Tag: Jesus

Digging in Deeper: Romans 3:10-12

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“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Family is hard. It’s hard in a lot of ways. It’s hard because you don’t get to pick your family. It’s hard because your family shapes who you are whether you want them to or not. It’s hard because you are stuck with your family. You can try to deny them, but those hooks are in deep. It’s hard because you love them and love makes you vulnerable. It opens you to wounds of the deepest sort. But family is good. Because of that love that can make it hard, family is where you can be received no matter what. Family gives you a home and a place of stability when the storms of the world blow. With family you know you can find support no matter how deep of a hole you’ve dug for yourself this time. The good of family outweighs the hard, and so you stick with family no matter what. A recent Disney live action remake of an animated classic offers a good reminder of this. Let’s talk about Lilo and Stitch.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:18

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“If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some people who thrive in situations of conflict. I am not one of those people. I tend to shut down in conflict. And God made me a pastor. Go figure. Actually it works out really well as I have an incredible church that is peace-loving and remarkably unified. Yet while there is undoubtedly a time for conflict, as followers of Jesus, peace should always be our aim. And, as it would happen, peace is the goal of the next command Paul gives to give us helpful guardrails around our pursuit of Christ. Let’s see what he has to say.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:16

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“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A friend of mine pastors a church that’s hard. The congregation has a reputation for being a church that chews up pastors and spits them out. There constantly seems to be discord among the members. Someone is always upset about something. My friend spends a fair bit of his time putting out fires. From the outside looking in, the people there do no live in harmony with one another. It makes accomplishing effective ministry a great deal more difficult than it might otherwise be. A church wracked by disharmony is going to have a much harder time proclaiming and advancing the Gospel than one that isn’t. This is why Paul gave us this next series of commands for living the Christian life well. Let’s continue our exploration of his practical list of how what it looks like to follow Jesus.

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Digging in Deeper: Galatians 6:1

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“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’ve been talking more and more often about the church lately, and today is going to follow in that pattern. I was reminded just last night while watching one of the shows my bride and I enjoy together of yet another reason the church matters so very much. This time, though, the reason is hard. It’s hard on both sides of the equation too. Yet in spite of the difficulty of this reason and its expression, its significance to our lives and to the life of the church more generally is hard to overstate. Let’s talk this morning about birthing babies, nearly missed affairs, and why the church is so important.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:12

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“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As a longtime fan of the Kansas City Royals, I know what wishful thinking is. A decade ago now, all the metaphorical baseball planets aligned, and we were genuinely really good. Since then? And for most of the thirty years before then? Not so much. In just the last 25 years alone they’ve lost more than 100 games seven times, and gotten close to that grim marker of a truly terrible season another four times. And yet in almost every season there’s a stretch when they actually look like they’re going to be a real baseball team. The fans start getting excited. And you let yourself think, “This is finally the season they’re going to turn it around.” But they almost never do. Instead, we have learned to be patient in affliction and persistent in prayer. Real hope, though, has not given us much reason for rejoicing. As it turns out, all three of these ideas are commands Paul issues next in his list of lifestyle characteristics of a follower of Jesus. Let’s keep rolling with him.

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