Mauldin First Baptist Church Mauldin First Baptist

Next week after worship, I’ll be flying to Indianapolis for annual Southern Baptist Convention. As usual, we will elect officers, commission missionaries and hear reports from our various institutions. This year, there will also be a vote to make a change to the SBC Constitution regarding the criteria for...

On Memorial Day, we take time to remember and honor those who gave their lives for us, the people of our country. Would you agree that those who gave their lives would want to see us enjoying our lives? Or do we honor them by living in misery? Sometimes we forget it’s our choice. Which is why some of the greatest teachings in scriptures are REMINDERS… things that we already know, but perhaps have forgotten or set aside. Psalm 103 encourages to not forget the benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

Even the most obedient disciples can struggle to answer common questions concerning our faith. “Where did the dinosaurs come from?” “How come there is so much evil in the world?” “How can you prove the Bible is the Word of God?” While there are many great proofs for our faith… it’s still a “faith”, a belief… it’s more than a set of facts. In fact, it really comes down to the person of Jesus. What do you do with Jesus? What is your decision about who He is?

We come to a time in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus no longer expects His disciples to just follow… they are now being called to DO the things they’ve seen Jesus do. And He gives them the power to do it! God still expects His disciples today to do the same things… yes, to go out and preach the word… but to also practice what we preach and demonstrate the gospel with our deeds.

We often think that when it comes to God, WE have to be the ones to find Him. But today’s story shows that while we may be looking for God, He’s come to look for us too! And He wants to be found. And He wants to give to those who ask Him for help.

If we believe God created everything and everyone, just by speaking, then is it reasonable to believe that God has ALL THE POWER THERE IS? If so, then we could also assume He doesn’t need our help. But we see in the scriptures when Jesus healed people, He didn’t just speak and heal everyone. He healed individuals. Because those individuals then went to tell others what God had done for them.