Finding Joy in Work
God alone is the source of our joy, in our work as in everything else. Our joys are like a metaphorical tree, where God is both the root and trunk. All else in our lives, including our work, are like the branches, leaves, and fruit. No joy in our lives is sustainable apart from being rooted in and connected to God. [And] because God calls us to be his servants, all work serves his purpose and therefore has ultimate meaning, even when we can’t make sense of it here and now.
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Thanking God Even in a Time of Loss
Scripture urges us to give thanks in all circumstances.
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Thanking God for Bach and Paper
When we share our thanks together, we help others to grow in gratitude even as they also help us.
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Sharing Thanks
In this season of the year when we are encouraged to be thankful, let’s be sure to thank God for our blessings.
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Silent Labor Resonates
Silent labor is neither unimportant, unvalued or unrecognized work.
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Remembering Your Work
Sometimes the very thing we need to endure is to recall the work others have done.
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Called to a Special Way of Living
How we live each day should reflect the fact that we have been set apart by God for relationship with him and for participation in his work.
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It Is Well With My Soul
Christ has defeated sin and death, and his reign of justice will ultimately cover all the world.
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Life in Lockdown:
Some Examples of Creative and Critical Use of Technology
Chris is a pastor, a relational person who enjoys being personally involved with his congregants. When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Chris was suddenly unable to relate to his people in his preferred mode. But he quickly adapted, using Zoom for Bible studies, small groups, and church meetings. He also used one of the most common of technologies, his phone, to call people in his church family. Each day of the week Chris makes several calls just to check in on people. They appreciate his care and he appreciates the community he experiences.
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Life in Lockdown:
Creative and Critical Use of Technology
As we utilize the various technologies that are available to us, we should think carefully about how best to use them. What might it mean to send an email as a follower of Jesus? How might a Christian engage with others on Facebook? What difference does our faith make when it comes to a Zoom video conference?
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Life in Lockdown: Creative Use of Technology
Letter writing used the tools and products of first-century technology. It required the use of papyrus, which was produced from a plant that grew around the Nile River in Egypt. (Today’s photo is a papyrus document from the third-century B.C.) Paul’s use of papyrus depended both on the technical process by which this paper-like substance was made and on the extensive trading system that spread papyrus throughout the Roman Empire. Moreover, Paul used both ink and a stylus as he wrote. These were essential to the technology of letter production.
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Life in Lockdown: Connect Creatively
Though I believe it’s important for us to learn the value of community in this time, learning is not the only way for us to receive God’s grace. This is also a time, I think, to receive the grace of innovation. In particular, I am convinced that God wants to teach us how to be creative in the ways we connect with each other. As it turns out, Scripture has much to say about this, even though the biblical writings were not composed in the era of email, smartphones, Facebook, and Zoom.
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Prayerful Work
Early in my Christian experience, I thought that the Apostle Paul intended me to retreat from the world to spend all my time focusing on my interior life of prayer… Thankfully, the apostolic command to “pray continually” isn’t primarily about developing our devotional prayer life, even though that is important. It has much more to do with learning to pray our everyday life, particularly in the context of our work, where prayer may be the last thing on our minds.
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