Embrace Hospitality

 There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavenst. a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.  (Ecclesiastes 3:1,5a)

Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."  (Matthew 29:19-20)

God is a welcoming God.  He wants all people from all areas, all nations, tribes, and languages to come to Him.  The Bible says that Jesus (God in the flesh) came to His own- the ones He made- and they did not receive Him.  God loves us, and wants to embrace us and have us embrace Him.  He wants to be our God and for us to be His people. 
    Why is this important?   The love of God is why we are here.  It is the reason we are called not only to love God, but to love our neighbors as ourselves.  In the love of God we find our identity.  We are made out of love- in His image.  
    For the next few months I will be blogging regularly on the need to embrace God and each other.  As we embrace each other- we are to remember we are not only to embrace our family but even people of a different culture.  We are called to be people of love- reaching out beyond ourselves. 
     In our society we find we are consumed with ourselves.  We have a consumeristic mentality- where we judge everything by how it can help us.  Many even believe they have a right to decide if God is good or even exists by whether God has helped them the way they want to be helped in life.  In contrast God calls us to get beyond ourselves to respect others, love others, and therefore be missionaries of God's love.  

Prayer: Lord, strengthen me to love others- to embrace you and others.  Help me to put you above myself. 

6/29/13- Missional Communities

There was a man all alone;
    he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
    yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
    “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
    a miserable business!Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor: (Eccles 4)

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  (2 Corinthians 5:14)

Thoughts: Church is a team event.  It is fueled by the need for cooperation and love.  While many people want to be alone in their Christianity- love compels us.  Love compels us to be together.  Love compels us to reach beyond ourselves.
    But it is also true that we can do more together than we can by ourselves alone.  There is some synergy created when we help each other (two together get more done that two separately).  They have a good return for their work.  Churches are designed to get things done for our Lord.  To serve, to reach out, to encourage, and to comfort.  The ideal is not to be individually filled and satisfied as a Christian, but to glorify God together in missions.  We are not meant to be cyber-Christians, but communal believers, that fuel our missions from our community.  
We are called to be "Missional Communities."  

Prayer:  Lord, help me to be with others to do your work together.