Summer Devotionals - wk 13

Well, hello again, church.

It's hard to believe this is our last devotional of this summer series.

We have no idea what this Bible reading plan or these devotions have meant to you.

We hope they've been meaningful.

We hope that they have invited you into a time of reflection on God's Word, what it means to be a follower of Christ, and how our scriptures can encourage us.

One of the scriptures from this week comes from the book of James.

And it says that we are not to be just listeners of the word, but doers of the word.

This is James, who had, we think, been raised with Christ in his household, someone who had watched his brother live out the things that he taught all the way to a cross.

Someone who knew what it meant to live like Christ and the benefits it would have on your life.

And that's why this back to the basics series this summer was so important to Ryan and I.

There's a hundred plus churches in Racine, and I hope all of them are sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

And every week they send their congregation off with some exhortation or encouragement or maybe some holy homework, as Pastor Ryan calls it.

For us, what's important is that you are doers of the word because you are inspired by the Holy Spirit to share Christ in your workplace, in your home, in those areas that you serve in our community.

Not so that you can earn some award or so that people can say, Well done.

But because Christ calls us to.

Because Christ knows that a broken world full of broken people needs to meet a Savior who heals.

My encouragement this week is that you would find one of these basics and you would lean into it.

For me, it's gonna be prayer in a new way.

I want to spend more time praying to my Savior and inviting others to pray in new ways.

Whatever it is for you, I pray that one of these, or maybe all of them, encourage your faith in a new way.

That they can be carried into your home, into your workplace, into wherever you are in a new and fresh way.

Trusting that God has called you to be so much more in this world than you probably think you're fully capable of.

So, with courage, trusting that God's got you, will you take that one step with us?

Thanks for spending time with us this summer.

Thanks for trusting us.

We love you.

As always, we are praying for you.

Take care.