This week we will be focused around giving generously. In Acts 6 we find that the early church is struggling with everyone trying to do everything, and so the position of deacon is created. Elders teach, preach and provide Spiritual guidance, the deacons cared for the widows, orphans and those in need. How is God calling each of us to use our own gifts and passions to serve others in our community, to meet the needs all around us.
Grit, doing hard things, perseverance are words that I hear often. What about when it gets challenging, when the pressure is on and when emotions run high? Rahab models a faith in God, that believes who God will be today is connected to who God has been before. That while faith still is hard, we ground it in who we know God to be, and trust what he will do.
What does it look like to be strong? There are lots of images of strength we know from our families, books, and our world. As Joshua steps into a major leadership role, God charges him to be strong, and to live with courage. The passage also names and qualifies that the kind of strength that Joshua is being invited to is not one that comes from within him, but relies on God, and grounds itself in his word.
Easter is this watershed day for Christians to remember. The day Jesus overcame the power of death, the day he changed our relationship with God, and each other. So often the good news of Easter focuses on heaven (as it should), but leaves out the fact that the news of Jesus’ death and resurrection embolden his disciples to change how they were living that very day.