Display a life of Grace....

and they will want a taste!

Here are the Bible verses used in the sermon today (10/21/12). I certainly hope you find them useful.

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Display a life of Grace and People will want a Taste

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

We are Christ ambassadors, not “we should be” we are, like it or not

2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Our worth is defined by what we follow. If I spend all my energy on _____, I am only good to those who want ______

2 Kings 17:15 NIV...they followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless?

People are not our projects, they should be our passion, after all, they are His passion

Romans 10:1 it is my desire

27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

1 Peter 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 

We want to be like Jesus? Hunger like Jesus
He was weary, it was lunch time, disciples went for food, she left her water jar

John 4: 31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Our commission: Matt 28:19 [feed, heal, water, save trees? NO] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

It’s the great commission

Not the great suggestion, or omission James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Romans 10:14-15 (NLT)  Reference only on screen

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

So How do we: Display a life of Grace and People will want a Taste?

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good (not deserved) deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Thank You for stopping by: Leave a comment and let me know you were here.

Would you treat them different?

I am amazed that I know people and treat them one way, then I find out something about their life, a tragedy, a problem or a struggle, and then the way I treat them changes. My heart is now invested in them. My actions are more intentional and my conversation with them deepens.  My concern is: why did I change with more or new information about them. I mean, shouldn't I treat everyone the same? The person didn't change, my information about them did.

Am I wrong to feel a little guilty about my difference? Sometimes maybe but that is what relationships are really all about. Our investment in others needs to be growing and true relationships will bring new information that will bring more Opportunities to better invest into that relationship.

My take away is to try to treat people as fragile valuables and not be carless with my words. God, teach me to see what YOU see and to feel what YOU feel. Those souls were purchased by the blood of your Son Jesus Christ and I need to treat them like it.


Thank you for life lessons!

Heart to Mouth

Matthew 15:11: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."...

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

We cannot escape the simple truth that our words point to the our heart. The two cannot be separated. They are a reflection of each other. When my word are damaging to someone, I have to ask how my heart values that person.

We were to have died to sin but this is an area that I continue to resurrect over and over again. When instead I need to put it away once and for all!


Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."

So my challenge for me (join if you want) is to change my heart about people. Increase their value to a higher level. After all: Jesus came and died for THEM! How dare me think anything less of anyone (including myself). Once the heart is changed, the mouth WILL follow.


Thats all for now, I love you guys and thanks for visiting.

Try this, I will too:

In every situation, ask yourself: How can I humble myself during this? Am I taking the highness place of honor with the risk of being asked to step down? Or am I taking the lowest place and leaving room to be asked to step up?

How are my feeling about the people involved? Am I treating the people around me like they are valued by our Lord? Because they are. My thoughts about others will manifest in the way I treat them and respond to them. If we look down on people, we are not being humble.

Take a knee!

We-Ambassadors

Impressed By Them

I am so pleased to have so many amazing and different people in my life. I love it when someone can talk to me and not think I will judge them for their mistakes. They feel free to talk to me and I never want to change that.

We have such a hug verity of friends that we see all kinds of things from mistakes to bad habits to people who just do wrong things.

I ask that you all pray for me that I handle each and ever one of them well. That God will give me wisdom to hear their mistakes and NOT support them for doing them but encourage them to move away form them. For em to lead them out of that and into the light. To show them love and trust and even respect them at the same time.

I love it when people own up to their mistakes.

We Ambassodors

You can still find my blog at the same old www.claudecannon.blogspot.com but now you can also find it as www.weambassadors.com. Why this name change? Well I believe that we all make an impact on people around us, tho sometimes this impact can be just as negative as positive. We need to be constantly trying to be a positive example of our faith (Christian believers).

It is based on 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

and Ephesians 6:20 (really 6:19-20) 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

What exactly is an ambassador? Well I am so glad you asked, here is what Merriam-Webster thinks it is:

am·bas·sa·dor

\am-ˈba-sə-dər, əm-, im-, -ˌdȯr, -ˈbas-dər\

Definition of AMBASSADOR

1

: an official envoy; especially : a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment

2

a : an authorized representative or messengerb : an unofficial representative ambassadors of goodwill>

Now that seems a little odd to liken this definition to our faith, yet 2 times Paul did just that. Lets see what God's Word has to say about this definition:
'an official' is one with authority:

2 Corinthians 10:8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.

Titus 2:15These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

'envoy' is a messenger or representative

Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

'highest rank'

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.



sent to a 'foreign government':

Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Peter 2:11 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.


And finally our 'diplomatic assignment':
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Hebrews 13:1-3 1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.

So we are ambassadors, Sometimes good, others, well, not so much. But the more we try to remember our 'mission' the better ambassadors we will make.

If you get anything from this get this: Our actions tell people more about our "Lord" than our words do. Proof = Truth, we say we are followers of Christ, great...lets prove it.

We-ambassadors