Advent is a season or time of preparation and waiting to celebrate the birth of Christ. This four week period covers the last four Sundays before Christmas, and as we joyfully and expectantly prepare for the arrival of Christ, we examine ourselves spiritually. Our goal is to prepare ourselves to encounter Jesus in a life-changing way. This may be the first time or the fiftieth time that we’ve celebrated the coming of Christ, but our goal is for this Advent season to make this encounter life changing.
The coming of Jesus into the world is an astounding event. It’s a great mystery. Here’s a video that we shared at The Well on Sunday that looks at a passage from the Bible that might have actually been a song that early Christians sang in worship. This song is a simple way to teach and learn some simple truths about the coming of Jesus and how his coming changed the world forever. May God use this exploration of these ancient words to help prepare you for the birth of Christ - all over again or for the very first time.
We’ve all heard the expressions “talking the talk” and “walking the walk”. Interestingly, this concept is centuries old, even going back to the Bible. As early Christians worked out their new way of life, they described their new life as a “walk”. Paul uses this expression several times in a letter he wrote to churches in the ancient city of Ephesus (in modern day Turkey).
“I urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received” (chapter 4 verse 1)
“You should no longer walk as the pagans walk” (chapter 4 verse 17)
“Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love” (chapter 5 verse 1-2)
“Walk as children of light” (chapter 5 verse 8)
“Pay careful attention to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time” (chapter 5 verses 15-16)
Sometimes the path we’re called to walk is clearly laid out before us. Some decisions are no-brainers; we can easily see right and wrong.
Other times, the path seems obscured. We think we see a hazy trail, but we’re not sure. What is the right way to go? What is the right thing to do?
I encourage you to walk the walk. Live out what you believe. Seek God’s guidance through prayer and wise counsel. Search out the path when it’s hardest to find. And know that others are here walking the path with you. Let’s walk the path together.
There are several places in the Bible where the church is compared to a body. In this analogy, the individual members of the church are like various body parts - eyes, hands, feet, etc. The idea is that just as a body needs each part to function well for optimal health, the church needs each member to function well for optimal health. As we grow to spiritual maturity, we help build up the church as a whole. Here are a couple of passages that express this image:
12 For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 So the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But now God has placed the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 Now there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12.12-20, Holman Christian Standard translation of the BIble)
Speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head — Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. (Ephesians 4.15-16, Holman Christian Standard translation of the Bible)
I don’t think this is intended to be a guilt trip. It’s not saying, “If the church is struggling, blame the members. If everyone would get their act together, things would be great!” It’s also not saying that there’s no room in the church for hurting people, for broken people. There’s plenty of room in the church for those in need of healing and comfort - just like we take care of our physical ailments when a body part if hurting.
The point of these texts is to say that there is a place for everyone in the church. There are no first and second class Christians. No one person is more valuable than another. This body image says that we all need each other. A friend of mine is fond of saying, “No one of us has it all together, but when we’re together, we have it all.”
There’s a place for you at The Well. No matter what body part you are, or how healthy or unhealthy you are, there’s a place for you at The Well.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources God will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3.16-21, New Living Translation of the Bible).
May you experience the love of Christ today, and may God’s mighty power at work within you accomplish infinitely more than you can ask or even think.
Success in life. Success in business. Success in school. Spiritual success. Success as a church. How do you define success? There are probably almost as many definitions as there are people - we all have different goals, different pictures in our minds of where we want to be.
I think of St. Paul as a spiritual success. He established churches all over the Roman Empire. He even preached to pagan kings. As a pastor, he wrote thirteen letters to churches that are a part of our Bible today.
And yet, if you look at his life, you may wonder if he was really a success. He wrote four of his letters from prison, incarcerated for his preaching work. He was publicly whipped. In fact, one time he had opposing preachers putting him down. Here’s how Paul answers his detractors. These are his credentials as an apostle. This is how he shows his success:
16 Again I say, don’t think that I am a fool to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. 17 Such boasting is not from the Lord, but I am acting like a fool. 18 And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. 19 After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! 20 You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. 21 I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that!
But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (2 Corinthians 11.16-27, New Living Translation of the Bible)
Paul lists strange “achievements”, doesn’t he? Rather than pointing to the number of churches he established or the number of people he helped convert to Christ, he points to his suffering, to the problems he encountered because of his mission. This is how he shows that he’s a real person of faith.
Now, Paul was speaking with some irony in this passage, but I think there’s an important point that we can draw from this text. God doesn’t call Christians or churches to be “successful”. He calls people to be “faithful”. He calls people to obey him, to follow him.
If you read your Bible, most of the people you read about would not have been counted successful. Many of the prophets were ostracized, abused, imprisoned, or even murdered. Jesus himself was executed as a criminal. The Apostle Paul, whom I wrote about above, was executed as a criminal. But they were faithful to the end, living out the calling that God gave them.
There are several places in the Bible where the church is compared to a body. In this analogy, the individual members of the church are like various body parts - eyes, hands, feet, etc. The idea is that just as a body needs each part to function well for optimal health, the church needs each member to function well for optimal health. As we grow to spiritual maturity, we help build up the church as a whole. Here are a couple of passages that express this image: