Lectionary: Fourth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Passages

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

For whomever may check in to see what the weekly passages are, I'm sorry I didn't get them up sooner. I have been distracted with life's happenings. I got a second shift job last week in a warehouse that manufactures nutrition bars. I have been training (and doing) on weighing different liquids which get poured into a mixer that basically mixes nutrition bar dough. The job is physically demanding, but it is an example of God answering to our needs and not necessarily the way we want our needs to be met (at least in my case).
On top of that, there have been other "distractions." My wife is pregnant with our second child and I've been dealing with my former employer challenging my unemployment benefits. I won't go into much detail, but I appreciate any thoughts or prayers from anyone who may read this. I am doing my best to keep my spirits up in trying times. Sometimes I succeed at this but sometimes I can't help but feel a bit down.
Ultimately I have hope for the future and hope that I can achieve what God has set before me. So in case anyone was wondering why the updates have been sporadic, I hope you now have a better understanding of why it has been that way.

God bless,

Jason

Lectionary: Second Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Passages

Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 150
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31

Hey folks, sorry I'm late getting these up and I apologize for not having the Easter day scriptures posted. Life has simply gotten in the way. It has been a trying time for my family to say the least, but in spite of my own struggles I have found myself continuing to grow by God's grace. I found myself in a unique situation yesterday that unfolded into a real life story of how we can serve others while being in a tough situation ourselves.
A couple weeks ago I heard a sermon on the story of "The Good Samaritan." I won't rehash the whole sermon, but the story was about a person in desperate need being helped by someone who he would least expect, and probably a person who he may not want help from. There was also an anecdotal story within the sermon about a group of college students who ended up being tested on their real life application of the story and they all ended up ignoring an actor portraying someone in need as they were asked to hurry to another part of campus (I apologize for not remembering all the details).
The point of it all was not that we should demonize others for not recognizing those in need within their immediate vicinity or to demonize ourselves, but I took it as a call to be more aware and active in our response to those needs.
So yesterday afternoon I had agreed to drop a friend off at work as well as pick up my sister in-law from work around 5:45-6ish. As I was heading home I found myself stuck behind a car that was stalled in the middle of the road (two lanes both ways with a left turn lane; the car was in the left lane). I started to switch lanes and my immediate response was that I was a bit agitated. I wasn't upset with the people in the parked car, but at the inconvenience of having to work around the car through traffic to get home.
As I pulled past the car many things came to my mind in a short amount of time. The sermon I'd heard a couple weeks prior came to mind. An opportunity to put my conviction of putting my faith in practice came to mind. Lastly, I felt a bit shamed and embarrassed at my initial reaction given my approach and response intellectually to the gospel.
I pulled into a Meijer (a department store) that was at the corner of where the car was stalled and ventured out into the middle of a busy street to see how I could offer any assistance, if any. To make a long story short, I ran to a gas station and bought gas for the family of five in the car. When that didn't work I was able to call a tow and help drive the family members where they needed to be in two separate trips.
As soon as I finished this task I got a call from my friend and picked him up from work as well as brought him to pick up his car from the person who had fixed it. I didn't get home until 10.
I'm not writing this to make anyone think I am a saintly person, or to instill guilt in anyone. I am the most selfish person I know and in all likelihood I've missed out on exponentially more opportunities to help people than I've been able to take advantage of a situation like yesterdays. It seems to me that we are so focused on what we are doing and where we are going that we miss out on what God is putting right in our paths.
My only intention in sharing this with my few readers (or would be readers) is that I hope it prompts a deliberate intention to open ourselves up to these kinds of "inconveniences." I found that in my service of others yesterday that I was truly the one served.

God bless,

Jason