Small Packages

After church on Sunday, a friend and I went to another church in our denomination.

They were celebrating their 100^th anniversary.

Being that this church was about 45 minutes away, we were delighted to celebrate this milestone with them.

It was wonderful catching up with some old friends.

It was equally wonderful making new ones.

After a meal was served, everyone made their way into the sanctuary.

There, a worship service was held.

Hymns were sung and prayers were offered up God.

There were several speakers including clergy, community leaders and members.

Each spoke about this church, its mission or its 100 year history.

One of the speakers is a personal friend of mine and is currently serving our denomination as president.

His message was brief but it resonated deep within me.

He spoke about the size of this church.

My friend then reminded us that God often makes excellent use of small numbers.

One of the examples my friend cited was how Jesus fed 5,000 with just five barley loaves and two fish.

He also cited Gideon's army and told us that God reduced the size of that army first from 32,000 to 10,000.

He then reminded us that God reduced the size of the army once again this time from 10,000 to 300.

It was with the 300 man army that God gave victory to Gideon.

As I stated before, this message resonated within me.

I thought about the Sunday School class I teach and how it has decreased in numbers through time.

I thought about the Senior Assembly I help to lead which has also decreased in numbers.

As my friend spoke, I realized something.

I remembered from my study of chemistry how a solution containing water becomes stronger as the water in it evaporates away.

In a similar way, as the number of believers within a particular group diminishes, shouldn't the concentration of its collective faith should also rise?

I am grateful to God for the message He placed on my friend's heart.

I am also grateful to God for the realization He awakened in mine.

It is said that good things come in small packages.

In matters of faith, great things can come in small packages as well.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Faith Is Not Complicated

What is faith?

Faith and trust go hand in hand.

Faith is belief without reservation.

Faith is belief without the need for additional analysis.

When I sit down in a chair, I do not analyze it first to determine if it will support me.

I do not consider its age, its materials or its quality of construction.

I simply sit in the chair fully trusting it to support me.

When I drive across a bridge I do not perform any complex mathematics.

I do not consider the design or the engineering that went into its construction.

I do not estimate the weight of my vehicle and multiply that weight by the number of vehicles that happen to be on it.

I simply drive across it fully trusting it to be able to support whatever load it happens to bear.

In that sense, faith and trust are remarkably similar.

Once when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came asking for his help.

He told Jesus about his servant who was paralyzed and in anguish.

Jesus offered to go to the servant and heal him.

The centurion replied that he was unworthy to have Jesus come to his home and added the following.

Matthew 8:9 (NET) - “For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one 'Go' and he goes, and to another 'Come' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this' and he does it.

Scripture tells us that Jesus was amazed.

Matthew 8:10 (NET) – When Jesus heard this He was amazed and said to those that followed Him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!”

The centurion did not ask Jesus to go to the servant.

He did not ask Jesus to lay His hands upon the servant.

He simply believed that Jesus had the authority to do it from where He was.

With that, the servant was healed.

Matthew 8:13 (NET) – Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour.

Scripture tells us many things about Jesus.

We do not need to analyze them.

All we need do is believe.

Romans 10:9 (NET) – because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Things often become complicated when we choose to make them that way.

There is no need to make faith complicated.

Trust is a great place to start,

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com