"At the original last supper he ate with the man who would betray him, the man who would publicly deny him three times over the following twelve hours, and nine others who would shortly abandon him in his hour of most profound need, leading up to and including the crucifixion. If they were acceptable people to take that first communion with then why aren’t we? "

We looked at 1 Corinthians 9 on Sunday:

1-2 And

don’t tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I’m

perfectly free to do this—isn’t that obvious? Haven’t I been given a job

to do? Wasn’t I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting

with Jesus, our Master? Aren’t you yourselves proof of the good work

that I’ve done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority

of my commission, you can’t deny it. Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority!

"Forrest Gump said that life is like a box of chocolates, Rod says that life is like an old fashioned doughnut with a hole in it. Some things like real idolatry are wrong every day of the week and five times on Sundays. Other things like eating food offered to idols or doing yoga are discretionary, they are not wrong in themselves but may do harm to others"

So I have no idea what this Christian life was all about, how do I now live, what’s important and what’s not? What

are the rules? How do I please God and avoid annoying him?

Your life is telling a story; what is it saying?  What words are you using to tell speak the gospel message?  Are you telling it?  Who is listening to your story?

Phil talked about building connections with his non Christian

neighbors, do you have people in your life that you are praying will

follow Christ?  What is the next step to take with those particular

people? How can we support each other in evangelism?

An excerpt... "When I was the pastor at Ilam Baptist, the whole gay

marriage thing was going through and predictably many Christians were upset about

it.  It seemed to me that there was a lot

of shouting from both sides of the debate but little listening.  So I thought, how might we address that at

our church."

An excerpt:

"So we are never to judge our leaders? Are we supposed to park our own wisdom and discernment and just be obedient little clones? If we are not to judge people then how are we to select our leaders in the first place?"

An excerpt:

"Our leaders, our mentors contribute to our growth but they don’t determine it or make it happen.  God

gives the growth.  When something that we read or hear leads us to

change in a good way, it’s a still a work of God.  The Spirit may use

someone else’s insight to grow you.  Ask any preacher – we all have

stories of offhand or tangential comments that God has really used to

heal or grow his people."

To be a faithful Christian is by definition to be a fool by the standards that rule out there.  If we can embrace that reality then God can do great things with us and through us.