What do we wear to church? Well, for both men and women, God wants us to wear holiness and peace to church. God wants us to take off the anger and disputing and put on the good deeds of love for one another. Those are the clothes that matter, not the fancy clothes we sometimes wear on the outside, but the attitudes we show which come from the inside.

Many years ago, an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived at a village in Serbia. He met an elderly man there named Cimmerman, and Jakov began to talk to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, where church leaders had plundered, exploited, and killed innocent people.

“My own nephew was killed by them,” he said, and angrily rejected any effort on Jakov’s part to talk about Christ. He told Jakov, “They wear those elaborate coats and crosses, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore.”

Jakov replied, “Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track: they recognize your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?”

“I would deny it,” said Cimmerman. And Jakov countered, “‘Ah, but we saw your coat,’ they would say.” But the analogy annoyed Cimmerman, and he ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Even so, Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, “How does one become a Christian?”

Jakov taught him the simple steps of putting his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and Cimmerman got down on his knees and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, “Thank you for being in my life.” And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, “You wear His coat very well.”

My friends, let’s wear His coat well wherever we are.         (C. PHILIP GREEN)

Normally, when we think of praying, we link it to a praying mother or grandmother. It’s an attitude commonly associated to women of the faith. What if men took prayer seriously? What if we committed to it like we commit to football or our golf swing? Although our Christian society has attributed prayer to great women of our faith, the Bible gives us countless examples of men of prayer. Daniel was a man that prayed diligently. Even against the King’s wishes, he set time apart to pray to the Lord. David, although a warrior in battle, was also one in prayer, and in a sense, journaled these prayers for us to read them in the Psalms. In James 5:17, Elijah is described as “a man with a nature like us” that prayed earnestly, and the Lord heard him.

My brothers in the faith, our Father in heaven wants to hear from us! When men pray, things happen, and the Lord can move on our behalf. Don’t be confused; prayer does not turn God into your magic genie. We don’t pray to ‘position’ the Lord where we want Him to be. We pray in order to position or reposition ourselves in order to receive what the Lord has for us. Scripture is replete, brothers, with examples of how prayer works. James, again, tells that the “Effective prayer of the righteous man can accomplish much.” Our prayer can accomplish and help bring things to pass in our lives.

What would happen if we as husbands and fathers began to pray over and with our wives and children? Earnestly seeking the Lord on their behalf and standing before God on their behalf the way that Christ stands for us.

I think this is one of the biggest areas of improvement for me as a husband. Scripture tells me to love my wife as Christ loves the church. Christ is constantly interceding on our behalf. He’s the ultimate advocate. And while He was on the earth, we see how He prayed for us. (John 17).

So, my dear brothers I challenge you to make prayer a priority! Single men, make time to pray in your day. Meet with other brothers to pray and cover each other. Husbands and fathers, let’s take initiative to pray, not just for ourselves, but for our wives and / or children. Trust me brother, your wife and / or children would be thrilled to hear you pray before the Lord on their behalf. They may be secretly yearning for you to do that.                                                                                                       (TRAVIS WILLIAMS)

We Christians all know that parable Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. We also know we should join with that unnamed  good-deed-doer
and be good Samaritans too. Some of us even like to think we are good Samaritans and would never pass by on the other side.

I hope so, but there are times I wonder. I wonder how far I would go to help a stranger. I wonder if I would be as good a Samaritan as is Michelle LaPlante.

Here’s the story: Jill Fink, a mother of two-year-old twins, took off her engagement ring so she could put sunscreen on her daughter. She put the toddler in a swing and dropped her ring into the child’s stroller. She forgot to put her ring back on. She forgot for two days. When she finally remembered she did a lot of crying. Yes, she retraced her steps, but she knew the ring was gone.

Meanwhile, the ring was found by attorney Michelle LaPlante. She said, “If that had been my ring, I would have gone out of my head.” So LaPlante put up a note at the park where the ring had been lost; then she put up flyers in the neighborhood; then she took out online ads; then she listed the ring on Craigslist (a classified advertisements website); then she took the ring to the police department. A receptionist at Fink’s office spotted the Craigslist ad and, in a short time, the ring, the ring’s loser, and the ring’s finder were united.

So, let me ask, “How good a Good Samaritan are you?”

We all know a person would be a lousy Good Samaritan if he were to keep the lost ring. But how far would you have gone to return that diamond to its rightful owner?

Would you have taken it to the police? Probably. Would you have written up and posted flyers? Maybe. Would you have taken out ads? How far would you go to be a Good Samaritan?

I do know how far Jesus went to help the bruised and battered sinners of this world. He went all the way. Every moment of His life was dedicated to the single purpose of reuniting lost sinners with their Creator. Jesus didn’t rest; He didn’t take a vacation; He didn’t take a coffee break from the cause, which would lead to His death and the salvation of our souls.

He was the ultimate Good Samaritan. He is our Savior. He is the One who says, “… do as I have done to you” (John 13:15b).
(PASTOR KEN KLAUS)

Here are three lessons in trust you can take from the story
of Gideon:

1.  God sees the big picture:  Our vision is limited, sometimes only seeing the potential roadblocks in the way. But as with Gideon, God is sending you into a new adventure.  He has gone before you and already knows what will happen. The road may not always be easy, but He is always there to protect you and guide you, if you look to Him. Yes, we might be like Gideon and test God by asking for signs. And I believe God delights in showing us His power. In Psalm 86:17, even David calls out in his prayer for mercy: Give me a sign of Your goodness, for You Lord have helped me and comforted me. But also etch this truth from Deuteronomy 31:8 on your heart as you face seemingly impossible challenges: Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

2. God is patient as we grow in faith:  Gideon had many doubts as God called him to lead the Israelites into battle. God continually encouraged Gideon, telling him that He will go ahead of him – even going as far as promising that Gideon won’t die. But Gideon struggled to see the big picture. He was probably sucking in his gut and flexing his non-existent muscles in the mirror, not feeling real encouraged at the reflection staring back at him. But with each sign Gideon asked for, God kindly answered.  The Lord had patience with Gideon, matching kind reassurance to each doubt, building Gideon into a fully convinced servant. It’s the same with us. God calls us. But be certain the enemy will tell us that we don’t measure up to the task at hand. But here is a truth that was spoken at a conference I recently attended: God calls us for the person we will become, not necessarily the person we are right now. (Lisa Bevere) He called Gideon “mighty warrior.” What is God calling you?

3. Success is through God’s power, not our own: As the story progresses, Gideon grows to be a confident warrior, gathering thousands of the Israelites to face the Midianites. But God felt like that would be too easy. At least too easy for the Israelites to take all the credit for a victory. God wanted them to give Him the glory. So He put Gideon through two tests of his faith – which ultimately left only 300 men to fight Midian’s 135 thousand warriors! That’s 450 Midian guys for every one Israelite. What? And in what is known as one of the most unbelievable battle strategies in history, the 300 Israelites marched out with trumpets, torches, and jars to meet the marauding Midianites. What happened then? God sent confusion into the ranks of the Midianites and they started turning on each other! When it was all said and done, 120 thousand Midianites had killed one another and the other 15 thousand ran away.

God had answered Israel’s prayers, using a regular, every day guy like Gideon.  As it says in Luke 18:27:  What is impossible with men is possible with God. When you feel God is calling you to do something that might seem too big – or even impossible – think of mild-mannered Gideon who grew to fully trust God and changed the course of history.
What is God calling you to do?  What steps of trust can you take? (LORI CLAPPER)

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home
church in Michigan:

“While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I travelled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord Jesus Christ. I then travelled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, ‘Two weeks ago, some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.’

At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite The young man pressed the point, however, and said, ‘No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.'”

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

“On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?”

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with who they were–he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. As the story clearly illustrates, “with God all things are possible.” More importantly, God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful!