Pastor's Corner

27 Jan
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Mid-Week Challenge

How are those New Year Resolutions going?  Twenty-seven days in is the place where most of us reassess our ability to fulfill those high hopes we all had on January 1.  All of us get to that point in life were we stop counting birthdays, but when they come around we are glad to have another one! So we count calories, exercise more and turn down that offer of free dessert (never thought I’d see that day). In a survey done by Stanford Center on Longevity several years ago, 77 percent said they’d like to make it to 100. https://longevity.stanford.edu/living-to-100-an-action-plan/  No doubt that percentage has increased by now.  What more can we do to increase those birthdays? There are all kinds of products out there and all kinds of self-help methods, but researchers have discovered what Christians have known for some time, science shows there is another longevity ingredient we often overlook: finding purpose. Research reveals that people who believe their existence has meaning have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and more favorable gene expression related to inflammation.  A life with meaning can face any physical setback and still find strength to move forward.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/boosting-our-sense-of-meaning-in-life-is-an-often-overlooked-longevity-ingredient/2020/12/31/84871d32-29d4-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html 

We know that a life lived for others gives us a reason to exist.  Nothing turns our perspective outward (and upward) like faith in Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:15 Paul tells us,  “And [Christ] died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them”.

We all know that one of the reasons things are not going well in our World right now has to do with the humanistic agenda we see plaguing every aspect of our lives.  At every turn we are told to focus on self, whereas the Scripture calls us to focus, as Christ did, on others.  John Stonestreet & Roberto Rivera put it this way, “Living for the One who died and rose again not only removes us from the center of our own universe, but aligns our hearts and minds with what is actually true about the universe: that it belongs to God and that our purpose is given by Him not determined by us. True faith locates our lives in this cultural moment within the larger story of God, and how He is fulfilling His purposes throughout each chapter of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. When we no longer see our lives and actions as isolated, we realize they are part of the story and even the means by which God is restoring all things.”  

https://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/breakpoint/finding-meaning-in-life-is-good-for-your-health.html 

The fact that you woke up this morning and you are reading this midweek challenge demonstrates the fact that the Creator of the universe has a purpose for you.  If not, you would not be breathing today.  If Jesus has seen fit to give us another day of life that should bring joy to our soul and ignite a passion to discover why! With Jesus, it always begins with service of others.  Find someone to serve today and see if it doesn’t put a new pep in your step!!

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:3 

Serving the Savior,

Bro. Jonathan

By: Dr, Jonathan Richerson

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