I Peter 1 - Converted Coward

Sometimes we just need to rejoice even when we don't want to.  And according to this chapter we should"greatly rejoice" (not just a itty bitty joy...but a great joy) even though sometimes our circumstances might be not so joyous.  


Each year in Oasis (our high school youth group) we choose a one word theme for the year.  We dig into it in September and then keep coming back to throughout the year.  These past two weeks we have been looking into the difference between happiness and joy.  Our take away is that happiness is connected with our circumstances.  Things are going well, we are happy.  Things are going poorly, we are unhappy.  Pretty simple stuff.  But joy on the other hand, we believe that is routed much deeper.  It is connected to the goodness of our God.  And since God never changes we can always have joy.  


With this in mind verse 6 totally made sense.  " In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials".  We can "greatly rejoice" even when we are going through hard times.  Because the joy comes not from our circumstances, but from God.


What are you "greatly rejoicing" about these days?  Do tell!


Mathew McCabe

James 1: Walk The Talk

This entire chapter is an absolute gem - packed with divine wisdom and insight. There is so much here that I could highlight that would relate to the idea of 'walking our talk.' But, I would draw your attention to one very important truth that is tucked away in the very last verse (27). Please look at this verse again.

 

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this..."

If there is a "religion" (or faith) that God accepts as pure and faultless, it would be somewhat logical to conclude that there must also be an approach to religion that God finds unacceptable. Which begs the question, what kind of religion is it that God accepts? Don't we all want to be clear on that? James summarizes much of Scripture with just nineteen words:

"...to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Compassion AND personal purity... not compassion OR personal purity. It is not to be either/or - it is to be both/and. Too many churches in America today act as though only one of these two really matter - some emphasize social justice and compassion ministry above all else while others emphasize that personal holiness and piety is what really counts with God.

Both are right - and both are wrong. The church needs to be on the front lines in our society demonstrating God's heart for the poor and those in distress. But we also need to be very serious about personal ethics and morality - because our holiness also reveals and demonstrates God's heart and desires.

I am very grateful to be in a church that is pursuing both sides of this compassion/purity coin. I know that we do not do this perfectly, but I also know that their are lots of folks in this church deeply committed to living out James' instruction in verse 27. 

What is one small step you may be able to take this week to be a both/and kind of Christian?

Ken Jackson

Hebrews 12 - Marathon

I am currently training to run the Baltimore half marathon next month. The training process can be difficult. Early on, running a mile or two was challenging. You have ugly runs. Your breathing is off. Your knees hurt. You’d prefer to be in bed rather than hitting the pavement at 5:30am. You just aren’t feeling it. You regret the deep-fried tapas you ate the night before. You get the idea. There are plenty of things that could derail me from running the race. I could’ve just quit training when things got tough. After all, it’s challenging and time consuming. Or I could remind myself of the goal – run 13.1 miles. Don’t get overwhelmed with the bad days. Be encouraged by the good ones. Keep going. Take it one stride at a time. Stay focused on the finish line.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

–Hebrews 12:1-3

So just like a runner looking toward the finish line, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus – the One who can renew our strength!

-Gina G.

Hebrews 11-true faith

BY FAITH nine months ago my family and I moved to Germantown, Maryland. We left our families, friends, and our security blankets, but through that God has blessed us so much! He has given us great friends, a loving church who treats us like family, gifted leaders pouring into our lives, and so much more than we can count!

I tell you that not to toot my on horn, but to ask you this question, What is it that God is asking you to do that requires you to step out in faith?

Is He asking you to reach out to that co-worker who is hurting? Is He asking you to join a G2? Is He asking you to serve in the Wave, Oasis, or Promiseland? Is God saying to you to sponsor a child through Compassion even though your pocket book is strapped? What is He asking you to do that will require you to walk by faith?

Whatever it is DO IT!! You'll be blessed you did.

John


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Hebrews 2: Great Descent

The letter to the Hebrews is just that, a letter written specifically to Jewish Christ-followers.  That’s why the Psalms are quoted so often; the readers were all familiar with them.  When it was written, midway through the first century, Jesus had been gone for decades and some of these Jewish Christ-followers were having second thoughts.  That’s why we read repeated warnings like the one in the opening paragraph of chapter two. The letter explores all the ways Jesus is superior to people a Jew would revere, people like Abraham and Moses and the high priest. 

In chapter one the letter unpacks the ways Jesus is superior to angels – maybe not a big deal to us, but a very big deal to a first century Jew.   Jesus, it says, is the very one through whom the Father made the universe, the one who is even now sustaining all things through by power of his word, the one to whom the Father says, “Your throne, O God, will last forever.”  It’s an exalted picture of a distant, glorious being.

Then comes chapter two.

Here Jesus is brought low. He’s made lower than angels.  He learns death.  He experiences temptation.  He suffers.  And because he suffered, he’s uniquely equipped to help.  He not only pays for sin through his death – he does that and it’s huge, bigger than we can grasp, but there’s more here.  He gets it.  He understands.  He knows.  In every way but one he was just like us.  And so he gets what it’s like to be weary or hungry, to feel helpless or afraid, to face temptation or death.  Because he suffered like us, he’s able to help us in our sufferings. 

In the hard times, he’s not some distant, glorious being, he’s one of us.

As we approach the close of this six-month tour of scripture, think about all the times, all the ways God has tried to tell us this one thing. 

In the hard times, he’s not some distant, glorious being, he’s one of us.

– Paul Abbott

2 Timothy 2 – Final Words

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet an Iranian couple, Javid & Mina Nevisa.  They were two modern day people who—like the early believers we read about in the New Testament—had experienced overwhelming persecution for their faith in Christ, but who had also seen God’s miraculous work up close.  (A complete account of Javid & Mina’s story is told in a book called, “Miracle of Miracles.”  If you enjoy gripping narrative non-fiction, you can find their story here.)  Just being in their presence was a moving experience, knowing all they had endured for the sake of the gospel.

After I was introduced to Javid as someone who taught children about Jesus, Javid marched up and embraced me like I was family.  He then pulled back, clasped me by both shoulders and looked me squarely in the eyes.  “Stay strong in the Lord!” were his final words to me.

These are the moments when you tell yourself, “Yes.  I want to be one of the faithful ones”—one of the soldiers who can be counted on, the athlete who plays by the rules, the farmer who works the land he’s been given.  It’s a prayer we often share as a ministry team circled up before kids arrive each Sunday: “God, we want to be useful to you here.”

This passage challenges us to do our part to present ourselves to God as one approved (vs 15):

“Those who cleanse themselves from the [status quo] will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” –2 Timothy 2:21

Stay strong in the Lord!


Reuben Smith

I Timothy 1: Growth Pains

I can't tell you how many times I have heard someone utter some variation of the following phrases:


"If I came to church the place might fall down around me"
"If I came to church lightning would strike the place"


These phrases are variations on the same theme:  There is no way that God could love me.  If he only knew how bad I am, or what I have done.  


It makes me very sad when I hear this, and I hear it rather often.  I understand where they are coming from.  We all know the absolute worst about ourselves.  We know all the dark and horrible things about ourselves that we hide so no one else can see them.  More than anyone, we know how awful, how bad we are.  So I get it.  But what makes me sad is the mis-understanding they have about who Christ is about.  What God is like.  Even sadder is that most of them have these mis-guided views of who God is, or who Christ is because of some of us.  Many of them have drawn these conclusions because of how God or Christ has been represented to them by the "Church" in general.  I am not talking about Cedarbrook in specific, although we are part of the big picture.  It is just that over the last century the church has projected far more judgement than forgiveness and acceptance.  That trend is changing little by little and for me that is where the challenge is.


Paul's powerful words in I Timothy 1:15-16
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life"


Challenge:  What are you doing to help people understand that Christ came to show them mercy, to love them.  Christ has enough patience for even the worst person out there.  Even for me.


May we all show mercy to those around us and begin to change the perception of Christ in this world!


Mathew McCabe