If you feel that you are stuck

Last Monday night we were allowed to remember how God delivered his people from the slavery of Egypt as well as how he delivered humanity from the slavery of sin.

If you feel that you are stuck
in a pattern
of every man for himself,
and entangled in a desert
of having and keeping,

then dare to cross the desert:

step by step
go the way of people
again questioning your doings,
reorienting yourself
with a different compass in hand

stopping at a forgotten source
to meet your other self
and that other human being
as a fellow traveller

moving on with people
and, for the sake of people,
becoming human to each other again.

And if your courage fails you,
do not give up,
do not fear,
for in every exodus
the Lord is with you.

Kathleen Boedt

Beginning of a Pilgrimage

 

2024 didn’t just bring us the start of a new year. It was also the point where some people shook hands and expressed their desire to join a brotherhood together.

On January 6, 2024, we could rejoice that the start was given in Anderlecht to form an ecclesia and to set off together from there to get to know and serve the One True God better.

The third week of January 2024 is the time to take the first step in the pilgrimage to the foundation of God’s Son, the Church of God.
A pilgrimage refers to going to a place to pray there. In our case, we set out for an ecclesia of Brethren in Christ under the direction of Jesus Christ, the son of God and with the blessing of his Heavenly Father, Jehovah the God above all gods.

Here today we find people who have decided to travel with us. They want to undertake the journey that will bring them to greater freedom and security in life, even if some do not yet fully realise the freedom and blessings that await them if they succeed in completing that journey.

To get to that endpoint where God would like us to arrive, we will have to climb many mountains and cross many valleys. Sometimes it might take sweat and tears. But today we find here people who are eager to travel, and who are eager to travel with their life experiences, and who want to share their experiences with their fellow travellers. They can expect a very rich, but not always easy expedition. But because there are several of us, we will be able to help each other and help over the most difficult cliffs and deepest waters.

There are business trips, pleasure trips, play trips, fairground trips, candy trips, day trips, night trips, leave trips, vacation trips, art trips, company trips, summer trips, winter trips, land and sea trips. Our journey is just about all of that, while we are allowed to oversee a real voyage of discovery and research.

Together we will walk to get to know God better. To this end, we will make good use of the Guide He Himself has provided. His Word, written down in the Bible, is our best companion, which we will make good use of in the coming weeks and months.

Just as a traveller takes travel goods, packing or luggage with him, everyone here present, also takes his ballast or packing goods with him. Everyone has experienced some things in life that can have been pleasant but also very unpleasant. Every one of us has been up to things that aren’t so kosher. Not everything we do is according to the wishes of the Divine Creator. During our pilgrimage, we will have plenty of time to think about what God wants, to meditate and to work on ourselves.

Provided that we are not going to walk over ice in one day, we must dare to take the time to let ourselves be put back in the right folds. All creases need to be smoothed out.

During our long journey (or pilgrimage) it is important to finally get rid of our old self and put on a new self. At the end of the day, we must be able to present ourselves to God, cleared of all blame. In the meantime, some may decide that they are ready to enter into the « water of life » and ask God to “whitewash” them so that they may be redeemed from their past sins, in order to be cleansed, to continue the important journey. For this baptism is not an endpoint, but a starting point of a new life, in which the baptized person has decided to live completely according to the will of God.

That baptism is then a passage through the Reed Sea (or Red Sea) where God’s People were also freed from slavery. But as we can read in Scripture, they still went in the wrong direction a few times and did things that God did not like. That can happen to us too. For this, we need to pay attention and support each other.
As soon as we see someone deviate, we have to show them back the right way to the Path. All together, as in the first centuries, the followers of Jesus must follow « The Way« . To this end, the regular meetings will be a helping hand. But that won’t be enough. Each person will also have to take initiative and examine the scriptures daily. Without regular Bible reading and study, the road will be much more difficult.

If we are willing to listen to God’s Word, He will be willing to listen to us. Then the time has come for us to talk to Him. In the same way, we will regularly enter into dialogue with God through our prayers, requests, praises and songs.

Hopefully, we will be able to talk to more lost people on our trek and let them go with us to a point where it will be wonderful to stay.

All those who will succeed in ending the pilgrimage, will be able to look back with satisfaction at what they have been able to leave behind as ballast along the way. Freed from all these burdens, they will be allowed to step into a new life, with many to walk together to and through that narrow gate of the Kingdom of Christ.

 

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Preceding

1. What if’s
2. Gathering and meeting for God
3. A new yeshiva or studyplace to be
4. January 6, 2024 official opening of the Anderlecht ecclesia
5. A new ecclesia = a new beginning
6. The intentions of our Brussels ecclesia
7. What is a Pilgrimage?
8. Encouraging eachother
9. Prayer at the beginning of our pilgrimage

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Additional reading

1. The Right One to follow and to worship
2. Gods, God of the Bible and believers
3. The Almighty Lord, God above all gods
4. Bible a guide – Bijbel als gids
5. Bible – Basic intro
6. Bible
7. Bible power to change
8. Word of God
9. Bible Word of God inspired and infallible
10. Facing our existence every day
11. Many looking for the church of the world instead of the Church of God
12. Get the lenses out to getting closer again
13. Being aligned with above
14. Self-development, self-control, meditation, beliefs and spirituality
15. Sometimes we face trials
16. The beginning of a new life
17. 2023 December 3 A Day in two ways important
18. Possibly a bright prospect for the Belgian community of Brothers in Christ
19. Sunday night Zoom Meetings
20. Concerning prayer and thought for the day
21. Prayer at the opening of the year 2024
22. The Way of God or the way of the world?
23. Looking for a spiritual new life
24. Feeling-good, search for happiness and the church
25. Know Who goes with us and don’t try to control life
26. Cross-bearing
27. After darkness a moment of life renewal
28. Genuine message of salvation
29. In the night His song shall be with me
30. In the springtime it’s easy to see God’s love
31. Belief of the things that God has promised
32. Today’s thought “That is not the way you learned Christ” (April 6)
33. How should we worship God? #11 New Life in Christ
34. How should we worship God? #12 Renewing the Mind
35. Wanting for more than you need or hearing the Inviting encouragement
36. Rebirth and belonging to a church
37. How to set your mind
38. Knowing The Truth and Loving The Truth
39. A Living Faith #8 Change
40. When having taken a new direction in life, having become a Christian