Before we move on to chapter 2, I want to ask what you all thought of the end of chapter 1, where we learn about the different experiences of two churches.
We see that "Jim's" church had been through a serious split. Jim compared his church to the success of Covenant Life Church which was celebrating it's 25th anniversary.
Both churches had:
A love for God's Word.
They loved grace, and worship.
They valued the importance of relationships.
The difference was, that Covenant Life Church placed "a strong emphasis on humility, especially among the leaders."
Jim acknowledged that his split church did not have that.
We need to ask ourselves, the author states, when it comes to the
values we live by,
will others testify that humility characterizes our lives?
He says that so many human ventures, so many grand designs of mankind, have been undermined because humility was lacking.
We are challenged to ask ourselves, what are we building with our lives?
A marriage? A family? A business? A church? A career?
Whatever your venture, are you aware of your need for God's grace to give your efforts lasting value?
If we humbly acknowledge our need for God's providential help and blessing, we allow the promise of humility to shape our life and choices.
So can we ask ourselves, individually and corporately - are we humble?
Are we people who walk in humility? With the members of our congregation, our community and our own family and friends?
It is by the grace of God that we are saved. We are dead without His grace. Do we "walk the talk" of humility?
Our beloved New Ipswich Congregational Church is nothing without the grace of God. God gives grace to the humble.... and He opposes the proud.
Coming up next, chapter 2 where we will look at just how dangerous pride is.
No comments:
Post a Comment