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Celebrating a New Beginning is a joyful and transformative experience, akin to embarking on a fresh journey with Jesus. It's an opportunity to leave behind the past and embrace a spiritual rebirth filled with hope, faith, and the promise of a brighter future.
Peter and John meet a man along the way as they were heading to temple. The only thing that they could give him was the name of Jesus Christ and told him to stand up and walk. The man was healed and we know this story, but what happens next? Peter tells of the goodness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the crowds. Peter and John were committed to share the good news of Jesus as they went out.
The word "come" might sound simple, yet its genuine commitment can be challenging to embrace in our journey of faith. We’re going to delve into the beautiful truth that Jesus personally invites each of us to join him. When we are supported and surrendered to the Holy Spirit, we're also entrusted with the mission to extend this invitation to others.
There are many things in this world that are clamoring for our attention. But the truth remains in the real issue— how we live our lives for Jesus. The Bible remains the believers’ guide, the place where we can find the real answer to real issues that we face each and every day so that we can be doers of the word and not only those who have heard or believed the lies the devil tries to get us to believe.
We all have a message to tell. It’s what we’ve been calling “Our Story.” You have a different story that will capture the attention of some people while another person has their story that will intrigue others. Yet in each one of our stories is the certain fact that Jesus Christ came into our lives to transform us into His character. Who has heard your story? Who has yet to hear it? God calls us to go tell it from the mountains that Jesus Christ has come to seek and save that which was lost.
One of the biggest motivations that the Holy Spirit gives to Christian believers is a desire to get closer to God. To know Him more and to know His plan and purpose so that the Holy Spirit can move us out into the world to tell others about the love, joy, peace, and redemption found in and through His Son Jesus Christ. What we may feel at one given moment is not how the Holy Spirit operates. He is the motivator that is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is constant while our emotions may change.
There are five Women in the lineage of Jesus who played significant roles as mothers in the story of redemption in the Bible. Each of them had a unique story that demonstrates God's grace and faithfulness, and their inclusion in Jesus' lineage underscores the idea that God can use anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, to accomplish His purposes.
Are you a fan or follower of Jesus? Fans like that He came down, spent some time and gave us some morally right tools to use to live this life. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t match up to who Jesus truly is— the anointed One, the Savior of the world, the Overcomer, God incarnate. Now, if you’re a follower, you’ve given up all of who you are to step in the steps of Christ— His life loving others, His death to sin, and His resurrection of the body. As we celebrate Holy Communion this weekend, let us remember that Jesus, God incarnate came in human form so that He could suffer, die and rise again so that as disciples, as followers of Him, we too may recognize the cost and follow wholeheartedly.
The Bible calls us to be transformed into being overcomers through becoming more like Christ. If you think back on your life before Christ, before knowing Him and being united to Him, there may have been times you were addicted to something— and it doesn’t have to be drugs or alcohol— it could have been your career, money, fame, influence. But when Christ came, He changed everything. There is power in our testimonies. We become the light of the world when we share about the blood of the Lamb and our testimony. By sharing with others they too can become overcomers.
Through and through, we know who Jesus is and have experienced His resurrection. We’ve taken root in Him. Now, it's time to go a bit deeper. Going deeper with God changes our entire being and how we live our lives. It is what will allow us to stand firm in times of testing, it is what will help us remain steadfast when the ways of the world glamour for our attention, and it is what will help us hold onto the truth we have found in Christ.
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