Tag: Serving the Lord

Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:11

Leave a comment

“Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I was growing up, we had a golden retriever named Ginger. She was a really good dog. I’ve never had another dog since. I still remember the last time I took her for a walk before we had to put her to sleep. In any event, when she was a puppy, the rule was that she couldn’t leave the kitchen. She could enjoy our full, big backyard, but in the house, the kitchen and dining room was the extent of her domain. The stated reason for this was so she didn’t make the rest of the house dirty. The real reason was that every time my dad got home from work, she would get so excited to see him that she would pee all over the floor. Linoleum is easy to clean, and we cleaned it a lot. Carpet…not so much. She had lots of zeal, but not much diligence. Today we’re going to keep working our way through Paul’s list of specific instructions giving us a framework for what it looks like to follow Jesus. And unlike our previous couple of attempts, I’m not even going to try to tackle more than one verse. Let’s dive in.

Read the rest…

Calling Out the Called

Leave a comment

This past Sunday we had the delight of baptizing new followers of Jesus and members, celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and setting aside some excellent servant leaders for the deacon ministry. Just before going through the official ordination process, I offered some observations on deacon ministry and servant leadership more generally to the congregation. Here’s what I had to say.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Romans 1:13-15

Leave a comment

“Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I get something in my mind a certain way, I struggle to think about it in any other terms. That makes me remarkably tenacious in pursuit of a goal, but it can also make me irritatingly stubborn and unable to easily shift away from one idea when it turns out to not work very well. Sometimes, though, the problem isn’t with the idea itself, but with the path I’m taking to get there and the timing of the whole thing. Paul was going in the direction God wanted him, but the timing wasn’t always right. His mission was clear, though, so he knew where he was going. Let’s finish off Paul’s greeting to the Roman church today, and join in his mission.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Amos 7:14-15

4 Comments

“So Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”‘” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When we imagine the prophets of the Old Testament, we often picture wild-looking, old men who spent all their time walking around and shouting about God’s judgment and impending doom. We imagine men like Jeremiah who evidently spent their entire lives doing God’s work. Yet while there certainly were some like Jeremiah or Isaiah or Ezekiel, not all of them were. We discover this about Amos in a tense conversation he had with a false prophet in Israel. Let’s talk about his response and what it just might have to do with us.

Read the rest…

The Life of a Servant

Leave a comment

What does it mean to serve the Lord?  Have you ever really thought about that?  Followers of Jesus are told we are to serve Him, but we don’t often think about the details.  As we continue our series, The Characters of Christmas, Mary’s story gives us a pretty comprehensive picture.  Check this out to see what the picture of serving the Lord looks like.  

The Life of a Servant

So, last week we looked at the story of Gabriel’s announcement to Zechariah that his barren wife would conceive and give birth to a son.  In this, we saw that God’s promises are not fulfilled solely by the boldly miraculous or the faith superheroes, but instead, are made manifest when God moves in the lives of people very much like you and me. I have to think that the story of Zechariah’s encounter with Gabriel in the Temple would have spread pretty quickly. I mean, as far as we know, God had not spoken in a public way to His people in about 400 years at that point. Let’s be honest: We have trouble imagining 400 years period.  Four hundred years is just about how long there have been permanent, successful colonies of Europeans in North America.  Jamestown isn’t that far from here.  You can go up to Williamsburg and see the remnants of that very first settlement in 1607.  It’s a pretty neat museum and recreation. 

Read the rest