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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?
Know the Lord
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites … in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God (Exodus 16:12).
Read Exodus 16:2–4,9–15
How do you get to know someone? It takes time – sitting with them, listening to them and sharing who you are. This is how connections and relationships grow.
How well do you know God? Have you ever spent time pondering who God is, but more importantly, who God is in your life? What are the experiences you have had with God along the way? You might only be at the beginning of your journey with God, who made you in his own image, or perhaps you have been walking with him for many years. But what do you know of God, and how have you come to know his love?
In any relationship, there are things we might hide because we fear the other person would see us differently if they knew our mistakes and failures. But God already knows the whole of you, including all your mistakes, your sins and failings and all those things you’d rather just hide from everyone.
Do you know that God loves you as you are? Even when he sees your worries, doubts, fears, grumblings and sins. He loves you and wants to provide for you. To feed you when you are hungry and give you all good things because he cares.
The Israelites were grumbling about their situation after God had brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea, rescuing them so that they might be free from slavery, and yet they grumbled. But what does God do for them? He provides for them in their need out of deep love for them.
So how well do you know God? Know that his love was in action when he gave up his only Son, Jesus. Out of his great love for the world, God sent Jesus to suffer and die on the cross for our sins. Jesus offers you forgiveness and sets you free so that you can live in him and know the peace he gives.
Dear God, help me to know you more and more each day and to see all of the blessings you have given to me. Thank you that I am yours. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in the Alberton Lutheran Parish, including the LORDS school at Ormeau in Queensland. He is married to Kerstin, and they have three beautiful girls aged 9, 13 and 23. They enjoy family things like hiking, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets and going on road trips. Mark and Kerstin pray that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
Are you hungry?
by Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over (Matthew 14:20).
Read Matthew 14:13–21
Have you ever been really hungry? Then, when you finally eat, you still look for a bit more? You know the sort of meal that doesn’t really fill you up. You get that sometimes with junk food – you eat and think it should fill you, but you are still hungry afterwards and not satisfied.
Do you ever hunger for spiritual things? For a deep peace in who you are and what you have been created to be? Are you searching for something more than you currently have? You might look for advice or answers from others, but you are not filled or satisfied with what you hear.
Jesus fed five thousand men, not counting the women and children, with five loaves and two fish. We are told all ate and were satisfied, and there were still 12 baskets of food left over.
In your own life, do you long to be fed and filled by Jesus? Jesus is the bread of life, the bread from heaven, who will feed you until you are full, totally satisfied and at peace.
It is Jesus who died on the cross for your sins so that you might be forgiven. It is Jesus who gives you all you need for this life and the next, not just providing you with daily things, like food and water, clothing, shelter, employment and family and friends, but also with his precious word that will satisfy your soul. Your spiritual hunger will be satisfied in Jesus as you spend time with him in his word.
Jesus satisfies your whole being, filling you with his love, peace, hope and joy so that you may live in the abundance of God’s blessing. If you are not satisfied or feel you are lacking something in this life, ask Jesus, who is with you always and wants to provide all you need today, tomorrow and forever.
Dear Jesus, I am hungry for all that you offer. Feed me, O bread of life, and satisfy all my needs. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in the Alberton Lutheran Parish, including the LORDS school at Ormeau in Queensland. He is married to Kerstin, and they have three beautiful girls aged 9, 13 and 23. They enjoy family things like hiking, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets and going on road trips. Mark and Kerstin pray that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
Praise be to God
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made (Psalm 145:8,9).
Read Psalm 145:8,9,14–21
What a wonderful psalm to rest in today. Why not speak through it like a prayer?
David praises God for his excellent qualities. Psalm 145:8 harks back to when Moses encountered God on the mountain top in Exodus 34:6:
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness …’
Love is the most powerful force in the world. Much can be overcome through love, and God is the source of this all-encompassing, rich and compassionate love. It is God’s love that overcomes evil. What a wondrous thing is this love that we are shown, which is so unchanging and steadfast. This is the absolute measure for all of us. For those downcast, we see that the Lord upholds all who are falling and raises all who are bowed down (verse 14). This love is for everyone – it is also there in the lowest times.
Let us turn to love for every situation we encounter.
Lord God, we praise you for your all-encompassing love for us and that you would lavish us with so much love. Help us to know and show your saving love in every aspect of our lives, so that through the Holy Spirit we might experience and pass on the joy that comes with being in union with you. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).