“So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Sin is about doing, right? We commit sins. Or, to put that more generically, we do things we shouldn’t do. Different worldview and religious traditions may define the concept differently in terms of its specifics—unless they deny the concept entirely—but every worldview has some kind of a concept of wrongdoing. But what if doing wasn’t all there was…
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“Instead, you should say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)
What are your plans for tomorrow? Do you have any? I do. How firm are those plans? How much are you depending on those plans? The fact is, we all make plans. Even the most free-spirited person still has some vision of what tomorrow ought to bring. And when we make plans, we generally hold to them fairly tightly. In fact, we’re sometimes tempted to stake our hope on them. That’s a problem.
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“In this way the word of the Lord flourished and prevailed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever watched a movie, gotten to the “and they lived happily ever after” part, and thought, “There’s got to be more to that story”? So often, when a movie ends—especially a romantic comedy—it ends at a point where there is still a whole lot left to sort out between the characters. We’re just to assume love will work everything out. The fact is, in the real world, life keeps going. Here in Acts, we see this incredible victory by the believers in the city of Ephesus and for me at least, it gets me thinking there has to be more to the story. Well, there is.
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“You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
One of the most famous theologians of the 20th century was Reinhold Niebuhr. He was a giant in a number of respects. His equally influential, but less culturally famous younger brother was H. Richard Niebuhr. The younger Niebuhr wrote a famous book I had to read in seminary called, Christ and Culture. In it, he worked through several different approaches to thinking about how Jesus—and by virtue of necessity, His followers—got along with the world around them. His was an important contribution to what has been a much larger question on the minds of thinking Christians for most of 2,000 years.
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Is faith all we need to be useful to Jesus? That’s not as easy a question to answer as it might seem. Certainly faith is all we need to enter into a relationship with Him, but being useful goes beyond that. As we continue our series, Being Useful, we talk about something that has to go with our faith if we’re going to hit that mark. Keep reading to find out what it is.
Get Your Head on Right
I grew up in a hymn-singing church. Every single Sunday morning we sang hymns. As a result, the great hymns of the faith are like a warm, familiar embrace for me. I suspect that in this room, I’m not alone in that sentiment either. I suspect there are many of you who grew up with the hymns and have a genuine love in your heart for them. Now, I love worshiping by singing more contemporary praise music too, but just like anything that was a regular—and positive—feature of your childhood just feels good, the hymns are that for me.
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