Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.
Acts 1:8
[Jesus said] 8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
One of our daughters’ birthday parties had a Maypole dancing theme. A friend of ours arrived complete with Maypole which was set up on the lawn and, once the girls got the hang of it, it was a great success and they all enjoyed themselves enormously.
The moment the guests had left, to my great surprise the boys next door, who I’d always found to be typically bolshie, masculine lads, came round and asked if they could have a go. They had apparently been hanging out of their bedroom windows watching every step and what they saw so engaged them that they were determined not to miss out themselves. So we had a great second party!
Isn’t that how our Christian witness should be? It would be wonderful to think that our lives are so inspired that those we come into contact with will be drawn to Jesus just by seeing the effect he has on us. Sadly it isn’t often like that but our faith can be so obviously important and real to us that others are drawn to Christ just by seeing what a difference he makes in our lives.
The words Jesus speaks to his disciples above, he says to us too; on earth we are his witnesses. A witness is someone who can say, “I know this is true.” God uses people like us to convince other people like us to believe in him. We must just tell the truth about Jesus to anyone who is willing to listen – that’s where witnessing always begins. We can talk about what Jesus has done for us. We can tell how he guides us day by day, how he gives us strength to face our trials and courage to conquer our fears.
However, we don’t have to convince anyone that they need Christ – only the Holy Spirit can do that – but we must tell the truth about Jesus, tell how he’s changed our lives, then pray fervently to God to make others hungry for Jesus.
We bear witness, too, by the way we live, by our attitudes to others and our caring for neighbour and stranger alike. Christ must be seen in us as we go about our daily lives.
We are Christians because we know our need of Jesus – but Jesus needs us too. If we don’t do our part, God has no other plan.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Help us, we pray,
to demonstrate your great love and grace
to all those that cross our paths today.
May we be ready and willing
to be your faithful witnesses
and to speak out about our faith,
so that many may also come to know you and to accept Jesus as their own
personal Saviour and friend,
because they heard of him from us
and saw him in us.
This we ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Reflection & Prayer © 2021 Ann Caffyn.
Image freely available online.
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