The Central Moment

Sometimes it’s a challenge to remain thankful in times of difficulty. But maybe we’re just coming at this the wrong way. Your circumstances may not be good, but the Lord is good. You may not be grateful for a difficult time, but you can be grateful for the one who will make all things good in his time. That posture of gratitude toward Him can be a source of strength.

It’s Thanksgiving Day… a day when many of us come together with those we love, and in some cases, with those we might not always agree with. It’s a great reminder that there is power in unity, but that unity is not conformity. We may come with differences in the ways we think, and may even disagree on some issues, but we unify under the covering and saving grace of Jesus Christ.

God’s mercy and forgiveness doesn’t just deserve our gratitude, it models an attitude of generosity we should show to others. A generous heart is enriched in every way, but not as a reward, rather as a means to continually give in a way that points others to Jesus.

God broke the power of sin and shame in our lives through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and his generosity is more than any of us deserve. Yet so often, we let shame replace the gratitude we should have for his grace and mercy. Instead live free in his forgiveness, with a thankful heart for what he has done.

Thanksgiving is more than just a cultural tradition. It’s a practice that science has proven healthy physically, and the Bible tells us is healthy, spiritually. But are we practicing that gratitude regularly? Maybe this is a fitting week to start. Here’s Pastor Anthony Matrone with more, on today’s Central Moment.

God is holy. His holiness means that he is set apart from all that is evil and profane. It is out of his holiness that his love and justice flow. And as we follow him, the work of Jesus is to make us holy as well – holy in our behaviors, holy in our relationships, and holy in our affections.

This life is going to pass away, but eternity is ahead of all of us. Hell will embody the full implications of choosing to keep God away. There will be no goodness, no relief, no hope – only judgment. But for those who have been washed clean from their sin by the blood of Jesus, heaven will be their inheritance.

The Lord is our healer – the healer of our souls, the healer of our relationships, and the healer of our bodies. Jesus paid the price for our healing at the Cross – “by his wounds you have been healed,” God’s word declares. Let your faith rise to receive today. The Lord is present to heal.

Are you in need of God’s guidance and direction in your life right now? God’s word is full of promises that he will, indeed, lead us if our hearts are turned towards him. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows the calling that he has placed on our lives. And he knows how to guide you.

The goodness of God pervades all of creation. Every good thing comes from him. And yet those things that are not good can either make us doubt his goodness or blind us to it completely. It is then that we stand on the truth of Scripture and hold to the fact that God is both real and responsive to us in our need.

Through all the clutter of religious and institutional norms we must never lose sight of what is most important. As he concludes his letter to the Galatians, Paul tells us clearly that Jesus’ transforming work in our hearts trumps external rituals and religious protocols. Instead, it’s all about a “new creation.”

Ministry leaders can, unfortunately, have self-serving motives. Those motives can lead them to manipulative behaviors to get what they want, or outright spiritual abuse of those they want to control. Let’s trust God today to help us see our own motives for what they are and redirect them in Jesus-centered ways.

One of the most powerful life principles in the Bible is that of generosity. We would naturally think that our inflow should determine our outflow, but Jesus taught that it is our outflow that actually determines our inflow. Look past how this principle may have been abused by others and embrace its potential for yourself.

Comparison and people-pleasing can cripple us both emotionally and spiritually. We tend to either be too impressed with ourselves or our insecurities turn us into our own worst critics. But neither self-obsession nor self-hatred are options for us as followers of Jesus. We need instead to live out a healthy sense of who we are in Christ.

What is our responsibility to one another as followers of Jesus? And how does the awareness of failure in others affect the way we see ourselves? Paul’s counsel to the Galatian churches on this difficult issue gives us some helpful handles to work with.

In the last of five special episodes of The Central Moment, Dr. Wave Nunally recounts the long and very unusual 70-hour journey home from Israel, and the difficulty of leaving dear friends behind. However, we have an assurance that they will never be abandoned by God as clarified in the New Testament book of Romans.

Dr. Wave Nunally continues the story of his recent trip to Israel, and the reason for their eventual departure: the call by Hamas leadership for a worldwide Jihad against Christians and Jews. Instead, all who follow the Lord are to engage in proclaiming liberty to captives, setting prisoners free, and rescuing and delivering the weak and needy.

Dr. Wave Nunally describes his team's volunteer efforts. As evacuees from the south filled their hotel, they helped with housekeeping, kitchen work, and organizing toys and books donated to the children. In the same way they prayed for the evacuees and the kidnapped, Isaiah calls us to mobilize in an important prayer effort.

Dr. Wave Nunally continues our special series on his recent time in Israel, and describes their arrival at the hotel at the beginning of Israel's war with Hamas. He concludes with a discussion of our responsibility to the innocent in harm's way in light of Proverbs 24.

This week on a special series of The Central Moment, Dr. Wave Nunally recounts the story of his recent trip to Israel. It's one of countless trips he's made, but this time he arrived just as the war with Hamas began. His story ultimately reminds us of God's call to all of us to comfort His people.

The fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 are a description of the character of Jesus -- a character that God wants to reproduce in each of us. They are the result of the Spirit of Jesus growing within us. These fruits will affect every relationship that we have. They also mean that we will need to daily “keep in step with the Holy Spirit.”

If you want a commentary on contemporary culture, just read Galatians 5:19-21. If you are a humanist, it will be discouraging. If you are a cynic, it will confirm your worst suspicions. But if you are a follower of Jesus, it is the ‘do not enter’ sign for the pathway of our lives.

There are two reference-point words that the Apostle Paul frequently uses. They delineate the big issues in our lives. One is “flesh” and the other is “Spirit.” They are like locational code words referring to life without Jesus and life with Jesus. By which word are you living?

The vertical and the horizontal are always related in Jesus’ kingdom. Our relationship with God will affect our relationships with each other, and our relationships with each other will affect our relationship with God. God’s Spirit in us always has implications for the people around us, and vice versa.

If you bake frequently, you will understand the power of yeast. A little bit can affect everything in a disproportionate way. It’s also true of our moral lives -- a little compromise here or there can end up affecting the whole of our lives in destructive ways. And it’s the same for our response to truth.