Today’s meeting of the Canadian churches reminds us of how the pandemic forced us to rethink what “church” meant. We are encouraged to remember that God has a way of bringing us where he wants us, regardless of what our plans might be. As long as we are together, unified, and focused on God, we can stay strong and be secure in our place in the world.
We are taught that God takes great ideas like compassion and graciousness and shows us what that looks like in Jesus. Tony reminds us that it’s not enough to look at who God IS but we must also look at what He DID. Like Jesus, you don’t need a lot to have compassion, you just need to have the right heart.
As we finish our look at the book of Philippians, we look at the importance of attitude in the face of adversity. We are all different people facing different challenges, if we live in a community of harmony and humility, we can live joyfully regardless of our life circumstances. Ultimately, we are reminded that it is not enough to just say we are something (i.e. Christian), we must also be the face of that to which we claim.
Today we are shown how God uses mothers to reflect certain parts of his own character. Through the sharing of four individuals, we see various perspectives highlighting the importance of mothers in the world as well as in the church.
We don’t get to choose our families. And yet often they are the closest people we’ve got. In the same way, we don’t get to choose our spiritual family. We’ve got to find a way to love one another. After all, deep love for one another is the only way people will be able to tell that we are from one spiritual family.
Today we reflect on and celebrate the events which took place around 2000 years ago. Tony reminds us that the truth of the bodily resurrection of Christ is one of the most important parts of our faith. For, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 if these events are not true, then where is our hope and what is the point of our faith at all?
When God is going to do something, He will supply what is needed even if we don’t know where it will come from and might not be what is expected. The Jews of Jesus’ day were expecting a warrior king but got an itinerant preacher. We are challenged to ask ourselves, “If I was there for the events of Matt 21:1-11, who would I be in the crowd and where would I stand?”
New citizenship always requires certain prerequisites for those hoping to acquire it and these should form our actions and mindset. In Philippians (3:15-21), Paul reminds us that how we conduct ourselves matters, ultimately, we need to ask ourselves, is our mind on earthly things or are we focused on the hope of heaven?
In Philippians 3, Paul tells us about the importance of knowing Christ. Just as there are different levels of intimacy with those around us, there are also different levels of intimacy with Christ. Paul reminds and encourages us that we should desire such a level of intimacy with Christ that knowing him is worth more than all other things/knowledge in the world.
Philippians 2 teaches how disunity comes from self-interest and how the church requires a deeper connection than just a social club. Paul uses two examples to describe what servants of Christ look like and reminds us of the importance of bringing others’ interests above our own.
