to love you and others, to lead the truly good life in all circumstances. Amen.
Family Activity: Read Luke 21:1-4[Luke 21:1 Then Yeshua looked up, and as he watched the rich placing their gifts into the Temple offering-boxes, 2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small coins. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 For they, out of their wealth, have contributed money they could easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given all she had to live on.”]. Discuss how the widow gave all she had, and that even though people didn’t view it as much, God viewed her heart and saw her giving everything she had! Over the next few weeks, become more of a giving family. Select a container to be used as a “Kindness Counts” collection spot. Let your children know that every time you hear them say, “Thank you!” or each time they are kind to someone else, you will place a coin in the container. Each week, use half the collected change for a fun family treat and give the other half to church or to missions. Thank God for the opportunity to give.
-------
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
Prayer Requests – request cards are in the attendance notebooks or visit cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Claudia Fuleihan and family on the death of her father Alberto Castelblanco, 10/18
• Brenda Ludeen and family on the death of her father Ron Halverson, 10/16
• Charlene Perry and family on the death of her father Raymond Karel, 10/14
• Don Lewis and family on the death of his wife Nancy Lewis, 10/12
• Chris Hammond and family on the death of his mother Yosene Hammond, 10/11
• Larry Anderson and family on the death of his father John Anderson, 10/11
• Sue Spencer and family on the death of her mother Martha Thimmel, 10/11
-------
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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