Austin Chinese Church

In Genesis 26 we learn of two happenings when God tells us that he is with us. We no longer have to live in fear. We also will experience God's blessings in our lives. Let's claim this in faith this year as we grow in understanding what it means when God is with us.

With the beginning of a new year, a key aspect to our spiritual growth is to know what we truly love and are passionate for. To grow in worship, community and mission will entail a faith that is committed to the will of God alone as we abide in him forever.

Many times we are reticent to share our "real life stories" because we don't want to bother others, or because we are shy, or because we are fearful of what others might think of us AFTER they have heard our stories. The number of reasons/excuses NOT to share goes on and on. In today's passage, we see a complete stranger, whose life was deeply touched by the words of another stranger, which caused her to run back to her town to tell everyone she knew. The results were life-changing.

Some of my favorite videos are watching military individuals secretly arrive back home to surprise their loved ones. I can't help but cry in joy when families and friends are reunited. Such joy is evident when John the Baptist first meets Jesus. In joy John testifies to the significance of Jesus' arrival as life-transforming not just for the present, but for eternity.

In the past week, hopefully all of us have had some time to pause, reflect, and thank God for the people, circumstances, and lessons He has brought into our lives. At the same time, perhaps this annual exercise caused us to realize that there are some people in our lives who have slipped our minds, who we have not appreciated, or who we have taken for granted this year. Many times, these people have silently suffered to some extent, and the feeling of not being known/seen has been a burden that is tough to bear. Perhaps you are one of these people. How can we as a church family grow in blessing these people and appreciating them? At the same time, if we have felt forgotten or hurt, how are we to respond in a Christ-centered, life-giving way?

The women went to the tomb to see a crucified body. Instead, they saw an empty grave as they were told the body was alive. How we follow Jesus is faithfully demonstrated in believing that Jesus is the risen Lord - he is still working in bringing the dead back to life.

As lies and deceit were spitted out against him, Jesus' response was to remain silent. What would it mean for us to place our entire faith upon a man whose silence ultimately testified to his eternal victory?

Sometimes when we ask God something...He doesn't seem to answer directly. When a few of the disciples asked Jesus, "When will these things be?", they were referring to the fulfillment of events associated with the end times and the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom when the Messiah would be King. Jesus' had a long answer that was punctuated by the phrase, "Be on guard!" Sort of a weird reply...or was it? What was Jesus trying to teach His disciples, and teach us?

We are moved by people's love for us in various ways - affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, receiving gifts. As followers of Christ, how must we love in order to reflect God in our broken world?