Jesus Calls

I was reading Matthew 4:18-22 this morning.  It's the account of Jesus calling the first disciples.  It's interesting that Jesus didn't put an ad in the paper or send out a survey to anticipate who might be his disciples.  Jesus called them.  He said, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."  There was something about his calling that could not be resisted.  We like to think we have a choice when it comes to responding to God's call but I'm not so sure that very often the choice has already been made.  We just follow in obedience to God's calling. 

Emmanuel

I was reading Matthew 1:18-25 this morning.  It is the account of the birth of Jesus according to Matthew.  In the passage Matthew quotes one of the prophets -- "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us."  How often do we forget that God is truly with us?  It is so easy to go through the day thinking we are on our own.  This is a reminder to us all that we not only have our friends, family, and church for support, but most of all we have God with us.  Emmanuel! 

Names, Names, Names

For the month of December we will be reading the gospel of Matthew.  The first thing we encounter in Matthew is a list of names.  The first chapter gives an account of the genealogy of Jesus.  Jesus had ancestors just like us!  That means Jesus also had family problems as well!  Since God came to live among us as one of us through Jesus, then that means Jesus can identify fully with whatever we may be going through in life -- including what it is like to live in the community of a family.  Question for us to ponder -- What am I contributing to my family today? 

Imperfect People

As I have been reading through Genesis lately, I have once again been reminded how the people we meet in scripture are anything but perfect.  In fact, they are far from it!  It gives me encouragement to know that just as God was faithful to them, God is faithful to us as well.  Even in our imperfection and sin God still reaches out to us in love through his Son Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:8 says, "But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." 

Content and Faithful

I was reading the story of Abraham and came to the last part of the story where he died.  The text says, "Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man full of years, and was gathered to his people."  Another translation says that Abraham was content at the end.  I think that is a great way to look at life, especially at the end.  We are content not that we have always received what we wanted out of life, but that we have been faithful to our God and God has been faithful to us.  Let us be content today and remember that a successful life is a faithful life. 

God's Covenant

In the 17th chapter of Genesis God appeared to Abraham and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.  And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous."  That reminded me of how God is the only One who initiates covenants.  God initiates covenants and always holds to his end of the covenant.  God simply calls for us to be obedient to his calling in our lives and God will take care of the rest.  It might not always be easy and there are certainly challenges each day, but God's love and grace always prevails. 

So Abram Went

I was reading in the 12th chapter of Genesis today about God calling Abram.  God called Abram to leave his land, his family, and his father's household.  God was essentially calling Abram to leave everything that could have defined him and gave his life meaning.  So what did Abram do?  So Abram went.  That's it.  No long affirmation of faith or wordy testimony -- just action -- so Abram went.  Where is God calling you today?  How will you respond?  I have been thinking about where I need to show my faith not so much with my words, but with my feet.  Live into the life that God is leading you to lead.   

(We will be reading Genesis throughout the month of November) 

Travel Plans

I was reading in the 16th chapter of I Corinthians this morning where Paul talked about his travel plans.  He said to the church at Corinth: "I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go."  That might seem like an insignificant verse in the grand scheme of things but I think it says a lot.  It says that ministry is active and in motion.  We are headed somewhere as we live out our faith in Jesus Christ.  Where are you going today?  Who will you see?  What will you do? 

Resurrection!

I was reading from I Corinthians 15:12-19 today.  It is the passage where Paul is responding to some comments that some made about not believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Paul said, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain...but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died."  Resurrection is real!  There is hope for you and me today and for eternity.  May we not forget that today's problems are temporary and that with Jesus Christ there is hope. 

Building Up

I was reading from I Corinthians 10 today and ran across the following -- "All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial.  All things are lawful but not all things build up.  Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other."  It made me think of my own life and how I often miss opportunities to build others up.  Sometimes we get too occupied with our own lives and neglect to take the time to encourage and build others up in the name of Christ.  This passage has encouraged me to be more mindful of building others up. 

Be Imitators of Me

I was reading I Corinthians 4:16 this morning where Paul wrote to the church, "I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me."  At first glance that sounds like an incredibly arrogant statement -- "Be imitators of me!"  Can you imagine what people would say to us if we went around saying, "Be imitators of me!"  But Paul has a point here.  If we are to be true witnesses to our faith in Jesus Christ then we ought to feel comfortable with others imitating us -- not in that we are sinless -- but in that we are on the path of salvation.  We are following Jesus the best we can and rely on his grace, and in that sense then we can comfortably say to others, "Be imitators of me."   

God's Foolishness

I was reading I Corinthians 1:18-31 this morning.  It is the passage where Paul speaks about the "foolishness" of God in regards to God choosing what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and choosing what is weak in the world to shame the strong.  Pual's point was simple -- we are nothing, Jesus Christ is everything.  Paul said it well in verse 31 "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 

God is Faithful

For the month of October we will be reading I Corinthians.  I Corinthians is Paul's letter to the church in Corinth.  What we will find in our reading is that the people of Corinth were very much like us -- they struggled at times to live in Christian community.  In this letter Paul addressed some of those issues.  However, at the beginning of the letter Paul expressed his thanks for the people of Corinth, and made the following statement, "God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." (I Corinthians 1:9) 

This is another reminder that our faith comes not from ourselves but from God's faithfulness and love for us in Jesus Christ.  John Wesley made the point on numerous occasions that in order to come to faith in Jesus Christ we need the Holy Spirit to help us along in the process.  Paul made the same point in saying that we were called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ by God's faithfulness. 

Be Merciful To Me!

I was reading in Luke 18:9-14 this morning.  It is the story of the two men who went to the temple to pray one day.  One of the men, a Pharisee, began his prayer by saying, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people..."  Obviously, he had some arrogance issues!  The other man, a tax collector, prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."  It's hard to do sometimes but our prayers should be more like the tax collector's prayer and less like the Pharisee's prayer.  So I pray today, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." 

The Sower

I was reading in Luke 8 today and came across the parable of the sower of who sowed seeds.  You remember the story -- the sower sowed seeds but not all of them produced.  In fact, most of the seeds the sower sowed didn't produce!  That is a reminder to me that in life sometimes we have to get past many failures and disappointments to see the good things that God is and has been doing through us.  Keep sowing!  No matter the evidence today, keep sowing! 

The Blind Leading the Blind

I was reading in Luke 6:39 today where Jesus made the comment: "Can a blind person guide a blind person?"  The answer is obviously no.  In thinking about how we are called to disciple others and share our faith, it's important that we are following Jesus Christ ourselves and doing the things necessary to not be spiritually "blind". 

What Should We Do?

I was reading in the third chapter of Luke this morning.  It is the account of Jesus' baptism.  As John the Baptist is preparing to baptize people in the Jordan River he calls for repentance.  It is at that moment that people begin to ask the question, "What should we do?"  In essence they asked, "You have called us to live different lives, so what should we do?"  To some in the crowd John the Baptist replied, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise."  To the tax collectors who asked, "What should we do?" John replied, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."  In other words, stop cheating people.  Very often the answer to the question, "What should we (I) do?" is a simple one.  Perhaps we know the answer but are at times unwilling to do what Jesus has called us to do -- even the simplest of things. 

Skeptics Invited

Skeptics Invited - Luke 1 (Posted by Beth Underwood)

In the first few verses of Luke, he invites people who are skeptics to explore the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is writing to "Theophilus"', described as the most excellent. So I looked up the description "most excellent"...other places in Scripture it is used to describe Roman government officials who are not believers in the gospel of Jesus. (Acts 24:3 and Acts 26:25). This makes me ask: what is the relationship Luke has with this guy?

 Luke kicks off his gospel telling his hearer(s) that he is not a blind faith kind of guy...but someone who read a lot about Jesus, listened to people with eye witness accounts, etc....he invites skeptics to explore the certainty of Jesus as God...is Jesus trustworthy?

 I have received a number of formal and informal invitations just this week alone...a baby shower, Facebook Groups, a wedding, meals with others, and more. Not to mention, the many ads and commericals that invite me to be branded by their products. These are all invitations to enrich our lives, are they not?

 What is the gospel of Jesus offering you right now? What are you certain of about Jesus...what are you skeptical about, in regards to Christianity?

Does Mary Have it Backward?

As I was reading the birth narrative of Jesus in Luke today I read Mary's song of praise in Luke 1:46-55.  In our culture we might think that Mary would be praising God for gifts to the proud, the powerful, and the rich, but instead Mary praised God for such values turned upside down.  She praised God for being a God who lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good things.  Maybe that should be a reminder to us all that God is working in ways we cannot imagine, even in the most dire of situations.  God's name is magnified when the lowly and vulnerable are lifted up in love.  Who are lowly and vulnerable in our community? 

Welcome to the Central Study Blog

Welcome to our new blog.  We will be using this as a forum to discuss our Bible readings throughout the week.  We will begin by studying the gospel of Luke.  Here's how it works -- read the gospel of Luke throughout the month of September and post your thoughts from your readings on this blog site.  I will be posting throughout the month my thoughts as I read through Luke as well.  I'm looking forward to doing this each month.  We will study a different book from the Bible each month.  Think of this as an online Bible book club.

In Christ,

Rev. Brad Brittain