Rise up and Raise the Bar, a City is at Stake

2 Corinthians 8:1-15
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you— see that you excel in this act of grace also.
I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

No job? Low paid? Smaller bonus? Wondering about your financial situation for the coming year? Why don't we think about ourselves for a bit. Cut back on our giving. Don't support the families and people who earn less than us but have greater outgoings. Let's not be gracious givers. There's a credit crunch, so stop giving to the work of the local church or to missions, maybe just reduce our giving, after all, who cares about the hungry, the starving, the underprivileged and the eternal salvation of millions and the building of the future city. At a time of financial uncertainty I might not be able to afford more potential rusty, moth eaten stuff. I better bunker down, look after number one. If we all do the same, we'll all be okay. God is sovereign, he'll provide for all the unemployed or for the voluntary workers whose incomes are reduced far more than ours as we reduce or stop our giving, and anyway, they're 'living by faith'. Let's test their faith.

Rise up and raise the bar in a time of "Credit Crunch./ Crisis". God is still sovereign, the gospel is still true and heaven is still certain. It's time to invest!

Sauna Chat 1

Ages ago I said I would post about the weekend away and the sauna chat. Below is some of what we (young Christian men) discussed in the sauna (regards being members of small groups in our church). These two are particularly focussed on how we act during the Thursday evening time we're together. Thanks to AH for writing these up.

Don’t turn up to share your ignorance

Study the passage on your own during the week ahead of the study. Do it in such a way that recognises that this is valuable time in and of itself – relational time between you and God, as he speaks to you through his word and you respond in prayer – not just in order to have something to say in the group. But then you will have something to say in the group, and not just acquired knowledge, but an experience of God and how you were challenged and convicted, or encouraged and excited by what he revealed to you. If you can’t be bothered to listen to God first, why should we take time out of our week to listen to you?

Don’t always leave it to the leader to get the study ‘back on track’

In a normal week, we only spend 1.5 of our week's allowance of 168 hours studying the Bible together, so let's make the most of it. Tying in with not turning up to share ignorance, let's make sure that we maximise the time we do have, and be taking the lead to keep the focus on hearing from God, not just keeping the banter going. Don't think that it's the leader's job to lead the study, and your job to provide the humour. It's your job to encourage the brothers and sisters with your presence and contributions, which may include comedy. Banter is good, laughter is a gift from God, but there is also a time to be serious about the word - know the difference. And consider this: how often is your banter about glorifying God, and how often is it about glorifying you? By contrast, how often is the Bible about glorifying you, and how often is it about glorifying God? Worth thinking about.