Sunday Snippets

This weekend I decided to try out church on Saturday night. I went to the 4:15 pm service and it was nice because I still had my whole Saturday night to enjoy and it put me in the right mind-frame to make good decisions for the night.  We had a Christian rapper- Shai Linne- at church this weekend.  I thought it was just something they did on Saturday night to be cool, but apparently he performed Sunday morning too.  It wasn't cheesy at all.  I really enjoyed it actually.  Here's a little sample I found on YouTube of his stuff:



We are doing a study on abiding in the Gospel- how if you are constantly reminding yourself of what God has done for you, your attitudes and actions will naturally change.  Our pastor often refers to it as organic change vs. mechanical change.  What does abiding in the gospel look like?  Well our study says it looks like a wheel:

The Gospel is at the center of the wheel.  When you are constantly reminding yourself of what Jesus did for you these things will naturally flow out of that forming the "spokes" of the wheel:
1. Prayer & Bible Study
2. Character
3. Community
4. Evangelism & Missions
5. Generosity

Last week the sermon was on Prayer and Bible Study.  I am not very strong in these areas, but I am getting better.  One of the questions from the study on this that got to me was:

What does your schedule/calendar reveal to be most important to you right now?

I don't have a scheduled time for God every day.  I will say short prayers throughout the day as I think about things, but I don't schedule time with God except for my weekly small group and church.  If someone looked at my calendar what would the most important thing in my life be?  Right now, if you took out work which takes up the biggest chunk of time, it would sadly be reality TV- Big Brother and Bachelor Pad have got me hooked!

This week the sermon was about character.  We looked at Galatians 5:16-26 which compares the fruit from 2 different trees- fruits of the flesh and fruits of the spirit.  I'm a very visual person so I drew a picture in my notes:

Basically what does my life look like every day?  Is it full of greed, envy, gossip, anger, etc. or is it full of love, joy, peace, patience, etc.?  Sadly it is probably the first one on most days.

In relation to this topic...Earlier this week someone asked me if any of my co-workers were Christians.  Honestly I have no idea.  If I can't tell if they are Christians how can someone tell I'm a Christian?  Can people tell from the way I am that I am a Christian?  Shouldn't they be able to?  I don't want someone to have to ask me if I am a Christian or see a cross around my neck to know that I am a Christian I want them to be able to tell from my actions.  And not out of some duty or obligation.  I want them to know I belong to Christ because I love Him.  But I don't want them to think of me as some religious, judgmental person.  And then another part of me doesn't even care at all what others think of me because I already know what God thinks of me and that's all that matters.

Faith seems so secretive nowadays.  I mean you're never supposed to talk about politics or religion right?  But aren't those some of the most important things to discuss??  I must confess I even feel bad writing these Sunday Snippets like I'm being preachy or offending someone or something.  But I'm just a girl that loves God and is finding and defining my faith.  Why can't I share that with others without feeling guilty?

Maybe I should bring back my defining character series?

There's a sneak peek inside my brain for today...no real conclusions, just lots of questions.  And you know what? it's ok to have lots of questions.  i find i always do the most maturing when i am full of questions.