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How
has Jesus Christ made a
difference in your life?”
A personal
question about a relating
God. Jesus Christ has made it
possible for a great difference to occur in everyone’s life! He said, “I have come that they might
have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Jesus brought about a difference for everyone for all time
because this was the desire from the beginning of time of God, the
Father. Much of our world history has been
marked by the difference Jesus makes.
But answering
how Jesus has made a
difference in your life is not an abstract historical question. It is a highly powerful and personal
question. The individual’s answer
depends on her/his level of openness to the role Jesus Christ desires
to play
in our lives. It depends on how
much we rely on His work in our lives.
It becomes a question of how much space we give for Jesus Christ
to come
in and bring that difference.
Jesus Christ
works dramatically to bring a
difference to an individual when we step into following Him as His
disciples. What do disciples do to
see Jesus make a difference in our lives?
Commitment in Discipleship Makes a Difference as We:
·
Give devotion to faithful
prayer and study
of God’s word
·
Place ourselves regularly in
God’s
presence together with other believers in Christ
·
Financial give as an act of
worship and
reliance on God alone
·
Offering our service and our
gift of time
to Jesus Christ
Beginning
in January, our church will engage in a new model for active Christian
discipleship. First United
Methodist Church, “The Heart of Troy”, will be asked to offer the same
gifts of
the Wise Men. Each individual,
regardless of age, can experience the difference Jesus Christ can make
in our
lives, our families, our church and our community when we are renewed
in giving
to Jesus Christ our Prayers, our Presence, our Gifts, and our Service.
Each
of us is asked, for 90 days- from January 1st through the
dawn of
Easter-Resurrection Sunday to recall our vows of discipleship and
church
membership: 1. to offer your prayers through a small group
discipleship
experience, 2. consistent presence to worship and Sunday
school,
especially if this is not a regular practice, 3. giving a biblical
tithe-10% of
your income, and 4. serving Jesus Christ in the church
by
involvement in a ministry area.
Changing
our Expectations of Jesus Christ and Ourselves
Please
prepare to see God make a dramatic difference in all areas of our lives
as we
become renewed in our expectations of what it means to be a disciple of
Jesus
and learn to expect God to work in our lives and church.
This experience in active Christian
discipleship , Making a Difference in the Heart
of Troy: 90 days of Commitment
will be the most powerful and dramatic move of God in our church and in
our
personal lives if we trust God in this process.
I
pray that you will choose to offer your commitment o what all disciples
do in
following Jesus. I know that you
will see God keep His promise by making a great difference in your life
and in
those around you. Come.
Join with this church family and me as
we live out what God calls all disciples to do.
Alan W. McBride
Pastor