Adventurous Living - The Meadow Springs Community Church Podcast

For the man or woman who claims faith in Jesus Christ, living in fear is, at its root, doubting the goodness of God. "Do not fear, for your Heavenly Father knows when even a little bird fall to the ground, and you are worth far more than any birds." Do battle with fear - do not let it destroy, discourage or defeat your faith.

Convincing a a group of people with a message that, on merit alone, is surely not true. What kind of a witness is that?

The 'who' and the 'how' of preaching the gospel is very broad and for sure is not relegated to a Sunday morning platform. Preaching happens at summer bbqs and coffee shops, via phone calls and an encouraging note. Preaching happens when we, the messengers, share the message we've been given with somebody else.

Sometimes it feels like a well-loved stuffed animal from our youth could cure whatever ails. But are we being shortsighted? Have we looked past the deeper need in favor of a stubbed toe?

There is power and significance in eating together and being part of inviting outsiders to the joy of life in relationship to God and his people. An important lesson of evangelism is this - we do not have any right to share our faith with someone with whom we would not share a meal.

So many good things happen when we listen to one another. When we listen to someone - hear a part of their story, their interests, hobbies or something about their family - we understand that person better. If we really want to love our neighbors... listening is an act of love.

We begin with prayer... prayer for people with whom we live, work and play. Why? For hope, for mercy and the opportunity to join God, as a partner, in turning the lives and hearts of those we know and love toward Jesus.

Sometimes we are not quite sure how we can bless others... how to be salt and light to people... and encourage them toward a relationship with Jesus. Well, take heart, because when God blesses, He empowers something or someone to be and do what it is He has designed for it to be or to do. We get to take part in blessing others because we have been blessed.

The old adage says 'walking the walk' is more important than 'talking the talk'. We need to, as followers of Jesus, flip that around because the most difficult, yet effective and profound, thing we will ever do for Jesus Christ is say something, or 'talking the talk', about Him and what He has done in us and for us.

Shame. Because we feel unworthy. Fear. Because we live in a fallen world. Death. Because we know it comes for us all. Jesus' death and resurrection set in motion the plan God had all along. He promised, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." We will be raised with him, our new bodies perfect and eternal, to be with him forever. In fact, there ain't no grave gonna hold my body down.