Righteousness by Service

"This is what the LORD says: 'Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.' " -Isaiah 56:1-2 NIV

What does it mean to do what is right? Is it simply an act of obedience? The above passage tells us that righteousness comes from doing what is right in God's eyes.

This past weekend, some gentlemen from the Greater Philadelphia church of Christ visited us. They were itinerant preachers of sort, simply going around the country strengthening churches and doing community service projects. Over dinner at the Sacramento Church, they shared about how they encountered a group of men recovering from substance abuse answered the call to service. Those men's task were to serve a women's shelter and to help the poor. That group and the trio from Philadelphia all understood that the call to service is an act of righteousness. They also realized that only by the saving grace of Jesus Christ that they are able to perform such vital service.

Earlier, before the Philadelphia Trio arrived, a group of people from the Sacramento Church performed similar projects in downtown Sacramento by serving the homeless and cleaning up our building. After meeting them, both groups were inspired to do more top serve our communities and to continuously spread the gospel.

(For more info about this group, log onto http://www.immanuelbymile.com to see their blog of this journey).

Acts of service is an act of righteousness. Serve someone today so you can continue to share the love of Christ and draw people to Him.

Faith of a mustard seed in spite of what people see

"[Jesus] replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'"- Matthew 17:20 NIV

Do you lack faith? I certainly fall under this trap, especially when it comes to doing my part to advance the gospel. However, in the last few weeks, I discovered that my lack of faith is due to the lack of trust in my Savior, Jesus Christ.

At a recent devotional, I shared my difficulty moving around in the fellowship. After a decade of being in a saving relationship with Christ, I still find it difficult to take initiative with others in my congregation. Even while serving as an usher, I blew a golden opportunity to share with a seeker who came to my church for the first time. I was so afraid o pouring my heart out and answering awkward theological questions that i was stand offish. ( I pray thbat this lady can come back and visit the church again).

The real issue is that I have difficult time believing thta God can and will use me to bring others to Him. In case you do not know, I suffered severe burns all over my body twenty years ago, and I was teased and often asked annoying questions about my injuries. It has gotten to a p[ont that it would be best for me to shy away. However, if God can send His Son to the cross to die for me, and raise Him from the dead, why should I lack the faith that I can turn a personal tragedy into an evangelistic opportunity? Should I care if the seeker take me seriously as His messenger?

The point to this anecdote is that If a small amount of faith can move mountains, people who believe in Christ in spite of personal tragedies and deformities (such as myself) should have faith that someone will accept the saving grace of Christ fthrough his or her testomony.

Back to business

For the few who actually read my blog:

The time gap between post is wide due to preparations for Spring Semester at Sacramento City College.  I will attempt to recap a recent sermon I heard at my home congregation, the Sacramento Metro Church of Christ.

It opened up with what went right and what went wrong.   I came to the conclusion that, despite the positives, legalism and people-focused expectations outweighed that positives of people growing in their faith in Christ.

I will post my full perspective of the sermon at a later time, but I want teach of the readers to meditate on Acts 2:42-47 to get a glimpse of what fellowship and life in Christ should be.

(If you are interested, the sermon is posted on http://www.sacmetrococ.org under the title "Committed Christians.")

The Recap of Last Week's Retreat

As Promised, here is an excerpt of the lesson learned from the retreat at Zephyr Point. For the sake of time, I am writing it in outline format:

Discipleship and being close to God- Jeremiah 24:14-15
-The choice is mine to serve God.
-It comes from a Christlike heart
Psalm 18:30-35-God will make me great.

Evangelism
Philemon 1:6-In what ways am I sharing my faith in Christ?
Matthew 9:35-Do I have compassion for the lost?

Discipling (relationships within the Lord's church).
Proverbs 12:1-Not accepting correction=stupidity!
Hebrews 10:23-25-Spurring others on
Proverbs 19:20-listening to advice leads to wisdom (see also Proverbs 15:2)
Genesis 4:9-10-Am I my brother's (or sister's) keeper?

Afterward, I came to a conclusion that, without being close to God, the latter two will not be as effective. That is a lot I need to think about even a week later.

Back from haitus

To those who came by my blog lately, it has been inactive due to several projects for school and maintaining  my other Web site (http://www.saccampusoutreach.org), so I apologize for any inconvenience.

However, later this week, I will share about my church's retreat held this past weekend (Nov. 21-23) in Zephyr Point, Nevada.  It was definitely a time to build my faith and build memories.  The highlight was a class on building my faith, which involves growing close to God, evangelism, and discipling and fellowship.

Stay tuned...

Without Restraint

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." -Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NIV

The above passage was used in a Bible study conducted at UC Davis on Thursday. As my group gathered around, we were asked, "If we had no restrauint, what would we do?" I jokingly replied that I would run up and down the street in traffic and act foolish.

The point of this discussion and what the Scripture refered to was that everything is meaningless apart from God. After all we achieve and the crazy, zany things we do in life, the only thing that matters is that we have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.

Be on Guard!

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." - Luke 12:35-40 NIV

The above passage is a mouthful, but it is thought provoking. Jesus tells His followers to be on guard and be watchful at all times. After all, God expects us to do His work at all times because we never know when He will return.

Recently, at Sacramento City College, I along with other students passed out surveys to generate possible topics for Bible studies. An overwhelming amount of students responded. However, when I added them to an e-mail list, several addresses bounced back! Rather than get discouraged, I had to continue to maintain this list to let everyone else who expressed interest about upcoming events through our Campus Ministry. If I stop the work for the sake of discouragement, it will displease God.

So, be on guard and continue to do God's work and submit to his will.