“Lord of hosts! When I swim in the merciful waters of your grace I find that I can neither plumb nor measure the depths.” – Menno Simons
Gemeentes kan uitreik doodmaak
Alle kerke hou van sekere dinge. Dit is gewoonlik goeie dinge soos aanbidding, gebed, ens. Ander hou van dinge soos hulle gebou, hulle geskiedenis of hulle strategie. Maar sekere dinge waarvan gemeentes hou, kan hulle roeping hinder. Hier is ‘n paar voorbeelde:
“To love God with heart and soul and mind and strength … is the first and greatest commandment, so the first and greatest sin is not to love God with heart and soul and mind and strength. For this there is no remedy, save what God himself has provided—in love.” – D.A. Carson
Vrede: versoening met God
Vrede laat Ek vir julle na; my vrede gee Ek vir julle (Johannes 14:27)
Tim Keller beskryf die konsep van sjalom soos volg: God created all things to be in a beautiful and harmonious, interdependent, knitted, webbed relationship to one another. Just as rightly related physical elements form a cosmos or a tapestry, so rightly related human beings form a community. This interwovenness is what the Bible calls shalom, or harmonious peace.”
“The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair, and just God loves you and me is nothing short of astonishing.” – Francis Chan
Die krag en wysheid van ‘n sagte antwoord
‘n Sagte antwoord laat woede bedaar;
‘n krenkende woord laat woede ontvlam (Spreuke 15:1)
Hoe reageer ons op ‘n kwaai persoon wat iets vals van ons gesê het? Jy staan daar oorbluf oor die woorde wat pas in jou gesig ontplof het. Jy moet nou vinnig besluit; jy dink aan ‘n gepaste reaksie. Wat is dit? ‘n Sagte antwoord.
“When we preach the love of God there is a danger of forgetting that the Bible reveals not first the love of God but the intense, blazing holiness of God, with His love at the center of that holiness.” – Oswald Chambers
Wat is jou storie?
Mense het vir die Oostenrykse filosoof, Ivan Illich, gevra hoe jy ‘n gemeenskap kan verander. Hy antwoord:
Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into our future so that we can take the next step … If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.