Stories of Faith

Ashamed - What triggers feelings of shame? The word depicts a human emotionFeeling, shame, guilt or disgrace. As in, she was reluctant or unwilling to do so...mething because of shame or embarrassment. Or, I was ashamed to be seen with him. If you come from a family that earns mid-to-lower income wages, it’s tough attending a school where the majority of students come from wealthy families. Their designer clothes, shoes, and exotic cars are intimidating. When you look at your hand-me-down clothes and 10 year-old car you feel ashamed. We can experience shame on a spiritual level. Sometimes nonreligious people make fun of Christians because of their faith in Someone they have never seen or heard! Or, we may recoil from being identified as Christian because of the wacky beliefs that some professed Christian hold. After all, the KKK claims to be a Christian organization. Jesus said to His disciples, If you're ashamed of who I am and what I teach, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when He comes in all His glory, the glory of the Father, and the glory of the holy messengers (Luke 9:26 Voice). What does this mean? If we spurn God’s grace and lovethe principles of His Kingdom, and deny that Jesus is the only One who can save us from ourselves, there is nothing He can do for us. Jesus will not be able to present us to His Father as one who embraces His values. On the night Jesus was taken captive by a rowdy, obscene crowd, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. This was shortly after he had boastfully bragged he would never turn his back on Him. Out of fear and intimidation, Peter unknowingly embraced what Jesus’ enemies stood for by not identifying himself with Jesus. In his mind he stood with Jesus, but in practice he stood with those who wanted to kill Him. And to prove it, he forcibly denied any association with Christthree times! The third time when someone asked, aren’t you one of His followers? Peter said, ‘Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ He went out and cried and cried and cried (Luke 22:60, NLT). Identifying with Jesus is way more than claiming to be Christian. It is an intentional decision on our part to promote His causesto seek justice for those who are being mistreated, to show mercy, grace and kindness to otherseven our enemies, when society does the opposite. We Identify with Jesus when we rise above political partisanship and promote the principles of God’s Kingdom over nationalism, communism, capitalism, and every other ism that seeks to dominate the world. In his letter to the Romans, Paul declared, I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believesthe Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’ (Romans 1:16-17, NLT). Rich DuBose writes from Northern California) #PacificUnionConference #ChurchSupportServices | Photo: Unsplash

https://vimeo.com/showcase/sof Enjoy video stories of faith that feature people and ministries throughout the Pacific Union Conference. View them yourself and show them in your church.

A Free Lunch - Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? With Jesus around you never know what might happen. When He fed 5,000 plus men, women and childre...n, no one left hungry. Everyone eats. Everyone is satisfied. Nobody goes away hungry. In fact, when the disciples recover the leftovers, they have 12 baskets full of broken pieces (Luke 9:17, The Voice). Free food and grace conjure up similar feelings of joy! When someone ahead of you in the Starbucks drive-thru pays for your order, that’s grace! You didn’t earn it and you can’t pay it back. But you can pay it forward. When Jesus said we are to treat others as we wish to be treated, He simply meant that He wants us to pay forward to others the grace He has shown us. If you can imagine a room full of people who enjoy doing this, then you can visualize heaven. (Rich DuBose writes from Northern California) #PacificUnionConference #ChurchSupportServices | Photo: Pexels

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