Tag: JEsus

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Future Leaders

Faithful Father,
Throughout history you have raised up strong leaders to guide and direct your people. While there are certainly natural gifts and abilities that you grant people in those roles, you ultimately are responsible for developing and equipping remarkable leaders. Continue to bless your church with reliable, trustworthy, and faithful leaders. Keep them also humble in their work.

Help congregations to consider how they identify, train, and equip individuals for leadership. Give them men and women willing to take others under their wings and invest the time to necessary to mentor and model for them. Provide outlets for potential future leaders to serve so that they come to realize that they may have certain gifts that are well-suited for leadership. When they do, increase in them a godly desire to spend more time with Jesus in his Word, so that they shadow him and imitate his life and ministry. Fill them with encouragement and support as they grow into leadership positions, and help them to embrace their shared role in continuing to develop leaders for the future. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Fathers, Take Your Lead from the Son

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(John 16:12-15)

A father and his son each pull up a chair at the kitchen table. “I’ve always appreciated your wisdom and counsel, so I’m hoping you can help me work through a few things. I’ve been struggling a bit, and I’m looking for some advice and guidance. You’ve always said I can come to you with anything, no matter what, so I’m hoping that is still the case.” “Of course it is, dad,” the son responded, “I’ll always be here for you and will help you in any way I can. Tell me, dad, what’s on your mind?”

That’s not how you expected the conversation the kitchen table to continue, is it? We would assume that in a scenario like that – a father and son sitting down at the kitchen table to talk – the son would be the one seeking advice from the father, not the other way around. Dads are the ones with the knowledge and experience, so it’s natural for a son to look to his father for guidance and direction.

But God wants fathers – and really all of us – to see how important it is that we take our lead from the Son. Jesus had much more than just three years’ worth of guidance for his disciples – there was plenty of instruction and guidance they still needed. He made that clear with his words, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear” (v.12). 

How well does Jesus know his own! Even as he was preparing his disciples for his departure, he cares enough to continue shepherding his sheep, knowing full well that they – and we – will always be in need of instruction and guidance. No follower of Jesus has or ever will come close to achieving a PhD in discipleship. No believer can possibly achieve expert status in knowing and living according God’s will through God’s Word. There will always be more that he has to say to us. Pray that we are always willing to listen!

Jesus also showed how aware he is of how and when to unfold important spiritual truths in our lives. What was going on in the disciples’ lives that they couldn’t at that moment possibly bear whatever else Jesus had to tell them? Jesus had been starting to prepare them for when he would no longer be with them in person, and had just shared some pretty heavy things with them.

For example, he warned them that the world would hate them because of him (15:19), and that the time was quickly approaching when those who put believers to death would actually think they are serving God (16:2). Jesus knew that was a lot for them to process as they counted the cost of being his disciples. So he deliberately spread out his instruction, spacing it so that he would give them a little bit now, and more later through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on and after Pentecost. 

Notice also two things in these words of Jesus. First, he speaks with authority. When Jesus provides the details regarding his sending of the Spirit, he explains, “[The Holy Spirit] will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you” (v.14). The Holy Spirit wasn’t going to be a free spirit, revealing and proclaiming whatever he wanted to on a whim; rather, he was being sent specifically to communicate the ongoing truths and teaching of Jesus.

And from where did Jesus receive that authority? From the Father. “All that belongs to the Father is mine” (v.15a). The Father had entrusted all things to the Son for the purpose of carrying out his plan of salvation, and then making that salvation known to the ends of the earth through the work of the Spirit. Jesus had been given that authority from the Father. 

Secondly, while Jesus speaks with authority, he doesn’t speak as an authoritarian. Jesus was not a dictator. He was not the power-hungry boss who relishes reminding those beneath him that he’s in charge. No, with these words, Jesus gives a glimpse into the wonders of the Trinity – a three-in-one God dedicated to working in beautiful, perfect harmony for the salvation of all.

God hasn’t revealed himself as the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – to confuse or confound us, but to comfort us. There is a certain confidence that comes from realizing that my inability to comprehend this mystery is indicative of a God who is absolutely out of my league in terms of my simple understanding. I will never grasp the mystery of three persons, yet one God. But by faith I find supreme comfort in knowing that this out-of-my-league God is not interested in keeping me confused and in the dark, but rather in enlightening me to the certainty of salvation that he alone has secured for me. 

When I preached on these same verses from John 16 years ago, I referred to the three persons of the Trinity as the Giver, the Grunt, and the Guide. The Father, as the Giver, ultimately provides for our every need, including both physical and spiritual needs. It is together in perfect harmony with the Son and Spirit, that he delivers our spiritual needs. Without the Son carrying out the grunt work of our salvation through his perfect life and sacrificial, substitutionary death, there would be no spiritual goods for the Father to give. Finally, without the Guide, the Holy Spirit, who opens our eyes to see and believe the salvation secured for us through the Son, the Son’s work would have been in vain. So we stand in awe of the divine synergy that exists within the Holy Trinity, all for the focused purpose of soul-saving. 

Fathers, do you know what that means? It means that what God calls you to do and be in your home and family, he does not call you to do and be by yourself. “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). You have the Triune God at your disposal as you carry out this high calling! God doesn’t leave you hanging in your role as father and spiritual head of your home. Everything he calls you to, he also equips you for. And fathers, the best way you can carry out your role is by taking your lead from the Son. 

What does that look like? You can’t take your lead from the Son if you don’t first spend time with the Son yourself.

Dads, let me ask you, how well do you know your children? While answers will vary, can we agree that the solution is the same for any dad who wants to know his children better? What has to happen? You have to spend time with them. There is simply no substitute for spending time together. Sure, mom can often provide a wealth of information about a child’s. A teacher can speak to their learning abilities. A coach can share their successes and struggles.

But that mere passing along of information alone isn’t sufficient to develop a deeper relationship with your child. You have to spend time with them.

So then, if we are going to follow God’s direction, fathers, and bring up our children in the training and instruction of the Lord, then it’s absolutely necessary that we first spend time with the Lord.

Most of us know the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” But maybe we should consider if “What a Familiarity We Have with Jesus” might be a more accurate title. We know who Jesus is. We know what the Bible tells us about him. We know what others have told us about him. But can we honestly say he’s our friend… if we don’t spend time with him? Friendship requires time together, so if we don’t spend time regularly with Jesus, can we really call him our friend?

That actually leads into the most important reason to spend time with him. Because, unlike other friends who will eventually move along to other friendships if you don’t have the time for them, Jesus never will. His friendship is founded on forgiveness. His friendship is grounded in grace. He won’t ever allow your friendship with him to sour on his end, but he’s always waiting for you to deepen it on your end.

Spend time with him. Quit boring others with your lame excuses about not having the time. Prioritize getting to know Jesus more. I always say that if it matters to us, we’ll find a way; if it doesn’t, we’ll find an excuse. Don’t complicate it. Jesus invites us to know him personally as we follow his words and wonders recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Befriend him through his Word.

When that happens, you change. He changes you. Jesus changes you – for the better. And then you’ve got something to share with your children.

Without friendship with Jesus, what training and instruction would you be qualified to pass along as a father? We’re not just talking teaching your kid who to change the oil or hammer a nail – we’re talking about the divine truths and treasures that will serve them far more effectively both for this life and for eternal life. The training and instruction you’re then able to give them involves introducing them to your best friend, Jesus, and starting to encourage them to build their own friendship with him.

But one more thing has to happen. Just as you prioritize time with the Son, so you also have to prioritize time with your children. We’re all busy, and often it is with work, working as hard as we do to provide for our family. Yet how many children have ever looked back on their childhood and said they wished their dad had worked more? None.

What if I told you that you don’t need more hours in the day? Chances are, you’re already coaching them, shuttling them to practice, or watching their games. You already take them outdoors and on fishing trips. You watch their dance recitals. Take those moments you already have together and use them to bring Jesus into the conversation. For starters, don’t worry about adding additional planned spiritual interactions into an already packed calendar; rather, utilize the time you already spend together to serve as openings for talking about Jesus.

Also, bring them to church. Especially you, dads. The statistics are overwhelmingly obvious that your presence in church has a far greater impact and influence on your children’s spiritual formation than if they come by themselves or even with just mom. Spend time with your children in your Friend’s house every Sunday. Don’t settle for anything else. In a society that has embraced and even encourages lowering the bar across all areas of life, refuse to do so in this area. Set the bar high. Make worship together a non-negotiable every week. That’s where your best Friend is every Sunday. 

And that best Friend, the Savior Jesus, promises that together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he will equip fathers with everything they need to bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord. Fathers, keep looking to the Son to be the father you want to be, and the father God calls you to be.

Ascending & Sending, Part 2: The Means

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(Acts 2:1-21)

“Turn around. Your sins have been let go.” That’s how we boiled down the message of our mission in part one. It was how we captured what Jesus meant when he told his disciples that “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Lk. 24:47) and reminded them that they were witnesses, both having seen Jesus carry out the work he was sent to do, and now testifying to it as the mission is carried out. We tell others, “Turn around. Your sins have been let go.” 

It was ten days prior to the events in Acts 2 when Jesus ascended while blessing the disciples. It was at that time that he also sent the disciples on their mission. But he was not done sending. He wasn’t just sending them; there was another gift Jesus promised to send. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49). Now, on the day we call Pentecost (not some deeply significant theological designation, but which means “50”, as in fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection), Jesus was sending the very gift he promised: the Holy Spirit. 

If you had to guess where some monumental event in church history might take place, where might you guess? Church, right? Or, in their day, the temple, which is where Luke said the disciples stayed continually to praise God. That would make sense. But that’s not where the Spirit was sent on this very special occasion.

Instead, we’re told they were together in a house. Now, without stretching the significance of this too far, it may nonetheless serve as a good reminder for us that the work of the Spirit and the work of his Church is not by any means limited to the church as a building. Sure, the physical location, along with Christian churches wherever the gospel is preached and the sacraments are rightly administered and received, is essential to our mission. But it isn’t exclusive, by any means. Essential, yes. Exclusive, no. 

Why? Because the Holy Spirit can and does work anywhere. He has worked in foreign lands, as he did through Moses in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. He can show up in a burning bush. He can speak through a donkey. He can communicate through the powerful visual of a valley of dry bones. 

And, he can work as he did here among the believers on Pentecost. His work was visual, audible, and intelligible. Ultimately, it was just the means needed to carry out the mission: communicate to the ends of the earth the message, “Turn around. Your sins have been let go.” Tongues that were tangled and tied at Babel became loosed and unleashed.

When we strip away the Spirit’s special effects, what did it all come down to? Communicating in a language everyone could understand by the simplest means possible: spoken words. There was speaking and there was hearing. It was that simple. Was there any better gift that could be given to spread the message than removing the barrier of foreign language? Jesus said “all nations,” and he had now made that possible. They had the means by which to carry out the mission.

You know, don’t you, that we still have the means to carry out the mission today? Recently in our congregation, three youth confirmands were joined by two adults in professing their faith in Jesus. That same Sunday, as well as the Sunday prior, each included a baptism. Then, on the Sunday that followed, those confirmands received the Lord’s Supper together with their church family for the first time. What is behind all of this? What do all of these things have in common? 

Well, if you ask someone without the Spirit, they’re all just silly church rituals. They’re far-fetched foolishness and a waste of time.

But if you ask a believer, a child of God, one who has read, studied, and believes what the Word says about all of these things, they all point to one thing in common: the work of the Holy Spirit. Guess what that means? The Holy Spirit’s shift didn’t end after the Day of Pentecost. He didn’t clock out for the last time and decide to retire. Ever since that day, the Spirit has been building up and strengthening the Church, and he will continue to do so until Jesus returns. 

But how do we tap into that power? What does it take to unlock the same jaw-dropping effects of Pentecost? Surely that sort of thing must be relegated to the spiritual cream of the crop. It must be limited to the spiritually trained professionals and the deeply dedicated, the most devoted among us. It must be reserved for the explosive churches and ministries having a world-wide impact, who have clearly discovered something the rest of us have not. 

I think you know better, don’t you? But if we do, then why don’t our words and actions more often show it? When is the last time you got excited to get involved in something at church, not just for the sake of spending time with friends at church – but excited by the potential behind it to reach someone new with the gospel? When is the last time you started getting giddy as you realized a conversation with a non-believer was an open door to point them to their Savior? When is the last time you took the time to even look into any sort of mission work being done by your congregation or church body?

As much as we enjoy functions that bring us together to enjoy each other as we are blessed to do, Lord forgive us if our meeting together overshadows our mission together. Lord forgive us if everything we do together more or less effectively cuts our mission of Seeking the Lost and Serving the Found in half, chopping off the “Seeking the Lost”, leaving only Serving the Found (this is the mission of Shepherd of the Hills).

When we are veering off in that direction, let us run, not walk, to the last verse of our section from Acts 2 this morning: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (v.21). Believe it. you are saved, not because you are on fire with the Holy Spirit. You are saved, not because your spiritual fervor surpasses that of the disciples in the early Christian Church. You are saved because of one reason and one reason only: Jesus.

To call on his name is to cling to his forgiveness, embracing his grace, and savoring the salvation your Savior won for you. Lost your mission zeal? Never had it in the first place? It’s not counted against those who call on his name! We have been saved – but also saved with purpose!

Therefore, I am going to give you both an invitation and a challenge. First, the invitation. Please, use your pastor as a resource. Please, tell others you have a pastor that you can talk to anytime about anything and he’ll do his best to listen, answer questions, and provide guidance. Please, give him referrals. Please, send people his way. Please, share resources with others. Please, speak highly and frequently of your church. Please, tell others what they’re missing if their kids aren’t in your school (if you have one). Please, invite others to anything and everything you do at church – it’s for them, too!)

And here’s the challenge: push yourself to get more confident and more comfortable in carrying out the mission directly yourself. Because… you’re never really by yourself. The Spirit Jesus promised to send after his ascension is still at your side when you communicate the message. You’re never really by yourself.

So speak up. Talk Jesus. Normalize him in your conversations. Look for openings to bring him up whenever you can. Do it until you become so comfortable that it actually feels uncomfortable when you don’t! Go back and read that last sentence again!

If Peter can do it, you can do it. Through the power of the Spirit, Peter, the one who needed his mind opened at Ascension, was the one opening minds on Pentecost, explaining what was happening! Peter, who at one point was determined to keep Jesus from dying, was now connecting the Scriptures for those listening. Peter, who was so confident in his own allegiance to Jesus that he refused to believe he could ever turn on him or deny him, was now appealing not to his own authority, but to God’s authority through his prophets. Jesus had given him the mission; now, in this special outpouring, he was also giving him the means: the Holy Spirit. 

You have the mission and the means. There is no reason the Spirit cannot do through you the sort of things that he did through Peter and so many others. No disrespect to Peter, but there was nothing special about him. The same could be said for many of the men and women in Scripture – there was nothing special about them.

We easily forget that, because of course their names are written in Scripture, and so we automatically elevate them to some superstar spiritual status. But their names aren’t in there because there was something exceptional about them; rather, their names are recorded because they allowed God to use them so that he could do something exceptional through them. Don’t think so little of God that he cannot do the exceptional and extraordinary for his kingdom through ordinary you or me.

In fact, rather than putting all the extra pressure on ourselves, let’s start with ordinary – and let God turn it into extraordinary if he so chooses. Is he able to? Look at Pentecost!

Suppose you find yourself wandering, lost in the woods in the cold chill of winter, desperately seeking warmth. You come across a beautiful cabin that is vacant, and the front door is unlocked. As you enter, the first thing that grabs your attention is the stunning oversized fireplace. The stonework around it is exceptional, the fireplace itself is obviously well-made, and there is even a huge stack of wood inside it, carefully positioned to light up and burn for hours. The only thing missing is the fire itself.

That was the church prior to Pentecost. Everything had been completed and made ready. Jesus had trained and equipped his disciples during his three-year ministry. Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus had ascended and promised the outpouring of a special gift from on high. The only thing missing was the fire itself.

Then, like a lit match in that cabin fireplace, a blazing fire roared to life, throwing light and heat and beauty throughout the whole cabin. When the Spirit came on Pentecost, the whole church also roared to life and began to throw the light and heat and beauty of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Everything was ready; it just needed the Spirit’s spark.

Everything is ready. But the church will not roar to life in its mission if it doesn’t also have the means. It will always be the Spirit driving it. And the Spirit will always drive it through the means of grace – Word and Sacrament. Let’s keep stoking that fire so that the Spirit stirs us to roar to life in carrying out our mission together! 

Ascending & Sending, Part 1: The Mission

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(Luke 24:44-53)

Sometimes it’s simple, sometimes it’s complex. A classroom assignment or work project can involve many steps and different layers, or it can consist of one straight-forward requirement that can be carried out and completed with relative ease. The task may be for each student or employee individually, or it may be for a group that is assigned to work together. The more complex the project and the more people involved, the more necessary it is to provide clarity on what the finished project is supposed to look like.

Before Jesus ascended, he reiterated for his disciples what their assignment, their mission, was. As you reflect on the words Jesus spoke to them, would you describe the mission Jesus was sending them to carry out as simple or complex? He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (v.46-47).

Admittedly, it might sound pretty complex. The promised Messiah, the Savior about whom God had prophesied throughout history, first had to suffer, die, and then rise from the dead. We’re already multiple steps into it – sounds pretty complex!

However, when we remember it is the risen Lord himself speaking these words to them, we realize that the heavy lifting in the assignment has already been done! The suffering, dying, and rising from the dead which had to take place had obviously been carried out. The impossible part of the mission had been made possible by Jesus. What was left was not so complex at all.

Repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached everywhere. That’s what was left. We should probably understand those two terms if we’re going to figure out this mission. So let’s strip them of their churchiness and make sure we know what we’re talking about.

That’s important because sometimes we throw around words and phrases in the church and forget that not everyone actually grasps their meaning yet. So we just keep using the same words, assuming everyone knows what we’re talking about, only they don’t. But, since they also don’t want to look foolish, don’t ask about them and just nod in agreement to go along with the crowd.

If repentance is going to be preached everywhere, we absolutely must know what it means. Simply put, it’s alerting people to turn around. Turn around. It’s caring enough about other people to let them know they’re going the wrong way. Turn around. It’s warning them about the danger ahead that is waiting for them if they keep on their current path. Turn around.

Picture the police car you first spot as a speck in your rearview mirror, appearing out of nowhere. Then, before you can blink, the view of his vehicle has completely filled your mirror because he sped right up to your bumper. The nervousness kicks in. Then, he pulls out of that lane right alongside you and slows to your exact speed. He looks over at you, makes eye contact, and then makes the dreaded gesture, pointing for you to pull over. Your heart sinks and your mind is racing to try to figure out what you did wrong. When he walks up to your window, you’re fully expecting him to drop the hammer on you.

Only he doesn’t.

That’s because he was pulling you over to let you know that you drove right past a warning sign that the road ahead was closed. He informs you that just ahead, around a particularly dangerous curve, a rock slide has left the road impassible. The reason he pulled you over was to warn you of the danger before it was too late. He’s telling you to turn around for your own safety.

That’s repentance. Out of care and concern for others, we’re lovingly warning them about the danger ahead if they don’t turn around. 

But there’s more to the mission Jesus shared with his disciples. He also said that forgiveness will be preached.

While this may be – and certainly ought to be – among one of the most frequently spoken and heard words in the church, do we really get what it means? The word “forgive” here literally means to release or let go, to send away.

So when Jesus says our mission is to follow up our “Turn around” warning of repentance with the news that a person’s sin has been let go or sent away, we are giving people everything they need for salvation! Repentance and forgiveness are like a one-two punch. When we call others to turn around, we have something substantial to follow it up with!

That’s it. There’s the mission. The church’s mission. Your mission. My mission. “Turn around. Your sins have been let go.” 

It’s also important that we don’t wrongly extend the mission. That is, when we have made that message known to others, we sometimes extend the mission to take on the responsibility of the person hearing it. We imagine that it is our job to convince them to believe it. And if they don’t, we conclude that we must have failed at the mission Jesus gave us.

But the response others have to our words is not a part of our mission. Jesus didn’t add the responsibility of convincing others to believe to our mission. That’s his work, as we’ll see more in part two of this post.

Think back to the officer warning the driver about the impassible road ahead. If the driver had disregarded the officer’s warning and sped on ahead, screeched around the corner, and smashed into the huge boulders that had spilled across the road, that wouldn’t mean the officer failed to do his job. The officer wouldn’t be at fault for the driver who disregarded his clear warning at his own risk.

So we aren’t at fault when others refuse to believe and act on our warning: “Turn around. Your sins have been let go.” Our mission is simply to proclaim it.

So how are we doing with that mission? If we’re lagging, there might be a reason.

Take note of another detail Luke shares in this account. It’s an important one. After Jesus explained that everything written about him in the Bible has to be fulfilled, something remarkable happened: “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” (v.45). He made it make sense! That’s what Jesus does – he makes the Bible make sense, and he does the same thing today when we read the Bible. The more we read it, the more our minds are opened and the more it makes sense. While we’ll talk more in part two about the special Gift Jesus promised to help make that happen, for our purposes here, it’s enough to see that Jesus makes this make sense when we read it.

But if we don’t read the Scriptures, then it won’t make as much sense. And neither will our mission.

Very recently a comment made by a fellow believer reminded me of how important this was. He referred to himself as a Bible-reading Christian. At first I didn’t think anything of it, but it stuck with me later while working on this message.

His comment implied a distinction between two types of Christians: the general Christian and the Bible-reading Christian. Yes, it almost sounds absurd because we’d assume there is only one kind of Christian – the Bible-reading Christian. Yet, it’s true! There are some Christians who rarely, if ever, crack open their Bibles. Yes, it can still be said that they have saving faith – they believe Jesus is their Savior, and assuming that doesn’t change, they will end up in heaven. But… not before missing out on a huge reason why God makes us Christians in the first place: to carry out his mission!

So if his mission isn’t on your radar, or is unimportant to you, or isn’t something you can scrounge up the time to carry out, might it have something to do with the fact that you fall into that other category – the Christian who doesn’t read the Bible? If so, and if that doesn’t change, then I can guarantee that one of two things – or both of them! – is going to happen. Best-case scenario? You fritter away your precious time here on earth chasing after meaninglessness, but still squeeze into heaven because God’s grace is even big enough to drag your fizzling faith through the pearly gates. 

The other possibility is that your neglect of the Word, at being a Bible-reading believer, ends up leaving your faith completely malnourished. It then starves and you die, not just physically, but spiritually. Worst-case scenario? Both of those things happen. Your life is filled with meaninglessness and vain pursuits, which is then followed by spiritual death for eternity. 

But the message – our mission – is that no one has to experience either of those! Let Jesus make it make sense and open your mind through the Scriptures. Look what happened when the disciples had their minds opened! “Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God” (v.52-53). Joy! Praise! Where did it come from? Their minds had been opened and they knew their mission!

Do you think there is room for more joy and praise in your life? Do you think it might result from being more engaged in the mission Jesus gave his church? Let me give you two reasons why I think it will. 

First, you get to experience the awesome feeling of God working through you to possibly change someone else’s eternity. No, not everyone will hear and believe your message. But some will. And when God allows you to be a part of that process and uses you to bring someone into his kingdom, it’s at the same time one of the most humbling and exhilarating feelings you could ever experience. You’ll feel a joy and praise that you’ve never felt before.

The second reason you’ll experience more joy and praise in your life? Every time you are fulfilling our mission to proclaim this message to others, who else is hearing that message over and over again? You are!

The very message of repentance and forgiveness is reinforced and you are reassured each time you proclaim it to others. Don’t expect some logical explanation for that – it’s simply the promised power of the gospel. It works supernaturally, but it is the power that God uses in us, too, to build us up and strengthen us in our faith. So every time you carry out our mission, you also benefit from that same mission. 

Still not convinced? Still not sure you’ve got what it takes to carry out the mission Jesus gave you? Read on to part two, which covers the remarkable Ascension followup known as Pentecost, where we continue celebrating Jesus’ important work of ascending and sending, and our mission – as well as the means to carry it out.

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Those Being Confirmed in Christ

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. This time of year, many young people who have been instructed in the teachings of the Christian faith are being confirmed. Bless them as they confess their faith in Jesus and make their promises to you and to their congregations to remain in their faith and grow in it. Keep them from taking their vows lightly and lead them to a clear understanding of how important they are. Instill in each class of confirmands a camaraderie and sense of spiritual responsibility for each other, so they can encourage each other and hold each other accountable. Guide parents to faithfully carry out their roles of modeling the faith in the home. Lead congregations to embrace their responsibility of continuing to shepherd these young people and prioritize their spiritual health. Draw all confirmands continually closer to their Savior and keep them faithful to the end, so that each may receive the crown of life Christ won for them. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love Evangelically

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. When it comes to loving others, you aren’t merely concerned that we love others, but also why we love them. When we go through the motions and treat our service to others like a checklist that needs to be completed or a deed that needs to get done, we miss the point. I want to lead others evangelically – that is, motivated and empowered by the power of the gospel, the good news of God’s grace that we are saved through faith in you alone.

The gospel filters how I view others – as souls for whom you died, and as individuals loved and treasured by you. When I forget this, loving others takes a back seat to serving self. But when I remember this, how can I do anything but love those loved by you? Help me to remember that my loving service to others may be the first step that eventually results in their experiencing your love through the joy of the gospel. Finally, in order to love others evangelically, create in me the constant hunger to be personally filled up with the gospel regularly, so that it naturally flows through me to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love Others Voluntarily

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. While you command us to love others, it isn’t the threat of punishment or the fear of consequence behind that command that drives us, but rather your fierce and freeing love for us that compels us. By your perfect obedience and the outpouring of grace and forgiveness that flows from the cross, we are no longer slaves under the law.

Therefore, in this new life of freedom, I ask that you create in me the genuine desire to voluntarily seek out opportunities to love others. Make my will like yours, seeking to lead others voluntarily in love. Remove from me all reluctance and resentment tied to your command to love others, and replace those sentiments with eagerness and excitement to display your love to others through my loving service. As I voluntarily render this loving service to others, use my example to initiate and inspire waves of love to continue spreading everywhere, so that believers everywhere help make your love become more and more prevalent all over the world.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love Others (more than myself!)

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. When it comes to loving myself, I’m a natural – I was born into this world thinking that I’m the most important person in it! And, as much as I try convince myself that the reason it’s so difficult to love others has more to do with them, the real reason it’s hard is that I simply love myself too much. Forgive me, and turn my love away from self and onto others, just as you did perfectly.

Leading others in love is truly challenging. It’s easy for me to make it more about how I prefer to show or speak love into them than about what they really need. Help me let go of my insistence on loving others on my terms and free me to better love others on theirs. Whether it’s the biological family under my roof, my church family, or my neighborhood and community, opportunities abound to love others. Guide me to manage my time in a way that allows me to love others whenever doors open to do so each day. Grant me the joy of seeing the impact you can make when you use me to lead others with love. Through my Christ-like love for others, let it also be clear to others that I am your disciple.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Lead with Love

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. I thank you for the blessings I have personally received from having gifted leaders in my life. Their leadership has inspired me and spurred me on to grow and develop in different areas of life. You use gifted leaders to build up your church in many ways.

The thought of leading can be intimidating to many. However, when we remember that leadership is essentially influencing others, we can see a number of ways that leading in love can be very impactful. Leading with love means that I take the initiative to serve others and meet needs as they arise, rather than waiting for others to step up. When I love proactively in these ways, I positively influence others, and my love becomes a visible, tangible thing, rather than just a concept or a feeling. Curb any temptation in me to confuse influential leadership with manipulation that would seek to use other people or situations for self-serving purposes. Instead, let me lead with love as Jesus did, and use my example to shape how others view love and put it into practice, too. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Listen to the Shepherd’s Soothing Voice

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(John 10:22-30)

It may crack a little bit more frequently. It eventually becomes significantly softer. It struggles to convey the confidence, clarity, and coherence it did for so many decades. But even with those changes, whether drastic or subtle, you recognize your mother’s voice. It is so strongly imprinted on many of us that long after she may have passed away, you can still hear in your mind the unique sound of your mother’s voice.

For many of us, that special voice leaves or has left such an impression on us because we associate it with the characteristic care and compassion so often connected with mothers. They nurture(d) us, took care of our day-to-day needs, shuttled us here, there, and everywhere, and regularly check in on us to see how we’re doing. So when we hear her voice, we treasure it because it evokes all of those caring qualities. 

Yet not everyone can relate to this experience. For some, sadly, the voice of their mother, if ever heard again, would be too soon. It is a voice that evokes anything but pleasant emotions or memories. Abuse. Ridicule. Impossible standards. Never good enough. Or, it may be an unfamiliar sound altogether for those who never knew their mother after being given up for adoption, abandoned, or neglected in one way or another. To some, a mother’s voice is the sound of pain.

But there is another voice. There is a voice to be treasured even more than a mother’s voice. It is the voice of the Good Shepherd. Hear his voice on this Mother’s Day and always: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” (v.27-28). What is so special about this voice? What is it that draws sheep to hear it? Why can we never get enough of it? 

Jesus says “I know them.” Think of how much that means to us. I was just reminded of this recently after worship. Extended family members had come along to church with one of our repeat guests. After I asked about how the family members felt about the service, guess what stood out the most? The music? Nope. The sermon? Nope. It was that I happened to remember their names after the service. It matters to us to matter to someone else that much, doesn’t it? When someone remembers our name, it means they took the time to know us. And who knows us better than the Good Shepherd? That’s part of why we long to hear his voice.

It’s also because “they follow me.” When you decide to follow someone (not in the social media sense), when really wanting to imitate or learn from someone or become like them – we are putting a lot of trust in that person. To willingly follow someone means I am trusting that person to not lead me astray or put me in harm’s way or lead me down some regrettable path. Since we don’t extend that level of trust to just anyone, it results in a deeper connection with those to whom we give it; those we willingly choose to follow. Since we trust the Good Shepherd enough to follow his paths for our life, we long to hear his voice.

And because we don’t just follow him for this life, but for eternal life, we long to hear his voice even more. “I give them eternal life,” Jesus said. We find that nowhere else! Search and study as much as we might, we will never find the guarantee or assurance of eternal life anywhere other than through Jesus. Why? Because only Jesus “give[s]” it. It is unearned. It is a gift.

We are naturally drawn to giveaways and to free stuff. Think of the last time you were at a community event or a farmer’s market. Your group split up and someone returned with a snack or a sample that they’re raving about. You ask how much it was and when they explain it was a free sample, a giveaway, you immediately ask where they got it from. We love free stuff! How much greater is the free gift of eternal life! And since it comes only through the Good Shepherd, we long to hear his voice.

But not everyone is interested in hearing that voice. Some wish to stifle it, as was the case on that winter day as Jesus walked in the temple courts. “The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly’” (v.24). To be sure, they did their level best at trying to mask their intentions, but Jesus saw right through them. He knew they weren’t curious seekers in search of salvation, but that their intentions were quite sinister. They weren’t looking to hear words of life from the voice of their Good Shepherd, but rather the incriminating piece of evidence to put the final nail in the coffin of their case. They wanted to hear Jesus plainly claim to be the Messiah so they’d have all they needed to justify their pre-determined conviction of blasphemy. 

It reminds me of a humorous clip I’ve used in our membership class before. In it, Rowan Atkinson, the actor who plays “Mr. Bean,” recounts an incident in which someone out in public approached him to tell him that he looked an awful lot like the actor who plays Mr. Bean. Well, the more Mr. Atkinson claimed to actually be the actor, the more the individual refused to believe him. While he couldn’t get over how much they looked alike, the fan absolutely refused to believe that he could in fact be the actor who played Mr. Bean.

Jesus’ Jewish enemies tried and tried to get him to plainly claim to be the Messiah, yet even as he pointed to all the evidence that supported and proved that he was actually the Messiah, they refused to believe it. Why? Why were they so indignant, so set in their stubborn refusal to entertain that Jesus could, in fact, be the Messiah?

Jesus explained it for them (and for us!). “Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep’” (v.25-26). The problem was not with the voice, or even the Good Shepherd who was speaking, as if he had been unclear or mumbled or anything like that; no, the problem was on the listening side of the communication. Unbelieving ears are uninterested in the Good Shepherd’s voice. They aren’t his sheep.

What would happen if you ignored your mother’s voice? Typically, it does not end well. Either we find out the hard way through personal injury or the trouble we end up causing that we should have listened to mom’s voice, or mom has her certain disciplinary consequences that later on underscore that we would have been better off listening to her voice. Either way, although some are slower to learn it than others, we grow up learning that it is generally unwise to ignore mom’s voice. 

What happens if you refuse to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice? If we aren’t being led by his voice, then we’re being led by someone else’s. And, although some are slower to learn it than others, we find out the hard way that ignoring the Good Shepherd’s voice results in a lot of unnecessary pain and hurt in life. Addiction. Adultery. Divorce. Rage. Bitterness. We don’t arrive at these things overnight, but get there by listening to other voices. The voice might belong to the world. The voice might be my own internal voice. It doesn’t matter – if the voice does not belong to the Good Shepherd or echo his, it will lead us down the wrong path of sin, away from the Good Shepherd and into danger. Every. Time.

And beyond just the worldly, temporal consequences of refusing to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice, there are ultimately even more significant consequences. What’s the opposite of what Jesus’ sheep receive, the opposite of being given eternal life? Eternal death. What is the opposite of never perishing? Perishing in hell. Isn’t that the fate of all who are not Jesus’ sheep? If only the Jews who had approached Jesus believed the eternal warning attached to the words, “you are not my sheep!” If only people today realized the eternal consequences of those words, “you are not my sheep!”

But hear the Good Shepherd’s voice shine through in these words to his sheep. His voice isn’t filled with ultimatums for his sheep. It does not include veiled threats. It isn’t the voice of a bully or a goon coming to shake you down or manipulate you through fear or intimidation.

No, it is the tender voice of reassurance for the sheep, reassurance that sheep not only long to hear, but need to hear, because sheep are, well… sheep.

What an accurate picture for us! Sheep. How dumb we are! How slow to learn! How ignorant to think we know better! How foolish to repeat the same mistakes over and over again! How lost we sheep would be without the voice of the Good Shepherd! 

He speaks to his sheep the words we hear nowhere else. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (v.28-29). Perish? Never! Snatched out of his hand? No one can – not even the devil himself! . 

But don’t take this assurance as license to go back to being a dumb sheep who thinks there is no danger in running astray! No, stay by the Shepherd’s voice. Follow it. Be a smart sheep. Be a sanctified sheep that cares more about always being within earshot of the Shepherd, never too far away to hear his voice. Let his be the soothing voice of safety, security, and salvation.

Thank God for mothers who guided us to learn to hear his voice. Thank God for mothers who care enough – no matter how old we are! – to make sure we are still listening to the Good Shepherd’s soothing voice!