September 30
John 20:19-23 | The Sent One(s)
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” This is an extraordinary and enlivening statement by Jesus. In this story, we get a compelling picture of what God’s mission is—the sending of Jesus and the Spirit into the world to spread God’s peace, new creation, and forgiveness. We also learn how deeply we, as the church, are tied into this mission. In fact, it is our very reason for being. And God has given us two important resources to live out this mission: the Spirit and Jesus. Therefore through the Spirit and in Jesus we are able to live out our identity as “sent ones” to share that peace, new creation, and forgiveness.
Matthew 21:28-32 | Moving from Must-do to Want-to
In the parable of The Two Sons, Jesus compares two responses to the gospel; the response of the Pharisees (religious leaders of his day) and the response of the sinners saved by grace. Jesus teaches us that the one who has changed their mind (repented) to understand and accept the gospel is the one who will enter the kingdom of God, while the one who feels no need to change their mind is on the outs. The former recognizes their sin, repents and believes while the latter has seen no need to. The gospel is for everybody, but Jesus teaches us that we can move from a must-do mentality of religion to a want-to mentality of grace.
Acts 8:26-40
God is at work in individual people’s lives to bring about his plan for cosmic redemption. We see in this story that God is at work in both Philip as well as the Ethiopian’s lives as he calls both of them to himself. The Ethiopian; to come into a relationship with God through Christ, and Philip; to participate with what God is doing. This conversion story is one of the most important in history, as it was the first record of a Gentile Christian. Here we see the Gospel being spread beyond Jerusalem and towards the ends of the earth. What began here, because of the work of Christ, continues with us today as the church continues to participate in what God is doing in our world.
Challenge: How will we, the church, participate in God’s plan for cosmic redemption? For those who are not yet Christ-followers, how will you respond to the call of God to come into a relationship with him?