Monday morning: Our work and our calling.

It's Monday morning...and some of us are off to work or are we?

Someone once said that if we are doing what we are passionate about...it's not work!

Sunday and Monday...any connection?

Our work: How important is it to us?

Are we worshiping our work and working at our worship? 

 Are we finding joy and peace in our everyday work?

Is this talk about finding peace confusing? 

How to find peace with God!

 

We are called to God first and then to our secondary calling…which may be our job, business or what we do in “retirement”

 A word from The Call by Os Guinness

"Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service" P. 29

 The Lord created each of us individually with different Spiritual Gifts, Passions, Abilities, Strengths and a unique Personality with different Experiences. When we know what they are and how they work together then we can be most effective in our families, church, community and the world.  When we serve according to our SHAPE, we leave a legacy that gives glory to the LORD so when we stand before Him one day, we will hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 

 S.H.A.P.E   Spiritual gifts, Heart or passion, Abilities, Personality and Experiences. 

Read a good book recently:

 Answering the Call: The Doctor Who Made Africa His Life.

From “The One-Talent People.” Christian Herald. Sept 1949. P. 64  

“Always keep your eyes open for the little task, because it is the little task that is important to Jesus Christ.  The future of the Kingdom of God does not depend on the enthusiasm of this or that powerful person; those great ones are necessary too, but it is equally necessary to have a great number of little people who will do a little thing in the service of Christ.” 

            “The great flowing rivers represent only a small part of all the water that is necessary to nourish and sustain the earth. Beside the flowing river there is the water in the earth-the subterranean water-and there are the little streams which continually enter the river and feed it and prevent it from sinking into the earth. Without these other waters-the silent hidden subterranean waters and the trickling streams-the great river could no longer flow. Thus it is with the little tasks to be fulfilled by us all.”

Some excerpts from:  God’s Best for My Life by Lloyd John Ogilvie 

“What are we daring to attempt which could not be accomplished without His strength and intervention? So often we plan our lives around what we could do without Him on our own.  A sure sign that we are in communion with the Lord is that we are attempting what only He can do? Can you identify that in your life?”

How to find peace with God!

Where the Cross Meets The Street- In the city!

•   Read a good book recently, Where The Cross Meets The Street ...What happens to the neighborhood when God is at the center. Author Noel Castellanos.

   

       Neil spoke at the "2017 State of Milwaukee" event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 24, 2017

   

   Noel is CEO of the Christian Community Development Association.

   

  https://youtu.be/Eoybroe_p2c

   

    http://www.ccda.org/about

  
  

   

    Noel spoke at the "2017 State of Milwaukee" event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 24, 2017

   

   A few hi lites of Noel's presentation:

   

  When people better themselves...and move out of the "hood"...and then do not come back to help others...this is what happens: 

  
  Problem is that those communities become depleted when the strong leaders & families (churches) move out!
  
   The alternative is to become present in our neighborhoods and be agents of change! Especially  our churches
  
    God gives our communities the gift of people with talent, passion, and resources. But they can't do it alone.
  
   We're not there to help "those people" from a safe distance, but to engage and help my neighborhood.
  
   Churches, audit your compassion ministries: are they empowering, or creating dependency and attitudes of entitlement?
  
  Are we helping inner city churches or harming them? 
  
  Compassion ministries that create dependency/entitlement are toxic & harmful. We can help, but in new ways!  
  
  Look to the story of Nehemiah and Ezra. There can be no spiritual revival without neighborhood restoration.
  
   There's a need for leadership that looks at the neighborhood and says "it can be better!" Not just pastors, but everyone!
  
   When you do development from inside out,you restore neighborhoods for the people that live there not gentrification for the rich.
  
  "Community development is biblical to the core!"  
  
  

  #povertysymposium2017     On TWITTER 

   

  Go to the people Just like Jesus did! Incarnational ministry!

  Live among them

  Learn from them

  Love them

  Start with what they know

  Build on what they have:

  But of the best leaders When their task is done

  The people will remark "We have done it ourselves."

  [Ancient Chinese Proverb]
  
  
  
  
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The Key to Joy!

As my good friend Ron says, "It's all about relationships".

With "social media"...it's about "friends", "connections" and "followers".

Over the course of time, I have added, "Yes, and it's all about Communication."
Communication, Communication, Communication.

All about Relationships: Yes, with Jesus through God our Father...and then relationship with each other.

To develop any relationship, we need to listen and to communicate.
So it's all about Communication, Communication Communication.

With God, we communicate through Prayer.

With each other, we communicate in many ways.

But in any relationship...even with the best of Relationship and Communication, we mess up. It's called sin.

With God we can repent and ask for forgiveness.

So to complete the circle...I have added yes, and it's all about Forgiveness.
Forgiveness, Forgiveness, Forgiveness.

 

Just as we can have a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ and with each other...We can communicate our love  and needs to Him and also to other...but in the process we have a tendency to mess up. But again, we can ask God for forgiveness...and as He has made His forgiveness available to us, we then also need to forgive each other.

As Eugene H. Peterson says in The Message: Matthew 6: "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part." 

So how can we NOT forgive others?

As we experience God's forgiveness and grace, it's then pretty easy to forgive other!

When we do that...we can truly have JOY!

Also, don't forget to forgive yourself...But that's another story...for another time.

With all the relationships we have..."Friends", "Connections", "Followers"...

best to start with God.

Finding true peace with God 

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