Devotion for Teachers: Called to Belong - Romans 1:6

Romans 1:6    And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Yesterday, we had a couple join our church during the worship service. They have been coming to our congregation for over a year. They were brought to us by God through the Creative Expressions ministry that our church presents. Their teenage daughter is talented and she enjoys being involved in our theater groups. It is a joy to have them all become part of who we are; it is wonderful to give them a place where they each feel that they belong.

            Throughout the week, we all meet people who are just trying to get through life. They struggle with keeping their families together, holding down a job, or advancing their careers. At times, we all feel isolated and vulnerable, overwhelmed and alone. We wonder what life is all about and question whether it has any real meaning. During those ‘ontological’ moments, having a church family can fill the emptiness we experience. Being part of a faith community and finding a place where we belong, can bring about a great deal of well-being to our hearts and minds, as well as our bodies and souls.

            If you’re feeling lonely today, then please think about seeking a regular community of Christ’s people. Allow yourself to be called by Christ to a congregation where you can find meaning and purpose for your life. Permit the Holy Spirit to break down any self-imposed barriers or individual anxieties that you may have about fitting in. Let Jesus do for you what He does best: let Him reach out to you and lead you; let Him restore you and love you.

Questions for personal reflection

Am I currently feeling isolated and alone? Will I allow Jesus to help me find a sacred place where I can belong?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You know us completely and understand all that we are currently feeling. Take us by the hand and lead us each day. Open our hearts and minds to the blessings of Your Gospel. Allow us to seek and find a community of faith where we can truly belong. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is John’s latest summer drawing, simply called “Sunflower.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3775/9286182601_90208dc399_b.jpg

Teacher devotions: Make a Difference - Matthew 9:35-38

Today’s Bible readings are: Isaiah 24:7-13 and Matthew 9:35-38

Matthew 9:38 (Jesus said) “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Some people in your life are waiting to be invited to church this Christmas. They want to come and sing Christmas carols; they want to hear the timeless story of Christ’s birth; they want to be forgiven for their past mistakes. They want to reconnect with God and belong to a community of faith. They are afraid to do this on their own; they feel unworthy and unholy; they feel lost and isolated, vulnerable and broken.

They want to be loved by God again.

They just don’t know where to start, where to go, or what to do. They are waiting for a sign. They are seeking guidance. They need help. They don’t want Christmas to go by again and carry an empty heart and unfulfilled life from this year to the next. They want to come to church, but they are worried that they won’t be welcomed.

This is where you come in. God is calling you to invite them. He needs you to ask them to come to church this Christmas. He wants as many people as possible to be reconnected to His love and to experience the joy of Jesus in their hearts. God needs you to be the one to welcome those seekers to come to church. He wants you to give them a positive and clear invitation to come back to church. You are the worker that He needs to go into the harvest field to restore His blessing to someone who feels helpless, hapless, and hopeless.

Let God do what He does best. Let Him use you to bring others to church this Christmas – your family, your friends, your colleagues, and your neighbors. Everyone needs to be loved by God and given a new beginning. This year, this Advent, and this Christmas, be the one to bring someone closer to Christ and back to church.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few,” said Jesus. This Christmas, become one of the few!

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, open our hearts and minds to the people in our circles who are seeking You in their lives. Grant us opportunities and possibilities to invite them to church this Christmas. Take away our fears, and enable us to give a positive and welcoming invite to all whom You would have us ask. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment about today’s message, or ask a question, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s Christmas drawings called “Nativity Nap Time.” It’s being used by churches throughout the world to promote their Christmas Eve services, as well as part of a national non-profit organization’s annual donor campaign who are sending out 370,000 Christmas cards with the drawing across the United States this year. If you would like to view a larger version of the drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4003/4159555940_eb5f7bb5c2_b.jpg

Teacher devotions: A Congregational Prayer - Philippians 1:9

Philippians 1: 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.

If ever a prayer was written for a local congregation, it must certainly be this one of Paul’s. I love these words because of the encouragement and faith that is expressed in them. Our wee church at Erin has just completed some major renovation and expansion work on the building. Now it’s time to apply this verse and work on the people who congregate there.

Just recently someone was telling me about the welcoming love that they have experienced at Erin. I was proud to hear that the people I serve are embracing visitors and welcoming them as friends in Christ. To me, that is the main part of what a church should be doing. Whenever someone new walks through the doors of any church, they should be met with a sincere joy and delight that will make a good and lasting impression.

I also want that love to be spread into our local community. There are hundreds of people in our parish who do not know the love of God in Jesus Christ. If we can discern who these people are and make the right effort in reaching out to them, we can keep a light on and an open door for them to walk through when they need God most.

Paul’s prayer to the Philippian church was highly effective because it became a major base for the spreading of the Gospel all across the Mediterranean. My hope and my prayer is that with the right encouragement, vision, and faith, all of our local churches can begin to do the same throughout this New Year.

Prayer: Lord Jesus , we thank You for our churches and the congregations to which we are attached. In this New Year, we pray that You will equip and encourage us to undertake local outreach projects and missions that will enable us to embrace and welcome new visitors and new friends into our midst. Thank You for the power of the Gospel in our lives and for the potential that it has to spread across our community. In Your Sacred Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s drawing is one of John’s latest lighthouse prints. It’s called “Light Snow” and depicts the Portland Head Light in Maine during a snowstorm. You can view a larger version of the print here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/5286516317/sizes/l/


All of John’s drawings can be found on the Web at his artsite at http://www.stushieart.wordpress.com/

Signed, numbered and matted prints are available for only $20 each (plus shipping if necessary).

Teacher Devotions: Revival, not Survival - Psalm 80

Psalm 80:18 Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your Name. 

Survival or revival? Emerge or resurge? Churches today have to seriously work out where they want to be in 5-10 years time, if they want to survive the first half of this new century. It’s no use keeping on for the sake of holding on. That’s just wishful thinking and more churches are closed because of good intentions or clinging to nostalgia. We live in a new age, with new ideas. We need to learn to adjust or become as dust.

Now I’m not advocating syncretism, where the Church falls to its knees and allows the current culture to totally shape it. That would be a betrayal of Christ and a march towards insignificance, which would eventually lead to irrelevance and extinction. I’m talking about revival or rebooting the Church from within its own ranks, in order to make better disciples of Christ, greater messengers of His Truth, and more practical followers of the Faith.

We cannot do this on our own. We need to invoke and implore the Holy Spirit to come among us, to release us from survival mode and put us into Revival. It would mean that every church member of every congregation would truly re-commit their lives to Christ. That should be the ambition of every church in existence. Christ’s message is timeless and has stood the test of two thousand centuries of opposition. If we truly relied upon the Word of God as our Way of Life then the Church that would emerge would be full of people who were constantly resurging their Christian faith.

Today is a good day to start. Now is the right moment to reboot our beliefs and refocus on our faith. It’s time for all of us to seriously place Christ at the center of our existence. If we honestly do this today, then we will seek new opportunities to share our revived faith with our friends, families, and even strangers. And that, after all is said and done, is why we are divinely blessed with life, love, and faith in the first place.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, revive our commitment and connection to You this day. Open our hearts to the blessing of Your Holy Spirit and allow our minds to accept Your Way, Truth, and Life. Empower and enable us to become effective, relevant, and useful disciples in our congregations and communities. In Your Holy Name, we expectantly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest autumn drawings of the Smoky Mountains. It’s called “Fall in Leaves” and is currently on exhibit at Erin Church. You can view a larger version of the drawing at the following link:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4877571660_cc7d070bb8.jpg

25 limited edition signed prints are available from John.

Teacher Devotions: The Value of VBS - Acts 8:26-31

Acts 8:30-31    Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Some of the most important work in the church’s year is taking place this week. It’s our annual Vacation Bible School and this year’s theme is all about pirates, Paul and shipwrecks. The kids love the singing, story-telling, crafts and games, and our church is so blessed with many faithful volunteers.

Those volunteers are crucial to passing on our faith to the next generation. Their week-long commitment is a life-long investment in the spirits of our children. Years after the VBS program is over, some of the kids will remember their friends, families, and church workers enjoying the whole experience. Hopefully, it will keep them positively connected to God and the lessons that they learn will give them the godly guidance to help them make good decisions in their lives.

In today’s passage (Acts 8:26-31), the apostle Philip is urged by the Holy Spirit to walk alongside a fellow traveler. The man on horseback is reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah but he does not understand what is written. Philip has been placed there beside him to interpret the writings and tell the Ethiopian about Jesus. The consequences of this conversation will have a profound effect on the travelers and will introduce the Gospel to Africa.

As Christians, we are all called to share our faith and help other people understand who Jesus is. Philip did this for the Ethiopian; our VBS team is doing it for the children. The question we should all be asking ourselves today is this: where will the Spirit place me today to share Christ?

Prayer:                        Holy Spirit, thank You for the inspiration that You have given to Christ’s followers throughout the centuries. Thank You for the work of evangelists like Philip and faithful people like Vacation Bible School volunteers. May their ministries plant seeds of faith, which will bear much fruit in the generations to come. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest moonlight drawings of Maybole Castle in Scotland. If you would like to view a larger version online, please visit the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4735805847_8513427a20_b.jpg

Teachers Devotions: Patiently Building - Mark 15:29-30

Mark 15:29-30            Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"  

A massive digger has just been parked outside of my church study window. The contractors are getting the equipment in place in order to begin digging up the back yard of the church, so that we can lay the foundations of a new extension. A lot of the brush and some of the smaller trees at the back will, unfortunately, have to be dug up and destroyed in the process. This time next year, I’m going to have a completely different view from my office window.

I’m not very good with changes like this and the subsequent upheaval is going to command a lot of my patience. I know that the end results will be worthwhile; it’s just the current painstaking process that causes me problems. In order to build, something has to change. In order to grow, something has to be lost.

When the passers-by hurled their insults at Christ, they had no idea that God was beginning a new creation and that a new faith was being born. The people scorned Christ because it appeared as though He had let them down. They thought He was the Messiah who had come to rid them of the Romans and its Empire. In fact, Christ did do that but it took about 400 years to achieve. The passers-by wanted Christ to do it immediately. They weren’t prepared to wait and obviously thought that when Jesus died on the Cross, His mission and ministry were over.

But in the midst of the painstaking process of death by crucifixion, Jesus was saving the world and establishing His Church. God works in mysterious ways and there’s nothing more mysterious than creating new life in the midst of death. The old ways were being destroyed forever. The rites of sacrifice were over. Jesus laid down His life to the destruction of death in order to bring about pardon and forgiveness, resurrection and restoration to all who were willing to accept His sacrificial death and believe in His power to save them from their sins. He was patiently building salvation.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You destroyed the old ways of religion and gave birth to a new faith on the Cross. We are heirs to that blessing and we praise You for completing the painful process of salvation, so that we may be given the glorious opportunity of being restored to God forever. In Your Holy Name, we thankfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s drawing is John’s latest lighthouse print of the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine, USA. You can view a larger version of the drawing here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1006/4597010807_503a3fe91d_b.jpg

Teachers Devotions: Breaking the Silence - Psalm 39 v 2

Psalm 39:2      But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.

There are days when I worry about the state of the Church. I don’t mean the congregation that I serve (although I do have worrying days about it, too); I’m writing about the Presbyterian Church in general.

We seem to have lost our sense of direction because less people are becoming Presbyterians across the world. It’s almost as if we’ve reached the end of the line and that the Spirit of God has no current or future use for Presbyterians. We seem to be more driven by the culture than Christ. We appear to be shaped by what’s fashionable instead of being faithful.

I’ve tried to be quiet about this and not be overcome by zeal or emotions. But being impassive about the current church crisis doesn’t get us anywhere, and more and more Presbyterians seem to be going nowhere fast. In the past, I’ve blamed it on seminary training or generational culture, but in my heart I feel as though it’s something more: it’s about preaching, teaching, and living the truth. It all comes down to accepting Christ in our hearts and applying His words to our ways.

I don’t want to come across as being self-righteous or fiercely zealous. I am far from perfect and a terrible sinner. But I love being a Presbyterian Christian and my hearts bleeds for Presbyterians everywhere. I want to be part of a movement that can positively turn the tide and help Presbyterians become effective and influential again. I honestly believe that Presbyterians have the capacity to win the hearts and minds of post-modern people for Christ. If only we would stop shooting ourselves in the foot!

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, thank You for the rich history of Presbyterianism throughout the world. We pray that You will allow an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit to be experienced by all of us, so that we can effectively and powerfully represent Your Message, Gospel, and Kingdom. Grant us the courage to speak out against what is wrong and stand up for what is right. In Your Holy Name, we faithfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is John’s latest drawing called Summer Pond. You can view a larger version online at the following link: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/4567015382_9a7de36909_b.jpg

Teacher Devotions: Accepting Jesus - Luke 4:24

Luke 4:24 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”

We live in a strange age. Our society and civilization, our culture and traditions have all been shaped, established, and blessed by Christianity. The freedoms we share have been formed by the faith we once held dear. In fact, if we were to erase Christianity from the last two thousand years of history, most of us would be serfs or slaves, ignorant and illiterate, cruelly treated and cast aside.

That’s what makes the living of these days very strange because Western society, in Europe and the Americas, is turning its back upon Christ, the true Founder of our freedoms and faith. It’s as if today’s verse from Luke could be rewritten to read: “No Savior is accepted in His world.”

Jesus lived and died almost two thousand years ago, but His Spirit still captivates most of the religious hearts and minds in other places throughout the world. Africa is a prime example of this. At the beginning of the 20^th century, 9% of the population was Christian and 36% were Islamic. A hundred years later, when we reached the year 2000, 40% of the African population was Islamic and over 44% of the population was Christian. The same thing is happening in China, where it has been estimated that by 2030 1.5 billion people will be Christians. Christ’s Church is growing at a rapid rate throughout the Earth, and yet on His home turf of Western Society people are forgetting what they really owe to His words and ways, His godliness and Gospel.

This morning our church has been closed due to the icy weather, so our people at Erin cannot collectively worship God. But for those of you who are reading this today, I want to say “Thank You” for taking time to accept Jesus into your heart and homes through the reading of God’s Word and the blessing of His Spirit.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, enable us to reconnect to Your words and ways, to find the time to rekindle our faith in order to make a recommitment to You. Help us to remember past days when we have needed You in our lives and the times that we have worshiped in our hearts and homes, as well as in our churches and cherished holy places. Thank You for being the Savior of our souls and the Lord of our lives. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s picture is John’s latest drawing called “Moonlight over Maybole West,” featuring his first parish church. If you would like to see a larger version of the picture, please click on the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/4317958402/sizes/l/

Teacher Devotions: Outside the Box

Psalm 37: 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this.

Our congregation is about to embark on a new adventure. We are trying to raise $1 million in order to renovate our church in such a way that the next generation of church members will not face mounting bills which will limit their mission. We’ve come a long way to get here and sometimes people don’t truly understand how much effort it takes to keep a church growing.

During the last fourteen years, we’ve seen a steady increase at Erin. In contrast, our denomination (PCUSA) and Presbytery have been diminishing. Previous pastors had followed the denominational path and subsequently the church stopped growing. Erin took a great risk in 1995 when I was invited to be the pastor because my thinking would usually be outside of the denominational box.

I know that throughout the years some people have left because I don’t toe the denominational line, but my response to them is this: would you have rather had a mediocre church that was dying, or would you prefer a church that has constantly grown and has a dynamic future?

I’ve mentioned before that our wee church is at a major crossroads. We stand at the threshold of a new and vibrant future, but in order to progress forward we need to get over the past. If I’m expected to totally give of myself to this campaign and this church, then I cannot keep looking back. I’m committing my way to the LORD and focusing on the future of this congregation. I firmly believe that if everyone else gets on board, then God will truly do great things here.

Finally, I had lunch with the local Presbytery Executive last week and he sees how important our work is at Erin. He asked me to consider being a part of the New Development Strategy for Presbyterian churches in our area. Toeing the denominational line has not helped to grow our local churches. He wants someone involved who can “think outside the box.” I see that as an affirmation of what I have tried to accomplish here with the people of Erin and by the Spirit of God. It’s nice to have a PCUSA representative officially recognize what’s happening here. Maybe we can help other churches to do the same.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the One who permits churches to grow and Your Holy Spirit’s presence is essential for those congregations who would grow in the future. Without You, we are just another religious club trying to keep afloat. Help us to think outside of the box and go outside of our church in order to find where Your Spirit is working in the midst of our community. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.