Sunday Shorts: Christ’s Church

John 17:9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. (NIV)

I see a lot of memes on Facebook that appear to condemn the Church for not being the Church that the world expects. The memes usually attack the Church for being hypocritical, intolerant, and not compassionate enough. There is some truth to what is posted, but these barbs often don’t offer a solution. It’s very easy to poke the Church in the eye for being so blind, but the negativity of those posts doesn’t act as an encouraging remedy; instead, they discourage folks from changing because there’s no guidance to do so being presented.

When Jesus established the Church, He didn’t go looking for perfect people – He wouldn’t have found them anyway. What He did do was to take a bunch of sinners and set them on the right path toward God.  Despite their weaknesses and faults, sinfulness and selfish ways, He managed to put together a band of devoted people who would try to live their lives according to His teachings. He never expected them to be perfect which is why in today’s highlighted verse we have something that Jesus constantly did – He prayed for the ones given to Him by God; He prayed for His Church.

Today’s Church has many problems and issues, but that’s what you get when sinful people are called by God. Despite the setbacks that the pandemic brought upon the Church worldwide, the world still needs Christ’s Spirit of compassion, healing, and love to fix our broken planet – which is why Christ is still praying for His Church and this is what we should be doing for our local congregations, national denominations, and international situations. The Church is Christ’s Bride and will always exist, even beyond Time itself.

Point to ponder: What should I be praying for in my local congregation?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, the Church exists because You brought it into being. Its purpose is to spread the Good News of the Gospel through word and deed. Despite our sinful and fallen ways, You still pray for Your Church and for us. Help us to align our prayers with Your will for the whole Church. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Asking God

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. (NIV)

This is one of those Bible verses that is mistakenly used by people who believe in the Prosperity Gospel. They focus on the second part of the verse where Jesus states that ‘whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.’ They think it means that to get anything they want, they just have to ask for it, using Christ’s name as their guarantor, so God will be compelled to give them whatever they desire. But that is not based on faith, it’s actually a form of magic which is called an enchantment. God becomes the Great Genie in the Sky who grants people their wishes, so long as they use the right words.

This mistake occurs because people forget about the first part of the verse where Jesus states that He chose and appointed people to follow Him for one purpose – to bear fruit; in other words, to expand God’s Kingdom and make faith prosperous, not the person, nor their individual desires. It’s what God wants that is important, not what we want. Christ’s name is honored by being associated with the bearing of fruit and is not trivialized or taken in vain by trying to coerce God into doing what we want. We align ourselves to God’s purpose – the sharing of His love through the life, work, and ministry of His Son – instead of maligning God by expecting Him to give us everything we desire.

So next time when we’re praying about something that matters to us, let’s be careful about what we ask for, by personally pondering whether or not we are attempting to manipulate God to our will, rather than consolidate ourselves to God’s will.

Point to ponder: When I pray in Jesus’ Name, am I asking for things that will bear fruit for God’s Kingdom or just myself?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we come to You very often with our needs, wishes, desires, and dreams. We pray for things that we want and forget to ask You what it is that You want for us. Help us to reconsider how we pray and what we ask of You, in order to make our requests more fruitful for God’s Kingdom. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Short Devotion – Return Home

Luke 8:38-39 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. (NIV)

The conclusion of the Gospel story where Jesus heals the demon-possessed man has always intrigued me. The cured man wants to follow Jesus probably because he is so thankful for having regained his senses. After years of being excluded from his own community, he knows he can trust Jesus, so he would like to become a disciple or a servant to help Christ with His ministry.

In my own life, I felt that same thankfulness when Jesus rescued me from alcoholism. I was enslaved to my addiction and even though I knew that I was harming myself physically, as well as mentally, I could not liberate myself from the chains of compulsion. It took a life changing moment of trusting Jesus completely before I was released from my obsession. I couldn’t have escaped my drinking problem without Christ’s grace and peace. When I understood what Jesus did for me, I just wanted to serve Him like the demoniac.

Although the healed man wanted to go and serve his Savior, Christ had other plans for him. Jesus told him to go back and share his amazing experience with his own community. The people there were fearful of Jesus because of His almighty power, so Christ gave the man a personal mission and an individual calling to return home to his people as a witness to God’s mercy and grace. Instead of being afraid of Jesus, the cured man could convince them of God’s compassion and love.

This is a challenge for all of us – to be effective witnesses of Christ’s love to our own people, our own families, our own friends. Whatever goodness that God has wrought in each of us through Christ, we are meant to share it with others and not just keep it to ourselves. We live in a broken world whose madness is creating a lot of fear in our communities. Christ can heal this, too, but only if we are willing to share faith, hope, and love in compassionate ways to repair the damage around us.

Point to ponder: How do I share my faith with my own community?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You came into our lives to heal our broken lives and restore us to God’s love. Encourage us to become personal witnesses of the healing and hope that You bring to the world. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Abide in Me

John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

I like the word ‘abide’. In this verse it has a very peaceful meaning attached to it because it refers to remaining with Jesus and stopping everything else just to be with Him for a while. We all get so busy in this post-covid age and overload our schedules that we often miss out on our sleep and constantly wake up tired. Our hyper-activity is relentless at times and the pressure to accomplish six impossible things before breakfast is causing us a lot of stress. We all have hopes and dreams, ambitions and goals that we want to pursue but if we get obsessed by them, we’ll end up being possessed by them, and this is not what God wants for our lives

To abide in Jesus is to let go of everything that drives us and let Him lead us. It means stepping back from who we think we need to be, to become what God wants us to be. In the end, whatever we accomplish, build, or achieve will mean nothing in eternity, but the fruit of faith that we bear by abiding with Christ – that will delight God and bring us everlasting joy. This is what Jesus means when He says that ‘apart from me you can do nothing.

Today is Sunday. God set it apart so that we can abide with Him and His Son. It’s not just a sacred day with religious obligations, it’s also a trysting place, a thin space when everything in heaven and on earth is meant to stop and abide in God’s presence. It’s a day to step back from the busyness of life and let God embrace us peacefully and lovingly, in order to reset our lives and recharge our spirits.

Point to ponder: Am I willing to abide in Christ today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to let go of our relentless activities and driven ambitions in order to experience a sacred piece of eternity in our finite world. Allow us to abide in and with you, so that we may renew our faith and reconnect our souls with God. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Lay Down

John 10:15 Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (NIV)

I’ve sometimes heard and read some post-modern preachers say that Jesus didn’t sacrifice His life on our behalf. They question Christ paying the price of our sins because God’s justice demanded it. They also express the thought that His death was accidental and was never intended to happen. I wonder where they get their notions from and feel as though they’re just parroting something that a seminary teacher, lecturer, or professor once stated. They are fully convinced that they are right and people like me are totally wrong.

I question their ideas because scripture, like today’s highlighted verse, plainly states that Jesus Himself declared He was willing to lay down His life for the sheep; in other words, Christ clearly expressed His readiness to die for His flock, which is not some 19^th century theological notion created by revivalist preachers, but is a First century teaching that the Apostle John must have heard directly from the lips of Jesus.

I have known several shepherds in my lifetime and have seen how devoted they are to the wellbeing of their livestock. At this time of year, they are constantly watching over the ewes who are producing lambs and spend many hours tending to their needs at a very vulnerable time for both the ewes and their young. Without that commitment and watchfulness, the sheep would perish, so it’s no wonder then that Jesus talked about being the Good Shepherd to His followers, but He also took His pastoral care a stage further by stating that He would lay down His life for them – that’s not just good shepherding; it’s great shepherding.

There can be no reason for Jesus saying He would lay down His life for His sheep other than sacrificing Himself on their behalf, even on our behalf. It may be theologically fashionable for some folks to reject this notion, but it does not eradicate the fact that Jesus did what He said He would do. He laid down His life on the Cross at Calvary in order to save His sheep and satisfy what God required. Why? Because the sheep, including us, could do nothing to save themselves from the wrath of God.

Point to ponder: Do I believe Jesus laid down His life for my sins? If not, what can I do to save myself? If so, am I willing to accept Christ as my Savior today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, without Your sacrifice, we could never do enough to placate God or be restored to God’s favor, love, and kingdom. Help us to understand and accept that You laid down Your life for every one of us by enabling us to receive You as our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. Amen.

Sunday Shorts: restored by Love

Luke 24:47 Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (NRSV)

When Jesus came back from the dead, His first message to the disciples was similar to what He initially expressed as He began His ministry. At that original point, He urged people to repent and believe the good news because the Kingdom of God was near (Mark 1:15). After being resurrected, the message that His disciples were now given to proclaim was simple: people were being urged to repent and their forgiveness of sins was to be declared.

This meant that when Jesus died on the Cross things were changed for all of humanity. Whatever debt we owed to God because of our sinful ways was cancelled completely. Before the Cross, people needed to appease God with sacrifices; after the resurrection, we were urged to sacrifice our pride and humbly confess our mistakes in order to be given total forgiveness of our sins.

I don’t know about you, but that divine transaction of my debt being imposed on Jesus when He was nailed to the Cross gives me hope. I’ve done some really bad things in my life that I truly regret and wish never happened. I would be as miserable as sin if I didn’t know Jesus as my Savior, so when He offers me true forgiveness in return for my repentance, I’m ready to take that gift.

Perhaps you’ve been carrying some guilt in your heart and it keeps you awake at night. Maybe you’ve done something foolish that you regret and it torments your mind. Whatever it is, it can be rectified; whatever you’ve done, you can be restored to God’s favor and love. Jesus has completed what was necessary to reconnect all of us to our gracious God – all we simply have to do is repent.

Find a quiet place today and have a quiet time with God. Unburden your soul and let the tears of regret fall from your eyes. There is nothing that you have done that God cannot forgive through Jesus. God already knows what it is, so just allow yourself to be relieved by simply whispering it to God. Repentance will restore you and Jesus will embrace you. Let His power to forgive, renew you; let His ability to love, release you.

Prayer: Lord, You know us completely. You’ve seen all of our mistakes and are totally aware of all the things that bother our consciences. Help us to find some quiet time to be with You alone, to confess our faults, address our sins, and unburden all that we are sinfully and selfishly carrying. Allow us to take the opportunity of the forgiveness, peace, and love that You offer. In Your Holy Name, we humbly confess and pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: The One Who Waited

John 20:27      Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

I think most of us love the story of Doubting Thomas because we can identify with him. He missed out on being with the disciples when Jesus was resurrected and suddenly appeared in the upper room. Thomas must have been in hiding somewhere else and didn’t feel safe in the company of the others; after all, one of them had already betrayed Jesus, so who was to say that another of the twelve wouldn’t do the same

Eventually, Thomas felt it was safe to go back to the band of followers, but when he got there, instead of being relieved, he is perplexed with the other disciples because they all seem deluded and keep talking about Jesus being alive again. Thomas cannot accept this and even if it was true, he’s probably angry with himself for not being there when Jesus appeared. He also declares that if Jesus was standing in front of him, Thomas would still not believe it unless he could touch Christ’s nail pierced hands, as well as fingering His side where a spear had been thrust

A week later, Jesus reappears just for the sake of canceling Thomas’ doubts and enabling him to believe again. Christ is determined to get the doubter back on the right path. It’s a wonderful moment, not just of resurrection, but of restoration, too. Jesus restores Thomas’ faith, as well as his rightful place among the Chosen Eleven.

But here’s the thing: Thomas remained with the other disciples for several days before Jesus reappeared. He could have gone away again and stayed angry with the others, believing that they were deluded because Christ had definitely died. Despite having all of those doubts, he remained connected to the family of faith that he had known for three years. He may have given up hope about Jesus, but he did not let go of the friendship and fellowship he had known with the others.

I think this is why Jesus came back – to bless Thomas’ loyalty to the others, just as much to show him that Christ was alive. Perhaps instead of calling Thomas ‘the One Who Doubted’, we should remember him as Thomas ‘the One Who Waited.’ And maybe this is also why we relate so much with him – we all have our doubts about our faith, but we still are waiting for Jesus to either return among us, or to eternally restore us to God’s favor, love, and kingdom.

Point to ponder: What doubts do I have about Jesus? What keeps me waiting for Him?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, like Thomas, we find Your resurrection unbelievable and mysterious, and yet we remain hopeful of Your return and await being restored to You forever. Consolidate our faith; when we are weak, please be our strength; when we have doubts, please remain with us. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: A Woman’s Courage

John 20:15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” (NIV)

I admire the courage of Mary Magdalene and how she remains committed to Jesus, even in the face of adversity. After Peter and John have gone back into hiding after seeing the empty tomb, Mary stays in the garden because she is concerned about where Christ’s body may have been taken. She still wants to tend to the crucified corpse; she still wishes to restore dignity back to the broken body of Jesus. Mary is determined to find out what happened, so she does not leave the garden unlike the other disciples and women

Her bravery is also evident when she is confronted by a stranger. She does not yet know that this is Jesus standing before her, she thinks that he is merely the gardener. Mary could have run away like the others at that moment, but she is still determined to carry out her mission. If anyone knows where Christ’s body has been taken, it will surely be this gardener whom Mary presumes to be working in the tomb area

Mary does something dangerous here: she asks the gardener if he knows where the body is and tells him that she will take care of it elsewhere. Her love and devotion to Jesus are evident in those words and her simple request. Remember, Christ has just been crucified by the Romans and His death was welcomed by the religious authorities. Mary is choosing to side with a criminal and a failed Messiah; she is placing herself in a precarious position, one that could get her flogged by both the Romans and the temple soldiers. She does not care about her own safety; all she wants to do is the right thing

I love the fact that Jesus makes Himself known to her at this point, just by speaking her name. She may not recognize the stranger because there’s something holy and transfigured about Him, but as soon as He says her name, Mary instantly knows Christ’s voice. It’s a wonderful moment when faith vanquishes fear, love lets go loss, and devotion disables death. The voice of Jesus does that for Mary and her courage reconnects her to the Lord.

This is Easter for me because it encapsulates the Good News of the Gospel. Beyond death, there is Christ and a miraculous moment waiting for all who love Him: to hear Jesus personally speak our name. We may leave the surly bonds of Earth one day, but in that same second of transference from mortality to eternity, we will first hear the voice of Jesus say our name and then be welcomed into God’s Everlasting Kingdom.

Point to ponder: What does Easter mean to me?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, on this Day of Resurrection speak to us personally and restore us to Your love individually. Open our hearts and minds to receive Your words and ways, as well as Your love and life. Help us to reach out to Your abiding Spirit and know that we will never be abandoned, forsaken, or alone, in this world and the next. In Your Holy Name, we thankfully pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Sunday Shorts: Save Us!

Mark 11:9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

When the crowd cried out “Hosanna!” on that first Palm Sunday, they were hoping that Jesus was the Messiah everyone had been waiting centuries for. The word ‘Hosanna’ means ‘save us,’ so the question arises: from what were they needing Jesus to save them?

If we consider what was happening in Jerusalem, Judea, and Galilee at that time, then there is every indication that the Palm Sunday crowd were expecting Jesus to save His people from the Roman occupation. In other words, they were wanting Him to save their nation; they were looking to Jesus for a political solution to their problems.

But Jesus wasn’t there to answer their political needs, nor their nationalistic prayers. He was sent by God to be the Savior of their souls. He wasn’t going to be coerced into being their political, populist champion. In fact, days later when the governor Pontius Pilate directly asks Jesus about Him being the King of the Jews and therefore a political figurehead who had come to overthrow the Romans, Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world; in other words, it’s a spiritual realm, not a political one.

This is something that we as Christians have to understand and accept. Jesus is not a political puppet, nor a national Messiah. He came to die for the world, not just one nation but all nations, not just one people, but all people. He came among us to bring about a new world, to make it holy again, not just a single nation wishing it was great again. The people in Jerusalem may have been pleading with and praying for Jesus to restore their prestige, strength, and esteem, but Christ refused to lift up and accept any political power.

When Jesus returns, He will establish a new Earth and a new Heaven, so there will be no nations, borders, or peoples: all will be one. Until then, He will continue to save all kinds of human beings from their personal sins, but not their political symbols.

Point to ponder: From what do we need Jesus to save us?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are our Only Leader, King, and Savior. Forgive us for pandering to our political beliefs instead of pondering over our personal salvation. Keep us from trying to shape You into our idea of a Savior and help us to understand that kingdoms, nations, and leaders may rise and fall, but Your words and ways endure forever. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Holy Week Devotions Book

Les Rust and I have just published our second e-book for Kindle. It’s called “Walking through Holy Week.” It’s a daily devotional book for each day of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Day.

A short devotion, point to ponder, as well as a prayer are assigned every day for morning and evening devotions. In total there are sixteen devotions to help the reader draw closer to Christ during this sacred week. Each of the events in Christ’s life during the first Holy Week are contemplated each day, using the daily lectionary readings. It also contains some of my art images.

It can be read on any device, not just Kindles, – all you need is the free Kindle app which can be downloaded to your phone, PC, tablet, or Mac. It’s available in many places around the world and only costs 99 cents or the currency equivalent. The links for several countries are given below. Enjoy!

US edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWVWWLFQ

UK edition: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CWVWWLFQ

Canada edition: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CWVWWLFQ

Australia edition: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CWVWWLFQ