Today Glen preached on the text from the gospel of Matthew 25:31-45. On judgment day God will divide the peoples into two - those who have given part of themselves to those who are the least in our societies, and those who have not. Since we have all been made in the image of God, the face of Jesus can be seen in his children. And often times, his face is seen in the weakest and most disadvantaged persons of the world. Likely prompted by the talk given by Barb from PWS&D last Tuesday, Glen shared with the congregation how every little that we do to help war refugees, poverty stricken families, villages, countries, those infected with HIV, those who have been abused, those with addictions - helps!
Shaken and inspired by what Glen said, I spent some time this afternoon checking out the website for The Presbyterian Church in Canada. And I was impressed. On top of the section for PWS&D, I saw that Presbyterians are very actively involved in the current events of this world - and strongly promotes peace and humans rights, which is firmly (and rather simply) grounded in the core Christian belief that we are all made in God's image and therefore all deserve to live our lives with dignity, and experience human decency from one another. These are Christians who don't just talk the talk, but they walk the walk as well! The love of God is seen so transparently in their actions and efforts to relieve human suffering occurring all over the world. To me, this speaks of the true, awesome, overflowing love of God, which sees no barriers of gender, race, or even religion. I've always been an action oriented person, and once again I am reminded that as Christians we really need to show our faith by action - to those outside of the church! We have to venture out of our comfort zones if we want to spread the good news of the gospel. This means that we can pray for peace, love, and hope, but with faithful prayers come faithful action. God will bless us in seeing that we trust him enough to go ahead with our actions, with 75% serenity and certainty in our hearts that they are his will. I'm going off on bit of a tangent here. I guess what I am trying to say again is that we need to take action!
This is often a lot easier said than done, and one would be more inclined to do so after hearing a moving sermon like the one Glen delivered today (I'm talking about myself specifically). But what good is our faith if we do not make a difference in others' lives so that they experience and see the love of God in us? We can give God all our praises, do everything to glorify his name, pray long and hard on all life's big decisions such as schooling, marriage, vocation. These are all things we are to do as Christians. But if we simply keep our faith between him and us (God to person, person to God relationship), and fail to radiate what Jesus preaches into the secular world, our faiths become selfish.
I've always been a compassionate person. My mommy always says that I have a heart full of love. Perhaps I am just an emotional one ;o) But, I think (I know) it is time to do more with the gifts I have been given - the gift of good health, of having two open arms, the gift of a heart longing to make others feel just a little better. There are the talkers with their big ideas, ideals and opinions. Then there are the doers. I want to be a doer. This may be what being a Christian is all about!
Outreach.
Shaken and inspired by what Glen said, I spent some time this afternoon checking out the website for The Presbyterian Church in Canada. And I was impressed. On top of the section for PWS&D, I saw that Presbyterians are very actively involved in the current events of this world - and strongly promotes peace and humans rights, which is firmly (and rather simply) grounded in the core Christian belief that we are all made in God's image and therefore all deserve to live our lives with dignity, and experience human decency from one another. These are Christians who don't just talk the talk, but they walk the walk as well! The love of God is seen so transparently in their actions and efforts to relieve human suffering occurring all over the world. To me, this speaks of the true, awesome, overflowing love of God, which sees no barriers of gender, race, or even religion. I've always been an action oriented person, and once again I am reminded that as Christians we really need to show our faith by action - to those outside of the church! We have to venture out of our comfort zones if we want to spread the good news of the gospel. This means that we can pray for peace, love, and hope, but with faithful prayers come faithful action. God will bless us in seeing that we trust him enough to go ahead with our actions, with 75% serenity and certainty in our hearts that they are his will. I'm going off on bit of a tangent here. I guess what I am trying to say again is that we need to take action!
This is often a lot easier said than done, and one would be more inclined to do so after hearing a moving sermon like the one Glen delivered today (I'm talking about myself specifically). But what good is our faith if we do not make a difference in others' lives so that they experience and see the love of God in us? We can give God all our praises, do everything to glorify his name, pray long and hard on all life's big decisions such as schooling, marriage, vocation. These are all things we are to do as Christians. But if we simply keep our faith between him and us (God to person, person to God relationship), and fail to radiate what Jesus preaches into the secular world, our faiths become selfish.
I've always been a compassionate person. My mommy always says that I have a heart full of love. Perhaps I am just an emotional one ;o) But, I think (I know) it is time to do more with the gifts I have been given - the gift of good health, of having two open arms, the gift of a heart longing to make others feel just a little better. There are the talkers with their big ideas, ideals and opinions. Then there are the doers. I want to be a doer. This may be what being a Christian is all about!
Outreach.
No comments:
Post a Comment