Our challenge from last week: Make a connection with someone and invite them to church!
Day 25: Wednesday, March 29, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 25: Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau
Rev. Sela Finau
Planters
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:6-10 (NRSV) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Devotion: I’ve heard it said that a life of faith is a life of seed planting, and most of the time, the planter is not around to see the seeds bear fruits. Pause on that for a moment. I thought of how it was never my intention or goal to go into seminary and ministry. But one thing led to another and I ended up in seminary, still with no plans of going into ministry, but with the aspiration to learn about the history of Christianity and my faith origin. It was in seminary that I began to realize that I didn’t end up in the classroom by serendipity and that I wasn’t just there to get an education or to fulfill my inquisitive mind. Rather, God was calling me into ministry, a seed that was planted years ago, and had taken roots in my family tree.
Many of my family members had been and continue to be in ministry, in the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga (Methodist), either working as pastors, educators, or administrators for the church. Church in Tonga is very influential on pretty much everything, from politics to its way of life. My grandparents were ministers in the church and my great-grandparents and great great-grandparents were placed into exile when Christianity first arrived in Tonga because they chose to follow the new religion and Christianity had not yet been accepted as the country’s official religion.
The seeds that my parents and family instilled in my life growing up years ago are bearing fruits. While I wish that they were alive today, I’m grateful for their seed planting. Likewise, we’re doing the same in others’ lives, planting seeds. Maybe we’ll be around to see it bear fruit or maybe we won’t. But God pushes us forward to plant anyways and not be so eager to see the results. May we be reminded that planting seeds requires time to grow. This Lenten season, may you continue to grow in your faith, and may you continue to plant seeds in someone else’s as we remember our Lord who calls us to be planters.
Prayer: Creator God, Thank you for the seeds that you have planted in people’s lives. Thank you for making it grow. Amen
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Day 24: Tuesday, March 28, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 24: Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Belinda Moss
Belinda Moss
Grow in Joy
Scripture: Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV) “….This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Devotion: Daily I try to have joy. We cannot turn joy on like an electric light switch but we can prepare ourselves by being willing to receive it. Joy does not mean to have fun but is an inner spiritual quality that overcomes despair, pain, and defeat. In 1996 my joy was dashed to the ground when we lost our little boy to cancer. I remember praying to God asking that His spirit of joy fill me so that I could continue to live and enjoy each day. Through the love of God, my church family, the community, and the prayer warriors I was able to find true joy in Christ Jesus. I was able to look beyond my grief and face each new day knowing God would help me through. My miracle came in the form of the people that surrounded us with their love and compassion. What you do for others really does make a difference.
Prayer: Gracious Lord may we find strength and trust in your word. Lead us into your joy. Use me to touch someone else’s life today.
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Day 23: Monday, March 27, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Week 5 Lenten Devotionals
Day 23: Monday, March 27, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau
Rev. Sela Finau
What Does God Require?
Scripture:
Micah 6:6-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Devotion:
One of my favorite memorized passages comes from the prophet, Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” It speaks to me on so many levels. Serving God and God’s people can be difficult and sometimes discouraging. Life often present many challenges more times than we know what to do with it. Yet, this passage reminds me that we can never do enough for God through sacrifices, burnt offering, calves, rams, rivers of oil, and human sacrifices. These things are not required of us. What God requires is for us to simply do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. As God is just, we as God’s people are also called to be just and fair. As God is merciful and offers kindness, we as God’s people are also called to be merciful and show kindness. As God is humble, we as God’s people are also called to humble ourselves as we walk with God.
As we continue in our journey in Lent, may we be reminded of these words from the prophet Micah, to do justice, to offer kindness, and to be humble people of God.
Prayer:
Holy God, thank you for your words as spoken through your prophet Micah. May we continue to grow in your likeness, to do justice, to offer kindness, and to walk humbly with you as our God. Amen
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Sunday, March 26, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Prayer
Almighty ever living God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we desire or deserve, pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those things for which our prayer dares not ask. Amen
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Day 22: Saturday, March 25, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 22: Saturday, March 25, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau
Who Is My Neighbor?
Scripture: Psalm 133:1 (NIV) How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Devotional: Let’s have some real talk, “Who is my neighbor?” While the question may be a rhetorical one, some of us really want to know who our neighbors are. Are we talking about those people who live on our street? Are we talking about people who live in our neighborhood? Are we talking about people in our community? Are we talking about people in our city?
Growing up in the islands, I thought of neighbors as those people who lived across the street or next door and maybe the people in our surrounding areas. As neighbors, we knew that we could count on each other if we ran out of small things to needing something more serious, like being there in tough times and beyond.
Today, defining “neighbor” has become an individual thing and not quite so easy to define at times. Through technology, we have changed our definition of “neighbor.” We can now consider someone who lives in another state or another country our neighbors. When a natural disaster occurs or we see hungry children and families around the globe, we realize that we are part of a much bigger neighborhood. We are indeed a global family with global neighbors. Thankfully we have a global God as well.
During this season of Lent, expand your definition of “neighbor.” Is God calling you to be a neighbor to someone in your own community, in another state, or across the world? Maybe it’s all of the above.
Prayer: Gracious God, help us to be good neighbors not only to those in our immediate surroundings but also those who are far away. Help us to open our eyes, mind, and heart to those neighbors we may otherwise miss. Amen
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Day 21: Friday, March 24, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 21: Friday, March 24, 2017
Robin McKinley
Robin McKinley
The Still Small Voice
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:11-13 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: 12 and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
Devotion: We often expect, and even wish that the voice of God was as loud as a wind, an earthquake, or a fire. But we often hear the voice of God as a tiny nudge that is easy to miss if we aren’t paying attention. And then when we do pay attention, we often argue ourselves out of it.
I had a rough year last year. I moved to a town where I knew not one single person, miles away from any town I had ever lived. I chose Taylor because it was relatively close (30 miles) to my son and his family and because I could find a house there that I could afford. His three sons, my grandsons, are the most adorable in the whole world (I have pictures to prove it!) I am totally devoted to them. Only one month after I closed on my house, I found out my son, et. al., were moving to China. Now they would be a 15-hour plane trip away instead of a 45-minute drive.
Being in a new town, my first order of business was to join the church, and I loved our church from my first visit. Of course, relationships take a bit of time to develop, so I spent many a lonely day. I began to pray, “Please send me a friend.” And “Please help me get to know people at the church better.”
Then, I got the quiet nudge. “Robin, you need to go talk to people in the church and then write up a story about their lives.” But I put it off, thinking “I can’t do it now, there is an interim pastor and he won’t want to start a new project.” Soon, our new pastor came. Still I put it off. “Maybe she will think it is a dumb idea.”
Finally, after several more nudges, but with my heart in my throat, I laid out the idea with our new pastor. To my surprise, she loved the idea, and I began to write up the Member Spotlights. It has been such a blessing to me to get to know members and their interesting lives. Soon after, I began to feel well integrated into the church and truly a part of this community of God.
God works in many mysterious ways, and sometimes perhaps His voice is loud, but if we are quiet, and listen, the still, small voice will lead us. And then we have to follow it.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Spirit, Thank you for your guidance in my life and the blessings that guidance brings. Thank you for your patience and persistence as I stumble. Please help me to listen to your still, small voice and have the courage to act. Amen.
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Day 20: Thursday, March 23, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 20: Thursday, March 23, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau
Love Your Neighbor
Scripture: Leviticus 19:18New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Devotion: We often hear Jesus saying to love God with all of our hearts, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbor. Jesus also said that loving God and neighbor were the greatest commandments of all. What we don’t often hear is that these words reiterated by Jesus also show up in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Who is our neighbor? Everyone. How we show love to everyone can be challenging, particularly with those whose choices we dislike, whose lifestyles we disapprove of, or anyone that’s too different from us. When we encounter people whose race, culture, religion, or political view are different from our own, the challenge to love them increases. God, who created and loves all people, calls us and empowers us to love one another. We are called to love God with our whole selves, and we do this by loving one another and our neighbors.
C.S. Lewis once said, “Do not waste your time bothering about whether you love your neighbor; act as if you did…When you are behaving as if you love someone, you will presently come to love him.”
In this season of Lent, may we seek God’s guidance in helping us to grow our love for our neighbor.
Prayer: Holy God, you are always merciful and loving. May you continue to help us grow in our love for you through loving our neighbors. Amen
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Day 19: Wednesday, March 22, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 19: Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Rev. Bob Walker
Rev. Bob Walker
When All Else Fails
Scripture: Romans 8:26-28 NRSV “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
For those who know me, you have heard this testimony before, but here it goes again! There was a time in my life when I could hardly get out of bed in the morning. I could not work because I could not stand in front of folk and speak. I did not eat and I could not sleep. I roamed the house by night and the streets by day. I lost weight (not a bad thing but the wrong way). I am a very outgoing person and always have something to say to everyone (whether anyone wants to hear it or not), but I had nothing to say period. I lost my job and almost lost my life.
Into this bad situation stepped my wonderful wife and God. My wife loved me enough to get me good help and they got me good drugs. I persevered and God did not desert me. I could not pray because I had no idea what to say. I did not pray, but God stood beside me through it all. This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to me and I was shocked. What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this? Why me?!!! It did not make sense.
Then one day I got better. Like someone had turned the switch back on. I would never be the same old me, but I could function and God is good all the time, all the time God is good! My wife and I moved to another community and I began to preach, teach and pastor again. I still had relapses, but I have never dropped off the edge like then. If nothing else good came of this time in my life, I learned we are all totally dependent on Our Loving God for everything. May His name ever be praised.
Prayer: Dear God in Heaven, thanks for hearing our prayers even when we cannot pray. AMEN.
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Day 18: Tuesday, March 21, 2017, #Lent Devotion
Day 18: Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Rev. Sela Finau
Rev. Sela Finau
Forgiveness
Scripture: Matthew (NRSV) 18:21-22 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Devotion: Sometimes we attend church in an individualistic way. We like a church that meets our needs; and if something at church offends us, we go elsewhere. In Jesus’ teachings, we all have a responsibility for one another. He is especially present when we’re gathered with other Christians. He commands Christians to make the effort to forgive and uphold one another. In this context, Peter poses a famous question: How many times should we forgive?
Jesus’ response was 7 times 70 times. You just forgive, and you never stop forgiving. We gain strength and freedom when we forgive. We find strength to keep moving in our lives. When we forgive, we are able to refocus our emotional energies; and we are able to grow closer to God. When we grow in forgiveness, we begin to understand the heart of God.
Forgiveness is a gift of God. God already knows our feelings and still loves us. God can work healing power in our lives when we admit to God our deep feelings of hatred, hurt, and anger. Forgiveness is a powerful sign of our life together, not only in specific instances of forgiveness but also in Christian fellowship. If love and trust are present in our fellowship, we can discuss our painful feelings with one another. We are called to express an attribute of God in our life together. We are called to forgive as God forgives.
Prayer: Oh Merciful God, we give you thanks for your love and grace. Help us to show mercy and compassion to others as you show us. Help us to become more like you. Amen.
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