Acts 5:42 (Contemporary English Version) “Every day they spent time in the temple and in one home after another. They never stopped teaching and telling the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”
The theme of this year’s Advent/Christmas devotional is the Names of Jesus. By now you have read almost all of the entries—only two more entries remain after today. What have you learned about Jesus, about some of the ways that people like us have tried to comprehend and express this mystery we call faith? In the Acts of the Apostles, we are presented with just a sampling of the many ways the early church spoke about Jesus and the Way he offered to the world.
The passage above is something I believe to be at the heart of the Christian message: we share what we believe and the One whose name we claim. The very purpose and future of the church, including St. Paul’s UMC in Boulder, Colorado, hangs in the balance. Are there people, disciples to use the church term, willing to share their faith with the world around them? The world will not be transformed by our silence, nor will it be impressed by the timidity of many to talk openly about the things of God. I want to invite everyone reading this entry to ponder what you are willing to share about Jesus. The Messiah is not just a choral work by Handel. It is a soaring love story that is still being told each and every time we spend time together, in one home after another, teaching and telling the good news.
— Pastor Charles
No comments:
Post a Comment