The Things Prayer Does

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 17
Read pgs 88-91 30 DCC guidebook

Then he said, "Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don't have a thing on hand.'

"The friend answers from his bed, 'Don't bother me. The door's locked; my children are all down for the night; I can't get up to give you anything.'

"But let me tell you, even if he won't get up because he's a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he'll finally get up and get you whatever you need.

"Here's what I'm saying:

   Ask and you'll get;
   Seek and you'll find;
   Knock and the door will open.

"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? 

As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"

Jesus, Luke 11:5-10 The Message

That is quite an amazing passage of scripture.  I can only take it to mean that Jesus believes there is a very real and tangible power in prayer.  

What do we think?  

I think our beliefs about prayer are made known by the way we practice it.  

Why don't we pray more?  

Maybe we are afraid we won't say the right words.  Maybe it feels like an exercise in talking to an imaginary friend.  Maybe we're kind of afraid it will work.  Maybe we're absolutely sure it won't.  

But what did Jesus say about it, and what did he do?  

He prayed.  A lot.  

The one who we believe by faith was no less than God among us, God with us --- prayed.  He had a habit of sneaking off and being by himself to be present with God.  

We don't know what he said during those times.  The closest windows we have to the prayers of Jesus are his prayers for the unity of the church in John, his prayer in Gethsemane, and what we know as The Lord's Prayer.  

They're all amazingly simple.  They're all deeply beautiful, and timeless, and they all seem anchored in a deep kind of submission to God's love and authority.  

Which might be closer to the reason we struggle with our prayers.  

Jesus tells us to ask with boldness and clarity.  And then by example, he asks for things like a single day's bread, forgiveness and the ability to forgive, protection, submission to God's will, even if it means a cross.  

The results were incredible.  This man prayed for the forgiveness of others...while they were crucifying him.  

To me, this might be the greatest prayer miracle of them all.  Our hearts are transformed when we sit in communion with the presence of God.  We cannot help but be changed.  

May it be truly so for me, and for all of us.  

Grace, Peace, and Transformation through Prayer -- 

Adam 

Today's Small Step:  Commit to writing down one prayer per day for the rest of this 30 Day Challenge.  Even if it's one sentence, that is more than enough.  

Today's Big Idea:   What prayers would we pray right now if we truly thought that God would answer them?  Write those down.  

A Daily Time With God

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 16

Read pgs 84-87 in our guidebook

"In the morning, Lord, yuo hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly."  Psalm 5:3

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  Psalm 46:10  

Well, thus begins part 2 of our 30 day journey.

We're halfway!  And halfway, I have found, tends to be about the hardest part of anything worth doing.

Paint the house?  The job begins with expectation about what the new color will look like.  It begins with the excitement of opening fresh buckets and new brushes.  But the middle?  Well, the middle feels like sweat, and a lot like work.  The house looks as bad as it ever will.  Half something new but still clinging to the old.

If it's a new paint job on your house, you can't really quit halfway in, because it's just too obvious.

But there are lots of other halfway points when the temptation can be too strong.

Halfway is when you have to start truly believing in the new outcome.  You have to somehow push on.  Now, practicing a spiritual discipline for 15 more days is hardly a world-shattering act of human strength.

But, by now, you've probably experienced a couple of "failures."  You've had a few days when you were just too tired, too busy or too distracted to read and think and pray.

It's not the time to give up.  It's the time to pray harder.  You can do it.

Imagine the reward, and keep pushing, praying.

Grace, Peace, and Divine Determination --
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Ask God to help you establish a daily quiet time.  Choose a time.  Have a place.  Have a plan.  Stick to it.  All of this, with God's help.

Today's Big Idea:  What might change in your life if you made a way to get away from the busy-ness every day and pray?

The Mark of Maturity

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 15 (Halfway!)
Read pgs 80 - 83 in the 30DCC Guidebook

"In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world -- just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace."  Colossians 1:6

Today's devotional reading reminds us of what it's like to grow up.  As we get further away from our childhood and adolescence, it's easy to forget just how hard that process can be.  Sometimes, we doubt our own "maturity," and that of people around us.  What does maturity mean, anyway?

Spiritually speaking, I always think of the "fruits of the Spirit."  Using the metaphor of a plant, it is classified as mature when it begins to bear fruit and reproduce.  That's the "fruit" image used by scripture.

When I was a kid, I learned a fruits of the Spirit song, and it stuck.  I can still remember those things that are listed out in Galatians 5.

These are pretty good markers for maturity in our faith:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control

So, how much of those do we have?   I know, it can be painful to give an honest answer.  I would say that no matter how much we experience those wonderful gifts, we could all use them more often in our lives.

How can that happen?  Connection to "the vine."  Jesus said that unless branches are connected to the vine, they can't bear fruit.  We can understand that.  Jesus is that vine.  How do we connect?  Read the Gospels.  Read them again, and then read them again, and maybe one more time.  Apply daily.  Prayer, lots of it.  Relationships with brothers and sisters in the faith who can listen and encourage.  Give.  Serve.

Maturity means change.  It means stretching, and moving, and growth.  It may even hurt, a little.  But the fruit on the other side is very sweet.

Grace, Peace and Growth,
Adam

Today's Small Step:   Ask God to show you who to pray for, and begin praying that God would help you to reach out to them with God's grace and love.

Today's Big Idea:  What fears and insecurities could be keeping you from taking steps toward spiritual maturity?

And, a video for today that has nothing to do with anything.  I just got up and listened to this again this morning, and man I love these guys.  They first recorded together in the early 70's with Jerry Garcia sitting in on banjo.  This is a recent reunion concert with the great David Grisman on mandolin.

Givers and Takers (Use Things, Love People)

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 14
Read pgs 76-79, 30 DCC Guidebook

"A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."  Proverbs 11:25

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them."  Jesus, John 7:38

Today's devotional reading just laid it on the line, beautifully:  "It is quite simple, really.  God cannot give more to those whose hands are already full."

Our view of the Sea of Galilee, trip to Tiberias, Israel, 2008.

It is the tale of two lakes that Jesus knew well.  One was green and blue, full of life.  The other, brown and salty, was absolutely dead.   The Sea of Galilee, Jesus home, was a "giver."  Fed by fresh sources and natural springs, it flows and constantly refreshes itself, and all those whose lives are sustained by it.  I've seen it in person, and it truly is a beautiful place of life.

The other sea is a "taker."  Many, many feet of altitude below Jerusalem, and below sea level, the Dead Sea receives all of the minerals that the surrounding desert has to offer.  There is no outlet, and the result is a body of water in which nothing at all can live.    It's a great place for a mudbath, but it's not much of a place to go fishing.

Perhaps we are built in the very same way.

The Dead Sea shoreline, caked with deposits of salt.

What is our attitude toward life?

Givers are marked by things like:  noticing the needs of others, helpfulness, and generosity.  They pick up the tab.  They really listen.  They get their hands dirty.  They live with generosity.

Takers experience life differently.  They are oblivious to others' needs.  They ask, "what's in it for me?"  They don't go out of their way and they resent being asked to do so.  They are sensitive to defending their own rights, and they have a terrible habit of loving things and using people.

Which are we?  Most of us are some combination of both.  But if we dare to believe that God is generous.  If we practice gratitude and truly see all that we receive, we can risk opening up and letting the water of our spirits begin to flow.

As we give, our capacity to receive, to love and to be loved, increases in equal or greater measure.

Isn't that amazing?  I think it truly is.

Grace, Peace, and Giving over Taking,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Listen to your conversations today.  Challenge yourself to be a giver, not a taker.  Listen more than you talk.

Today's Big Idea:  Who are the most giving people that you have known?  What do you think made them that way?  How are we like them or unlike them, and how can we grow to be more giving, like them?

Like a Cedar of Lebanon

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 13

This Week's Challenge:  Growth through Scripture and Prayer 

"...so your roots grow down into God's love and keep you strong."  Ephesians 3:17

"...flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar of Lebanon."  Psalm 92

Not too many of us are familiar with the "cedars of Lebanon."  In fact, growing up, the only Lebanon I'd really heard much about was the one in Tennessee.  The cedar trees I saw were mostly scrubby, growing in fence rows.  

But for the people of the Bible, the cedar trees from Lebanon were the biggest trees that they knew.  So, imagine scripture saying, "grow your faith into the biggest tree that you've ever seen."  

This resonates with me.  I love to plant things and watch them grow.  Years ago, when Holly and I first moved into our home, our backyard was a blank slate.  Red clay, and not much else.  

I transplanted a tulip poplar sapling that had one little leaf growing off of it.  I brought it home in a styrofoam cup.  Eight years later, that tree is now approaching 25 feet tall.  It should someday top out over 100'!  

I believe that growth is the nature of this creation, and it is the very nature of God.  

For trees to grow, they need to be in the right place, and they need the right soil and moisture.  When those things are right, they know what to do, and they will do it.  

We need some spiritual nutrition that we can't supply for ourselves, as well.  Scripture and prayer are two of the most important pieces.    If you've begun to make a habit of daily spiritual discipline during these 13 days, you've already begun to experience those nutrients.  

Maybe our faith in styrofoam cup sized.  Maybe it needs what the red clay can offer.  With daily care and nurture, a cedar of Lebanon may just be hiding inside your soul.  

Grace, Peace, and Growth,

Adam 

Today's Small Step:  What attributes of your spiritual growth would you like to work on over the next 12 months?  What will you do to stretch yourself from your current habits? 

Today's Big Idea:  Has there been a time in your life when you've grown by leaps and bounds?  Have their been times when your growth seemed to slow altogether?  What made the difference?  

The Joyful Heart

The 30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 11

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. 

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. 

Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.          -- From Philippians 4 (MSG)

Today's topic is a huge one for us, I think.  

What does it mean to have joy?  How can our devotion to worship bring joy into our lives?  

Isn't the point of our lives to be happy, after all?  

I think it's helpful for us to consider what happiness really is.  It's a wonderful experience of the mind.  It's a truly pleasant emotion, so pleasant, in fact, that we want to re-create it over and over.  Which is the problem with happiness.  It passes.  

Emotions change, most often in relationship to circumstances.  In the scripture above, Paul is talking about something much, much, deeper.  He's talking about a power that doesn't come and go with the seasons, but that is an essential part of who we are.  

Paul is describing what it feels like to have true joy in our lives.  

"Joy is a choice," today's devotional reading says, and I think I agree.  I might add that it is also a gift.  Over the course of his life, Paul had seen God at work so many times, in so many ways, that he chose to receive as truth the gift of God's unfailing presence around and within him.  

That allows him to make what to us is surely an amazing statement:  "I have learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances."  

What about us?  What would it take for us to choose to believe in God as the giver of abiding joy, whatever the circumstances?  

Happy is good, but Joy is so much better.  

Grace, Peace and True Joy, 

Adam 

Today's Simple Step:  Write a prayer to God, after reading Philippians 4.  Identify one of your life circumstances right now where you will CHOOSE joy, whether you feel joyful or not at this moment.  Ask God to show you the way and to help you at every turn.  

Today's Big Idea:  list the things that bring you joy, regardless of circumstance.  

The Grateful Heart

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 10

Read pgs. 56-59 in the 30DCC guidebook

Psalm 103:22
"Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul."

Today's reading is all about the power of gratitude to transform our hearts, minds, relationships and worship.

Our Church Challenge guidebook tells the story of Ann Voskamp, and her wonderful book, One Thousand Gifts.  Just last fall, our church built an entire season of our life together around this book and her practice of naming our gratitude, every single day.

Gratitude as intentional spiritual practice.  Powerful.

It has been said that it's very hard, if not impossible, to be simultaneously grateful and angry...or frustrated...or negative.

Gratitude is fundamental to our faith, because it reminds us that first things must always be first for us.  If everything else is to fall into its proper place, God must be first in our hearts and minds because everything is from God.

The hearts that beat within us.  The food that we eat, and our capacity to enjoy it.  The breath that flows, and mind that shapes thoughts, and the lips that speak.  All of these are nothing short of mind-blowing miracles, and we are not the giver of those gifts.  We are the recipients.  We are the beneficiaries.

I have let my personal discipline of listing my gratitude (read One Thousand Gifts for more) wane in the last year.  I think it's time to begin again.    One thing I know for sure is that when I go back to that list and read and remember the hundreds of small moments that I did not let slip away, I become a better person.

That list can take any downward turn in my mood and bring a smile back to my face.

Brothers and sisters, that is real power.  That is gratitude.  It is absolutely the best possible way to walk the Path of Life.

Happy, and Grateful, Walking,
Adam

Today's Simple Step:  List ten things you are grateful for today.  I would challenge you to go beyond the "obvious" thanksgiving dinner list --- of course it is important to be grateful for "family, food, my home," but see if you can push yourself to really observe your life today.  What are ten small things you might often overlook, but for which you are truly grateful.

Today's Big Idea:  What keeps us from giving thanks?

An Extra Challenge:  Re-read or read for the first time, "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  It's good for you.  

No music today --- instead, a link -- this is Ann Voskamp's blog, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Check it out.  http://www.aholyexperience.com/

Begin with Praise

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 9

Read pgs 52-55 in the Guidebook

Psalm 100:3-5
"Know that the Lord is God. 
It is he who made us, and we are his; 
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 
give thanks to him and praise his name. 
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 
his faithfulness continues through all generations." 

Have you ever noticed how most church worship services have a similar sort of order and movement, regardless of the style or the church denomination?  What I mean is, an opening worship set full of upbeat, energetic praise music played on drums and guitars really isn't that different from a formal, powerful, stirring processional played on a massive pipe organ.

OK, those things are incredibly different in terms of their sound, and style, and pretty much in every other possible way.  But they're not really any different in what they're trying to accomplish.  And what they're trying to accomplish is essential to the heart of worship, and in our lives.

It's always a good idea to begin with praise.

I love what today's devotion from the guidebook points out:  praise changes our perspective, and makes it right.

We are naturally self-centered, while a real act of praise has to be God-centered (though we easily fail to transcend our self-centeredness when we focus more on the leaders, the music, the quality of the singing, etc.)

We remember that there is a God, and He is not Us.

I have to call that a good place to start.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Brainstorm a list of God's attributes?  Feel like pushing yourself just a bit?  See if you can come up with a word to describe God for every letter of the alphabet.  This is an old practice from the psalms themselves.

Today's Big Idea:  For what things do you most often praise God?  God's power?  Love?  Mercy?  Patience?  What's your "default" way of thinking about and praising God?  What does that "default" reveal?

Wired for Worship

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 8

Read pgs 48-51 in the 30 Day Guidebook

"[God] has planted eternity in the human heart,"  Ecclesiaastes 3:11 NLT

As I write at this moment, it's just a few minutes before sunrise.

Right now, the sky is still nearly black with complete darkness.  But in just a few seconds, the first streaks of light will begin to project a path across the sky.

In the moments that follow a daily miracle will unfold.  I can hear the birds begin to speak to each other.  They know what is happening.  The frogs and crickets do too, as they begin the curtain call of their all-night concert.

Humans know too.  If we allow ourselves to feel it, we do know.  God is here, in these moments.  We are wired for worship.

The first humans that lived here on this continent had a deep connection with creation.  Some of them worshiped the sun as a god.  We know that the sun points to the God who made it, and today's reading from our 30 Day devotional guide reminds us that something as deeply beautiful as a sunrise speaks to the eternal that is planted within us.

Worship completes the circuit of our essential wiring.  When we give God our sacrifice of praise, we are recognizing the gift of life within us, and the gift of the world in which we live.  We are grateful for this life, and for all the life that is to come.

Our chief end really is to glorify God and serve him forever.

Let's embrace the wiring within,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Today, spend at least 5 minutes observing and admiring God's creative hand in nature.  A great place is the SOTH nature trail, which begins at the wooden sign at the NW corner of our parking lot. Walk down to the creek and sit for a while on the bench that overlooks it.  I've never failed to see wildlife if I sit there still and quiet for a time.

Today's Big Idea:  Think back on the last few times that you felt spontaneously and sincerely grateful to God. What caused those moments?  Why did you suddenly feel that emotion of thanks?

Worship is a Verb

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 7

Read pgs 44-47 in the 30 Day Guidebook

"Here's what I want you to do, God helping you:  Take your everyday, ordinary life -- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -- and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him."  Romans 12:1, The Message

Our theme for this week?  Worship!  Literally, from it's "the work of the people."

For believers, worship is what we do.

Today's reading from the 30 DCC guidebook reminds us of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.  Can you imagine the worship that they had on the other side of Red Sea?  They knew they had been "delivered," and that only God's power had made their freedom possible.

What about us?

If worship is the "work of the people" in response to God's power and presence, what are we responding to? Do we know?  Why not?

I think we're pretty hard to impress as a people, nowadays.   We've seen a lot.  We really believe in our own power, and in the power of science and technology to save us.

Maybe we've forgotten a bit about the giver of those gifts.  Maybe the impact of our worship experiences are directly related to our ability to observe God's presence in our lives, and respond to his presence.

Maybe incredible worship starts when we develop our blunted sense of gratitude.  At least for me, that's where I want to start.

Everything is miracle.  All is gift.  I want to remember that, and live a life of worship in response.

With God's help...
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Read Romans 12:1, and spend some time talking with God about what this kind of worship life might look like.  Be specific about the things that God has done for you, and how you want to respond.

Today's Big Idea:  Brainstorm all the ways you can consciously make your "walking-around" life a sacrifice of worship to God today.

"One Another-ness" and You

30 Day Church Challenge Day 5
Read pgs 32-35 in the 30DCC guidebook

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."  I Peter 4:8-9

I love the metaphor of test-taking that is used today in our 30 Day Challenge guidebook.

"First, read the instructions."

And, what a set of instructions we have from scripture when it comes to our life together.

Things like:
Love one another
Accept one another
Be devoted to one another
Live in harmony with one another

And on, and on, and on.

The way that his followers relate to one another seems to be of paramount importance to Jesus.

"They will know you by your love."

What if participation in a trusted place of intimate, small-group community serves as the "instructions" for our larger life together?

What if trying to jump into the life of faith and into the life of a church family without plugging deeply into a tight, small group commitment is like trying to take a test without reading the instructions?

Just as today's reading says, we might get a few things right, but we're going to miss out on a lot, and we're definitely not going to be ready for the next test.

Carve out the time.  Prioritize its importance.  Dare to take the challenge.  Commit to a place of connection within the life of the church.  It can make all the difference.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Perform one act of service and kindness --- as simple as writing a note to someone who needs encouragement or calling up an old friend to rebuild that relationship.

Today's Big Idea:  Of all the "one anothers" listed on page 34 in the guidebook, which one is hardest for you? Which is easiest?  Which one do you need to experience most from someone else?

The Good and the Not Good

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 4

"Go to the ant, you lazy person.  Consider its ways and grow wise."  Proverbs 6:6

Today's devotional thoughts take us down into the world of the lowly ant.  Yep, ants.

Fun facts I learned:  1)  ants can carry 50 times their body weight.  2)  There are enough ants in the world that their combined "biomass" equals that of all humans.  Wow.  Kind of creepy.  3)  There's no such thing as a "solo" ant.  They always live and work in community.

Those ants are part of the miraculous "good" that God made.  After making all things in Genesis 1, God declared his work, "good."

But soon, we learn that there was one thing "not good."  It was not good for Adam to be alone.

The original human problem...loneliness.  (Genesis 2:18)

Maybe this means that we, too, were built to work and live in community.  Now, I don't know much about the inner emotional, psychological or spiritual world of ants.  I have a hunch that we humans may be slightly more complicated with our big brains and bigger egos.

Brokenness within us can sometimes break community around us.  But when that happens, we need to remember this is "not good."  It's not the ideal.  We have to look for forgiveness, ask for it and extend it, and we must find our way back into community.
With God's help, all things are possible.  We need each other.  We need you. Grace & Peace, Adam

  Today's Small Step:  Commit to finding a small group for fellowship and accountability.

  Today's Big Idea:  "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."  What areas in your life have grown dull or rusty?  Write down some ways that relationship with a group of believers might get the rust off and restore vitality to your life.

The Great Dance

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day 3, Wednesday

"God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'  So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them..."  Genesis 1

Why do we think relationships are so important to the Christian path of discipleship?

Because relationship is the very nature of God.

The Cappadocian Fathers (obviously not a comedy team)

That's what Gregory of Nazianzus was the first (among many) to say.    Today's devotional guide reading poitns out that he used the ancient Greek word "perichoresis" to describe the interplay between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Literally translated, this word means "circle dance," and I love the idea of the trinity dancing.  When our life is at its best at Shepherd of the Hills, it is a fast-paced dance of community, filled with laughter and music.

Maybe this idea of God as "divine dance party" is new to you.  I hope so, because if it is new, it has the power to open your mind to new possibilities.  Church life should be every bit as fun and raucous as the dancing at a traditional Greek wedding.

This is the nature of the God we serve.

Now, get out there, find some partners, and dance like you mean it.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

Today's Small Step:  Prayer -- Ask God to show you the people with whom he wants you to connect.  If you already have a group that is a place of intentional relationship, then give God thanks!  If not, ask, seek and knock and then give thanks as the answers begin to fall into place.

Today's Big Idea:  Do you run from community?  Do you seek it out and embrace it wherever you find it?  Why do you think that you're the way you are?   Do you have God-given gifts for building connections?  How could God use you to build community in the life of our church?   Is this an area where you truly struggle?  Ask God to show you how you can make tiny steps forward, with his help, each day into deeper relationships.

Together Time

30 Day Church Challenge:  Day Two

Acts 2:42-47 (CEB)
⁴² The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. ⁴³ A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were united and shared everything. ⁴⁵ They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them.⁴⁶ Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. ⁴⁷ They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.

Left to my own devices, I would probably spend a lot of time on my own.  I really enjoy quiet time, reading, thinking and planning for the future.  

That technically makes me lean toward "introvert," but it doesn't mean that I'm ready to move off to a cave and take up the life of a hermit just yet.  

I enjoy being with people too.  I think most of us are probably that way.  

The truth is we all need time apart.  We need quiet.  But we also need each other.  We need the gift of laughter and smiling faces.  We need to tell stories and be heard, and we need to listen and love in a way that can only happen when we're with other people.  It's just how we're made.  

Today's reading from our devotional guide points out an interesting thing about today's life, however.  Maybe we're rarely truly alone, or truly with others in any kind of intentional way that makes a difference.  

This is something that church has to offer.   Being with people doesn't mean just being surrounded by noise and distraction.  Many times I have found myself in a crowded coffee shop, or at a ballpark, or a shopping center, only to find that though many people are in the same place, few of them are actually "with each other" in any kind of meaningful way.  We easily tend to live in our bubbles of protection until we can get back inside the safety of our houses and plug into a screen.  

But we were made for more.  We were made for "fellowship and the breaking of bread."  We were made for hope and encouragement.  We were made to walk this path of life...together.  

Grace & Peace,
Adam 

Today's Small Step:  Check out your latest church newsletter, your weekly worship bulletin, and the latest emails from SOTH and church facebook postings for ways that you can plug into one of our many small groups.  

Better yet, come out at 9:30 this coming Sunday morning and join the newly forming "30 Day Church Challenge" study group! 

Today's Big Idea:  Look back over Acts 2:42-47.  Which parts of the story most appeal to you?  How could you incorporate these kinds of experience into your life? 

30 Day Church Challenge: Authentic Community

Read "Monday, Day 1," pgs 16-19 in your 30 Day Challenge Guidebook

Psalm 133:1 (Common English Bible)
Look at how good and pleasing it is when families live together as one! 

Nothing ever makes me happier as a Dad than watching my boys live in true peace and unity together.  This Psalm makes me think that something about God's own heart works in the very same way.

On the deepest level of creation itself, we need authentic community.  Even our understanding of God as Trinity is a beautiful example of community.  The perfection completion of Alpha and Omega means Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Even so, something in us resists.  Something in us is afraid.  Something is uncertain and anxious.  Something in us wants "easier."

But until we live together in authentic community, no church and no disciple can really be thought of as complete.

These 30 days of challenge offer an opportunity for dramatic personal transformation, and for a remaking and re-imagining of what is possible in the life of our church.   We shouldn't think that will be easy.  It is a "challenge," after all.

We are not called to be a club for people of shared interests or socio-economics.  We are not called only to affirm one another in what we already think and believe.  Scripture tells us that we are to be as iron that sharpens iron.  We are to build a home of real, authentic community on the shared foundation of the grace that saves us.

That is a challenge worth taking up.

Grace & Peace,
Adam

This week's Big Challenge:  Join a small group for authentic community and accountability. Today's Small Step:  Think of the 10 most important relationships in your life.  Where has a gap or separation grown in one of those relationships?  Call that person today and set up a time to meet and make things right. Today's Really Good Question:  What makes your church a true home?