Faith involves risk. You have to risk failure and disappointment along the way. There is no sure thing when human beings are involved, we can only try our best to live the way that God identifies as the “right” way. We can’t back down from the unknown because a life without risk is not really life at all.

Luke 5:11

In the heart of every man there is a way that he thinks is right, so when you are choosing the principles that guide your life, choose wisely.

Many people intend to do many things, but very few follow through.

There is danger in our good intentions, they give us a reason to put off the important things in our life, thinking that someday, somehow, everything will work out. It’s simply not true.

Invest your time in the things/people you love and your best intentions just may become reality.

This is also true of Biblical interpretations. It’s how Christians can have 1 book and 1,000 different denominations.

So many who say, “As long as you teach the Bible, that’s okay with me,” …….what they are really saying is, “As long as you come to the exact same conclusion as me on every issue, then it’s okay.”

True, some truth leaves no room for interpretation, it means what it says. But what about those who use the Bible to defend their personal agendas?

On the other hand, it seems that so many who discount so much of scripture in an attempt to proclaim their “open-mindedness” are in fact just excluding everyone who does not share their worldview.

It’s good to know where you’re heading and how to get there.

Scripture can be our guide, as long as our personal opinion doesn’t get in the way.

The story goes that during WWII, Christians throughout Germany were threatened  to comply with new Nazi government law and restrictions, many of which silenced their voice. They were not allowed to sing, witness or visibly carry a Bible outside the church building.

While some people, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, refused to have their religion reduced to fear and shame, the vast majority of German Christians did just that.

One particular Christian church situated only a few yards from a set of train tracks that led to Jewish concentration camps, found a way to rationalize their denial. When train cars full of Jewish men, women and children would pass, the members of the church wouldn’t look out the window for fear that they would have to look upon the pleading eyes of all those people herded into the cars like cattle. When the prisoners would cry out and plead for help, the church members would never respond or heed the call, they only sang louder.

The sound of their singing drowned out the voice of the hurt, the dying and the hopeless. Each Sunday they made their way to church to worship a God who died for lost humanity but yet in their denial they would not even help someone in need.

I hope that the next time I’m confronted with someone in need I would do much more than just sing a little louder.

Mark 10/45 – Jesus came not to be served, but to be a servant…and give His life for many.

Recently, I was at a Borders with Mia and Sophia and I picked out a few books to read while they played. Once we reached the children’s area we realized that there wasn’t a train set or any other type of toy for them to play with, so they very quickly got bored of running around and playing by themselves. In a matter of minutes, Mia and Sophia were picking out books and bringing them to me to read for them. I tried to talk my way out of it, but they were persistent.

I didn’t really feel like reading Berenstain Bears or Spongebob, but I laid my books down and read for them instead.

If a forty year old man who was a stranger walked up and disturbed my quiet time asking  me to read him Spongebob, that would be an entirely different story with a different ending, I can assure you!

It made me realize, we are all willing to do more for a person that we have a relationship with, no matter how much it may bother us. Even if we are tired or frustrated, we find a way to make it happen because we value those that we are in sincere relationships with.

I can only hope that because of my relationship with Jesus I am willing to do whatever he asks, even if I’m tired, frustrated or feeling selfish. The important relationships are the ones we spend our time building.

Studying scripture this morning, I read again the view Jesus held regarding the church and Christianity.

Jesus repeatedly states that following him is an all-or-nothing decision. So many times we all push Jesus to the edge of our lives where he becomes just a part of who we are or what we are doing.  Many people feel that Jesus should be thankful that time is sacrificed from our busy schedule to attend church or consider his Word.  Instead of Jesus being our leader, we invite Jesus to come and be a part of what we have going on.

Jesus didn’t die to follow us, but for us to follow Him.

We must treasure our relationship with Jesus above all else: above comfort, above culture and most of all, above our past that he has saved us from.

Jesus often uses the word “darkness” to symbolize the world and all the negative things in it. He also uses the word “light” to describe himself and His church.

Jesus, while he was in the world, was the light that pushed back the darkness and destroyed the bondage of sin. In Matthew chapter 5 he instructs his followers to be a light as well. Jesus gives us our identity – we are the light of the world.

What is important to notice is that the word “ye or you” in this verse is the plural form. Jesus is not telling us that we can be the light all on our own and neither can we change the world by ourselves.

In this sermon, Jesus was speaking to a group of people. As a group of believers, as a church body, we can be the light of the world. We can’t adequately display the glory of God alone, but we are all members of one body and as the Church we can shine an incredible light in every culture and every country.