My focus this Sunday will be on "Proclaim the Good News in Word and Deed." We do have the responsibility from our baptism to bring God's saving news to others in our world. If indeed this news is good, then we ought to be eager to share it!
I would like to think of the good news not so much as declaring facts such as "You can be saved" or "You can go to heaven" or "Jesus saves," but rather as telling a story. God's revelation to us comes in the form of a story.
The Gospel reading for this Sunday I felt might help us to begin to talk about our faith. It's Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. As he approaches her, he starts the conversation with something ordinary. The text reads: "Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (his disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?'" Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." (John 4:10)
You notice how Jesus starts out with the ordinary and moves to a higher (spiritual) level. He takes the initiative, but only after starting the conversation on a common level.
Our actions also speak greatly in terms of what we believe and profess. Sometimes, it is true, they might speak louder than our words. When people see that we went out of our way or sacrificed our time to help - in the name of Christ - we are helping to bring God's kingdom to them.
May God's blessing be upon your preparation for this Sunday's worship.
Discipleship Questions for Reflection
What common things in our everyday living might we use to bring someone to matters pertaining to Christ, salvation, and eternity?
How might your faith get proclaimed through your deeds?
I would like to think of the good news not so much as declaring facts such as "You can be saved" or "You can go to heaven" or "Jesus saves," but rather as telling a story. God's revelation to us comes in the form of a story.
The Gospel reading for this Sunday I felt might help us to begin to talk about our faith. It's Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. As he approaches her, he starts the conversation with something ordinary. The text reads: "Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (his disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?'" Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." (John 4:10)
You notice how Jesus starts out with the ordinary and moves to a higher (spiritual) level. He takes the initiative, but only after starting the conversation on a common level.
Our actions also speak greatly in terms of what we believe and profess. Sometimes, it is true, they might speak louder than our words. When people see that we went out of our way or sacrificed our time to help - in the name of Christ - we are helping to bring God's kingdom to them.
May God's blessing be upon your preparation for this Sunday's worship.
Discipleship Questions for Reflection
What common things in our everyday living might we use to bring someone to matters pertaining to Christ, salvation, and eternity?
How might your faith get proclaimed through your deeds?
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