Day 11 – Religious Profiling – Expressions from Summerside Community Church

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be will do it!

Devotional

In verse 9, Jesus says, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been with you such a long time?”

Repeatedly, Jesus tried to demonstrate to his followers the heart of the Father. He refused to bend to people pleasing with the religious elite. Instead, he hung out with those considered outcasts – tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. And He gave special attention to those marginalized by society – the diseased, the disabled, women, and children.

When I was nine, I was filled and starting to move in the Gifts of the Spirit. There were other children my age who were also eager for more of God. But my church leaders were so focused on the teenagers, who were leaving the church, they didn’t recognize the potential in the children. By the time we became teenagers, we were so tired of waiting, most of us left the church too.

Question to Consider

Are there any people groups you consider less essential to the Body of Christ?

Prayer

Father Jesus, give us new eyes to see people as you see them. Help us to know you and to know who and what matters to you. Amen.