An Uncommon Love

Hello! Merry Christmas! Here is this week’s Living Water! It’s a remix of Sunday’s message. Please remember to listen to Walk With Me, Wednesday night, 8 pm on yfnradio.com. And if you’re in the North Jersey area, please join us on Christmas Eve, 5:30 pm at First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook. Blessings, Christopher

An Uncommon Love

So I typed “the need to be loved” into Google and it registered 362 million results. Not surprising right? 

Just a quick survey of conversations with family and friends as well as today’s popular songs, television shows, movies and books reveals that many of them revolve around this quest to love and be loved. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing. To love and be loved, well, those are good things. It’s the kind of loving though that is presented through these media and more importantly, the loving that many of us experience in life that is concerning. Because with reality and in media, we don’t often see loving that is healthy, life-giving and whole. And yet it is driving a significant amount of behavior and decision-making – ranging from well-intentioned to foolish to destructive to even worse. 

Unfortunately, much of the love we experience and witness is based on appearances and surface, self-serving, often manipulative, convenient, and safe; in other words not really love at all. In addition, what adds to fuel to the fire with all of this is the strong connection between self-worth and loving. 

And yet, at the heart of all the sentimentality of Christmas is a great, wonderful, powerful, transforming truth: God’s uncommon love is made visible in the birth of Christ. Let me show you…

This uncommon love has four characteristics. First, it’s a faithful and promised love. It’s hard to find good examples of faithfulness and kept promises today. When Jesus was born, it was the fulfillment of a promise God had made to His people, that their redemption, the whole world’s redemption would come through David’s lineage. “I will maintain my love to him (the promised descendant of David – Christ) forever, and my covenant with him will never fail (Psalm 89:28).” When Jesus was born that never failing love was nearer than ever before and remains as close and promised today for us through the new covenant in His blood and through the Holy Spirit.

The second characteristic of God’s uncommon love is that it is unconditional – meaning there it is a free gift – we don’t earn it, keep it or remove it. Why? Because God loves us uncommonly because it is about Him; it’s His character. Much of the love we experience is based on our behavior, expectations, agendas and more. That’s not God’s love. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10).” God’s love as made visible in the birth of Christ was about Him and was His initiative. In our lives today, He loves us…just because. Unconditional love is so liberating – it frees us from who were were, from the past, it upholds us in the present and allows us to step confidently into the future. 

The third characteristic of this uncommon love is that it is sacrificial. Loving sacrificially is not too popular today. We want to love and be loved…conveniently, safely and without any pain. That usually doesn’t work out anyway. But God’s love in Christ is very different. “Who, being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness…(Philippians 2:6-7).” He was and is the Son of God and He completely condescends to us – Creator taking the form of one of His creations – to live, suffer, die and be raised for us – out of love. It wasn’t a mistake or random event that He came here. There is truly nothing like this. 

Finally, the fourth characteristic of God’s uncommon love is that it is daring. Jesus coming into this world as a human, as a child – think of the vulnerability, the risk. This is what moves us we about romantic love – a hero or heroine risks and dares to love when it doesn’t make sense, in ways that do not make sense or are unconventional. As well, Jesus enters this world not just as a vulnerable child – God dwelling in the flesh, so close, but then He dares to and actually does reach and transform human hearts, while at the same time challenging the religious establishment and turning social conventions upside down. He loved and still does love the unlovable among us and sheds His grace upon our unlovable characteristics – this is a daring, risky, nonsensical love – but it’s true and it’s ours. 

You’ve heard Garth Brooks, Adele and others sing this song. I ask you to listen to it as if it were coming from Jesus, “When the evening shadows and the stars appear and there is no one there to dry your tears, I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love…I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue, I’d go crawling down the avenue, know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make you feel my love…Go to the ends of the earth for you, to make you feel my love.” This song echoes all of these God love characteristics. When you think about all of these together – faithful, unconditional, sacrificial, and daring – this uncommon love of God is, for many of us, barely believable – too good to be true. It’s inspiring and breathtaking and adds such meaning to what Christmas is really about: the revelation of God’s love in Christ – powerful, transforming, healing and ultimately saving…in other words, a miracle, a visible demonstration of God’s love and power. 

It’s the love you’ve been searching for, the love of which you’ve dreamed, the love you’ve been thirsting for…and it’s the love that doesn’t have to be sought after or found; it finds us…it has found us – that’s the baby in the manger! Please hear me today. Loving and being loved never should have been and no longer has to be a distorted, fearful, manipulated, or pretentious experience. Oh, when we awaken to find and behold the gift of God’s uncommon love for us in our hearts and lives – it’s better than even the best Christmas morning gift opening! Then all the fear and self-serving and confusion can disappear as fast as the wrapping gets torn off presents. And then when you and I, depending on God, start to try to love others in these ways – loving spouses, children, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow church members, everyone faithfully, unconditionally, sacrificially and daringly…what’s possible is this amazing, uncommon love of God becoming more and more visible so that while it may not be a baby in a manger or a man on a cross or an empty tomb; but it will still be His body. Christ in and through you and I – loving, reaching, restoring, liberating, lifting up, and embracing right here, right now for all the world to see and know. 

May the gift and miracle of God’s uncommon love truly become yours this Christmas.  

Amen. 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

 

Christopher B. Wolf is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and With You Every Step of the Way (September, 2011); and the host of Walk With Me, Wednesdays 8 pm on WYFN 94.9 FM-NY and on http://www.yfnradio.com.

 

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

Read Full Post »

For Good

“There is a plan,” my long-time friend said with confidence as we sat at the diner.  And I paused and said, “Is it a plan for good?” And she said, “I don’t know…I just know there is a plan.”

I think that is the way a lot of people feel – believers or not. Even the most skeptical people, even non-religious people often admit that there is some force at work in this world, mostly invisible but sometimes visible.

Maybe they call it fate, or science or divinity or something else.  You can hear it echoed in cultural messages in songs and films too.

I think it comes from a desire to believe that in the midst of all this chaos, there might be a plan or purpose to it all. Whether that plan is for good, well, that takes faith, a lot of faith to believe that.

But what if I told you that there is a plan and it is for good…

Let me ask you this – Is there a way for something that starts with sin to become something of grace? Have you ever seen it?

If you can answer “yes” with even just a shred of interest or confidence – please read on…

You’ve probably heard the story of Joseph (Genesis 37-46) from the Bible or from the musical (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat).  Basically, Joseph was the younger brother who had big dreams and his brothers resented that. They sold him into slavery and told his father that he was killed. I know, it’s awful. Joseph goes to Egypt and goes through many trials including prison but ultimately because of his faith winds up being a key administrative ruler in Egypt at the time of a great famine in the region.

The same brothers are forced to go to Egypt to beg for food during this famine. It’s many years later and they don’t recognize the powerful man to whom they are petitioning. But he recognizes them. And in his humanity, he begins to put them through all sorts of hoops, to begin to exact revenge on them. But he couldn’t go through with it.

“Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out…And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, the household of Pharaoh heard it (Genesis 45:1-2). This happens to us when we try to contain sin, guilt, and pain. We were not meant to hold onto all of it; also we weren’t meant to take our pain out on everybody with bitterness and rage.

And so the reveal…

“Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence (Genesis 45:3).” This is better than any Hollywood Script. Imagine the brothers’ reaction. “Our sins have come back to haunt us. Here he is the one we got rid of and his dream has come true. He is Lord over us – but not for what we thought…”

Because with God, with this plan, things aren’t always what they seem…

Joseph tells them, “And now, do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life (Genesis 45:5).” “And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him (Genesis 45:15).”

A dream had come true – God’s dream superseded Joseph’s dream and the path it took for it to be fulfilled was not a yellow-brick road but a broken road with a lot of detours. Sound familiar? And I have to tell you that the plan often becomes more visible when we acknowledge that the brokenness and detours are part of it – never beyond God’s knowledge or power.

It was an impossible dream, it is an impossible dream that Jacob’s son could be alive; that brothers are reunited in harmony; that even Joseph’s dream of powerful becomes a reality – but for a grace-filled purpose – to save his family from famine.

Scholar and author Walter Brueggemann tells us that the Joseph narrative was a new way of communicating faith in the Old Testament. It involved more sophisticated story telling and yet, “It urges that the in the contingencies of history, the purposes of God are at work in hidden and unnoticed ways. But the ways of God are nonetheless reliable and will come to fruition.” Because sin, pride, and ambition cannot derail what God has planned for us – Providence! Similarly, when Jesus went to the cross, what the disciples saw was very different from what was happening.

In fact the New Testament summary for this whole idea of Providence is, “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” I asked earlier if there is a way in which something that starts out as sin can become something of grace; and the answer is yes – it’s called Providence. Hear also this definition of Providence, “The continuous active involvement of God in the created universe; his supervision of all things from the creation to eternity.”

And there is more good news! While the resurrection and Joseph’s story are awesome and clear, I’ve (and you have too) heard dozens of stories in real-time and real life about God’s grace overriding even the worst of circumstances and yielding goodness, healing and restoration. All those times you and I have seen things “work out” for the best. Lemonade from lemons? It’s not coincidence or karma; it’s God’s grace and power.

So, can we come to a place in our lives, where we see our wounds, our mistakes and failures, disease, apathy and wickedness, even death – all of these terrible circumstances as part of a larger plan that we know and are convinced is for our ultimate good? And to be sure, Providence does not excuse or erase wickedness, apathy or other things; nor does it take delight in failures or catastrophes – it lovingly and compassionately supersedes and overrules them.

And so for my dear friend at the diner who has endured so much already and for all of you who are, have been or will be in the middle of terrible circumstances…

Yes…yes there is a plan; it’s not just any plan, it’s God’s plan, and it is for good – so good we can’t even imagine the possibilities…

Amen.

 

Rev. Christopher B. Wolf

Isaiah 42:7

cbrianwolf@gmail.com

www.christopherbwolf.com

Christopher B. Wolf is pastor of First Reformed Church of Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He is the author of Giving Faith a Second Chance: Restarts, Mulligans and Do-Overs (2007) and the forthcoming, With You Every Step of the Way (2011).

“It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point.” N.T. Wright

Read Full Post »

Arise

“My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.” Song of Solomon 2:10-11

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.” Isaiah 60:1-2

“They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” Isaiah 61:4

“He (Jesus) clasped the little girl’s hand and said, “Talitha Koum,” which means, “Little girl, arise.” Mark 5:41

“I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son…and he arose and went home to his father.” Luke 15:19-20

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He (Jesus) is not here, but has risen.” Luke 24:5

All throughout history, God has been raising His people up. Up out of slavery, up out of destruction and exile, up out of despair, up out of sin and guilt, up out of wildernesses and being lost, up out of sickness and disease, up out of addictions and prisons, up out of impossible situations, and ultimately – through His Son – up out of death. This is a God of salvation and raising up – it’s His nature and His plan.

In what ways can the Lord raise you up today?

Read Full Post »

Power, Life and Grace

Please listen to/download our Easter service from this morning. On this page, go to sermon audio and click on Power, Life and Grace. The message was from Isaiah 25 and Mark 16. The Lord be with you…

http://www.firstgrandville.org/content.cfm?id=213

Read Full Post »

Presence

Presence

 

As you know, last week was the 7^th anniversary of September 11. Hard to believe. Seven years.

 

It was a Tuesday. And as usual, Brian and I would walk Jenny out to her car. At the time, Jenny was teaching 5^th grade, I was staying home with Brian during the day and going to seminary at night. So that morning we walked her out and I stayed outside for a moment and watched Jenny drive away. Brian went back inside. I looked up and the moon was still out. I remember thinking, “It’s going to be a beautiful day.”

 

While watching some Arthur (kid show on PBS) with Brian, the phone rang. It was my brother who called to say that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. He hadn’t seen any video, but it sounded like it was a small plane whose pilot had lost sight because of the sun. I told him I would check it out and see what was going on.

 

I turned on the news just a few moments before the second plane hit and watched in horror as I began to understand what was happening. And as you know everything changed after that. The phone lines became jammed after that, although my brother’s work is an 800 number and I was able to call Amer in a more southern area code. Then when we learned about the plane at the Pentagon I tried to call Jenny’s dad who worked just three miles from the Pentagon but was unable to reach him. Later in the day it was strangely quiet. We lived in an area over which many planes en route to Newark flew over – but that all stopped later that day. At one point we heard the roar of one of the military jets that were patrolling the NY/NJ area. Jenny came home later and we just watched the news for the rest of the day and night.

 

We all have our own September 11^th stories. Even today it is hard to go back there. Such evil. Such destruction. The feelings of being attacked. The audacity of the attacks. The real sense of vulnerability. But also great stories of faith, hope, courage and perseverance. So many great stories of providence. My favorite one is how on the same day, there was a conference of top surgeons at the Meadowlands Sports complex area, which as many of you know, the towers can be seen from there. And so, not long after the attacks, many of the surgeons were brought to a ferry and were brought across to Manhattan and served in hospitals all over the city helping victims.     

 

I was an intern at the Reformed Church of North Brunswick. And I had to preach the next Sunday. What was I supposed to say? What could I say to the faithful in the face of such destruction and evil?

 

And so I tried to remind everyone of who God is through Psalm 46 with thoughts like, “God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble…Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change…God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.”

 

Many people asked, where was God on September 11? He was there – there comforting, giving strength, performing miracles in the midst of all the evil and destruction.  

 

One day, God will overcome all the evil and brokenness in this world. Jesus’ resurrection after the cross was the breakthrough – the start of overcoming all the evil and brokenness in this world. Until then, evil will have its days, like September 11. But what evil doesn’t seem to understand is this – when people rely on God as their refuge and strength, it can’t win. It can definitely do damage. And, in the brokenness and difficult times, God’s hands somehow become more visible, if only for a moment. Until that glorious day, let’s keeping fighting against evil and injustice; and let’s keep looking for God and His hand in the worst times – He’s there, He’s present and He is a refuge – the refuge for our lives.

 

Amen.

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is your September 11^th story or memory?
2. How did that day affect your faith? Why?
3. Have you seen God’s power in difficult times?
4. Do you think of God as a refuge? Why or why not? What keeps you from thinking of Him as a refuge?

Read Full Post »

Treasured

2 Corinthians 4:6-7

Treasured

 

“The Scriptures say, “God commanded light to shine in the dark.” Now God is shining in our hearts to let you know that his glory is seen in Jesus Christ. We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (CEV)

 

 

What do we usually do with something we treasure?

 

Hide it. Protect it. Keep it in a safe place.

 

Makes sense, right?

 

Take jewelry for example. Not only is it precious to us, but then we often have a special jewelry box for it. Some are simple, and some are treasures in their own right. So you have something that is precious, enclosed and protected in something that is also precious itself.  

 

We protect documents, photos and other digital things with passwords and other security features. We buy home security systems to keep all that we treasure in our homes safe.

 

The people we love in our life, treasures, we are very protective of them too. We go to great lengths to keep them safe as we should.

 

It’s just interesting how our approach to this differs from God’s approach…

 

Because it is basically the opposite.

 

Think about it. Let’s start with Jesus, who took on flesh, a clay jar with God most precious treasure and the old hymn reminds us, “And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing; Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin (How Great Thou Art).”

 

Okay. So instead of hiding, protecting and keeping Jesus in a safe place, He put Him in an ordinary clay jar (flesh) and then sends Him to die on the cross for us and be raised. Jesus didn’t look different than other human beings. He didn’t have a special “clay jar” made just for Him.

 

Pardon me, but is that a way to treat something one treasures??? 😉

 

Then there’s us. With Jesus in our hearts, by the power of the Holy Spirit, this light that the passage talks about, some of God’s treasure poured out into us, clay jars. This light, this treasure of God’s within us, it’s real, it is precious to God and it is inside us.

 

And in this life, as you know, the jar, well, it gets a little banged up. It’s flawed from the beginning. It’s weak. It gets old. It cracks. It’s completely not worthy of the treasure inside. It chips. It often just starts falling apart after awhile. But the treasure always manages to stay inside.  

 

Excuse me, but would you or I choose to put something that is precious in a vessel that is easily broken, not very stable or secure, and will ultimately fail? 😉

 

We wouldn’t invest like this. We wouldn’t leave people we love as vulnerable as this. This is crazy, right?

 

Good News! God does!

 

With Jesus and with us, God keeps pouring out His treasure into this world and into us. As ugly, and old, and unworthy as we may feel – or as our clay jar may show, we have God’s treasure within us. We may not look like pearls or diamonds, but when the treasure is on the inside, it means it can’t be taken away or fade away – it’s eternal.

 

But why? Why does God do this?

 

This passage answers it in part. “The real power comes from God and not from us.” It was and is about God revealing His power, grace, glory and love through us. It’s just the way He does it.  

 

And I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words, “Your heart will always be where your treasure is… (Matthew 6:21).”

 

True for us. But true for God too. Where His treasure is, even in clay jars like us, there His heart is also.

 

Amen.

 

 

Discussion Questions

1. Do you ever think about yourself as one of God’s treasures? Why or why not? How about now?
2. Which is more important – the treasure or the vessel? How do we live – with more emphasis on the treasure or the jar?
3. What does this idea reveal about God’s character? What do think about that?
4. Is there anything for us to learn from God’s way of treating treasure, about how we treat our treasures?

Read Full Post »

Going Forth

Isaiah 55:11

Going Forth

 

“so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” From the RSV

 

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” From the NLT

 

 

You know, growing up I remember that most of my reading revolved around two resources. I wasn’t a big Dr. Seuss reader or stuff like that – maybe some Richard Scarry J. When I had free reading time, I would randomly pick a volume from our World Book Encyclopedia set and read the articles in them. And, I read the Bible, especially stories of Jesus doing amazing things. I really liked that – Jesus healing, calming the storms and other stuff. I know, sounds kind of nerdy. It is also a bit peculiar given my Catholic background in that, at the time, there didn’t seem to be a lot of emphasis on reading the Bible. But yet, there I was reading a Bible given to me by my third grade CCD teacher, Jim. I can still see his inscription on the page.  

 

What a gift he gave me. He couldn’t have known the impact giving me a Bible would have and the impact it would have many, many people because of my reading it. It is kind of like throwing a stone in a pond, the ripple effect.

 

Here I am, less than a week from my trip to Africa to bring God’s Word to a people who have very little access to the Gospel. Many of whom have never heard it and will never be able to read it because of illiteracy.

 

One of the things we did in Africa was meet with groups of pastors. And many times, when it was my turn to address them I would say, “Brothers, you and I know what it means to know Jesus (through the Word); you and I know that life without Jesus – is no life! So that is why we have come here, to bring the Word of life to people so that they may hear it and have life in Christ.” And I really think and mean that. That is what has been driving me in this project.

 

When we think of me going to Africa, I fully admit that it doesn’t make sense on a lot of levels. And when I first got there, I did experience a time of “What have I done! What am I doing in Africa!” But I also remember something my Dad said to me a few years ago. He said, “CB, you go to places and to people that few or none of us can go or get to.” And he was right, over my life, before ministry and in ministry, God has given me this gift, though uncomfortable and uncertain most of the time, of reaching and connecting with places and people that have never been reached or have been forgotten of left behind.

 

So in that light, the trip to Africa seems not so strange. But a little bit like my book Giving Faith a Second Chance which speaks to those who feel alienated, rejected and distanced from God and church, this trip was part of my life’s purpose – extending a hand of love and compassion to those in need, those in prisons and dark places.

 

And always, my outstretched hand is strengthened, in fact my hand can only reach out because of the power of the Word and Spirit. My love for God’s Word and how it has transformed the way I live, think, and act. Obviously, a long way to go, but still, all those years of reading it has shaped me into this instrument for bringing the Word. I have always loved that my parents gave me the name Christopher, which means Christ-bearer or bringer.

 

So often on the trip to Africa we saw the power of God’s Word at work so visibly. One of the clearest stories was on the first day we were there. We arrived in the evening and our hosts; Gabriel and Geoffrey asked me if I would like to preach the next morning at a church. I had not prepared for that, I was prepared to talk about the Treasure (audio New Testament units that we brought with us), but I said sure. So I prayed and asked God to lead me to a passage that would be a word for this congregation, Geoffery’s church. So we went there the next morning and we were very welcomed. The pastor then starts to explain that the night before he had been working on his message and was having a lot of trouble. He asked God why he was having such a hard time. God’s answer, he said, was “You are not preaching tomorrow; I am sending you someone else to preach the Word.” As you might imagine, the pastor was a little concerned. A pastor without a message on Sunday morning, hoping, trusting that someone else was going to show up? But the pastor trusted. And about two hours later, Geoffery called to say that there was a pastor from the US who was willing to preach the next morning.   

 

But it gets better.

 

After I preached from Acts 2:42-47, the pastor stands up and says, “Church, I am holding back tears, because of how God is speaking to our church. This brother (me) could not have known that we had just studied this passage on Friday and Saturday as part of our leadership retreat about how God is going to lead us in the future. So God has sent him here to encourage us forward in our mission.” With God, everything has purpose – no coincidences!

 

And that was just the first day. Over and over throughout the week, all of us saw the power of God’s Word and Spirit just moving in front of us, opening doors, building bridges, producing miracles, giving life.

 

We talk a lot in our churches of being all about the Word. And I am sure we mean it. But I am more convinced than ever of that and that my official title is Minister of Word and Sacrament. Do I fully understand the depths of this? Not sure I ever could. But certainly when I look at my life and I look at this trip, I came a little closer.

 

I saw this verse fulfilled over and over again – “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it (Isaiah 55:11).” It reminded me that the most powerful force in this world – stronger than military might, stronger than violence and bullies, stronger than love and hate, stronger than lust and greed, stronger disease and poverty, stronger than death and sin, is God’s Word and Spirit – it is the only power that can change this world. Name any situation in life or in the world – and when you bring God’s Word and Spirit to it – it is changed.

 

I went to Africa to bring God’s Word to a people that have never heard it and we have unleashed something so powerful that it could change a nation. I have preached hundreds of sermons and written hundreds of Living Waters to share the Word as I have heard the Lord speak it to me – to draw people closer to Jesus. I have sent Bibles to cousins and childhood friends thinking it was the best gift and best way I could love them. All my life, starting with a gift of a Bible, I have been reading and thinking about Scripture and have been shaped and formed by it. My life in and for the Word has “produced blessed fruit” and “prospered” in my life and everywhere He has sent me to bring it.

 

And as long as He wills it, I will go forth to faithfully bring His Word by the power of His Spirit.

 

Amen.

 

Discussion Questions

1. What is the value or importance of God’s Word in your life?
2. How have you seen it work in your own life or in others?
3. If there is a part of your life that needs change, have you tried applying God’s Word to it? Why not?
4. Think of someone with whom you can sharea a passage or a Bible. How about today? 

Read Full Post »