Devotional from City Road Chapel

As we have several subscribers and possibly other visitors that may not know how we work, this blog could have opinions or announcements just as any other blog. Opinions are those of the individual authors, not the church. The primary function of the blog at this time is to provide posts or readings that might be used for devotions, meditation, or just casual examination. We strive to make these posts daily, and usually do quite well at it. The posts come from submissions by a number of people, however, and there are days when we just have none to post. On occasion we might re-post a reading that has been shown to be particularly popular, but we try to keep the readings fresh. If for some reason you do not see or receive a devotional reading for the day, we encourage you to check the archived posts linked on the right of the page and select another reading in its place. God willing you will find what you need and we will have a new reading the next day.

Peace to All

from the City Road Chapel Blog Ministry

The Moment’s Own Trouble : A Devotional

In 12-Step groups they constantly stress “One Day at a Time.” There is a light-hearted response to this when an individual is overwhelmed. I’m doing one day at a time, but unfortunately I’m having several days thrown at me at once.”

We all deal with stress. Scripture tells us that we will not be tempted more than we can handle, and we will always be able to find a way out.  (1 Corinthians 10:13) This includes the temptation to worry over too much that we can do nothing about. We can turn it over to God. For many of us, this is very difficult to put into practice. I often feel that I am too overwhelmed to even stop and think about the support God gives. The other thing that they say at 12-Step meetings is that if one day at a time doesn’t work, try one hour at a time or even one minute at a time. What I must remember is what Jesus told us was not to set aside today to worry about today’s trouble but rather not to worry about that which has not yet happened yet. Relax, God’s in charge. This is what I must remember.

The trick is to break the sources of stress that I am dealing with into smaller pieces until I am dealing with what I can and feel that it is not overwhelming, albeit still difficult. If that means one minute at a time, then let the troubles of the minute be enough for the minute. When I get there, I am better able to recognize that God is beside me and will not leave me to deal with things alone.

–Anonymous

Our Parents in Us : A Devotional Thought

Have you ever looked at a child with its parents and been able to see the features of the parents mixed into the face of the child? Or listened to the words of children and been able to tell when they were saying something that they must have learned from their parents? I have siblings who have the same mannerisms as one or both of my parents. I have a picture of myself when a child that bears a striking resemblance to my mother at the same age. I say things that I recall hearing come from my parents as a child.

We are the children of God, and by us others may come to know Him. We must try our best to represent Him well, something we cannot do without His help. But more than that; we should be on the watch for those who cannot see or understand when God does use us for His purposes. It is those who cannot recognize God at work who most need to be told about His greatest work, the death and resurrection of Christ. These people don’t know us as God’s children because they do not know Him, not just because we often fail to act like His children.

1 John 3:1

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

The Gold Standard : A Devotional

Although many religions in the world have texts that they consider sacred or enlightening, only a handful have texts that are central to their beliefs. The followers of these religions, sometimes called “people of the book,” have their written words that they accept as primary forms of communication from some power greater than themselves, and of these,  Judaism and Christianity  are the only major religions that accept their scriptures as coming directly from God. (Even Moslems see the Koran as the words of their prophet, not God Himself.)

The Bible is accepted as the gold standard of written word in our culture, even by the secular world. On my bookshelf are copies of The Social Networking Bible, The IT Bible, The Researcher’s Bible, The Sailor’s Bible, and The Storyteller’s Bible. I have owned The Kayaker’s Bible, The Spelunker’s Bible, The Backpacker’s Bible, The Orienteering  Bible, and The Wilderness Survival Bible. Any book that is supposed to be the ultimate source of information on a subject, indeed the only necessary text on a subject, is referred to as a Bible.

I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and a man spoke about how he had felt he was a Christian for years because he attended church regularly and tried to follow the traditions of that church in his daily life. He said he had kept a Bible on his shelf but rarely read it. He learned to quote scripture from Sunday School literature, the songs he sang on Sundays, and the words of his preachers sermons. It was not until he “brushed the dust off” of his Bible and started to regularly read it that he began to realize how important personally immersing himself in the Word was to his understanding of God in his life. It was necessary for him to maintain his relationship with his Lord.

Research shows that the majority of people who call themselves Christians rarely, if ever, read their Bibles. I know I do not read mine as often as I should. I wonder how much richer my relationship with God would be if I did?

Pentecost at City Road Chapel!

Pentecost Sunday

On May 27th, Pentecost Sunday, we will be celebrating the Holy Spirit in worship. At our 10am service all children from nursery to 4th grade will be participating in our “Praise Parade”. We will provide the music and streamers.

Please bring your children and join the celebration!
*We will rehearse our “Praise Parade” on Sunday May 20th during Sunday School.
* On Sunday May 27th, children please meet in the Choir Room immediately following Sunday School.
* All Nursery Parents: We would appreciate your assistance in accompanying your child.

Thank You!
Faye Brown & Jama Gaines

Through Love’s Eyes : A Devotional

When my dog, Fluffy, takes me for a walk, we mosey along slowly, her nose working overtime to sniff every possible smell. She lingers in particularly smelly environments, where other dogs and animals have been, and sometimes sniffs until she has captured every last molecule of odor. More than once I’ve wondered what she can smell, and wished, for just a minute, I had her same acute sense. A dog’s sense of smell is 1,000 times (or more!) greater than a human’s. But I think I would probably be overwhelmed by all the information suddenly flooding my brain. It would be too much to unravel and make meaningful.
There is a Christian song on the radio by Brandon Heath that says, “Give me your eyes for just one second…,” the singer asking that he would be able to see the world with Christ’s eyes. But without my having Jesus’ love and compassion and forgiveness, I think if I saw all the evil in the world, my heart would break.  I wouldn’t be able to stand the pain. Sometimes we do see a little glimpse into what Jesus sees; the Holy Spirit indwelling us helps us to empathize, or to forgive, or to show mercy, or whatever would be Jesus’ response. We get to see the beauty and joy and love that Jesus sees, too, in little snippets. At times, the good can be as overwhelming as well as the not so good can. That’s why we cry with happiness.
So what would I see, if I looked with Jesus’ eyes? Would I recognize hunger? Loneliness? Spiritual drought? Love? Kindness? More importantly, what would be my response? The song says, “Give me Your love for humanity…Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted…Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.” If I try to see what Jesus sees, then I can’t turn my back, having seen. I have to try to love, to hold and comfort, and to reach out. It isn’t me doing these things; it is the Holy Spirit doing them through me. And with His help, our vision can be 1,000 times better!

Dealing with the Boogeyman : A Though for Reflection

The actual thought for today is a simple question that I am asking myself, as well as throwing it out for others to think about is they so desire. Do I trust God enough to let go of at least some of my fear?

Although an adult, I am a big fan of Veggie Tales, an animated program on video and sometime TV that illustrates various messages of truth for children, and sometimes adults. One of their earliest episodes was “Where’s God When I’m Scared?” In the show, there is a rousing chorus of a song stating that “God is bigger than the boogeyman.” The point of the song is that God is more powerful than the things that we fear and He will protect us. The New Testament version song is “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” (Matthew 10:29-31.)

The problem I have is not worrying about whether God can or will protect me and mine. What I fear is that His protection may not be what I want. I know we don’t live forever and that people suffer great pain in this world. I know that people over whom God is watching still have accidents and still die. In the big scheme of things, I am sure that God will not allow anything to happen to His children that will do them ultimate harm, but I don’t trust Him to save us from the dangers of this world as I perceive them. As long as I worry about the consequences of living in a world of mortals, I have fears that I will not let God silence. I refuse to believe that I will not be harmed by the boogeyman.

Where’s God when I’m scared? Right beside me. It’s just sometimes I forget to notice that he doesn’t let me face my fears alone.

Unity in Christ : A Devotional Reading

John 17:23

“I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

I had a fascinating experience last week. I have had similar experiences while on mission trips with people in a foreign land, but this foreign land was Texas. I jokingly have told people that I visited a foreign church…Baptist. I did, in fact, attend a church with predominately Chinese speaking people. Many were immigrants, or second generation Chinese-Americans. They came from different countries including Taiwan and Singapore. There were also many people who were of European descent. I saw skin colors from very dark, African black to my own very pale color of my British Isles ancestry.

The service was done in both English and Mandarin. The hymns were tunes I grew up with, although I could not read the Chinese characters displayed on the screens with the English words. I attended English-speaker’s Sunday school, so there were no surprises there. All in all it was an enlightening and pleasant experience. I could not help feel that this was the unity that we sing about when we sing “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.” All manner of people having little in common other than Christ. “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”