"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." - 1 Peter 5:14
Wow! Some of you have started asking for Day of Praise reflections from particular verses. We'll trust God's timing and insight in responding to your heart's request because generally we can only do one verse at a time. May God grant us peace, as in today's verse.
Now, about today's verse.
I'm embarrassed.
But not too much. And certainly not so much that I won't reveal the source of embarrassment, namely, my Christmas tree, with all its decorations, is still up in my bedroom. It is not some lazy rationalization to say that I like "Christmas" year round because my training is that "Christmas" literally means "Christ sent for fellowship with us." Therefore, my Christmas tree is a visible reminder when I go to bed and when I wake up that God is ever faithful in sending His Son year round to dwell in my home and my heart and your home and your heart.
Whether you have a Christmas tree up or not, I praise God for your testimonies that you value the same. I praise God that so many of you speak of being thankful for God's faithfulness in sending His Son year round to dwell in your home and your heart and my home and my heart.
Like one of you, who told me yesterday, that your teenager, who had become apathetic at best and hostile at worst toward Christ, came to you, not feeling well at all, and in essence cried out for you to pray for them. Only Christ in a home can do that. Only Christ in a home can move someone from apathetic-or-hostile-to-Christ to asking for Christ to help.
And another of you who told me and others the day before that your spouse continues to be drawn from apathetic-or-hostile-to-Christ to asking for more ways to serve with those who boldly and unashamedly speak of Christ and are constantly travelling down the street and farther to serve him.
Only Christ can transform that which, in essence, was dead, being apathetic-or-hostile-to-Christ, and raise it up to new life. That's why we, and all people, need and value Christ in our home. And that's why we value anything, no matter how embarrassing, like a year-round Christmas tree, that celebrates and reminds us that "Christ was sent for fellowship with us" and that God is ever faithful in sending His Son year round to dwell in my home and my heart and your home and your heart.
Because Christ, dwelling in our homes, changes things that need to be changed.
"Peace to all of you who are in Christ." - 1 Peter 5:14
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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