Spotting a Counterfeit

Greetings in the Name of Christ,

Since I was a kid, I have collected coins. A few years ago, a treasury officer who specialized in counterfeits was in one of my Bible studies. I asked him how he could tell the counterfeits from the “real thing.” He laughed and said, “The treasury trains us to recognize the ‘real thing.’” The idea is that if an agent learns to recognize the characteristics of a genuine bill, spotting a counterfeit will be a simpler task. If it doesn't look exactly like the real thing, it's fake.

Not a bad strategy for applying truth to our lives. Often, we are quick to point out what we don’t believe – the counterfeit faith instead of true beliefs. For me, a more effective strategy is to determine what we believe and who God is calling us to be. Moving toward what we believe can take us in only one direction—the right direction. 

The season of Lent has begun. This week, our Lenten dinners and studies began on Wednesday. The response has been outstanding. The spirit was awesome! We will take next week off for Spring Break and continue our Lenten dinners and studies on March 26. 

As we prepare our hearts for the Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, let’s focus on how we can be more Christ-like in action and speech – more real than counterfeit. Remember… Jesus taught his disciples – “to love God with all your heart, with all your mind, and soul and to love neighbor as self.” How can we more fully live what we believe? Saint Francis of Assisi put it this way about living the gospel, “Preach the gospel at all times, only use words when necessary.”

This Sunday, we will continue the sermon series on 1 John. Our focus will be 1 John 2:1-11… Seven Rules for Living for Jesus with Purpose. 

See you Sunday! 

Invite someone to worship! Tell someone about the great things happening at Stonebridge UMC. 

Pastor John Allen 

P. S. Don’t forget that this weekend we need servant volunteers to help with the prom closet distribution of dresses and accessories to high school girls. And… on Saturday we are working outside on the landscaping from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.