Photo by...Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash
A student survey conducted at one of our local schools determined that young people see the church as being full of old people and pews. And they think that the pews have to go. There’s some good news in that survey, they didn’t say the old people should go, only the pews.
Think for a moment: How does their perception match reality?
We might immediately begin to defend the pews. They've been good enough for generations. They keep us awake. They haven’t killed anyone.
Or we might be offended that they’ve labelled us as old. We might argue that we’re not nearly as old as our grandparents were at the same age.
We might want to join James and John to ask Jesus whether we should call down fire from heaven and destroy them.
But before we get too defensive, these young people are crying out for the church to recognise and value them. They don’t think the church cares about them, they don’t think we care. They think the church is only interested in the people who’re already involved, which to them means old people.
I wonder whether they’re any different to those of any age who aren’t connected to our churches. Would the whole ‘unchurched’ and 'previously-churched’ community agree that we don’t care. Would they contend that we’re only interested in ourselves.
If we’re so busy polishing and defending our pews then they have to go. If there’s anything in our church that uses up our time at the expense of living our lives for Jesus then it has to go.
Even more urgently we have to go. Not leave the church, the community of God’s people, but go with the good news that because God loves and cares for every single person in this world so do we.
“As you go”, Jesus says, “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus cares about this because he has ‘skin-in-the-game’. He died for each and every one we encounter as we go about our lives.
How do we, as individuals and a church, need to change so that no one in our community will feel that we don’t care about them?
Thorns and thistles
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned (Hebrews 6:8).
Read Hebrews 6:1–8
This week’s readings have had a strong agricultural theme. We have heard about planting seeds on good land, where crops can grow and flourish. Today’s reading celebrates land that receives rain and produces a useful crop – unlike land that produces thorns and thistles that ‘is worthless and is in danger of being cursed’.
In Monday’s reading of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus refers to the seed falling among thorns as referring to ‘someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful’ (Matthew 13:22).
How long is your worry list? The worries of life are potentially numerous – we can worry about work situations, home and health, family and friends, not to mention all of the things that pop into one’s head at 2.00am when sleep is eluding us.
And then there is the ‘deceitfulness of wealth’. The gap between the poor and the rich continues to grow. The housing shortage is part of our everyday landscape. In the midst of winter, the plight of homeless people is much more challenging. We have heard that the world has its first trillionaire, and that the numbers of millionaires and billionaires is increasing. Is it possible that pursuing wealth can deceive a person into ignoring spiritual wellbeing?
Maybe another factor is busyness. Yesterday, we thought about the Sabbath rest and the activities that seem to take over every day of the week.
There are other distractions in our lives as well. Our phones and other screens are constantly with us, and we now have AI to do our thinking for us. It is possible to be constantly bombarded with messages and information and to lose sight of what is happening in the real world or to the people around us. It can be challenging to separate truth from opinion. The news is filled with stories of violence and anger directed at individuals, families and groups of people.
All of the above deflect us from the one thing needful. May we ignore the thorns and thistles and be the good soil that allows the seeds of God’s word to be planted and to grow into a strong and vibrant faith.
Precious Saviour, help me to listen and to hear your words so that my faith may grow and flourish. Help me to live with and for Jesus and to follow where he is leading me. Amen.
Colleen Fitzpatrick is retired and lives in Adelaide. She enjoys reading, writing and drinking coffee with her husband, John, and their friends. Colleen and John enjoy regular fitness classes, particularly when they include opportunities to throw frisbees.
Thorns and thistles
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned (Hebrews 6:8).
Read Hebrews 6:1–8
This week’s readings have had a strong agricultural theme. We have heard about planting seeds on good land, where crops can grow and flourish. Today’s reading celebrates land that receives rain and produces a useful crop – unlike land that produces thorns and thistles that ‘is worthless and is in danger of being cursed’.
In Monday’s reading of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus refers to the seed falling among thorns as referring to ‘someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful’ (Matthew 13:22).
How long is your worry list? The worries of life are potentially numerous – we can worry about work situations, home and health, family and friends, not to mention all of the things that pop into one’s head at 2.00am when sleep is eluding us.
And then there is the ‘deceitfulness of wealth’. The gap between the poor and the rich continues to grow. The housing shortage is part of our everyday landscape. In the midst of winter, the plight of homeless people is much more challenging. We have heard that the world has its first trillionaire, and that the numbers of millionaires and billionaires is increasing. Is it possible that pursuing wealth can deceive a person into ignoring spiritual wellbeing?
Maybe another factor is busyness. Yesterday, we thought about the Sabbath rest and the activities that seem to take over every day of the week.
There are other distractions in our lives as well. Our phones and other screens are constantly with us, and we now have AI to do our thinking for us. It is possible to be constantly bombarded with messages and information and to lose sight of what is happening in the real world or to the people around us. It can be challenging to separate truth from opinion. The news is filled with stories of violence and anger directed at individuals, families and groups of people.
All of the above deflect us from the one thing needful. May we ignore the thorns and thistles and be the good soil that allows the seeds of God’s word to be planted and to grow into a strong and vibrant faith.
Precious Saviour, help me to listen and to hear your words so that my faith may grow and flourish. Help me to live with and for Jesus and to follow where he is leading me. Amen.
Colleen Fitzpatrick is retired and lives in Adelaide. She enjoys reading, writing and drinking coffee with her husband, John, and their friends. Colleen and John enjoy regular fitness classes, particularly when they include opportunities to throw frisbees.
Ouch!
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12a).
Read Hebrews 4:9–13
The concept of a Sabbath rest, in any shape or form, is much less of a reality today than in days gone by. When I was a child, I remember very clearly that no work was undertaken on a Sunday apart from the necessities of preparing food and tending to the needs of the animals on our farm – feeding animals, milking the cows and collecting the eggs.
Sundays were spent going to church in the morning, followed by visiting family or friends or perhaps going for a drive. There may have been time for an afternoon nap or some quiet time for reading or letter writing. Shops were closed on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday. Team sports were confined to Saturday afternoons. Sundays were a day of rest, which provided a welcome respite from the hard yakka of weekdays.
In today’s reading, we are encouraged to enter God’s rest, where we rest from our own work and our own efforts. By entering God’s rest, we don’t have to do anything active at all to please God. We just need to believe.
A couple of years ago, I was making some pumpkin soup and reached the stage of using a stick blender to smoosh everything together. The blender was making a peculiar noise, and I lifted it out of the soup and put my finger into the area where the blades are – and absentmindedly started the motor. It may not have been a two-edged sword, but it hurt a lot.
God’s word cuts through everything. It is alive and active, and our thoughts and deeds are uncovered and laid bare. It all sounds very messy and embarrassing, not to mention painful, to me.
But that’s not the end. Through faith and God’s grace, we can enter into God’s rest, where we don’t have to do anything other than believe. We can rest from trying to earn our salvation. The task is complete; God’s Son has done the heavy lifting and has died to remove those sins.
Loving Saviour, help us to enter your Sabbath rest, secure in the knowledge that you have ensured our salvation through your death on the cross. Grant us thankful hearts and joyful spirits as we enjoy the fruit of your actions. Amen.
Colleen Fitzpatrick is retired and lives in Adelaide. She enjoys reading, writing and drinking coffee with her husband, John, and their friends. Colleen and John enjoy regular fitness classes, particularly when they include opportunities to throw frisbees.