Give us each day our daily bread - Luke 11:3 (NAB)
Bread. How common and ordinary bread is. We rarely think of eating bread alone anymore – unless it’s warm from the oven. We tend now to think of bread smeared with jelly to flavor it, or covered with slices of lunch meat to add substance, or spread with butter – all of which makes us wonder why on earth anyone would want to eat plain, dry bread. For us, bread has become a side dish or an appetizer rather than the main course.
This has not always been the case.
An audio recording of this month’s Rural Ministry Colloquium, Evangelism for the Rural Church, is now available for download via iTunes U.
Hear Tim Reaves, a Duke Divinity School graduate and lead pastor of the thriving, three-point Bladen United Methodist Charge in rural eastern North Carolina, speak about practical, faithful, and fruitful ways for small churches to share Christ with their communities.
Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. - Ps. 4:4
Be still. Be quiet. Listen.
As a child, I can remember my parents saying each of these to me on various occasions. Often my mind seemed to be on another planet.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. - Matthew 5:16
As a pastor in the local church, one of the things that truly inspires me is the stories of people who both initiate and establish new ministries. I’m talking about people who believe their calling is a “God thing.”