Dear FPCH Family, 

If you haven’t started the reading plan yet, you can find the chart by clicking here.

In reviewing the reflections I have written down in my journal I thought I might find some sense of a main stream of thought or main stream of being of the first apostles as they began their public ministry in Jerusalem. Some of the observations I have noted are:

• God in calling the apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ requires them to pick-up their crosses. To pick-up one’s cross is to put God at the center of their lives.
• With God at the center of one’s life and joining in the fellowship of other believers is not necessarily a fellowship that involves the world. The values of being a Christian are counter to the values of the world. At times we may find similarities, however, God in Jesus Christ is the heart of life.
• Jesus as the heart of life is a stumbling block to non-believers. For me this is summarized in Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men/[women].” What does it mean to obey God? What is God asking of us in being a follower of Jesus Christ?
• On a daily basis we need to examine ourselves and our being … our behavior … our followership of Jesus Christ. Are we in alignment with Him?
• We are called to speak of Jesus Christ. How do we speak of Jesus Christ in our being and in our doing?
• Prayer and fasting are constant elements of the life of the early followers. Prayer and fasting were and are ways to hear from God.

Those are my basic insights or observations so far. What are yours? “Who is God calling you and Hollywood Presbyterian to be in the world today?

God bless.

In Christ,

Pastor Tim