The Daily Guide. grow. pray. study. from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States "The church: God’s strategic plan for showing God’s love" for Friday, 24 February 2017
Ephesians 3:10 is for the rulers and authorities in heaven to learn, through the existence of the Messianic Community, how many-sided God’s wisdom is. 11 This accords with God’s age-old purpose, accomplished in the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord. 12 In union with him, through his faithfulness, we have boldness and confidence when we approach God. 13 So I ask you not to be discouraged by the troubles I endure on your behalf — it is all for your glory.
14 For this reason, I fall on my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its character. 16 I pray that from the treasures of his glory he will empower you with inner strength by his Spirit, 17 so that the Messiah may live in your hearts through your trusting. Also I pray that you will be rooted and founded in love, 18 so that you, with all God’s people, will be given strength to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the Messiah’s love, 19 yes, to know it, even though it is beyond all knowing, so that you will be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by his power working in us is able to do far beyond anything we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the Messianic Community and in the Messiah Yeshua from generation to generation forever. Amen.
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God has a big dream—to restore our world to total wholeness (cf. Revelation 21:1-5). In divine wisdom, God seems to believe that faithful humans are the best means to carry out that mission. Pastor Bill Hybels (Willow Creek Church, Chicago) loves to say that “the local church is the hope of the world.” The apostle Paul would agree. He wrote that the church is God’s main instrument to show his wisdom and glory. And “the church” is people—is us.
• In Greek, “the many different varieties” in verse 10 was one word— “polupoikilos.” It meant “many colored,” as though Paul was picturing God’s grace and wisdom as a kind of cosmic rainbow. In what ways have God’s grace and wisdom added color and beauty to your life? How can you help your church reflect that beauty to all who come in contact with us?
• Reflect on verse 20: “Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask for or imagine by his power at work within us.” Do you believe that God can really do far more than we can ask or imagine? If not, what holds you back from that belief? What God-sized hopes, hurts, dreams and challenges can you identify, trusting that God’s mission can go to work through you to help to address them?
Prayer: Great God, I know you have big plans for the world. I know your plans are to use your church to accomplish your purposes. Help me be faithful to you as part of your church, and join in your work in the world. Amen.
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Darren LippeDarren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group and a men’s group, and serves on the curriculum team.
There’s a popular meme (social catchphrase) based on a scene from the comedy, Anchorman. In the movie, various San Diego news teams decide to have a West Side Story-esque rumble that starts as a simple fistfight & ends with machetes, tridents, & stampeding horses. After the brawl, the character, Ron Burgundy says, “Well, that escalated quickly.”
This meme could hypothetically apply in every day life, like when say some teen-aged boys leave their sweat-soaked basketball shoes in a Mom’s hermetically sealed vehicle over a long weekend & she responds with imagery of rivers & seas boiling, fire raining down from the sky, & swarms of locusts obliterating Every…Living…Thing - IF that should ever occur again. (Hypothetically.)
Likewise, as Adam & Eve are chewing on their apple as they leave the Garden of Eden, it wouldn’t be too surprising to hear Adam comment to Eve, “Well, that escalated quickly.”
Pondering today’s verse, let’s imagine the story of a young woman named Jennifer from the town of Tyle located near the Sea of Galilee. Jenn Tyle, as she was commonly known, was a non-believer, thinking very little about God or gods. She got married & gave birth to a son. As she marveled at her baby’s wiggling fingers & how his eyes lit up when he saw her, she realized that this is all too amazing to just be an accident; there had to be a Creator.
She explored the pagan gods, but they seemed petty & vindictive & their followers lived in constant fear of angering them. Her Jewish friends’ God, Yahweh, intrigued her, but their faith seemed to be ancestral & based on pedigree. So, she was stuck.
Then, she happened to hear a traveling Rabbi talk about a loving God who desired a relationship with all His children. He spoke of the Kingdom of God as a place where there was no more pain, no more tears, & no more sorrow. Jenn was all in! She was baptized & became a follower of this teacher named Jesus that very day.
Years later, Jenn & her family re-located to the Roman town of Ephesus. Their small home-based congregation began to pass around letters from a fellow believer named, Paul. Her vision of the Kingdom of God was challenged. Instead of a “hereafter” type of place, Paul contended, as a follower of Christ, we should have confidence in God & seek to help form the Kingdom of God in the “here & now.”
Jenn was convinced. She started a Mother’s-Day-Out program (Ephesians in the Sun), so Moms could go to market & sweep out their homes without kids constantly underfoot. She also kicked off a Building Better Moms type group (Building a Better Ewe!), where ladies could share bread & dried fruit, discuss the courage of Esther, analyze the intriguing in-law relationship between Ruth & Naomi, & get tips on how to get the smell of their sons’ sandals out of their cart.
Perhaps, our friend Jenn could inspire our own spiritual journey. Maybe we, too, could see our faith grow from being a theoretical believer, to becoming a devoted follower of Christ, to then becoming an active contributor/participant in the Kingdom of God - here & now.
May God, as He considers each of our faithwalks, remark with a smile, “Well, that escalated quickly.”
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Words and actions that build up the community for Saturday, 25 February 2017
Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor,[Ephesians 4:25 Zechariah 8:16] because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body. 26 Be angry, but don’t sin[Ephesians 4:26 Psalm 4:5(4)] — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; 27 otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.
28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.
29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. 30 Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.
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These verses set out a challenging standard for Christian interactions. They call Christians to live by a simple guideline: “Only say what is helpful when it is needed for building up the community.” Often, that stops being easy or simple when the community does something differently from the way we would have liked to see it done. But it is precisely at those times of change, when stress and tension tend to rise, that the guidelines in today’s reading become most crucial for all of us to live into.
• In his book When Christians Get It Wrong, Pastor Hamilton described a sad fact that we all know happens. He used the ironic but truthful chapter title, “When Christians are
Unchristian.”* Ephesians 4:32 said our ideal is to treat one another “in the same way God
forgave you in Christ.” Have you learned ways to “be angry without sinning” (verse 26)?
What steps can help you grow a character strong enough to treat others as God treats
you? Have you been through times when it was helpful to hold back a comment or observation, even if it might be accurate? Are there other times, as verse 25 suggested,
when the truth is so needed and helpful that it would be wrong to keep silent? How can the
Holy Spirit help you discern when you should speak the truth without being unchristian?
Prayer: Creating, Redeeming God, your gracious acceptance has brought me life. Give me the courage to speak truth in love, the humility to say I’m sorry when I’m wrong and the heart to forgive others who admit a wrong. Amen.
* Adam Hamilton, When Christians Get It Wrong. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010 and 2013, chapter 1.
Family Activity: Jesus came to show God’s love to all people. Create a “Love one another” collage. Gather poster board, magazines, scissors, glue and markers. Invite one family member to write “Love one another” on the poster board. Ask each person to cut out pictures of various people and fasten them to the poster. Some family members might even want to draw pictures of people. When your family has completed the poster, take time to imagine what the lives of these different people are like. Say, “We often make assumptions or judgments about people we know and people we don’t know. God calls us to extend his love to all people. How can we each do a better job of following Jesus’ example and sharing God’s love with the world?” Ask God in prayer to help you do this.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Kari Driskell and family on the death of her husband Eric Driskell, 2/15
• Jane Long and family on the death of her brother Tom Whittaker, 2/14
•Betty Walter and family on the death of her son Richard Fry, 2/12
•Ruth Christy and family on the death of her husband Ray Christy, 2/12
•Diane Browning and family on the death of her father Ray Christy, 2/12
•Eph Ehly and family on the death of his brother Harold Ehly, 2/12
• Lorie Stapp and family on the death of her husband Bill Stapp, 2/11
•Cynthia Stapp and family on the death of her father Bill Stapp, 2/11
• Mary Shewmake and family on the death of her mother Donna Crocker, 2/11
•Kay Heeren and family on the death of her husband Marvin Heeren, 2/9
• Jeanie Meyer and family on the death of her husband Adam Smith, 2/7
•Teresa Chien and family on the death of her husband Robert “Bob” Chien, 2/6
• Lisa Guenther and family on the death of her uncle Joseph Guenther, 1/30
•Rhett Place and family on the death of his grandmother Ardina Place, 1/5
•Ashley Place-Worth and family on the death of her grandmother Ardina Place, 1/5
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13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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