Faithful

In August 2019, Marnus Labuschagne was drafted into the Australian Cricket Team unexpectedly as the first-ever concussion substitute in the history of international test cricket, replacing the injured Steve Smith. Labuschagne soon showed that he was no stop-gap sportsman as he quickly established his batting skills in international cricket. To date, he has scored 3767 test runs from 42 matches at the exceptional average of 54.59, placing him at number 20 on the all-time test average rankings. At present, he is the number five batsman in test cricket.

In spite of the unprecedented success, Labuschagne has earned a reputation for being a man who takes faith in Christ and prayer seriously. He has a sticker of an eagle on his bat, to highlight his favorite Bible verse, Isaiah 40:31.

In an interview for Season 2 of the documentary “The Test,” Marnus said, "Everyone knows cricket is a major part of my life, but the value of me as a person isn't in cricket - it's in my faith. I grew up with Christianity going back to when I was a kid, laying in my bed, praying every night."

He is also quoted as saying, "When I pray, I don't pray to win, just that I could perform at my best, and that all the glory will go to God, for whatever happens … win or lose." He further adds, "In the big scheme of things, what you're worth ... isn't out there on the pitch; It's internal and in Christ … Cricket is always going to be up and down. If you have (Jesus Christ as) a constant in your life, it makes life a lot easier."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Testimony; Witness - Marnus Labuschagne has clearly built his life and career on the words of Jesus - "But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt. 6:33).

With 77 years of working for the state of California under her belt, May Lee has dedicated most of her life to public service. Lee recently turned 100 years old, and is California's longest-tenured employee and oldest worker. A financial analyst with the Department of General Services, she began working for the California government in 1943. She has served under 10 different governors, and is "a state treasure."

Lee, who has no plans to retire, has traveled to more than 150 different countries, and has photos of her adventures on display in her office. Looking back at the last century, Lee believes she "did the best I could in this world, both in work and life and with the family. So, I'm satisfied with my life. I'm happy."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Every Christian should make it their goal to serve the Lord as long as health and strength remain. Even 77 years of service is short in view of an eternity of rewards for faithful service.

What does it take to raise children who will continue in the faith as adults? A study from the Barna Group set out to study what they call “resilient disciples,” that is, 18-29-year olds who attend church regularly, trust in the Bible, are personally committed to Jesus, and with a desire to influence broader society.

They found that “resilient disciples” make up only 10% of young people who grew up Christian. Another 38% attend church regularly, but do not meet core beliefs and behaviors associated with being an engaged disciple. 30% identify as Christian, but no longer attend church, and 22% have left the faith altogether.

Here are the five traits of a “resilient disciple”:

1. They experience intimacy with Jesus

2. They practice cultural discernment

3. They have meaningful spiritual relationships

4. They engage in counter-cultural mission

5. They have a sense of calling in their life and work

Southern Baptist pastor and leader Russell Moore recently highlighted one of his favorite books of all time—a series of essays by the southern novelist Walker Percy titled Signposts in a Strange Land. Moore wrote, "It is hard to overstate how much this book has shaped my ministry. First of all, Percy articulated what I sensed was wrong with nominal [Christianity]. It was, he argued, not Christian at all but rather Stoic … But, most of all, in this book Percy taught me that the collapse of [the political power and outward display of] Christendom is not a catastrophe. As Percy wrote:

The good news is that in becoming the minority in all countries, a remnant, the Church also becomes a world church in the true sense, bound to no culture, not even to the West of the old Christendom, by no means triumphant but rather a pilgrim church witnessing to a world in travail and yet a world to which it will appear ever stranger and more outlandish.

A survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found that 81 percent of lawyers said they'd seen an increase in divorce cases using evidence found on social media. A group of divorce lawyers gave the following five ways social media can hurt a marriage. (All the quotes are from divorce lawyers.)

#1) Screentime got in the way of face time. "Instead of getting into bed and discussing how each other's day was, couples opt to be on social media … [They] engaged with friends, acquaintances or even followers during times that they would otherwise be growing and improving their marital relationship … Put down your device, ask your spouse how their day was and listen."

#2) Reconnecting with old partners led to an affair. "Your former partners bring you back to a time when life was less complicated and your greatest challenge was a term paper. Some get so caught up in the romance that they move from posts, to emails, texts, calls and then secret rendezvous. Even if things don't work out with the old fling, the temporary checking out from your marriage can cause irreparable harm."

#3) Everyone else's marriage appeared perfect in comparison. "As you scroll your news feed and see so many seemingly perfect marriages, there is a tendency to compare your own relationship to the perceived perfection of another's. The weaknesses in your own marriage may become more obvious."

#4) Too much personal information was shared online. "Intimate details about your relationship and marriage should never be exposed on social media. It causes distrust between partners and it can backfire if you and your partner divorce."

#5) The single life started looking more and more attractive. "The social media posts of your single 'friends' look … so much better than your own life because many people's posts are [staged] to portray their own lives in the most positive light. There is a reason the selfie stick was one of the most popular holiday gifts last year."

Boston Light, America's first lighthouse, just celebrated its 300th birthday—but Sally Snowman will be the first to let you know some more specifics about what that "birthday" really means. "The original tower built in 1716 was blown up by the British in 1776," she explains. "We have the new one."

Sally Snowman mans—or "womans," in her words—the lighthouse, serving as its 70th keeper (and the first female to have the title). Over the three centuries since its inception, a keeper has kept the light burning; however, the position in 2016 looks markedly different from those who held the role in the 18th century. As the lighthouse is now "fully automated," Snowman "maintain[s] the grounds, giv[es] tours and manag[es] 90 volunteers."

Yet even with these modernized tasks, Snowman realizes the significance of her job: "Here I am in 2016, the keeper for our 300th anniversary," she says. "That's way beyond my wildest dreams."

Possible Preaching Angles: The various roles within the body of Christ—missionary, teacher, preacher, etc.—look drastically different within various contexts: whether historical eras or cultural circumstances. The importance and the purpose of those roles, however, has remained constant since Jesus' command to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).

In February 1954, a navy pilot set out on a night-training mission from a carrier off the coast of Japan. While he was taking off in stormy weather, his directional finder malfunctioned, and he mistakenly headed in the wrong direction. To make matters worse, his instrument panel suddenly short-circuited, burning out all the lights in the cockpit.

The pilot "looked around … and could see absolutely nothing; the blackness outside the plane had suddenly come inside." Nearing despair, he looked down and thought he saw a faint blue-green glow trailing along in the ocean's ebony depths. His training had prepared him for this moment, and he knew in an instant what he was seeing: a cloud of phosphorescent algae glowing in the sea that had been stirred up by the engines of his ship. It was the "least reliable and most desperate method" of piloting a plane back onto a ship safely, but the pilot—future Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell—knew that was precisely what he needed to do. And so he did.

While he did not articulate it this way, Jim's life was saved because of light. Not just any light, but "bioluminescent dinoflagellates," which are tiny creatures that contain luciferin, a generic term for the light-emitting compound. Bioluminescent organisms live throughout the ocean, from the surface to the seafloor, from near the coast to the open ocean.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Evangelism—How many people surround us daily who are in a spiritual condition that mirrors Lovell's dilemma? What will light their journey when they look into the blackness all around them? When their eyes adjust to the darkness, what life-saving light will they see? (2) God's Word—Is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (3) Jesus is the light of the world.

In 1912, medical missionary Dr. William Leslie went to live and minister to tribal people in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After 17 years he returned to the U.S. a discouraged man, believing he failed to make an impact for Christ. He died nine years after his return.

But in 2010 a team led by Eric Ramsey with Tom Cox World Ministries made a surprising discovery. They found a network of reproducing churches hidden like glittering diamonds in the dense jungle across the Kwilu River from Vanga, where Dr. Leslie was stationed.

Based on his previous research, Ramsey thought the Yansi in this remote area might have some exposure to the name of Jesus, but no real understanding of who he is. They were unprepared for their remarkable find. "When we got in there, we found a network of reproducing churches throughout the jungle," Ramsey reports. "Each village had its own gospel choir, although they wouldn't call it that," he notes. "They wrote their own songs and would have sing-offs from village to village." They found a church in each of the eight villages they visited scattered across 34 miles. They also found a 1000-seat stone "cathedral" that often got so crowded in the 1980s—with many walking miles to attend—that a church planting movement began in the surrounding villages.

Apparently, Dr. Leslie traveled throughout this remote region, teaching the Bible and promoting literacy. He also started the first organized educational system in these villages, Ramsey learned. For seventeen years, Ramsey fought tropical illnesses, charging buffaloes, armies of ants, and leopard-infested jungles to bring the gospel into a remote area. He died feeling like he had failed, but instead his faithfulness and courage left a powerful legacy of vital churches.

In the film The Monuments Men, a woman named Claire Simone (played by Cate Blanchett), lives a very ordinary life in Paris under the oppressive Nazi regime. She's an art enthusiast who was forced to facilitate the pillaging of the great works of art of Paris. But despite the seeming hopelessness of her situation, Claire carefully cataloged each piece of art, and marked it with a small colored sticker (a "seal" you could say). She kept this catalog without knowing whether it would ever be useful or just a dusty record of art—or if it would be confiscated and destroyed. She kept meticulous records without any hope that it would come to anything. Not until James Granger (played by Matt Damon) shows up asking about these pieces of art, does an opportunity arise for her risky bookkeeping to pay off.

But up to that point, during the majority of her record-keeping, she had no idea that the Monuments Men would come along. She had no idea that anyone else cared. She was one woman in a city occupied by one of the most powerful militaries on the planet. She was one woman battling against the whole Nazi-engineered system. And for all the time before James Granger arrived, she kept working subversively and systematically, without any assurance that her work would ever be put to use.

In a similar way, Christians live in territory occupied by the Enemy. It's tempting to give up hope that our work for Christ—our small deeds of compassion and kindness, our faithfulness to our families and jobs and churches—will come to anything. But unlike Claire, Christians have an assurance of hope. Christ's resurrection guarantees our future. Our service to Christ may feel insignificant, and yet Claire exhibits for Christians an inspiring example of how to live faithfully in Enemy-occupied territory.