Featured – Words For The Temple

God’s Blueprint For Unity

January 18, 2021November 6, 2022by wordsforthetemple4 Comments

Perhaps in recent weeks, months, or years you have, like me, been wondering where your place is in all the work that still needs to be done regarding the reunification of humanity. Sometimes, when we have a particular burden on our hearts, God is calling us to be the very answer we wish existed to the problem(s) we observe. Other times, we are so busy expending our energy and efforts in the various areas we feel drawn to that we bypass the vacant spaces that await our awakening to God’s call on our lives to fill them. God’s purpose for the body of Christ is to be the example to a hurting world of what unity is and how His love is to be effectively expressed.

I found myself drawn to the passage that we will study together today. My hope is that, through our deeper exploration of this passage, we can better identify the unique part each of us can play in the larger charge to be the light of the world and embody the love of Jesus through our unique gifts, imparted by the Holy Spirit. The way that we operate in our gifting is how we honor God and bring glory to His name. While this is a popular passage within the church for its identification of spiritual gifts, one additional lens has been used to help us broaden our scope of the message Paul shares. For anyone unfamiliar with him, Paul is one of the New Testament (NT) leaders, called apostles. The heading of the passage in question, “Unity and Diversity in the Body,” already speaks volumes in itself. Let’s dive right in.

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Faith Building Series

Are You Willing To Be Broken?

August 22, 2020November 6, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
-Isaiah 6:5‭-‬8 ESV

In this passage, the biblical prophet, Isaiah, went from insecurity in his present circumstance to boldness through swift obedience. There was a crucial process that occurred in the few lines between those two versions of him. His lips were touched with burning coal (he went through a refining process, brief but transformative) and life-giving words (blessing) were spoken over him. In that blessing, he was made aware of the purpose of the process, which encouraged him to let go of the guilt he felt and step confidently into his calling.

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Peacekeeping Series

What is Love? : A word on reconciliation in light of the times

June 3, 2020November 5, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

At this time, when hatred has, once again, reached a fever pitch, the names of slain Black individuals continue to increase, institutional oppression persists, COVID-19 affects Black and Brown communities at alarming rates, and our neighborhoods are over-policed but somehow under-protected….it can be so easy to give into the fear and fury that builds within. However, whether you are a member of the affected community or an ally, please allow love for humanity to precede hatred of injustice in informing your decision making. Know that righteous anger for justice to be implemented is critical to the cause, but, never forget that love is a tool to be implemented at all times. Love is an action word as well as a heart posture. The Bible instructs us to be angry and not to sin (Ephesians 4:26). When we seek justice from a place of anger or hatred, we aren’t seeking justice…we’re seeking revenge. God made it very clear that vengeance belongs to Him (Romans 12:19). As monuments of oppression are being torn down, seeds of peace need to be planted in their place. That peace begins with reconciliation, rooted in love.

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Faith Building Series

For The Timid Christian…

April 27, 2020November 5, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

Let’s just start right out of the gate with the truth. God did not give us that spirit of timidity. Yeah, I said us. As usual, I am here to address something that God is working on in my life as well as sharing a word that I hope will encourage you to stand up and stop allowing the fear of failure or any other anxiety-ridden thought to prevent you from living in your God-ordained purpose.

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