Christian Action
Don’t you just love retreats? I sure do. You get away from work and school. You get loads and loads of food. You just feel really good on the inside after a retreat. But then comes the dreaded Monday. It’s back to the same old same old. You’re all hyped up from the conference or retreat, yet throughout the week, you feel your enthusiasm slowly fade away into the demands of life. Tomorrow, you go back to the real world. I’m just like you guys. I’m a senior at Forest Park High School, in Woodbridge. I still don’t really know what I am going to do with my life. I Facebook instead of doing homework. I’m just a High School student. I face the same struggles. My name is Matt Critchley and the title of this talk is Christian Action.
Please join me in the Prayer to the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
---------------Let me repeat---------------
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
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That quote comes from Methodist founder John Wesley and is, perhaps, the ultimate definition of Christian action.
As loving Christians, we resemble flashlights. Batteries, the energy source for a flashlight, are useless until someone turns the switch on. When turned on, the batteries' energy creates light. A flashlight, properly used, will illuminate all that is around it. Christians, whose love has been energized by God's grace and nurtured through grace, through study and prayer, are now ready to shine-not for people to look at but for people to see who they can become. God's grace energizes Christians to love. The twin batteries of study and prayer are ready to go. We need to "turn on" the switch of Christian action so people will have the light of God to see who they can become. Butterflies are nice to look at, but more importantly, we Christians are to live our lives in such a way that others will know how to become butterflies themselves. Let's do a little review; On Day One We died with Christ and we talked about receiving the gift: the relationship God offers. On Day Two we rose and grew with Christ and we talked about nurturing the gift and growing in Christ's love. Today we will talk about giving the gift of God's love to others and we prepare to go forth and fly with Christ like butterflies to share Christ's love. The tripod is a helpful image; the three legs represent prayer, study and action. As you've previously have learned from Marcus’ Talk, Prayer is giving our hearts to God; it is our learning to open our hearts to the heart of Christ. And From Andrew’s talk, Study is giving our minds to God; it is our learning to open our minds to the mind of Christ. Action which we'll learn more about is giving our hands and feet to God; it is learning to open our hands to receive and to take up the work of Christ in the world. Let’s take a look at the tripod, with one leg does it stand no, with two, no you need all three legs to stand balanced. You may ask yourself what is Christian Action, Well it is going forth with Christ into all the places of our daily lives to show the love of Christ. Christian Action is anything which has 'Christian' characteristics such as kindness and charity and love behind it. In a more specific sense it would be something which Christ has specifically directed a person to do, which