Can we pray..... Dear Lord, today we come to you and ask your blessings on us as a community of Christians. Although we don't all speak the same language, or have the same jobs, or live in the same town or country... we all love You Lord. You are what makes us a community, and as a community of individuals... we pray for Your light, Your strength and your love. Help us to welcome everyone we encounter into our fold, into our family, into our community. All of this we pray in Jesus's holy name.... Amen.
Last night, Pastor Carlos preached on Romans 8:1-17, and I was especially moved by verse 5 which says, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." and v.8 says "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."
I see it this way.... if you surround yourself with Christians you are bound to be less likely to allow the sinful nature to control you. Being here, it's very easy to be surronded by Christians. Everywhere we go, we have the opportunity to speak of our faith, our mission and our purpose, and we meet so many others who are members of the Christian Community. But what do we do at home? It's not quite as easy to always be surrounded with God loving people. Sure, we can count on our church family to keep us in check, and hold us accountable, and keep us from falling prey to the sinful nature.... but what happens when we are not with our church family, our community? Do we always surround ourselves with others in our community? CAN we do that? Do we always have that control? Because our physical "communties" are filled with non-christians, it's up to us to make sure we do not falter and allow the sinful nature to control us. It's up to us to make sure we live according to the Spirit. It is up to us to please God by our actions, our thoughts, our prayers and our service. I want you all to be members of my community.
Today's devotion was shared by Jason. He spoke of how we receive so much more than we give when we are here. He talked about how, when a gift is given, it should be accepted. It is that way with God... He is offering us a gift, the gift of salvation. With salvation, we become citizens of the Kingdom of God. The most amazing community.
As the sun sets on our day, I leave you with this: Genesis 33:11 "Please accept the present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to you and I have all I need"
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