Adventurous Living - The Meadow Springs Community Church Podcast

There is power and significance in eating together and being part of inviting outsiders to the joy of life in relationship to God and his people. An important lesson of evangelism is this - we do not have any right to share our faith with someone with whom we would not share a meal.

So many good things happen when we listen to one another. When we listen to someone - hear a part of their story, their interests, hobbies or something about their family - we understand that person better. If we really want to love our neighbors... listening is an act of love.

We begin with prayer... prayer for people with whom we live, work and play. Why? For hope, for mercy and the opportunity to join God, as a partner, in turning the lives and hearts of those we know and love toward Jesus.

Sometimes we are not quite sure how we can bless others... how to be salt and light to people... and encourage them toward a relationship with Jesus. Well, take heart, because when God blesses, He empowers something or someone to be and do what it is He has designed for it to be or to do. We get to take part in blessing others because we have been blessed.

The old adage says 'walking the walk' is more important than 'talking the talk' . We need to, as followers of Jesus, flip that around because the most difficult, yet effective and profound, thing we will ever do for Jesus Christ is say something , or 'talking the talk', about Him and what He has done in us and for us.

Shame. Because we feel unworthy. Fear. Because we live in a fallen world. Death. Because we know it comes for us all. Jesus' death and resurrection set in motion the plan God had all along. He promised, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." We will be raised with him, our new bodies perfect and eternal, to be with him forever. In fact, there ain't no grave gon...

He knows. Good, bad, worse... He knows it all and He is there. During this Holy Week, sit in the eclipse of the light that was Jesus' death. He knows. Let each of our present moments stay with that day. He knows.

"Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Yet not what I will, but what You will." Jesus was troubled - no, greatly distressed - by what He knew to be His immediate future. Yet, He prayed to and found comfort in the arms of His Father. How comfortable are you in His arms?

A follower of Christ will always wrestle with God's ways because they are not our own. It's normal to wrestle when His ways aren't even close to what we want or think we need. But when things like that happen, will I reject God because I cannot accept His plan for me and for the world?

What the disciples thought was wasteful, Jesus viewed as an extravagant display of her devotion to Him. He said people everywhere would hear of it and remember that woman. More importantly, Jesus Himself would remember her and her outpouring of generous, extravagant love.

Thinking about the return of Jesus, do you ask, "When? Next year... next month... tomorrow?" We should watch for Jesus all day, every day, because we are given that many opportunities to be loyal and faithful to Him or to deny Him.

They misunderstood him; they resisted his teaching and his words were twisted to support 'sides'. During this season of Lent, take the time to understand more about Jesus, more about his word and his heart than ever before.

If 'blessing' is God's power being given to fulfill what something is designed for, then the critical question should be what is God's intention? The answer goes all the way back to the garden. To be blessed is to live in the presence of and in relationship with God Himself, the source of all blessing.

God's big plan... saving the whole world and blessing the people on the earth. Abraham and Sarah were blessed because they chose the journey even though they were going without knowing.

May we see Jesus clearly so that we gladly set aside our own struggles and desire for importance to serve others and to serve the God of the universe. After all, there is no better or more prominent a place than to be a child and friend of God.

Have you noticed something missing? What we think we want is not what we get and what we get is not what we think we want. The 'something missing' is emptiness - being separated from God - because we walk away, shoulders slumped, having been disappointed by the things of this world. We've got to let go.

Jesus lived among the people. He preached, performed miracles and His presence was noteworthy... but why keep it a secret? Mark announces the 'beginning of the good news', the Gospel, but its not really good news until the cross.

Since the first century AD, we've been on the edge of the end… the edge of the return of Christ. Come, Lord Jesus.

The presence of Jesus is not just Emmanuel at Christmas time. Wherever we are - here, there or anywhere - the Holy Spirit is with us. That place becomes the Holy Land and where we stand is holy ground.

When you wake up on Christmas morning, may you experience the full presence of Jesus our Savior, and know that God is WITH you. He has been there all along.

Emmanuel isn't a vague feeling of "god with me" but rather the reality of "the King with me". He has come to give us salvation - a hope and a purpose. Emmanuel, invade our little world so we may shout "Glory to God in the Highest" .

Despite the enemies raging around us - despite this present darkness, trust Him because the child is coming!

Think about the difference between the words expensive and precious. Which of those is the most valuable?

Living for Jesus and pointing people toward Him means He is it. He's the One on whom our gaze should rest. It's not 'political agreement' and Jesus, 'right-living' and Jesus or even 'I got this on my own' and Jesus. It's just Jesus.

God Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn. There is no other. God cannot give us a happiness and a peace apart from Himself. There is no such thing.