Friends in Christ Message for August 31, 2013

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Friends in Christ Weekly Message
August 31, 2013

[NOTE: This message was originally published August 28, 2004.]

     Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it's needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.
     Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you, we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help;
I'm fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?
     Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn't change - yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself.

     Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.

     Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship - a different kind of "sacrifice" - that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 (Message*)

Our faith is not primarily about ritual or correct doctrine. It is first and foremost about showing our faith in God through Christ Jesus by how we live day by day.

Do we show Christ's love by providing for the practical needs of others? Do we have empathy for prisoners, victims of abuse, and others who suffer? Are we faithful in our marriages? Do we show our trust in God by being content with what we have materially? Do we model ourselves after the faithfulness and integrity of the spiritually sound around us?

Do we show our thankfulness by praising God in Jesus' name? Are our sacrifices ones of generous, wholehearted sharing with others and worshipping God through everything we do?

Dear friends, let us each examine ourselves to see if our lives demonstrate the faith we profess.

Bill Samuel