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So what do you think about our waiting for Jesus to return? Do you ever wonder what it will really be like when He returns? Do you think its a problem to wonder? Does it scare you? or make you hopeful?
I am hopeful, just as those of the early church were, that Jesus will return soon and in my lifetime - because I look forward to spending eternity with Him. And I hope I continue to grow in my abilities to share His love with others so that they too can get to know Jesus and His salvation for them. And I hope that He provides me with as many opportunities as possible to share His love with people before He returns.
But now we've come to another end of the church year and we can boldly shout to our King - Marantha! Our Lord come!
What do you think?
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| There probably was not a lot of "Halloween" sense like there is now back in the 1500's when Martin Luther spent his day on October 31 nailing a list of discussion points on the church door in Wittenberg. But knowing how people deal with Halloween today and what Luther believed he was facing regarding the devil's attacks on his faith in Jesus, I wonder if it is appropriate that the two events share the same day. The day is really better connected to November 1 - All Saints Day. Isn't it good, that no matter how much we know or don't know about Halloween or Reformation, that God has changed us into His saints through the blood of Jesus and that we can celebrate and party on October 31 about the FACT and TRUTH of Jesus' victory over and smashing of Satan and everything he is about! And isn't it great that we can celebrate this fact every single day of the year! So give a piece of candy or a treat of some sort to a kid and share a blessing on them as well - for God is good and His love transcends anything we try to do with it!
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What are things you do to take care of the gift of faith that God has given you? I think I simply need to take back time from what the world demands of me to spend it with the Lord of my life who is always there for me. But I so often get caught up in spinning my wheels and getting frustrated and guilty and depressed...and the Lord is still always there for me.
So I talk with Him and sing to Him in my heart and with my voice and love this tech stuff that allows folks to pop in and cheer me up at just the right moments with His love and listening to Him in His Word and spending time with His people.
So what do you like to do to connect yourself with Him? What works for you? What gets in your way?
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Some people say "we got to church." Some people say "we are the church." So which one is it? Do we just do church? Are we supposed to be the church?
I think its a bit of both myself. I think God calls us to a place away from the world (wilderness wanderings in Exodus, the building of the tabernacle as a worship focus for the Israelites, Jesus attending worship regularly at specific places, the people of God gathering at the temple and in homes in the New Testament) that He can feed us and make us well so that we can go back into the world empowered to live the life of faith and love we are called to do. So "going" to church is important. Going regularly is important.
I think God calls us to be the church because He is a gatherer of people for mission both to each other and to the world. We see this in how He builds His family through Abraham in the Old Testament, how He views His people as His Bride in both the Old and the New Testaments, how the writers of the New Testament letters talk to their readers about how life is to be lived among each other as an example to the world around them.
So I believe its a bit of both - and its sometimes hard to see which is which. And that's good. What do you think?
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