The LORD God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He has established laws in nature which govern all the processes of life–planting, growth, cultivation and harvest. These principles give us insight on how to conduct our lives, families, churches, and societies (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
Thriving and Growing Together: The Fellowship of Believers, Acts 2:42-47
The Acts 2 community reveals much about the nature of spiritual growth, cultivation, and the harvest that God offers to his people. Spiritual growth is fundamentally relational and communal, it is not based on the whims and sensibilities of individual folk. Such fruitful growth demands intentional commitments to shared learning, building up one another in worship, and mutually caring for one another that creates fertile soil for faith to flourish. When believers prioritize devotion to God’s Word, authentic fellowship, regular communion, and unified prayer, they establish an environment where God’s presence becomes tangible and transformative, within the church and to those observing from outside. The radical generosity and joyful unity displayed by these early Christians shows how genuine discipleship naturally overflows into sacrificial love that meets the deepest needs of the community, whether spiritual and material. By connecting with others in Christian community through gathering for teaching and prayer, generously sharing resources with those in need, and maintaining joyful worship, we grow together experiencing the presence of God and his transforming love.
Our Focus Today
We Thrive and Grow Together As We Praise God, Enjoy the Favor of Others, and Grow as God Leads, Acts 2:47.
God uses the shared journey of Christ followers to display an attractive Christian witness that draws others to Christ through our unified testimony and community life.
Invocation
Heavenly Father, thank you for the church where I belong; help us more faithfully to gather to worship you and strengthen our community bonds together! Help me to see that our shared life together can serve as a powerful witness to others of your transforming grace in the world. Grant to me a worshiping heart, the kind that joyfully praises you with such authenticity that my own worship and reverence of you will become visible and attractive to those who observe me, and to those who hear of our gatherings and relationships. Prepare us to live in such unity and love that our life together creates curiosity about the Gospel and opens doors for meaningful conversations about the hope we share in your Son. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Saturday: Jer. 39.11-18; 40.1-6; 52.12-27; 2 Kings 25.8-21; 2 Chron. 36.15-21
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Saturday: Psalm 26, 56, 86, 116, 146 and Proverbs 26
We Thrive and Grow Together As We Praise God, Enjoy the Favor of Others, and Grow as God Leads, Acts 2:47.
God uses the shared journey of Christ followers to display an attractive Christian witness that draws others to Christ through our unified testimony and community life.
Reflection
The early church itself was the proof of the Kingdom’s reality in the midst of the worshipers in Jerusalem. Effective evangelism flows naturally from the display of authentic community life characterized in the genuine worship and unified testimony of Christ followers. Our life together creates an attractive witness to God’s transforming power in Jesus. When believers consistently praise God together and demonstrate authentic love for one another, the broader community responds and often creates curiosity about the source of their joy, unity, and sacrificial care. When positive, this favorable reputation can open doors for gospel conversations about God’s grace and love. Genuine worship and community relationships grounded in Christ can bear witness of our faith to non-believing friends and neighbors.
Engaging God’s Word Today
In what specific ways might our participation in worship and Christian community serve to bear witness to non-believers in our separate spheres of influence? How do you think we can better live in such unity and freedom that our shared testimony could naturally draw others to investigate the source of our joy and love?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
Now may you, Holy Spirit, the God who enriches the fellowship of the family of God, bless our commitment to authentic worship and unified community life. Make our church a place that serves as an attractive witness to the grace of the Father in Christ. May our shared testimony and genuine love for each other earn favor with those around us and create opportunities for gospel conversations we can have that lead others to faith in Christ. Make us living demonstrations of the Father’s transforming love and use our collective witness to add to his Kingdom those who are being saved. Amen.
Scripture Memory for this season
Mark 4:26-29 (ESV):
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Book Reading and Reflection
How to recover quickly when your habits break down
No matter how consistent you are with your habits, it is inevitable that life will interrupt you at some point. Perfection is not possible. Before long, an emergency will pop up—you get sick or you have to travel for work or your family needs a little more of your time. Whenever this happens to me, I try to remind myself of a simple rule: never miss twice. If I miss one day, I try to get back into it as quickly as possible. Missing one workout happens, but I’m not going to miss two in a row. Maybe I’ll eat an entire pizza, but I’ll follow it up with a healthy meal. I can’t be perfect, but I can avoid a second lapse.
As soon as one streak ends, I get started on the next one. The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit. This is a distinguishing feature between winners and losers. Anyone can have a bad performance, a bad workout, or a bad day at work. But when successful people fail, they rebound quickly. The breaking of a habit doesn’t matter if the reclaiming of it is fast.
~ Clear, James, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Penguin Random House UK, 2018. Electronic Edition. Location 2,359.
Seedling Focus for the Season: The Growing Seed
Description: Growth often happens beneath the surface, unseen, Mark 4:26-29.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
Laws of the Harvest: The Harvest of Righteousness, Gal. 6:9-10.
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