November 2012: Sharing faith

The end of the year presents us with great opportunities to share our faith: in December many of us will spend more time with family and friends; many of us will offer and receive hospitality; and there are special Christmas events to which we can invite others. We will therefore take time in November to think about how we share our faith, so that we can make the most of the opportunities in the festive season.

We will think about finding new meaning in old festivals, communicating our faith through stories, maybe at parties, inviting people to come and see Jesus. We will prepare to go to other people’s homes, bring healing & love, eating with “them” in such a way as it becomes eating with “us”. The passages this month are from the gospels and the book of Acts and are shown below.

In Luke 19:1-10 (Thu 1 Nov) we look at eating with “them” (i.e. those outside the faith). I hope that we, like Jesus, will be criticised for eating with undesirables this Christmas. In the case of one tax collector it would seem that Jesus’ desire to come to the house was a major part in salvation coming to Zaccheus’ house. In John 1:43-51 we will endeavour to learn from one would be disciple (Philip) who tells a rather sceptical would be disciple (Nathaniel) to come and see Jesus. We hope that we are prepared to respond positively to those we meet this Christmas who share their doubts with us.

In Acts 9:1-31 (Thu 8 Nov) we hear about people in the background who are important in the development of faith in others. Ananias may not be the most famous evangelist, but it was his extraordinary commitment to loving “them” that was instrumental in Paul’s journey of faith. We pray that this Christmas we may have the courage to love those who have hurt us, so that they go forward in their faith. In Mark 4:1-20 we focus on stories and Remembrance. In the first place we will see how we can tell people about the Kingdom of God through stories (such as the parable of the sower) and histories (such as those surrounding armed conflict – on Remembrance Sunday).

In Luke 22:7-30 we see how Jesus gave new meaning to an old festival at Passover, and will look to be creative in how we use the Christmas celebration to proclaim a message which is relevant to the twenty first century. In Acts 9:32-43 (Thu 22 Nov) we look at healing at home. Like Peter we will be confronted by illness and maybe even death as we meet family and friends over the festive season. We will need to follow his example of getting down on our knees, praying and then having the courage to do what we believe God is calling us to do.

In John 2:1-12 we read of wine and parties. As well as being correctly accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7:34), Jesus was falsely accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. The basis of the accusation was the fact the Jesus came eating and drinking. As we seek to follow Jesus’ example this Christmas we may not do better than to follow the advice that Jesus’ mother gave to the servants at the wedding of Cana in Galilee: “Do whatever Jesus tells you.”.

We finish the month looking in Acts 2:42-47 (Thu 29 Nov) at eating with “us”. While we, like Jesus, will be firmly committed to eating with those outside the faith, we will seek to celebrate Christmas by eating with those in the faith.

We hope to learn to do so with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.