Weekly e-News April 22
Hey, everyone! (Phil 4.21)
Hey, Brothers and sisters in Jesus (Eph 3.15)
Hey, Brothers and sisters OF Jesus (Heb. 2.11)
Hey, Priests of the royal family (1 Pet. 2.9)
Hey, Heirs and heiresses of God, the King of all (Rom. 8. 17)
Hey, Alive from the dead! (Eph 2.1-5)
Hey, Stars shining in the firmament (Dan 12.3; Phil. 2.15)
Hey, Judges of angels and the whole world in the coming Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6.2-3)
Hey, Bearers of the new name that no one knows but he who receives it (Rev. 2.17)
Hey, Pillars in the temple of the Living God (Rev 3.12)
Hey, Participants of the divine nature (2 Pet 1.4)
That’s right! I’m talkin’ to YOU!!
Those are just SOME of the ways the New Testament describes you!
Those are just SOME of the amazing ways God sees you!
That’s HIS assessment
You might feel like a dufuss today for some bonehead thing you said…
You might feel like you’ll always be that thing someone called you when you were ten…
Maybe someone in traffic, out of his car window, called you something other than one of the above titles today…
But the Almighty One sees you differently! He has different names for you!
I was reading a little while ago, about the beginning of Paul’s new life with Jesus (they called him “Saul” at the time…along with other things!) He had been sooooo much against the followers of Jesus, hating on them at every opportunity while looking for new chances to hate them…
Until he didn’t!
Jesus blazed out of Heaven and Paul was on his knees (or maybe his face!) in the middle of the road, giving his heart to our Lord!
He gained some things and lost some things that day. He gained a new life, new names, new titles, a new purpose, and a new home. He lost his guilt…and, temporarily, his sight!
So…Jesus appeared (somewhat more quietly and gently!) to one of His followers in the town named Ananias. He told him to go and put his hands on Paul’s eyes to heal them. Previous Ananias had wanted to punch those same eyes to blacken them. Ananias protested that Paul had been so hostile to them.
But Jesus said, “True! But now he’s a chosen instrument to Me!”
“Wow! I would have called him plenty of things but not THAT! ‘A choice idiot!’…’a major chump!’…but not a choice instrument!”
But that’s how God saw Saul…er, Paul…now!
New titles! New names!
When Ananias knocked on the door and walked in, he might have wanted to call Paul all kinds of things…
“You jerk!”…
”You creep!”…
”You #@$%#!”…
But he didn’t!
He said, “B…b…b…b…brother Saul!” (Acts 9.17)
Wow!
“God says that you’re His child, so you’re my family! No matter what others call you, from now on, you’re my brother!”
Y’know, every Sunday morning at 9:30 we get together to talk, share, and encourage each other before we worship our Lord together.
We call it…
“Community groups”. It’s just about being together with important people.
What if you could spend an hour on Sunday hanging out with somebody famous like…
…Tony Dungy or Tom Hanks?
…or Michael Jordan or Michaelangelo?
…or Brad Paisley or Carrie Underwood?
…or FDR, JFK, LBJ, or AL…
(Btw, Abe Lincoln didn’t even have a middle name! And when did we stop calling the Prez by their initials?)?
…or Elvis or Einstein?
…or Roy Rodgers or Mr. Rodgers?
(Reminds me of the guy who asked his class, “If you could spend an hour with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?” and a girl said, “The living one!”)
Well, what if you could spend an hour with an heir of the world to come?
Or with someone Jesus calls His sister or brother?
Or with a royal priest of the Living God?
Or with someone who has come alive from the dead?
You can!
C’mon!
Community groups…every Sunday at 9:30!