Freedom and Pains
/in Pastors BlogFreedom and Pains
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1
William Peyton Hubbard was born to parents who escaped slavery and the plantation where they were forced to labour in Virginia. Through the Underground Railroad, they reached Canada in the 1840’s. While many people were expecting the Second Coming of Jesus and would later become Adventists, they were fully focused at simply staying alive and finding a place to be free. Everyone has a unique story and just because they might not follow your path, doesn’t mean that God isn’t still with them. God want’s that we all should be free. He wants that we have life and have it to the utmost.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
Let’s not judge one another for the goals we have made. Were we in their shoes, we would probably make the same decisions many times. This life is hard for all but harder for some. Fact is, if you look, you will always find someone worse off than yourself. But don’t let those differences, whether more or less, lead to judgement or condemnation. Let it lead to a response of love and help.
Jesus didn’t differentiate between those who were more in need or less. He helped everyone at all levels of need. He loved all, with all their personal pains.
When you decide to judge another person’s suffering I would ask you to remember the glaciers. What you see above the water is only a fragment of what is underneath. What you see in people is only what they are allowing you to see. Most keep their true pains inside.
William Peyton Hubbard was born in a little cabin in the outskirts of Toronto. It was all his parents could provide. He grew up and became a baker. From there he joined his uncle’s horse-drawn livery taxi service. By acts of God, Hubbard later became the driver for Mr. George Brown and through a growing friendship challenged Hubbard to seek public office.
In 1894 he was elected, one of the first men of African descent to gain a political office in Canada. He was re-elected 15 times in his career.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto
Unity
/in Pastors BlogUnity
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
John 14:7-8
What Jesus says here is a powerful testimony of the relationship he had with his father. As people got to know Jesus they were also getting to God the Father. Jesus was a perfect representation of his father.
Can you say the same about your parents or your family? Do you represent them in all things or are there big differences between the people in your home?
People might think that Jesus’ words mean that he wasn’t unique or had his own mind but that is not true. You can be a unique individual and still be a representation of your family. Paul was very different from Peter or John and yet all three were representatives of Jesus.
As church members we are all different and unique. We all have different skills and characteristics but that doesn’t mean we can’t be united in our representation of Christ. Think of it this way. Jesus is the Son of God and therefore infinitely more complex than any one of us. Jesus is actually more actually represented by the joining and unity of our differences than any single person by themselves.
What’s interesting is that Philip was with Jesus for so long and still hadn’t seen the connection between Jesus and the Father. We too, even after many years in church, can be blinded to the representation of other members to Christ. We believe Jesus is just like us and not like other members who are different from us. To this, Jesus has a response.
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
John 14:9-11
We cannot judge people who are different as lower than us. Just as there are four gospel stories, each unique and yet all representing Jesus, so to in the church. Each of us should be a living gospel to who God is. Let us not see differences between us but simply different faces of Christ.
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto