A Prayer From Sister Helen

God of Compassion

You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.

Expand and deepen our hearts

so that we may love as You love,

even those among us

who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.

For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance

as we fill up death row and kill the killers

in the name of justice, in the name of peace.

Jesus, our brother,

you suffered execution at the hands of the state

but you did not let hatred overcome you

Help us to reach out to victims of violence

so that our enduring love may help them heal.

Holy Spirit of God,

You strengthen us in the struggle for justice,

Help us to work tirelessly

for the abolition of state-sanctioned death

and to renew our society in its very heart

so that violence will be no more.

Amen.

Be the Jesus They See

Pastor Andre Butler

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. --1 John 2:6

In the verse above, the word "walk" in the Greek means to live. And if you are in Christ, God has an expectation that you will live a certain way. And realize that He is not expecting you to live a certain way just on Sundays or when things are going bad and you need Him to show up in your life. He is talking about how you live, period. God has an expectation for your lifestyle.

So those who are in Jesus, as far as God is concerned, should live their lives like Jesus did. There was a certain way Jesus operated when He was on the planet, and God is saying if you are saying you are in Jesus then ultimately you should be like Him. Most people believe that it is not really possible to live like Jesus did. I mean after all, He was Jesus. He was the son of God. Well, what are you? The Bible says you are a child of God, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. You are just as much a son of God as Jesus was and is.

Sponsor AdI want you to understand that the world needs you to be like Jesus. The world needs to see Jesus coming around the corner, Jesus working in the cubicle working next to them, Jesus in the grocery store, Jesus praying for their kids, and Jesus being in their neighborhood. The world is looking for Superman. They are looking for Jesus, and they should see Him in you. It should be that when people look at your life they get a picture of Jesus' life. If they are seeing you, they are seeing Him, because you are just like Him.

So how do you do this? Well, all the commands that God gave us in His Word can be summed up in the Law of Love. Romans, Chapter 13 teaches us that love is the fulfilling of the law. So if you really want to know what do to be like Jesus, the answer is to walk in love. And realize that being like Jesus is fulfilling the commandment of love, because He walked in love.

Jesus gave you a model so you can imitate it. So you also should be a model and one whose conduct is worthy of imitation. That sounds like Jesus to me. Many times people do not just learn because you said something to them; they learn because they saw you do it. There is power in an example, and there is no greater example than Jesus.

So you be the Jesus they see.