We Are An Empowered Church

By Mary Burkey

We thank God for giving us prayer. We can seek Him in everything we do. We can seek Him in The Bible. "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" is the command in Romans 12:2. Our church knows this and seeks to make this happen in our lives. An empowered church means that no walls stand between God and us. How do we know what walls remain or need to be torn down? God's Word will tell us but we have to read it for ourselves. A daily quiet time with God is necessary in our lives.

An effective way to read God's Word was given to me sometime ago. When I read scripture I ask myself these questions and write answers in a journal:

• What do I like best about this passage?
• What do I like least?
• What do I understand?
• What do I learn about God from this passage?
• What do I personally need to do?
• What is one phrase or thought I can take with me from this passage?

God's Word has been opened to me through this exercise. Give it a try. Tomorrow morning start your day by reading John 15:1-17 and answer the above questions. You will see in verses 15 and 16 that we are empowered.

John 15:5 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." The fruit of the branch is produced in loving others, no matter where you meet them. It may be in church, while shopping, over the backyard fence, at work, at the club, etc. When one is empowered, one can give love to others.

I am reminded of a situation that exhibits this so well. The woman was a middle school teacher and had a student that was very needy because of his family situation. She helped the child through times of difficulties until he grew-up and moved to another state. But it did not stop there. The teacher, now retired, heard about his great aunt who was widowed, did not drive, had no car, and had no way of doing errands such as going to the grocery store or keeping doctors' appointments, by most standards the great aunt is poor. When the retired school teacher heard about the situation she offered to drive her once a week to errands, appointments, etc. We might say that is great, they have an outing together. Not so. The great aunt is no one the retired teacher would have chosen for a friend because she has no joy in anything and has lots of fear. The teacher feels beaten down and tired after spending a day with the great aunt, but she continues, even after a couple of years, to weekly help the woman and patiently ministers to her needs. I believe the retired teacher can do this because she knows Jesus is the vine. The John 15 passage concludes in verse 17 saying "This is my command: Love each other."