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19 June 2007
Part of a special themed week of Reflections based on The True Apprentice" (Matthew 10:38-42) written by Terry Eckersley
Matthew 10 v 38-39
"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me."
Matthew Barnett, a young man from Los Angeles was called by God to plant a church in the city. The first week 15 people came along. The second week numbers dwindled to 10. Only five people came along on week three.
Matthew didn't understand why God seemed to have let him down when he was doing what he believed was called to do. Depressed and angry, he prayed and "wrestled" with God to find an answer. Why had God made him give up his successful life? God gave him an answer, but it was not what Matthew expected.
Week four, Matthew set up his "church" in the middle of the town square and gave sweets out to children as they went by. It was a success! Because many of the children were Hispanic, Matthew started to learn to speak Spanish. He became a True Apprentice, looking to Jesus and the needs of others rather his own needs. His depression lifted and he started being excited about the future, rather than wallowing in the past.
He got lost in the needs of others, putting their needs before his own. The town square in Los Angeles where he set up his church was rife with gangs. So Matthew began to ask the gang leaders what they wanted. They wanted a gym so that they could practice bodybuilding. So Matthew set one up in the church car park. He met their needs, not his. Matthew calls this approach to church: "Living in another man's world".
Jesus said if you want to live according to the needs of others, you must take your eyes off yourself. Stop looking to what you think makes you happy and content. Look to Jesus if you want to be a True Apprentice.
Lord, I want to go all the way with you through thick and thin. I want to forget about myself and look to you, and find my true self and you. Help me to be a True Apprentice and live for others and not myself. Amen.
Written by Terry Eckersley The True Apprentice
Part of a special themed week of Reflections based on The True Apprentice" (Matthew 10:38-42) written by Terry Eckersley
Matthew 10 v 38-39
"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me."
Matthew Barnett, a young man from Los Angeles was called by God to plant a church in the city. The first week 15 people came along. The second week numbers dwindled to 10. Only five people came along on week three.
Matthew didn't understand why God seemed to have let him down when he was doing what he believed was called to do. Depressed and angry, he prayed and "wrestled" with God to find an answer. Why had God made him give up his successful life? God gave him an answer, but it was not what Matthew expected.
Week four, Matthew set up his "church" in the middle of the town square and gave sweets out to children as they went by. It was a success! Because many of the children were Hispanic, Matthew started to learn to speak Spanish. He became a True Apprentice, looking to Jesus and the needs of others rather his own needs. His depression lifted and he started being excited about the future, rather than wallowing in the past.
He got lost in the needs of others, putting their needs before his own. The town square in Los Angeles where he set up his church was rife with gangs. So Matthew began to ask the gang leaders what they wanted. They wanted a gym so that they could practice bodybuilding. So Matthew set one up in the church car park. He met their needs, not his. Matthew calls this approach to church: "Living in another man's world".
Jesus said if you want to live according to the needs of others, you must take your eyes off yourself. Stop looking to what you think makes you happy and content. Look to Jesus if you want to be a True Apprentice.
Lord, I want to go all the way with you through thick and thin. I want to forget about myself and look to you, and find my true self and you. Help me to be a True Apprentice and live for others and not myself. Amen.
Written by Terry Eckersley The True Apprentice
