Where’s God Working in Your Life?

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Wayne Gillespie

God with me

Where do you see God at work in your life these days?

We’ve all been taught to think about God in certain ways; and, when we do that, it shapes not only what we believe about God, but it also shapes what we believe God does.

Do you picture God as an old man with a long, white beard who’s watching everything? Do you picture God as a “puppet-master” who’s pulling strings in your life (and in the world) to accomplish His will? Are you confusing God and Santa Claus – picturing God as a white-bearded “Watchman” who keeps track of whether you’ve been naughty or nice – and who always has a sack filled with goodies (or coal) to give away? Are you able to see God’s presence in people who are suffering – always working in unexpected places?

In this week’s message, “Where’s God Working in Your Life?”, we are challenged to keep things “down to earth” and to explore where God is working in our lives in down-to-earth ways. Instead of pointing to an invisible God up in the sky who’s keeping an eye on us and watching everything that we do, pulling strings like a “puppet-master,” and leaving gifts (or coal) under our tree – what if we could begin to see God at work in places where we are feeling welcomed and embraced – just as we are – with all of our strengths and weaknesses, our quirks and flaws, our goodness and love? What would life be like if we began to see God in places where we are feeling listened-to and cared-about? Jesus once said that He would always be found in the midst of His people as they come together to share gifts of broken Bread and tasty Wine. What if we began to more clearly see that God’s at work in places where we’re feeling loved and supported — listened-to and cared-about — equipped and empowered to face whatever life brings us tomorrow morning?

And so, let me ask you again…. Where do you see God at work in your life these days?

Jesus once told us that He will always be found when His people come together and form a “community.” And what that means is that – sometimes Jesus works through us as we help other people’s – and sometimes Jesus works through other people who help us.

It’s all about connection – love – and mutual guidance and support. And, before we go off and try to find the invisible God, we always need to remember that we’ve been told that, if we can’t love (and be loved by) people that we can see, we’ll never be able to love (and be loved by) the invisible God that we can’t see (1 John 4:20).

Visit my new Podcast!

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Wayne Gillespie

RealStory - Picture

Please note that I’ve added a new menu item to the homepage of The ExploraStory Café to take you to my new podcast entitled: RealStory.

I hope that this new bi-weekly podcast will help you to understand the relationship that people are seeing between their daily lives and their faith-journey, and that it will help you to more deeply reflect upon your own relationship with Jesus Christ.

Each episode will contain a short interview where someone is invited to share a story and to reflect upon what he/she learned about life and faith while journeying through the event(s) that are described.

You can learn more about RealStory by clicking here.

And please don’t forget to follow the podcast by clicking the link that I have provided, so that you get new episodes of the podcast as they become available. This podcast will also be helpful to your friends and family members – so be sure to tell them about it, too.

Where Life and Faith Meet

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Wayne Gillespie

blog pic

Let me ask you a question….

What is it, in your life of faith, that leaves other people feeling amazed and perplexed?

On the surface, that might seem to be an unusual question. Many of us believe that our faith and our relationship with Christ are a private matter. We’ve all been taught that, if we want to avoid controversy in our lives, we need to learn to avoid the topics of religion and politics in daily conversations. And yet, Christ calls us to be His witnesses. The story of Pentecost is a story where people were amazed and perplexed by what they saw other people doing. And so, perhaps the question – “What is it, in your life and faith, that leaves other people feeling amazed and perplexed?” – is one that we need to consider.

The Day of Pentecost started-out like most other days. Roosters had been crowing to announce the beginning of the day. Little children were jumping out of their beds and were getting ready to play. People had begun to come out of their homes and loud voices could be heard in the streets. And then, a rushing wind sent people scrambling. The Sacred Story tells us about “fire-tongues” falling from the sky and landing on people’s heads. We hear about the disciples speaking in languages that they didn’t know. And the whole thing, according to Acts 2:7, left people feeling both amazed and perplexed.

Let me ask you again….

What is it, in your life of faith, that leaves other people feeling amazed and perplexed?

“Where Faith and Life Meet” is a message that challenges us to think about that, and that encourages us to think about how the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. Can we see the Holy Spirit at work in the Church when people who disagree with each other continue to gather together, sing songs, and share a Meal with each other – in times of division and deep separations? That, if you think about it, is both amazing and perplexing. People are amazed and perplexed when we refrain from judging them and criticizing them because they don’t live their lives in the way that we choose to live ours. People are amazed and perplexed when we forgive them and allow relationships to continue after we’ve been hurt and disappointed. People are amazed and perplexed when they see us welcoming and embracing them – no matter who they are or where they’ve been in life – because we know that God created them to be precious, valuable, and worthy of love.

The Sacred Story reminds us that, when the Holy Spirit works in our midst, things that we do will leave people both amazed and perplexed.

And so, I ask you, once again: “What is it, in your life of faith, that leaves other people feeling amazed and perplexed?” Take a moment to stop and to listen to what God’s telling you. Think about how the Holy Spirit is already working in your life to do amazing things. Think and pray for a moment about how God may be challenging you to do things that other people may not fully understand, but that they will deeply appreciate and see as a sign of what God’s doing in our world right now.

Christ’s Healing of Creation

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Wayne Gillespie

unity

It was the worst day in human history.

God had been at work since the “Beginning” (whenever that was). God had been at work transforming what was “formless and void” into a beautiful Creation filled with a sun and moon, water, land, trees, birds, and fish. And, at the high point of it all, God created ADAM and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

But, ADAM was alone; and so, God assembled a huge parade and God marched all of the animals in front of ADAM – but a suitable partner wasn’t found for him. And so, our God created ADAMAH – a woman – and ADAM was so excited that he exclaimed: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” And everything was very, very good.

But, the Sacred Story reminds us that there was a serpent in the Garden of Eden. And the serpent took ADAMAH aside and convinced her to eat fruit from the only tree that God had told her not to touch: The Tree of the Awareness of Duality and Separation. And, as soon as that happened, people began to notice that they’re somehow different than the people around them. You and me. Good and bad. Righteous and unrighteous. Black and White. Us and them. Republicans and Democrats. Americans, Russians, Mexicans, and Germans. Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Orthodox. I’m exhausted….

And shortly after ADAM and ADAMAH ate from the Tree of the Awareness of Duality the Creation changed. ADAM and ADAMAH noticed that they were different, and they sewed fig leaves together to hide parts of their bodies from each other. ADAM and ADAMAH began to sense a distinction between the “ordinary” and the “sacred”; and, for the first time, they felt shame as they stood in the presence of God. The deadly fruit from the Tree of the Awareness of Duality caused ADAM to blame ADAMAH when God asked him if he had eaten from the tree, and it caused ADAMAH to blame the serpent when she was asked the same question – because, when something goes wrong, it always has to be someone’s fault (and it’s almost always someone else’s fault, isn’t it?). The fruit from the Tree of the Awareness of Duality unraveled God’s creative intent, and the fruit continues to work in our lives and in the world today.

And that’s why Jesus came.

In this week’s message, “Christ’s Healing of Creation”, we’re reminded that Jesus came into the world to tear down the wall between God and God’s people – so that, we don’t have to live our lives sensing a separation between the “ordinary” and “sacred.” Jesus came into the world to tear down the walls that we build between ourselves and other people – reminding us that, “in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free” (Galatians 3:28). Jesus came into the world to bridge the separation that we sense between ourselves and God, so that we can live at peace with God. Jesus came into the world to share a love that unravels “duality” and “separation,” and to remind us that no matter what kinds of lines we try to draw between ourselves and others, God’s at work to erase those lines and to bind us together – because God has given us each other as a “gift,” so that none of us have to travel through life alone.

The Sacred Story reminds us that “duality” – our sense of separation between ourselves and God – and between ourselves and other people – was not God’s original intent in the Creation and it’s not God’s intent for our lives today. And that’s why God continues to draw us to a Table where we share a common Meal – and into a community, called the “Church,” where God binds us together as a visible sign of what God’s doing today.

Love Each Other!

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Wayne Gillespie

Heart pic

I believe that God’s placed us on the earth to learn how to love.

We live in a world where life’s not easy for anyone. The Sacred Story reminds us that God has given us the gift of each other, so that nobody has to travel through life alone. And it’s love that makes that possible.

We’ve all been taught to think about Jesus and even about the ministry of the Church in certain ways, and it’s hard for us to change the ways that we think. We’ve all grown-up believing certain things about other people, and it takes time for us to dig deep and to be honest with ourselves – and it can take even longer for God to change the ways that we think about life and the world, and bring healing.

We take the sin in other people’s lives quite seriously and minimize the importance of the sin in our own lives; and, sometimes, that keeps us from being “Christ’s Church for All People.” We struggle with packed schedules and endless lists of commitments; and, sometimes, that keeps us from listening to each other and from caring in the ways that we could. Renewal takes time because renewal is something that challenges our cultures. And, when we gather in Christ’s presence, Jesus nudges us and challenges us and even confronts us in, of all things, a Meal.

In this week’s message, “Love Each Other!”, Jesus speaks to us and tells us to love each other in the same way that Jesus has loved us. The love of Jesus continues to challenge us to live-well with each other when we agree with each other and when we don’t. The love of Jesus calls us to gather together for a Meal – where Jesus comes to be with us and to bind us together as His people in the world today. The love of Jesus continues to remind us that people – both inside and outside of the walls of Church buildings – need to hear about God’s love and embrace. The love of Jesus challenges us to cry-out for justice and peace, and to tell people that the world doesn’t have to be what we see right now because God has the power to change it.

As Jesus calls us to “Love Each Other!” and as we share Holy Communion, Christ’s love binds us to each other in ways that remind us that God’s placed us in this world to take care of each other, to work with each other, and to stand beside each other through thick and thin. And, as we capture that truth today and as we build all that we’re doing around it, “Christ’s Church for All People” becomes a “Beacon of Light” for the world – and people both inside and outside of the Church’s brick walls experience the love and transforming power of Jesus. And God’s Spirit ignites hearts with passion and determination. The Holy Spirit lives and moves, and brings growth and renewal to the Church. And the seeds that God has given to us to sow begin to sprout and to grow and to become signs of what God continues to do with people, just like us, in the world today.

“Love Each Other!”

Share your lives with each other. Celebrate your hopes and dreams with each other, and stand together when life gets tough. “This is my commandment,” Jesus says, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) That’s our mission as both individuals and as “Christ’s Church for All People.”

I continue to believe that God has put us on the earth to learn how to love – spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people – and freely serving others in a world that needs to see the power of God at work in the lives of God’s people.