Office Devotions: Prolonging Our Lives

Proverbs 3:1-2                   My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

A lot of my time lately has been taken up with our church’s Capital Campaign. Every day I am dealing with a new item on what I call the Campaign Trail. It’s a fascinating process, but it also can get very burdensome at times.

The purpose of the Campaign is to prolong the life of the church. We are renewing ourselves for the missions and ministries that are yet to come. Our church has constantly grown because we try to apply God’s teaching to our community. Every week, people come to church to hear more about God’s Word, to seek guidance for their lives, and to be challenged by Christ in ways that will make our world a better place.

We grow because God gives us this blessing. We increase because Christ inspires us. We add to our numbers because the Holy Spirit activates our faith.

When the Campaign is over, the true work will begin. I look forward to what lies ahead for our church because we will have more opportunities to glorify God, praise Jesus Christ, and be led by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer:                 Lord Jesus, we thank You for the privilege and blessing of serving You. You take imperfect and unholy people and shape them into a church. You work in our midst and inspire us through Your wonderful words and glorious ways. Thank You for such gracious blessings. In Your Holy Name, we praise and 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.

Office Devotions: In God We Trust

Luke 16:31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

Over the years, I’ve been fascinated with the story of the Turin Shroud. It’s the famous medieval cloth that purportedly is meant to be the cloth that Christ’s Body was wrapped up in when He was placed in the tomb. The image found on the cloth is centuries old and it looks like the outline of a crucified man, especially after photographs of the Shroud were looked at in their negative prints.

I’ve never been convinced that this is the true shroud. To me, it’s a discarded canvas that Da Vinci, Michelangelo, or their artistic associates worked on and never finished. The local church in Turin capitalized on their community’s fascination with venerated objects. I guess if the shroud had been recently discovered in someone’s attic, it would end up being sold on Ebay, along with slices of toast that have Christ’s face on them.

Some people need tangible proof of Christ’s Resurrection before they will begin to believe that it actually happened. They want factual evidence, not faith. They want someone to prove that it occurred before they will place all of their lives, hearts, and souls into Christ’s keeping.

But that’s always been the important issue with God: are we willing to trust Him simply on His Word? Are we willing to trust the truth of the Gospels without question, or will we wait until the end of Time to discover it, when all will be revealed? To coin an old Southern preacher: if we wait, it will be too late.

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, faith is a hard burden to carry, especially when we try to pin it down and rationalize it. God has set us this test in order to see if we really trust Him. If we fail, we let go of any eternal hope. If we have faith, we win everlasting life. Keep us from complicating this simple challenge. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

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

Office Devotions: Spanish Eyes

Romans 15:24 I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Spain is a beautiful country. I’ve visited it twice and enjoyed every day that I was there. During my first visit, I traveled northwards from Madrid to San Sebastian and covered half of the country by coach and train. On my second visit, my wife Evelyn and I stayed for a week on the Costa del Sol, just below Valencia on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. It was also a very beautiful region and I got to practice my Castilliano Spanish in many stores, cafes, and restaurants.

It’s always been my intention to go back to Spain to visit the Andalusian South. I’d also like to see Gibraltar and look across the Mediterranean and see the coast of Africa. I might also include heading West to visit Portugal. My Dad loved to visit Portuguese ports when he was a merchant seaman.

Whether I’ll get there or not depends upon how much of a priority I make this goal. It could just be paella in the sky as far as my life is concerned.

Paul also had the intention to visit Spain, but he never made it. When he was writing to the Roman church, he hoped that he could visit them on his way westwards. He did make it to Rome, but in chains. He never reached Spain because he was executed by the emperor Nero when the Christian community was first executed.

I like the fact that Paul had plans for his future, even in the midst of his trials. It reveals the optimistic side to his character. He had dreams and goals for extending the influence of Christianity and sharing the Gospel from one side of the Mediterranean to the other. And in Paul’s lifetime, that meant covering the whole civilized world. What a marvelous goal!

Today, we are given many opportunities to share the Gospel throughout our own individual worlds and all cross the globe. We can share our faith and pray for the people we meet today, but we can also send prayers and devotions like this one to everyone we know across the internet. That way, we will be fulfilling part of Paul’s mission and Christ’s ministry to the entire world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for Paul’s enthusiasm, faith, and mission. He lived his life sharing the Gospel with all kinds of people from everywhere. His faith sharing has come down to us through the scriptures. Help us to spread this mission and ministry amongst our own individual communities. In Your Holy Name, we 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.

Office Devotions: Sending Rain

Matthew 5:45b: He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

It’s been a wonderful summer for growing plants in Tennessee this year. We’ve had plenty of rain and no droughts. It’s a welcome change from what we usually experience and the whole place around Knoxville looks greener than I’ve ever seen it. It also means that I’ve got to mow the lawn more often, but I don’t mind it. It’s nice to see the green grass instead of the usual burned out brown straw that covers my lawn at this time of year.

I also heard someone say the other day that ‘if a person can’t grow tomatoes this year, then they can’t grow them at all.’ It makes me wish that I had planted some at the beginning of the year. Knowing me, if I try to grow them next year, there will be a drought!

I like what Jesus has to say about the sun shining and the rain falling on both the righteous and unrighteous. He’s reminding all of us that God has no favorites and that through His mercy, He showers blessings upon people whether or not they deserve them. We tend to be more judgmental and critical, but Christ is telling us that for grace to be grace, is has to be applied where it is least expected. In other words, God gives every opportunity for souls and spirits to grow under His care. I guess that means that if we cannot grow spiritually under the goodness of His grace, then we cannot grow our souls at all.

Therefore, let’s try to find opportunities of applying God’s grace with the people we meet today. Let’s do it where it’s least expected and totally undeserved. In doing so, we may rediscover the joy of God’s grace that we also don’t deserve.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your words challenge our ways. You show us how God operates graciously in the world. Help us to find opportunities to witness to that great gift and the ability to share it with others. In Your Holy Name, we 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.

Office Devotions: Still Amazed

Psalm 66: 5 Come and look at what God has accomplished; how awesome are His works in our behalf!

John Calvin called them ‘the attestations of God’s witness to the world.’ Today we would call them natural wonders, divine intervention, or even great escapes.

One of the challenges that Christians have in this world is how to show other people where God is actually present and working in their lives. Skeptics tend to think that we spiritually sugar coat the truth and wear Rose of Sharon colored glasses. Our reality is seemingly skewed by our stubborn hold on a two thousand year old faith, which has entered into the realm of religious myth and fabricated fable for modern day beings. The world of Wii, Guitar Hero, Twitter, and Facebook has no need for charming parables or a ghastly Gospel where blood and tears, broken limbs and bread redeem the world. If God has any awesomeness left to impress upon the present generation, then He’d better do it through cyberspace, ipods, and anime. A sacred text is no longer needed, but a wicked ability to text while driving would be a major plus.

And yet sunrises and sunsets still attract us. Glorious mountains and the greenest of valleys captivate our souls. Christmas still touches something good even within the least religious among us, and Easter annually fills us with new life, new beginnings, and new wonders.

We may become distracted by the latest gadgets and are constantly obsessed with the latest trends, but God still walks and works among us, testifying to Himself in the most commonplace of natural events – the hearing of birdsong in the quiet of the morning, the rippling rhythm of a mountain stream, or the rushing of waves crashing on to craggy rocks – they all witness to the power and glory, creativity and activity of a God who still cares for His creation and seeks to heal a broken world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we call You the Son of God because Your words and ways reveal to us the grace, peace, and love of God. We seek those divine blessings in each of our lives, for we pursue happiness and contentment, satisfaction and harmony for our souls. Instead of being restless, help us to be restful. Instead of being distracted, help us to become attracted. Instead of always doing, enable us to become beings. In Your Holy Name, we 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 called “Sunrise Communion.” The artist is also John Stuart, the author of this blog. To see the original drawing on the web, visit the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/3378486522/sizes/l/in/set-72157614915206379/

Office Devotions: Room for Hypocrites

Psalm 26:4 I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites;

Over the years, I’ve heard some people say, “I don’t go to church. It’s full of hypocrites.” My usual answer to that is: “Don’t worry. There’s always room for one more.”

There’s also no such thing as a perfect church on Earth because congregations are made up of imperfect people. We go to church because we know that. We seek the Perfect One in our lives. We know that only Christ is sinless and unhypocritical. We understand that we fail each day to live up to the demands our faith. We don’t go to church because we are spiritually holy; we go to church because we find the Holy Spirit there.

I’m amazed sometimes at people who publicly talk about God in their lives, but who never seem to get around to going to church on Sunday. I don’t get it, nor do I understand it. If God is so important to them, then why isn’t church on their timetable? Do they honestly believe that church is an option to their faith?

If they take time to read their Bibles, they would discover that church-going and being a Christian go hand in hand. From the earliest times of our faith, Christians would gather together on the first day of the week (Sunday) to worship, sing hymns, hear the Gospel, and share communion. They did it in defiance of the authorities, and in the knowledge that they could be arrested, persecuted, and even executed for such a simple gathering of faithful people. In the 17^th century, the Scottish Covenanters experienced the same thing, and in today’s China, Sunday Church groups meet together knowing that the police could break up their services at any time.

The church is full of hypocrites, but at least it’s full of people who prioritize their collective worship of God, especially on a Sunday morning. As for those other hypocrites who always talk about God but never get around to actually worshiping Christ on Sundays, we’ll leave the door open. After all, there’s room at worship for them, too.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, each week on the Sabbath Day, You were to be found in a local synagogue. Even though You are the closest being to God, You never treated worship lightly. Even Your first followers, who began worshiping on Sundays to recognize Your Resurrection, never stopped going to church, even though they were hunted down and persecuted, tortured and executed for defying the authorities. Help us hypocrites to find room at church on Sunday mornings. In Your Holy Name, we humbly 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.