As mentioned in last week’s post, there seems to be a softness to one’s soul this time of year. Songs, the scent of certain foods, hymns, readings, and traditions take many of us back to simpler days. But this divinely placed soft spot also gives us unique opportunities to invite others into our story, into the story of the gospel.
I couldn’t close this Christmas mini-series without focusing on the greatest Gift ever, so here are five ways we can share the gift of knowing the one true living God (not to be confused with knowing about God). Thank You, Jesus.
5 Ways We Can Share the Gospel This Christmas
Add an extra gift to your list. Do you have those on your Christmas list who do not have a relationship with Christ? Consider purchasing a small gift that could be given in addition to a gift of their choice. This way, they might be more open to enjoying the extra gift rather than resenting it. Some ideas might be a book, bookmark, or a candle with John 8:12 written on an attached note.
Invite that person God has been laying on your heart to join you for coffee. Pray for ways to share your gospel story. It’s one story that can never be disputed! {If this person is not the same sex as you, invite your wife/husband/friend to join you. It’s just a wise thing to do.}
Give purpose to your Christmas light expeditions around local neighborhoods. This year will be the first in over twenty years that our family hasn’t driven around our local neighborhoods that we love so much. We’ve all moved to different areas but putting the kids (or grandkids!) in pj’s and riding around on holiday nights leaves lasting memories. I wish I’d thought of this particular idea I’m sharing today before our boys grew up. {We always judged the lights – how’s that for sharing the love?) Here goes: Before you go, share different ways you can pray for people you don’t know. Write them down and take them with you. Before you pull out of the driveway, pray that the Holy Spirit will make each person sensitive to His leading in praying for complete strangers on your route. Take turns praying for whatever houses you feel led to pray for. If you’re in a neighborhood and it’s safe, pull over and pray in front of the home. It doesn’t have to be a long prayer. Something as simple as “Lord, please give this family peace” is a sweet fragrance to God.
Pray before our feet hit the floor. Opportunities, especially during this season, are ripening all around us. Pray that the Holy Spirit would make you sensitive to His leading as you go through your day. Purposeful prayer is a potent weapon!
Bake cookies. But don’t stop there! Choose cookie cutters that hold a symbol of the gospel story: a star, cross, heart, cradle, etc. Be creative! Write out a corresponding verse (Google “scripture” and then a particular shape or object and see what happens!). Attach your verse and note to the cookies. Or use Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is good”. Deliver the cookies with a warm smile and release the results to God.
I pray that you and your family will have a
beautiful,
blessed,
grace-filled,
forgiven and Gospel-driven Christmas.
{And a Happy New Year! See you in January!}
This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ. – Frank McKibben
You might like:
The Meaning of the Gospel – Tim Keller
“Lent isn’t about forfeiting as much as it’s about formation.” -Ann Voskamp
For those of you who, like me, didn’t grow up celebrating Lent there is much to learn, and much to celebrate. Jesus Christ’s 40 days of fasting in the desert are the spiritual foundation for the season that begins on Ash Wednesday.
Thomas Merton wrote, “Lent is not just a time for squaring conscious accounts: but for realizing what we had perhaps not seen before.”
Lent officially began February 10th, but we know it’s never too late to worship, or to discover new ways to worshipping, even if we didn’t grow up celebrating the Lenten season.
Below are three resources I LOVE and have used. I hope you’ll share yours in the comment section!
{A Free 40 Day Lent Devotional Journey, Ann Voskamp}
I’m using Ann Voskamp’s free 40 Day Lent Devotional this year. I wish I’d started on the 10th, but I didn’t, so I will begin where I am.
Here are some quotes on Lent to consider during this season, and every day:
“The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing, but not with the ear; hearing, but not with the understanding; it is hearing with the spirit, with your whole being.” Fr. Thomas Merton
“Lord, have mercy on me! … I make no effort to conceal my wounds. You are my physician, I your patient. You are merciful; I stand in need of mercy.” St. Augustine
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
Do you have a go-to resource for the Lenten season, or what is one way you choose to prepare your heart for Easter?
Off and
on over the years, I’ve read a psalm a day along with a chapter in
Proverbs, matching that day’s date to the corresponding chapter. Its
lyrical prose reads like a songbook — one that is active and alive —
resonating with the soul and all that matters most.
So why would I recommend this particular book? Let me count the ways. Three, to be exact.
It’s biblically sound. Enough said. 🙂
It’s versatile. Three options are offered on ways to approach the book. One way is to read it straight through, as is. Each small page shares Scripture verses, which are written out, a brief summary, and a prayer. Secondly, you could also look up and study the embedded scripture found in the summary and/or prayer section. And lastly, show up with a blank journal and read the psalm portion twice slowly, asking three questions as you go: {Adore} What did you learn about God for which you could praise or thank him? {Admit} What did you learn about yourself for which you could repent? {Aspire} What did you learn about life that you could aspire to, ask for, and act on?
It’s foundational for new devotees and rich with depth for longtime learners. Tim’s inviting style welcomes the newest of Christ-followers while also challenging those who’ve dusted off their sandals more than once on this journey.
The
book of Psalms can revolutionize our devotional life, our family
patterns, and the fellowship and witness of the church of Jesus
Christ. -Willem VanGemeren
So there it is — three reasons why I would recommend this devotion to not only those who consider themselves to be Christ-followers but also to those who are still searching.
“The
more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as
our own, the more simple and rich will our prayer become.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer – See more at:
http://www.leadershipresources.org/blog/quotes-about-the-book-of-psalms/#sthash.YLMpcRvS.dpuf
How about you? Do you have a devotion book that you would recommend?
{Coming up next Monday, you’ll not want to miss our interview with Dee Dee Parker, as she shares a glimpse of what her quiet time with the Lord looks like and how a forsythia bush often finds its way into that sacred time.}
There’s a woman in our current Bible Study that no one in the group had met prior to our gatherings.
She’s beautiful, possessing a gentle smile. Yet the tender spots from past wounds surface when she speaks.
Last week, as she thoughtfully shared her hurt from a past church experience, I was moved by her transparency before people she had never met prior to this study. Her vulnerability not only gave us an opportunity to love on her but to also pray for her throughout the week. And, because she was willing to be vulnerable, others were too.
Yes, vulnerability can backfire. I have wounds to prove it. Don’t we all? But choosing to remain fully guarded is costly when relating with others and especially with God. Mary poured out fragrance on our Savior’s feet and David danced naked through the streets. However, no greater example of vulnerability exists more than Jesus Himself.
Tim Keller wrote a sermon on the gifts of Christmas given to us through Christ. One of
those gifts is the ability to be vulnerable in relationships. He says,
“In the gift of Christmas, the unassailable, omnipotent God became a
baby, giving us the ultimate example of letting our defenses down.”
Staying in Step with the Spirit: When we choose to be vulnerable with people we trust, we become transparent and when we’re transparent, we’re not seen. God is.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of vulnerability fleshed out through your Son. Because He chose to become vulnerable we now have the ability to do the same with others, and most importantly, with You. How can we fathom such love?
Does vulnerability come easy for you or is it a struggle? Either way, you’re not alone.
“Love anything and your heart will be wrung and
possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must
give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with
hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in
the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe,
dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it
will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be
vulnerable.” -C.S. Lewis
Kyle Estepp delivered this morning’s message, based on Galatians 4:21-31. As with all the Snippets, I try to jot down everything
verbatim, but it’s not always possible.To listen to the sermon in its
entirety, I invite you to visit Summit’s site.
Any addition to the gospel is no gospel at all. It’s legalism.
Our sonship is no longer based on perfection, but that of Christ’s.
If we are depending on moral excellence to rescue us, we are in as much spiritual slavery as Hagar was in physical slavery.
Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
“Enlarge the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide,
do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your descendants will dispossess nations
and settle in their desolate cities.”
God chooses to save the world through the barren woman—for this is how the grace of God works. His grace isn’t just for the fertile Hagar’s, but also for the barren Sarah’s.
By what means of rescue are we depending on?
What does our life declare?
Reference: Tim Keller’s, Relating to the Law: Four Kinds of People
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