Daily Worship

Committed for life

November 20, 2014 0 0

Acts 7

54 As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger… 57 Then they all rushed at him at once, 58 threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul. 59 They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!” He said this and died.

You have to admire Stephen’s courage.  Down the pub, in the café, over a meal, when the conversation turns to God and to faith and how past their sell by date these things are, there is a temptation for us to say nothing.  
It makes life easier.
When friends talk about the far from perfect people who go to church, we might make a feeble attempt at saying, ‘but that’s who church is for’ – but we don’t like to come on too heavy.
Stephen it seems, was not one for shying away from saying what it was he believed.
Right now, in Pakistan, in Iraq and other places, Christian people are facing exactly what Stephen faced, but in the face of others’ disapproval they refuse to stop believing.
They are committed for life.

The courage to dare to be different…
The courage to speak
To act
In faith
Hope
And love – whatever the cost…
Lord Jesus
It’s what you did.

For us.

And would do again.

May we commit to you
This day
And forever.