Giving Our Lives to God

Here is Sunday's Column:

For the last month we have looked at God’s love and grace for us. No matter how bad we have been, God forgives us. No matter how much bitterness and resentment we carry, God invites us to drop our burdens and embrace Him.

We can respond to God’s love and grace in many ways. Some ignore God’s offer. But God keeps offering. Others offer their thanks. Nothing wrong with a little thankfulness for a God who heals and saves. That is a good start.

The disciple doesn’t ignore and is more than thankful. The disciple offers his or her life to God as a response to God’s grace and love. As United Methodists, we respond in five ways. And it’s in these five responses I want to challenge us to grow in the coming year.

Prayers – I want us to pray for our church, our city, the oppressed, the world, our family, and ourselves. Prayer is talking and listening to God. It helps us to communicate with the Holy and lays the foundation to become the person God wants us to become.

Presence – I want us to worship and participate in our small groups whenever possible. Think about missing all your meals for an entire month. Our bodies would become malnourished. Likewise, missing community with God and others can leave our souls (and a lot of other areas of life) malnourished.

Gifts – Giving of our resources does two things. First, it resources God’s vision through the local church. Second, it shows the priority that we give God in our lives. Jesus pretty much says the same thing: “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” –Matthew 6:21

Service – Since long before we launched The Water’s Edge, I have been telling people to serve inside and outside The Water’s Edge. Inside I encourage people to serve once a month in a ministry area. The reason I want people to serve is not because work needs to be done. The reason is because we most look like Jesus when we serve.

Witness – A witness is simply a person who tells a story of what they have seen or experienced. As Christians, we tell the story of Jesus. The simplest way of doing this is to invite somebody to worship with you. You can become part of somebody’s testimony!

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things. –Mark 4:1-2

The Water’s Edge is where the people come to hear the teachings of Jesus. People are equipped and inspired to do what Jesus came to do: to seek, to serve, and to save. And giving our lives to God will allow us to partner with God and do for others what He does for us. I can’t wait to see what God does among us this year.

In Christ,

Craig