Presbyterian Devotions: God the Builder - Hebrews 3:4

Hebrews 3:4    For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

We’ve come to the end of two exciting building phases at Erin church here in Knoxville and we all feel very blessed by God. At the same time over in Maybole, Scotland, the building of the new community center and church is taking place. In both cases, the church people feel a sense of pride and renewal, of new hopes and great blessings. It’s been a long time in coming for both communities; at last we are all beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Both churches have been established by God and each of them will grow if the congregations and communities are open to the presence, work, and ministry of the Holy Spirit. The future of each place depends upon the faithfulness of the people involved; without their commitment, contributions, and constancy, none of this could have been accomplished. In many ways, the work of both churches is only just beginning and this is what makes the whole experience exciting.

As we head into Holy Week, we are all given the special opportunity of allowing God to rebuild our lives. We can come to Christ on the Cross to receive His forgiveness; we can meet Him outside the tomb and be renewed forever. In Him, we have a hope that will never die; through Him, we have a bright and everlasting future. God builds everything through Jesus. We can depend upon Him.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for the blessings of building and growing, renewal and restoration that You are establishing in many churches and communities throughout the world. Let this holy and sacred time touch our people in significant and special ways. Grant us opportunities to invite and welcome other people to our churches, so that they may also experience these blessings. In Your Holy Name, we cheerfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s images are construction photos of what’s happening in Maybole and Erin. On the left is the Carrick Center and on the right is the new entrance to Erin Church. God is great!

Presbyterian devotions: Revival, not Survival

Psalm 80:18 Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your Name. 

Survival or revival? Emerge or resurge? Churches today have to seriously work out where they want to be in 5-10 years time, if they want to survive the first half of this new century. It’s no use keeping on for the sake of holding on. That’s just wishful thinking and more churches are closed because of good intentions or clinging to nostalgia. We live in a new age, with new ideas. We need to learn to adjust or become as dust.

Now I’m not advocating syncretism, where the Church falls to its knees and allows the current culture to totally shape it. That would be a betrayal of Christ and a march towards insignificance, which would eventually lead to irrelevance and extinction. I’m talking about revival or rebooting the Church from within its own ranks, in order to make better disciples of Christ, greater messengers of His Truth, and more practical followers of the Faith.

We cannot do this on our own. We need to invoke and implore the Holy Spirit to come among us, to release us from survival mode and put us into Revival. It would mean that every church member of every congregation would truly re-commit their lives to Christ. That should be the ambition of every church in existence. Christ’s message is timeless and has stood the test of two thousand centuries of opposition. If we truly relied upon the Word of God as our Way of Life then the Church that would emerge would be full of people who were constantly resurging their Christian faith.

Today is a good day to start. Now is the right moment to reboot our beliefs and refocus on our faith. It’s time for all of us to seriously place Christ at the center of our existence. If we honestly do this today, then we will seek new opportunities to share our revived faith with our friends, families, and even strangers. And that, after all is said and done, is why we are divinely blessed with life, love, and faith in the first place.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, revive our commitment and connection to You this day. Open our hearts to the blessing of Your Holy Spirit and allow our minds to accept Your Way, Truth, and Life. Empower and enable us to become effective, relevant, and useful disciples in our congregations and communities. In Your Holy Name, we expectantly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest autumn drawings of the Smoky Mountains. It’s called “Fall in Leaves” and is currently on exhibit at Erin Church. You can view a larger version of the drawing at the following link:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4877571660_cc7d070bb8.jpg

25 limited edition signed prints are available from John.