Did you know that all Christians are supposed to be missionaries?  We might not all be called to travel to a foreign country, but Jesus did say to go into all the world and make disciples, to baptize them and teach them to obey everything that he taught.  And guess what?  Even if you’re not in some foreign country your still in the world somewhere—unless you’re an astronaut—though even in orbit there are people we can teach Christ’s commandments to.  No matter where you are, you are called to teach people to obey what Christ taught.  Maybe you’ve never thought about it before, but if you are not making disciples wherever you go, you are disobeying Jesus Christ.  And if you are disobeying Jesus Christ then that proves he is not your Lord and that you don’t love him.  Remember, he said “Those who obey my commands are the ones who love me.”  So if you don’t obey Jesus, and he is not your Lord, and you are not making disciples, then are you really a Christian?  Or are you simply mislabeling yourself?  James Chapter 2 makes it pretty clear that there’s a big difference between knowing God exists, and living a life that demonstrates your faith in him.  Even the demons “believe” in God and tremble.  So the question is, do you TRUST and OBEY God?   And inexperience or lack of education are both extremely lousy excuses, since all Christians are supposed to have the Holy Spirit living inside them and directing them.  After all, the only way you can get experience is by doing something.  Don’t you think it’s time you got started?

This talk is really just a short report on a building project we sent a team to help out with.  It was a trip in support of mission training and work, but all missionaries need support too.  So if you’re not ministering in a foreign country somewhere, be sure that you are helping to support that work with your money as well as sharing the Good News of Jesus yourself.  Just like the early disciples, we should be both spreading the Gospel AND financially supporting others who are making disciples around the world.

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Have you ever tried to switch the kind of milk you drink?  Like from 2% to skim.  I used to be a pure 2% milk drinker.  That’s what I grew up on, and the skim stuff was just way to watery.  I would never drink skim.  Or maybe you switched from drinking regular cola to diet.  It’s weird getting used to the different flavors or textures.  I did end up switching to skim milk because I figured I didn’t need that extra pat of butter in every cup.  I also tried switching to diet cola for awhile, but my body didn’t like that at all.  The Aspartame did nasty things in my digestive tract.  I don’t know if it was the aspartic acid or the phenylalanine or what, but after feeling sick every time I drank diet cola I did some research and found that Aspartame can have nasty effects on your bod.  I guess that’s why all the products that contain it have to have a warning label now.

Anyway, the point is that making any kind of change to your diet or routine can be difficult to get used to at first.  But there are some things that are well worth making a change for—like the benefits of regular exercise…and even talking about religious stuff.  Have you ever felt like you ought to change something?

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This is a little clip that talks about a couple analogies for what spiritual life and living as part of the church ought to be like.  I always like word pictures that help explain complex concepts in down-to-earth ways.

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