Daily Scripture:
Luke 7:36 One of the P’rushim invited Yeshua to eat with him, and he went into the home of the Parush and took his place at the table. 37 A woman who lived in that town, a sinner, who was aware that he was eating in the home of the Parush, brought an alabaster box of very expensive perfume, 38 stood behind Yeshua at his feet and wept until her tears began to wet his feet. Then she wiped his feet with her own hair, kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them.
39 When the Parush who had invited him saw what was going on, he said to himself, “If this man were really a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what sort of woman she is, that she is a sinner.”
44 Then, turning to the woman, he said to Shim‘on, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house — you didn’t give me water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair! (Complete Jewish Bible).
Prayer Tip:
In an age where it seems there’s always one more “cause” to support, it can almost feel overwhelming to try to choose to pursue any one of them. Healthcare, poverty, disease research, LGBTQ rights, immigration, terrorism, gun control, depression, suicide, Black lives matter, blue lives matter, women’s rights, #metoo. It feels like everyone and everything is clamoring for our attention. What do we do?
There are no easy answers, but we can start with love and prayer. All of these groups of people and the issues they face are important to God. Scripture tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). We know love is patient and kind and that it does not envy or boast and it isn’t proud, dishonoring, self-seeking, or easily angered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs or delight in evil. Love rejoices with the truth, protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and never fails (1 Corinthians 4-8). Over and over, Scripture instructs us to pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Lord God,
We are so grateful for your love for us all and that the things that matter to us matter to you. Help us to listen to those who are suffering, abused, and oppressed. Show us how to listen for your voice amidst all the noise in our lives so that we might show your love to a world that needs it. With so much negative news, it seems like too much for us to be able to fix sometimes, but, God, we know you are bigger than it all. Use us, one person at a time, to make even small differences that can add up to a larger impact.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen. (Angela LaVallie Tinsley, Resurrection Funeral Ministry)
Read today's Insight by Angela LaVallie TinsleyAngela serves as the Funeral and Prayer Program Director, overseeing on-site funerals and assisting with prayer classes, vigils, walk, retreats, and other events. She began working at Resurrection in April 2007 and in that time has worked with the Singles, Seniors, Young Adults, and Guest Connections ministries.
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Daily Scripture
John 13:34 “I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. 35 Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love for each other.” (Complete Jewish Bible).
John 15:9 “Just as my Father has loved me, I too have loved you; so stay in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love — just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. 11 I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.
12 “This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
In the darkness of the night before his crucifixion, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment that glowed with heaven’s light: “As I have loved you, so you must love each other. This is how everyone will know you are my disciples.” The command to love one another was not new, but “as I have loved you” took “love” to a whole new level. Jesus' followers learned that they couldn’t love that way on their own, and identified love as a fruit of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22). Spend time with Jesus, allowing his love to shape your view of yourself, so that by God’s grace your life of love certifies you as one of Jesus' followers. Make your corner of this church glow with your love.
- You invite a non-religious friend to church. He asks, “Why should I go to your church?” Do you cite our big buildings, beautiful window, impressive offerings, many volunteers, superb sermons or music? How long would it take you to reach Jesus' way of answering that question: “This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other”? Jesus began John 15:9 with ten key words: "As the Father loved me, I too have loved you." As the moon reflects the sun’s light, our love for others reflects God’s love for us. In what practical ways do you live out your commitment to love God and others? How can our church be, above all, a living model of God's love for all people? To what extent are you able to view self-giving, not self-gratification, as key to the “glory” you seek in life?
Lord Jesus, I love because you, my creator, first loved me. Keep reshaping my attitudes and actions to more fully reflect your eternal, faithful love. Amen.
Family Activity:Through portraits of biblical characters and God’s followers since, the stained-glass window in Resurrection’s Leawood sanctuary tells the story of God’s love for all people in every generation past, present and future. In person or online, view the stained-glass window. Who do you recognize, and how did those people share God’s love in the world? Gather some family pictures and using words, drawings, and magazine cutouts, design your own family’s artistic expression of God’s love. How does your life and the life of your family display God’s love? Next, imagine what would happen if your family’s artistic creation included pictures of everyone at Church of the Resurrection! How could this whole church share God’s love with the world? Thank God for His love and ask God to help you and the Church of the Resurrection continue to tell the story of His amazing and faithful love.
Read today's Insight by Dan EntwistleDan Entwistle serves as a Managing Executive Director for Church of the Resurrection.
You may have heard of the classic story about the Chicken and the Pig.
The Chicken and the Pig were visiting on the farm one day, and the Chicken turned to the Pig and said, “Hey Pig, don’t you think Farmer Brown has been so good to us? How ‘bout if we show our appreciation by making him a good old-fashioned bacon and egg breakfast?” The Pig thought about it for a moment, then squealed, "What! You’d be involved in this, but… well… I’d be fully committed!”
The world sets an expectation for Chicken’s style of love.
- Love each other, often.
- Love each other, to the same degree that others show love.
- Love each other, when it will be returned in equal measure.
- Love each other, unless the risks are too high.
- Love each other, but remember not to take things too far.
“Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love one another.”
As a church, it is our aspiration to love deeply and to serve others without strings attached. We strive to be generous with our resources and time, and to direct our passions in the pursuit of lifting lives, alleviating the impact of poverty and injustice, and attempting to make our city and our world look more like the community God intended.
Love isn’t the extra-credit work. Sacrificial love is a natural outflow of a Jesus follower’s life.
And this command was not just for Jesus' contemporaries. These words are for us. They function as a mirror for our lives. Today, if I’m honest, my love looks generally more like Chicken’s. As I read and re-read today’s command to love like Jesus, I felt challenged to think differently than the world thinks. To love - not slightly better and when it is relatively convenient, but with Jesus-like sacrifice, concern, compassion and risk.
Like this post? Share it!
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- Or download this week's printable GPS.
Daily Scripture:
Matthew 5:13 “You are salt for the Land. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except being thrown out for people to trample on.
14 “You are light for the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Likewise, when people light a lamp, they don’t cover it with a bowl but put it on a lampstand, so that it shines for everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
As Resurrection dreams about ways we can be a long-term force for good, we ground that dreaming by remembering who we are and why we are here. Jesus said God calls us to be “the light of the world,” people through whom God’s light illumines the dark, hurting places around us. We respond to Jesus' call to live lives led by the Holy Spirit through which God’s light reaches beyond the walls of our church. As people see the good things we do, we want them to praise our Father in heaven, not us.
- Jesus said, “A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden.” He intended for his followers’ actions to be visible, to be attractive. He also said we let our light shine for a specific reason—so that people who see what we do will praise God. We often see corporate PR campaigns aimed only at acquiring fame, money or market share. If our ultimate purpose is to lead people to praise God, how can that shape our efforts to make our church’s actions visible?
- On a more personal level, who has been a light in your life? What have you learned about living as a channel for God’s light from their example? Who do you know whose world you have a chance to brighten? Pray about this, and choose one specific step you can take to bring the light of God’s love into their life this week.
Loving God, teach me how to open my heart more and more to your light. Fill me to overflowing with that light, so that it shines out to everyone with whom I come in contact. Amen.
Read today's Insight by 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.
It isn’t too surprising that Jesus would use the metaphor of light to represent the hopefulness of the Good News. There is a very natural/innate aversion to darkness; hence the flashlight industry logs sales of nearly $160 million dollars per year. (With this kind of demand, being a flashlight salesperson must be light work. Sigh – Editor.)
No one likes to be in the dark. A few years ago on a family trip through the Dixie states, we were going to tour Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Learning of our itinerary, my Dad, Ray, shared with our boys the story of our family trip to Mammoth Cave when I was 5 years old: “Darren was being quite over-the-top about being Mr. Independent. So, we are in the cave & the Park Ranger is going to turn out the lights so we can experience just how the dark it can get. I suggest Darren hold my hand, but he wouldn’t have any of it. The lights go out. Two seconds go by. Then there is a small pitiful voice calling out in the pitch-black darkness, 'Ray? R-a-a-a-y?'"
In today’s passage, Jesus offers a difficult challenge to the church - to be the light of the world. To help understand this idea, I recalled my old Scoutmaster asking a hypothetical question to help pass the time during a long hike: Your group is going on a midnight hike. You have to choose between wearing shoes or taking a flashlight - which would you pick? We debated the pros & cons of each item, but most of us concluded we’d take our shoes. While Mr. Anschutz concurred with our view, he also noted that the choice of shoes only helps you. On the other hand, the choice of the light would benefit not only you, but everyone else on the hike as well. (He also offered the theory that carrying a flashlight could deter bears – if you were carrying it fast enough.)
Like our hypothetical hike, sometimes choosing to be the light for others comes with discomfort. We may have to swallow our pride as we encounter those outside our usual circle of friends. We might have to model forgiveness for those whom we aren’t quite sure deserve it. We could even find ourselves being set up for mocking/ridicule as we strive to genuinely live a life in Christ.
Perhaps this is why Jesus also urges the church to “not hide our light under a bushel.” He knew it could be hard. He knew it could be unpopular. He knew it could be exhausting.
As we consider Resurrection’s role in our community, maybe we could draw inspiration from our mid-western roots. It was common practice in rural areas to always “leave a light on” for someone until they can safely returned home. This “light” came be seen as a sign that you are always welcome, that someone cares about you, & that someone will be there in times of need.
For Resurrection, this might mean we’ll always “leave the light on” for anyone just starting their spiritual journey, for anyone adrift on their faith walk, or for anyone in need of encouragement in times of strife.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure my “memory box” of old grade cards is properly secured - before the folks start rummaging through it to show the boys. (I bet you’d laugh if I told you my grade in Grammar – DL. Bet I wouldn’t – Editor.)
Like this post? Share it!
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- Jesus' mission defines our mission
- Marching orders for the church
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- Prayer Tip: What Would Jesus Say to Church of the Resurrection?
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
Daily Scripture:
Matthew 9:35 Yeshua went about all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and weakness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his talmidim, “The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. 38 Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest.” (Complete Jewish Bible).
John 4:28 So the woman left her water-jar, went back to the town and said to the people there, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could it be that this is the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and began coming toward him.
31 Meanwhile, the talmidim were urging Yeshua, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he answered, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” 33 At this, the talmidim asked one another, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 Yeshua said to them, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants and to bring his work to completion. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest’? Well, what I say to you is: open your eyes and look at the fields! They’re already ripe for harvest! (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions:
Jesus was “a man on a mission.” He worked tirelessly to restore people to physical, emotional and spiritual wholeness. He must have amazed the disciples by saying, in the hostile city of Samaria, “Open your eyes and notice that the fields are already ripe for the harvest” (verse 35). The fields WERE ripe—many Samaritans accepted Jesus' message. The Church of the Resurrection’s congregational “DNA” springs from Jesus' actions and teaching. Like him, we believe the harvest is plentiful—likely bigger than we can even imagine. God calls us to bring our whole selves to helping gather that harvest.
- Jesus yearned for God to “send out workers into his harvest field.” To what extent do you think “troubled and helpless… sheep without a shepherd” expresses the spiritual state of your neighbors, co-workers, even some people you know in church? Are you willing to become one of the workers Jesus wished for? What abilities and resources has God given you that you can use to help reach troubled, helpless people with the good news of Jesus?
- Since you have welcomed Jesus and the light he brings to your life, how have you seen God work in unexpected ways in you? Through you in the lives of others you know? Do you see “fields ripe for the harvest” today? Does your church family recognize the “ripeness” of those fields? In what ways is God calling you to share the love he is placing in your heart with others in your circle of influence?
Lord Jesus, the news is full of stories about spiritually and physically troubled, helpless people. Guide me and my church to a clear sense of ways in which we can work under your guidance to reach those responsive people. Amen.
Read today's Insight by Janelle GregoryJanelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.
Early on in my career (in an entirely different organization and field), I did a speaking engagement for a statewide conference. It was three hours long (emphasis on the loooong). The problem was that I had about one hour’s worth of material. Even the material I did have wasn’t stellar, and I was one of the least seasoned in the ballroom full of professionals. Why I was even asked to speak is still a mystery.
The first hour was okay, but that left TWO hours to fill. I did what one does in these situations, I opened it up for questions – two hours’ worth of questions. This still haunts me. Question after question was hurled at me, and I had very few answers to provide. There were even times I gave the wronganswer, which would be immediately and publicly corrected. I can still picture the disgust on the faces of the crowd. Some even glared at the conference organizer. I wanted so badly to bolt for the door, and I’m sure others hoped I would, too. Painful! It was absolutely painful.
This was easily one of the worst moments of my career. I was completely inadequate for the task, and it was humiliating. I stood there having to say, “I don’t know” or “I’m not really sure” over and over. I knew people thought I was an idiot. To be fair, for those few hours, they were right.
One would think that I’d never step in front of a crowd again. You’d probably never believe that I actually like speaking from time to time now. I’m even part of Toastmasters, an organization completely dedicated to public speaking. The big difference for me now is that I only speak on familiar topics. I can talk about human resources related items like health benefits or Fair Labor Standards Act compliance. I can speak about my family. I can even tell you about my travel adventures. It’s not so hard. It’s my life, my story.
When it comes to telling others about Christianity, it’s easy for me to assume that doing so will go much like my first speaking experience. I imagine I’ll be asked all types of hard questions. What if they want to know if their dog is going to heaven or why there was so much war in the Old Testament or what the second coming will be like? “Uh… I don’t know.” I am nowhere near equipped to answer these questions, at least not the three-hour version.
What I can easily talk about is my own relationship with God. I can tell you about how my faith became personal to me in the ninth grade when God showed up at a time when I really needed him. I can tell you how my life has been transformed by my relationship with God, how he’s been there with me in the difficult times, or how he’s taken me out of my comfort zone to experience the vastness of his mercy. That’s no problem. It’s just my story.
Our stories are what we need to keep in mind when we’re hesitant about sharing our faith. It’s less about doctrine and more about diary. What we get to experience truly IS good news! It doesn’t take a preacher or a theologian to share what God has done in your life. You just have to be open to telling your story, and I’m confident that you are absolutely equipped to do that.
Like this post? Share it!
You might also like
- Jesus' mission defines our mission
- Marching orders for the church
- “To seek and save the lost”
- Prayer Tip: What Would Jesus Say to Church of the Resurrection?
- Don’t live in fear of what humans can do
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
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