Advent
December 15, 2016

Scripture Reading: Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant^* of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit^* of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is an apostle? Per Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible an apostle is

A messenger, envoy, delegate, one commissioned by another to represent him in some way, especially a [person] sent out by Jesus Christ Himself to preach the Gospel. Paul felt strongly about his commissioning and relates back to his encounter with the resurrected Christ on his trip to Damascus to document his calling. He lists his credentials in most of his writings not only taking the role very seriously himself but also using it to explain why people should pay heed to what he says. It is the career objective on his resume’.

What is our career objective as it relates to our choosing to follow Jesus Christ? Do we have one? Are we doing the things we are doing because in our work for Christ because that is what we have always done? Is what we are doing necessary and important? Within his career objective, Paul routinely consulted in prayer to identify his next steps. He remained ever vigilant and appeared to work at being efficient in the use of his time and talents even to the point of seeming rude at times. If we have a Christ related Career Objective how well defined is our plan toward attaining it?

As you await the coming of God with Us once again, pull out your Christ-related resume’ and see if it needs to be updated. Don’t have a Christ related Career Objective? Try developing one. Know what you feel your calling is but are not sure how to make it a reality? Map out a plan with steps to complete. One step might be contacting the leaders in your congregations to find others with similar objectives, work within a team.

Prayer: Lord, write on my heart your objectives for my work as a part of your body. Show me how to make them a reality. Amen.

*http://biblehub.com/greek/652.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.