Tag: spiritual growth

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 – The Parable of the Weeds

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Welcome friends! Click the video below and let us gather together around the teaching of Jesus:

You may also view this video at TimEhrhardtYouTube

Click Be Thou My Vision sung by Nathan Pacheco as we seek to grow in the soil of God’s grace through Jesus Christ our Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 – The Parable of the Sower

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Welcome, friends! Simply click the video below to listen to a message from God’s Word and a virtual time of fellowship together:

You may also view this video at TimEhrhardtYouTube

For a lighthearted and kid-friendly version of the parable set to song, click The Ballad of Farmer Phil from Emu Music.

For adults, click The Sower’s Song by Andrew Peterson.

May you listen well to the words and ways of Jesus, and may they serve you well in your spiritual growth.

2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 – A Life-Giving Message

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
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“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first-fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts, and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

As for other matters brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (NIV)

As with most sections of Holy Scripture, if we merely focus on this singular passage from the Bible and seek daily to live into its message, it is likely we would live a consistently rich and full spiritual life. As the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians, and indeed to us, standing firm and holding a solid grip on apostolic teaching will mean a daily life of loving words and actions.

Notice the many elements of this Scripture for us to spotlight for our spiritual lives: gratitude; salvation; sanctification; truth; spiritual calling; sharing in God’s glory; love; grace; hope; encouragement; prayer; faithfulness; perseverance; and, deliverance. We could even highlight just one of these words and, if seeking to do a deep dive with it, could spend unending days learning and living into its multi-faceted dimensions.

I want to pause here and do a bit of a check-in with you. How we approach this passage of Scripture, as well as any other verses which encourage us to hold onto sound teaching and living, will likely determine our level of joy, satisfaction, confidence, and success. It all begins with our view of self. If we come at the Christian life and Holy Scripture with a view of self as a mere tool or object for God’s use – then we are truly objectifying ourselves.

The key point of awareness to realizing whether we have such an objectifying view is if we continually “should” ourselves. The word “should,” brings self-hatred. We primarily see only shortcomings and original sin – and are blind to the majesty of being in God’s image. In such a view there is typically boat loads of shame for not living up to the ideal form of a devoted Christian. Belittling ourselves inwardly only transfers outwardly to looking down on others for their failures. Any exhortation from me or anybody else would be seen in this view as a demanding duty.

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“The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.” (Colossians 1:6)

Instead, we can come to Scripture’s admonitions, encouragements, and exhortations with the glasses of grace. After all, our text for today says that God loved us and by his grace gave us this teaching. The dense amount of Christian living in such a few verses, when viewed through the lenses of grace, are merciful words communicating support. God wants to strengthen us with grace just because he loves us. God does not objectify us by seeing us as pawns in some twisted divine game for his own cosmic pleasure. Rather, God is looking to direct our hearts toward a delight in his love. Because it is only with love and grace that we can really persevere throughout our Christian lives.

Not everyone has faith, and that saddens the heart of God. It also puts us, at times, in awkward situations. Again, the love of God does not leave us alone. Divine love will strengthen and protect us. The Apostle Paul never wags his finger and levels the “should” on us like some uptight legalist. Paul expresses confidence, knowing that we most certainly have the capacity to live the will of God. The Scriptures are given to engender strengthening of faith and spiritual growth rather than self-hatred, which has a nasty tendency to come out sideways in a lack of compassion and grace toward others.

This letter was written by Paul to the church because they were finding it difficult to endure their hard circumstances. The Thessalonian Christians began longing for heaven to such a degree that they were losing their grip on living presently in the moment of now. This is part of the reason why Paul encouraged them to pray for him and his colleagues. The people needed to put some focus on the now of spreading the message of God’s grace.

To be rather frank, truth be told, the chief reason I write these daily reflections on Scripture is because I need God’s Word. Yes, I do write for the reader. I want to contribute to people’s growth in grace and I have a deep desire to make the message known. Yet, honestly, I write more for myself. This is a way for me to remind myself of God’s love and grace and utilize it every day.

When I hear Paul talking in biblical texts like these, I detect some of the same reason – Paul himself wants to continue growing in grace, and when writing to and for others he is very much writing to himself. The reading of the Bible and the dedication to living its message is meant to be life-giving, or rather, eternally life-giving.

So, today, I leave with this blessing:

May you take refuge in the wondrous grace of God, and all the little miracles of mercy which he bestows each day.

May you always be inclined to rush into God’s Holy Word and discover its life working within you.

May you imitate the flower as it opens to the day’s sunshine in receiving all that God has for you this day.

May you be in solidarity with brother stone, who sits in silence, calm and secure, and be excessively gentle with yourself.

May you wisely steer clear of those vexed in spirit with only God knows what; and, when in that space of others walking all over your boundaries, may your confidence surge and God’s protection deliver you.

May you return to the glory that is yourself, learning a new respect for your heart, and the joy that has always been there, given graciously to you by a God who has invited you to share in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

The Challenge of Change

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            People are all for change – we just typically want everybody else to change but ourselves.  Just say the word “change” in a church and you will get responses from some guy going apoplectic about not changing ‘on his watch’ to another person lamenting loudly over the lack of change within the congregation, to every response in-between.  Peter Steinke, a respected church consultant who deftly applies systems-theory to congregations, has made the most basic of observations:  “Change is a magnet for emotional reactions.”
 
            Every church leader has inevitably run into an emotional buzzsaw when attempting some sort of change, whether minor or major.  When people feel they are losing control or not getting what they want from a proposed change, they might try and throw a monkey wrench in the whole deal through some means of sabotage.  Yes, it does happen in churches.  People do not always play well or fair.  There are individual parishioners who will go to almost any length to have things their way or keep an existing system entrenched.  As a result, some pastors and leaders wither under the pressure, afraid of the emotional reactivity that might result from implementing some sort of change.  But when we take up the mantle of leadership, like Nehemiah of old, we regulate ourselves to staying on task even when the naysayers and saboteurs look for a way to frustrate the vision (Nehemiah 6:1-15).
 
            It must be kept in mind that every healthy living organism will grow, change, and reproduce.  Churches that never change are unhealthy.  At the least, they are just plain ineffective at ministry; at the worst, they become stagnant pools dispensing spiritual death.  But good outcomes can and do happen as leaders take courage to address issues and implement change without abandoning the goal.  The Apostle Paul stated the goal like this:  “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him… I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).
 
            Sometimes, we as church leaders do not immediately think like Paul.  We desire a successful ministry, full of resurrection power, but neglect the bald reality that there must be suffering.  You cannot have a resurrection without having a death.  Paul embraced suffering and death as the means of attaining new life.  It would be sage for us all to reflect on this and how it applies to our ministries.  Change is typically a slow, often painful process, of dying to self and old ways and re-awakening to a new spiritual life of knowing Jesus Christ.  In order to truly know Christ, we will experience difficulty.  Our congregations are going to know Christ not by always having their way and/or never having to endure the hardship of change.  No, they are going to know Christ through sharing in his sufferings.
 
            Resistance to change will come.  Bank on it.  Plan for it.  Anticipate it.  It will happen. I have to admit that I am no expert in this area.  I have made more mistakes and flubbed more ideas and attempts at ministry than you can possibly imagine.  From the school of hard knocks, here is what I have learned:  it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to move an existing congregation to a new way of seeing and living; and, there needs to be a biblical goal in order to stay the course and realize transformation.  I believe the best goal is to help people know Christ better, and introduce people who don’t know him to a new relationship with Jesus.  All our strategic plans need to keep on track toward this grand pursuit of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
 

 

            So, what will you do to help move such a goal forward?  How will you work together with others to achieve knowing Christ?  In what ways will you deal with the inevitable resistance to change?  What things do you need to put to death in order to realize new life?  Where do faith, hope, and love fit into your plans for growth and change?  Let’s all pray for one another, so that we come to maturity in Christ together, knowing Jesus better and living and loving like him in all things.  So may it be.  Amen.