Jesus did not stutter or make a suggestion. He stated a divine demand: “Make Disciples.” What many believers set aside as optional, Jesus stated as an essential command to be obeyed. When Jesus returns, His first words to His church just might be, “Why aren’t you doing what I demanded?”
During those times of year when we shift away from the high celebrations of the church, think about how the early followers of Jesus felt as they no longer had the physical presence of their Lord.
Lent is a six-week season of intentional self-denial and focus in preparation for Easter. Many followers of Jesus Christ struggle with understanding the meaning and purpose of Lent. Does it even matter?
Have you ever wondered what it means to be a Methodist, really? Or, maybe you’ve wondered if there is really a core of essential content to Methodism? Maybe it is just the church you go to if you get married and he’s Baptist and she’s Roman Catholic. You know, the compromise church. Or maybe some of you know recent Methodism too well and you see it not as the compromise church but as the compromised church.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us not to worry because we have a Heavenly Father who meets our needs. The verses say:
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?” (Matthew 6:25-26 NLT)
I was lying there looking at a bank of monitors on the wall. They all had images of my heart on them. No, not the little red hearts like valentines, but my beating heart. It was like an out-of-body experience. The medicine I had been given made me feel like I was in a dream.