Life and Faith Together

This mid-week podcast (with a sermon, lesson, or interview) is designed to help you to live with your life and your faith together. At 30 minutes or less, this podcast fits easily in your busy schedule. You can listen during your daily commute, during your lunch break, or while you are getting a bit of exercise. Hosted by Dr. David H Green (a pastor, preacher, and teacher of the Bible), the goal of this podcast is to help you to integrate your life and faith by teaching the great and historic Christian faith and by building your understanding of the Bible. If you have a question, or a topic that you want to include, please send an email to Thrive@LifeAndFaithTogether.com. We look forward to connecting with you as we connect our Life and Faith Together.

This is a very strange time in the United States.  Our annual observance of Memorial Day comes together with news of a tragic shooting in an Elementary School.  This raises important questions for every Christian. How does our faith shape our life in a time of grief? What message can we share from the Bible? And, perhaps most important, how can we communicate the message of hope in a way that it can be heard? 

To say that we put our faith in Jesus Christ is to acknowledge that we are doing the very best that we can do every day. We trust our God to offer His blessings and to help us through difficult moments and seasons of life.  Sometimes we want to look back to a time that felt less complicated. But we are called to go forward with faith.

We are to prepare the way.... Generations have done this before us. And, we pray, generations will do this after us.  But what exactly are we suppposed to be doing? And how will this work as we live our life and faith together? A note about this eposode: The recording is from the 8:30 communion service at the First Presbyterian Church in Conroe, Texas on May 1, 2022.  This worship service draws a small part of the congregation and is a bit more informal that the 11:00 service.  You can find video of the 11:00 worship service at the church's YouTube channel (YouTube.com/fpcConroe). 

The moment was tense. A betrayal was in progress. Within the next 24 hours Jesus' dead body would be placed in a tomb.  And he knew it. As Jesus prepared the assembled disciples to confront the most terrible moment in their life together, he had a very clear message for them. This same message continues to speak with power and importance today. 

The way that we go through life is important. When a Commencement Ceremony is over, you commence.  Every participant, the graduates included, go out the door to whatever is next in life. Jesus teaches that when we go through a door, our character matters.  Focusing on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 7), we can learn more about the importance of understanding and following the Way of God. 

It happens to everyone. And it most certainly has happened to you -- a moment when it feels like light has gone out in your life. Looking back at this all too human experience, there are a couple of questions to be considered: What do you do when life goes out of your life? How does our belief (our faith) change and grow?  We can learn from the example of a man named Saul (later known as the Apostle Paul) when Saul was literally and spiritually dazed and confused.  Saul was helped by a most unlikely mentor.

Believers of every time and in every place are citizens of this world and, at the same time, citizens of the Kingdom of God. According to the Bible, what duty do we owe to the institutions of this world? And what do we owe as citizens of the Kingdom of God? The circumstances of this message may be uniquely American (the July 4th celebration of Independence Day), but the questions are truly universal.

It happens to all of us. We look around our lives and see that there is so much brokenness, so much destruction. How, in those moments, can we find comfort, much less hope? A foundational Christian belief is that we are created by God. If we are created by God, can the hands of our Creator repair, restore, or re-create a beautiful image from our shattered lives? Looking to Jeremiah during his visit to the Potter's House, we can find a message of hope and inspiration.     

God loves you. God is with you. God is in charge. God is stronger than anything. God will surprise you. There are important lessons for us to teach to our children. But these are also important lessons for adults, too. Looking to the Book of Genesis and the famous story of Joseph, we can learn about God and find a true source of comfort and strength. (Yes, even when we are in the middle of a terrible crisis!)

The Bible includes stories of real people who lived in the real world in real time, their time. The lessons they learned are important for us to understand. For example, the work of living a life of faith can be difficult.  But the example of others – a mentor and a friend – can help us through even the most difficult of days. This is the story of two people – Elijah and Elisha. The example of these prophets – their lives and their faith – are a rich source of important lessons for life today. One of these lessons is about the powerful relationship between a mentor and a protégé. This is the story of two real people who – like you – wanted to live a life of real and sincere faith.

The frailty of human life is a compelling part of our reality.  From youthful arrogance through mid-life crises to our golden years, it's always there. We live knowing that there will come a moment when we die. But, when we look through the lens of our limitations, we may be better able to God in the fullness of justice and love and mercy and hope. The Bible includes lessons about hope.  This hope can be trusted to carry us through life's most difficult challenges. Because this hope does not originate within us, it is greater than any one of us can even begin to comprehend. How about you? Do you have everything figured out? Or do you need a little help, and a lot of hope?  

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (Romans 12:12) Over the past few years we have been overwhelmed by isolation and by lonliness.  For some, this has been a terrible crisis of faith.  For others, this has been a time to learn more about and to practice prayer. Looking to the Bible we find real stories about real people. We can learn mush from their example of faith and prayer.

Worship may be one of the most identifiable practices of the Christian faith. But what exactly is worship? And why are there so very many different styles of worship services among Christians? Worship - at its heart - is a conversation.  This conversation is complex.  But it is not complicated.  This conversation involves each individual and the gathered congregation as a whole. Most of all, this is a conversation with the Living God. Looking to Deuteronomy 10, we will find an important lesson with essential practices for living our life and faith together.   

How do we celebrate in the life of the church? Or -- maybe we should ask -- DO we celebrate in the church? Sometimes we feel like acts of faith are an obligation.  But the Bible gives great examples of celebrations. So, at times we should do just that, Celebrate! The remarks in this podcast were recorded on Sunday, August 14, 2022, at the First Presbyterian Church in Conroe, Texas.  There are references to the worship service.  This was an important day in the life of the congregtation.  We were celebrating and giving thanks to God for the important contributions of three young adults.  Each of these has been an important part of the church's worchip services through the Covid pandemic.  When the church was allowed no more than 10 people in the building, these individuals continued their work.  As recent graduates, they are each entering into a new and exciting time in life.  You can see the worship service at the church's YouTube Channel (www.YouTube.com/fpcConroe).   

The side of a grave. There is perhaps no place on earth where our faith matters more.  Christian pastors approach the grave to give comfort to the grieving and to speak to the meaning of life of the deceased. For centurues, these words have included this: "I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!'" (Revelation 14:13) We can be caught in the tensions between life and death, faith and doubt, work and rest.  The Bible speaks to us in these tensions of life. 

Be blessed. Bless you. Bless your heart. These words are used over and over again.  We use them so often, even we may not be fukky aware of what we are saying. This week we explore the meaning of "blessing." WHat is it? What examples of blessings can be found in the Bible?

Filled with formality, the ending of aletter seems to be an unlikely place to find much substance. But, the final words of Paul's letter to the Romans are filled with magnified importance and an intense sense of urgency. There is a lot for us to learn from this closing prayer. "... to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen." (Romans 16:27, ESV)

On September 11, 2001, the world changed when the United States was attacked by an enemy that, up to that moment, was invisible to most people. On September 11, 2022, a Sunday morning brought together people whose lives were changed by 9/11/2001 and a generation of peopleborn after the tragic events of that day. We all experience moments that make no sense to us. There is just no way for us to understand. In moments like that, what does the Bible have to say? This is among the questions at the heart of these remarks.  If you have questions or ideas for future sermons and lessons, please connect by sending an email the Thrive@LifeAndFaithTogether.com. Be blessed!  

Take a moment to look around.  Where are you? What do you see? Sometimes, when we look around, we are unable to see the ongoing work of our God. We cannot see ourselves and our location as part of the unfolding work of God. Take, for example, the fields where shepherds were keeping watch over their flock at night. They were visited by an angel who then proclaimed the most wonderful news. (Luke 2) If nothing else had happened there, these fields would be Holy Ground. But generations before the shepherds arrived, there was a young widow working in these same fields. (Ruth 2) Ruth struggled to provide food for herself and for her widowed mother-in-law. So, after the reapers had cleared the field, Ruth was among the people who picked up the scraps that remained. The landowner noticed Ruth's hardship and her generosity for her mother-in-law. Boaz, a distant relative of Ruth's late husband, was charmed by this extraordinary young woman.  The stories of the shepherds and of Ruth have themes and lessons that are true today.