“The Lord’s message rang out from you…” — 1 Thessalonians 1:8

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old –

what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done.

He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children,

So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands.

They would not be like their forefathers — a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him.

Have you ever struggled to pray for some one who doesn’t have a major issue going on? When some one is in crisis, it’s relatively easy to pray for their busted up marriage, a wayward child or a sick family member. But how do you regularly pray for someone who’s doing fine?

Check out this prayer by the Apostle Paul for the believers in the book of Colossians. This will be a great model of prayer for you and I to follow in praying for one another.

I love the Brandon Heath song, “Give me your Eyes” and Josh Wilson’s song, “I Refuse” that both speak of the need for Christians to see people the way God does, and then to do something about it! Too many believers live in the comfort of their homes and church walls missing the incredible opportunities God has given us every day at work, school, in our neighborhoods or on our clubs and sports teams.

Too often, we’re like this:

 I have just one word for you to ponder today.

Just one word to think about.

One concept for you to try and live out today.

Philemon, 57 of 66

Why should you share your faith?

 John, 43 of 66

The book of John is cool.  It’s cool because almost half of it deals with the last seven days of Jesus’ life.  It’s cool because it was written from the perspective of Jesus’ youngest disciple.  It’s cool because it shows Jesus to be the God-man, the only one able to save us from our sins.  It’s cool because it has John 3:16 in it, the most recognized verse in all of the Bible.  I could go on and on but one of my favorite reasons it’s cool is because it shows Jesus reaching out to people, one person at a time.

I love reading the first few chapters of Acts and watching the early Church take its infant steps in obedience to Christ.  What a time that must have been!  A time of joy (3,000 getting saved on one day — Acts 2:41) and a time of fear (great persecution! — Acts 8:1-3) that led to amazing community (Acts 2:42-47).  Check it out for yourself:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved — Acts 2:42-47

Have you ever been pushed to the limit with your faith?  I don’t necessarily mean your faith in God, I mean just your faith in anyone/thing at any time?  Have you been pushed to place where you really had to check yourself and see what you believed or more importantly, how hard you believed?

Acts seven is a powerful chapter on what it really means to stand up for God — even to the point of death!  Stephen was the first to "stand and deliver" the powerful message of the Gospel to a totally hostile crowd making sure all the glory went to God.  This bold presentation of God’s truth led to Stephen’s death and the first martyr of the early church.