Thursday, October 23, 2025

New Testament Reading Plan: Revelation 10

Several weeks ago, my mom took me to see Johnnyswim, one of my favorite bands, perform live as a late birthday present. It was a blast singing and dancing with her! A highlight of the evening was hearing the backstories behind the songs. Though their music isn’t inherently religious, the lead singers are both Christians, and I could see that influence on their lyrics and the way they presented themselves on stage.

When we choose to follow Jesus, he doesn’t intend to stay in the “religious” section of our weekly schedules. His love slowly permeates every part of our lives, impacting how we think, speak, and act at work, among family, and with friends. His grace is contagious - we can’t help but want more of it and desire to spread it to others.

1 Thessalonians 1:6-8
So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. ... And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God….

When we imitate Christ, our actions allow his word to spread into the world. Choosing to act out of love rather than judgement breaks barriers people may have to hearing the Gospel. We don’t need to hold back, because God’s message isn’t a muffled whisper. It is a resounding cry, echoing out from our mouths to reach everyone around us.

One of the songs Johnnyswim performed is called “Ring the Bells.” It’s a call to stop the hatred, injustice, and rigid rules of religion and, instead, come back to the gift of grace God extends to all of us.

Part of the chorus goes:

“If we can't sing it loud enough

We'll keep on adding voices up.

Ring the bells!”

Our lone voices aren’t capable of changing the world. But with God speaking through us, we can reach more people - and together - we can become an unstoppable force for God’s word. In every interaction, whether it’s at school, work, a family gathering, or online, we can still remember our God-given purpose and share his love with everyone around us.

Each and every moment is an opportunity to let God’s word ring out.

Questions:
Are you allowing Jesus’s love to change every part of your life? How can you choose to act out of love and grace today, wherever God might take you?

Next Steps:
Wherever you go after this, try to be intentional about loving the people around you. Give an extra smile or encouraging word, offer help to finish a project, or extend an invite to one of the upcoming special services as a way of sharing God’s word.

Prayer:
Father, I want to be part of your unstoppable movement of people. Give me the courage to lift my voice in sharing your truth, and to humbly offer your love to those around me. Let your good news ring out! Amen.

Series Theme Verse:

Colossians 1:6
This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

This post was written by Lydia Snyder, a South attendee and regular contributor to the Daily LivingItOut.