Matthew 14:34-36

Matthew 14:34-36 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  When it comes to pop culture, I'm not the most culturally literate guy.  If you put me in the middle of a cocktail party that involved any number of famous individuals, I doubt I would recognize most of them. 
  Which makes me wonder how long Jesus was in the midst of the people in Gennesaret.  They brought the sick once they recognized him, but who knows how long it took them to recognize him.  For all we know, it could have been months before they realized the Son of God was walking among them. 
  God is at work in the here and now, too.  God is moving in the hearts and minds of people around us, but they often don't recognize his presence.  Today, it's not nearly as uncommon as it once might have been for people to have grown up completely outside of the church -- there's no context to think about how God might be working in their lives. 
  And so it's our responsibility to be a gracious presence in their lives, pointing to how God might be at work in such a way that invites curiosity into how God might be reaching out in love and grace to invite them into a relationship with a Savior who loves them unconditionally and wants to give them a future with hope and with peace and with joy.  Who doesn't want hope and peace for the future? 
  I invite you to pray for your colleagues and your friends and your family -- pray for eyes to see what God is doing and a spirit that can reach out in love to point to how and where God is at work.