Brown's Daily Word 5/19/11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. He blessed us with a beautiful Wednesday Evening gathering. It was a joyful time sharing the meal, laughter, and a time of testimonies and prayer.
I am looking this morning at Colossians 4. The New Testament tells us that the Risen Lord has now given a new kind of authority to His people in the world. Jesus has passed on his authority to us, to continue his ministry, by giving us the Holy Spirit. Paul also gave some advice about how we might go about that:
4:3-4 - Pray for us, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
4:5 – be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
4:6 – let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
As most of you know, I love spicy and salty foods. Food without salt or seasoning is boring. Our words, on the other hand, should never be dull, but full of flavor. Paul entreated readers to pray for those of us in preaching, that we will never be boring … I sometimes wonder whether one of Satan’s best tactics against Christians is to direct our minds to thinking that the only way to be holy is to be boring.
In 1998 the National Church Life Survey organization undertook a national community survey called ‘why people don’t go to church’. Of the many significant reasons that people give for not going to church, the dominant one was boredom. 42% of infrequent or non-attenders said church services are boring and unfulfilling.
We have no excuse to be boring. There is nothing boring about living in Christ. It’s gutsy. It’s subverting hierarchy, defeating Satan, healing wounds, and conquering death. It’s winning the battle, as Paul wrote in Colossians 2:15: “having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them, by the cross.”
The way of the cross certainly is not glamorous, but it is the way to life, and if anyone ever was qualified to talk about it, it was Paul. Even as he wrote this letter from prison, with his own hand, he signed off from prison by saying, “Remember my chains.” We do well to remember the chains of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Every time we remember Jesus’ sacrifice, we might remember the millions worldwide who have suffered for the gospel – even those named in this letter: Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Onesimus, Luke, Demas, Archippus …. and all those who are lost in history, but who are remembered in heaven. We may especially remember all the women, children, and slaves, whom the Scriptures don’t name, but who have been salt to the earth, and who have shared in the sufferings of Jesus.
This morning I remember one of my former students, whose name is Mathew. He was trained as a teacher, and had become one of the young leaders in Orissa. I shared the pulpit with him in July 2008, the last time I was in India. He was one of the first martyrs who was burned to death during persecution broke against Christians in Orissa, India in August 2008. Over 100 Christians were killed and over 70,000 were made homeless during the summer of 2008.
Continue to pray for those who boldly preach the name of Jesus, who season the world with the Gospel.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/3qEjRLlL9iE


Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott

Saturday, May 21, 2011

6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )

6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music:
Speaker: Rev Marshall Sorber