Category Archives: Sharing Our Faith

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May 5, 2016

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Church & Worship, Faith & Hope, Holidays & Holy Days, Prayer, Sharing Our Faith

WAKE UP AMERICA – NATIONAL OF PRAYER 2016

Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. [Isaiah 58:1a (NLT)]

American flagToday is the National Day of Prayer. Back in 1952, during the Korean War, the Reverend Billy Graham challenged our nation’s leaders with these words: “What a thrilling, glorious thing it would be to see the leaders of our country today kneeling before Almighty God in prayer. What a thrill would sweep this country. What renewed hope and courage would grip the Americans at this hour of peril.” In response, members of the House and Senate introduced a joint resolution for an annual National Day of Prayer, “on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.” President Truman signed a bill proclaiming that a National Day of Prayer must be declared by each subsequent president at an appropriate date of his choice. In 1988, the law was amended and the first Thursday in May was designated as our National Day of Prayer. The day’s purpose is to unite people of all religions in prayer and to renew respect for God throughout the world. This being the United States, the constitutionality of this law has been challenged several times. Fortunately, the challenges have been unsuccessful—chalk one up for the good guys!

Today’s theme is “Wake Up America” and emphasizes the need for every one of us to return to God in reverence for His Holy Name. Dr. Tony Evans, this year’s honorary chairman, authored the following prayer that is to be read throughout our nation at noon. If you won’t be at a worship gathering today, won’t you please read it at noon wherever you happen to be. Join your voice in prayer with the voices of millions of others throughout our nation. As Dr. Evans says, let there be no “secret agent Christians!”

Dear heavenly Father, we come to You today as a humble people desperate for Your supernatural intervention on behalf of our beloved nation. First, we thank You for all the blessings You have bestowed on our land, blessings that have allowed us to bring so much good and benefit to not only our own citizens but also to the rest of the world. The very ideals upon which this country was founded were based on biblical truths, no matter how some try to rewrite history to deny that very fact today.

 This is why our hearts are so broken over how You continue to be marginalized and dismissed by both our people and our institutions. We are also saddened by the fact that Your people have contributed greatly to the spiritual apathy that now engulfs us. Our satisfaction in remaining religious without being fully committed to living out the truths of Your Word has caused us to become co-conspirators with the forces of evil that are destroying us as a society.

 It is for this reason that we personally and collectively repent of our carnality and recommit ourselves to becoming visible and verbal disciples of Jesus Christ. Enable us, by Your Spirit, to no longer be secret agent Christians but rather to publicly declare and live out Your truth in a spirit of love so that You feel welcome in our country once again.

 Thank You for Your promise to hear our prayers when we call to You with hearts of repentance and obedience, which is how we are appealing to You today, Father. On behalf of Your church, we affirm afresh the priority You are to us that You would fill every dimension of our lives as we seek to bring You glory through the advancement of Your kingdom in our personal lives, our family lives, and in the lives of our churches and our government leaders. We confidently invite heaven’s intervention into all the affairs of our nation and we praise You in advance for Your answer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. [2016 National Prayer (Dr. Tony Evans)]

 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. [1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NLT)]

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February 22, 2016

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Church & Worship, God's Grace & Love, Knowing Him, Obedience, Prayer, Salvation: A New You, Sharing Our Faith

GOD’S LOST CHILDREN

Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.  … Do what the Lord says is good and right so that things will go well for you. [Deuteronomy 6:4-5,18a (NCV)]

Lake Catamount, Steamboat Spgs., CORecently, we provided dinner for a local skateboard church ministry that serves teens and young adults. If church is a hospital for wretched souls, this one is a MASH unit for them! Most of the youth have troubled pasts and few come from faith-based homes or with any knowledge of the Bible. Many, however, have transformed their lives as they have come to know Jesus through this ministry.

During Bible study, I overheard a young man claim he was his own lord and master and had to be obedient to no one. He was his own god; in fact, he added, we are all our own gods. Clearly, the pastor has his work cut out for him. Earlier that evening, the same young man said he couldn’t pray because he didn’t feel God. Of course, he couldn’t. Just as there was no room in Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph, by thinking he’s god, there’s no room in this young man’s heart for Jesus. “How’s that working for you?” I wanted to ask. Since he’s unemployed, homeless, using drugs, and unwelcome in his family’s home, his god doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job.

What will it take for this fellow to finally see the truth? What will it take before he knows he is loved, forgiven and valuable? What will it take for him to cede control to a higher power? What will it take for him to embrace the concept of obedience to God rather than obedience to self? Will he have to be knocked to his knees before he sees what is right in front of him? I pondered Saul of Tarsus, another man with no room in his heart for Jesus. Determined to defeat Christianity, he went from house to house arresting believers and hauling them off to prison. On his way to Damascus, however, he was knocked to the ground, struck blind and confronted by Jesus in one of the most dramatic conversions in history. When Saul was down and blinded, he finally saw the truth; the persecutor became evangelist and Saul the Pharisee became Paul the Apostle, God’s chosen instrument.

The good news is that, somewhere deep inside, this young man knows his way isn’t working. He was at a SK8 church prayer meeting and Bible study. Granted, we were serving a delicious hot meal of ham and potatoes and skateboarding followed Bible study, but he didn’t have to arrive early for prayers or stay after dinner for Bible study. I offered a prayer for him, asking God to make Himself known to this young man. I know God has been knocking at his door (or he wouldn’t have been there that night) but maybe God needs to knock him to the ground as he did for Paul.

Heavenly Father, I offer this prayer for the many young men and women who are deaf to your voice, blind to your presence, and unwilling or afraid to make room in their hearts for you. Please keep knocking, even it if means you have to knock them to their knees. Make your presence known, your love sensed, and your forgiveness felt. Thank you for the pastors, mentors and sponsors who work with young people. Keep filling them with the incredible patience, self-control, wisdom and love they need to bring your lost children home.

Be careful. Don’t think these little children are worth nothing. I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always with my Father in heaven. The Son of Man came to save lost people. If a man has a hundred sheep but one of the sheep gets lost, he will leave the other ninety-nine on the hill and go to look for the lost sheep. I tell you the truth, if he finds it he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that were never lost. In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want any of these little children to be lost. [Matthew 18:10-14 (NCV)]

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February 17, 2016

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, Church & Worship, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Love & Works, Sharing Our Faith, Spiritual Gifts

HOSPITALITY

Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. [Leviticus 19:33-34a (NLT)]

When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. [Romans 12: 13 (NLT)]

Hospitality: the act of being friendly and welcoming to guests and visitors
Hospitable: providing good conditions for living or growing [Cambridge Dictionary]

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Good news for those who panicked at yesterday’s message about hospitality—Christian hospitality isn’t limited to house guests and dinner parties. While hospitality can include a welcome into our homes, it also can be as simple as a welcome into our lives. It can be as effortless as a “Hello” or “How are you?” and as easy as a handshake, hug or smile.

When in Florida, I take photographs on Sunday mornings for our church’s website. We often have more than a thousand worshippers, many of whom are visitors. The worship setting is out doors in the city park, the dress is casual, dogs are welcome, and the service and music are somewhat unconventional, which all make for some great photo ops. Since I’ve never considered myself a photographer and use a simple point-and-shoot camera, I hesitated to accept the assignment when given to me. God (and a nameless friend), however, would not let me say “No!”

At first, I kept my distance and felt a bit like a voyeur as I shot using just my telephoto lens. Going up to strangers and actually speaking to them, let alone photographing them, took me way out of my comfort zone. God, however, kept nudging me and, instead of shooting people from afar, I started venturing up to them and asking to take a photo. Eventually, I realized that while my name tag identifies me as “photographer” my true job is that of welcomer, answerer of questions, listener, encourager, dog fan, baby admirer, direction giver, and friend. The camera just affords me the opportunity to walk through the park to fulfill those other rolls. I’ve hugged a woman who confided she was too sad to have her photo taken that day, comforted an upset mother, explained to visitors what we do when it rains, invited people to evening communion at the beach, pointed the way to the refreshments and food pantry drop-off, taken photos for people with their cameras, reassured many women my age (and older) of their beauty, thanked people for their service, and prayed with strangers. In short, I’ve practiced hospitality and love. I now understand that the number of photos taken is nowhere near as important as the number of people greeted.

Welcoming people into my home and at my table is something I enjoy and do well. Not all of us, however, have homes, resources, family situations and time that allow for home hospitality. Nevertheless, we are all called to practice hospitality and are given numerous opportunities to do that outside of our homes. While they may not be like the foreigners mentioned in Leviticus, there always are people who need a welcoming smile or a kind word. This sort of hospitality, this way of showing love, has proved a challenge for me, but it has been a tremendously rewarding one. I now understand that God’s purpose in having me take pictures has less to do with the church website and a great deal more to do with teaching me about love and service. Hospitality is simply servanthood at its basic level: treating everyone as you would like to be treated and loving others as you love yourself. Whether we are gifted with hospitality or not, we all can be hospitable!

Thank you, God, for the teaching tasks of life. Keep them coming; there is much I still need to learn!

And he will answer, “I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.” And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life. [Matthew 25:45-46 (NLT)]

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January 13, 2016

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Love & Works, Sharing Our Faith, Today: Make it Count

THE LIZARD TRAP

She looks over a field and buys it, then, with money she’s put aside, plants a garden. First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. [Proverbs 31:16-17 (MSG)]

brown anole - floridaThe Proverbs 31 woman (or man) has what our Florida pastor calls “opportunity awareness.” Where others may see an unplowed field, he or she sees a vineyard. Their vision is not just of what exists now; it is of what can exist in the future. A perfect example of “opportunity awareness” was demonstrated recently by a child who sold a lizard trap to our pastor after church. This little boy gathered up plastic containers from that Sunday’s treats and cut small holes in their lids. To catch a lizard, one just had to put a little food in the box and a lizard would climb in and be trapped. He even had two lizards in another container to demonstrate his product! This little boy didn’t see a plastic carton destined for the recycling bin—he saw a way to capture lizards (and to earn some money).

God presents us with opportunities all of the time; we just have to open our eyes to the possibilities. Spencer Smith worked for 3M and was trying to create a super-strong adhesive when he discovered a somewhat useless un-sticky glue. A solution without a problem, it was nearly five years before one of his colleagues saw its possibilities. A choir member, he tired of losing the paper bookmarks in his hymn book. He tried coating his paper markers with Smith’s glue and Post-it Notes were the result. George de Mestral took a look at the burrs that got caught in his dog’s coat when hiking. Instead of seeing an annoyance, he saw the possibility of making a fabric fastener that would mimic the burrs’ microscopic hooks. His idea was met with resistance and laughter but, since his vision resulted in Velcro, I imagine he was the one who ended up laughing. Caleb and Joshua saw a land with promise but the other scouts saw only giants. When the Apostle Paul sat in a Roman prison, he didn’t see barred doors; he saw an opportunity to write to the early church and to witness to the jailed and their guards. Surrounded by a crowd after he and John healed a crippled man, Peter saw a congregation to whom he could preach.

So what do these inventors, an eleven-year old budding entrepreneur, Israelite scouts, and early Christian evangelists have to do with us? The French scientist, Louis Pasteur said, “In the field of observation, chance only favours the prepared mind.” These people saw more than what was right in front of them—they saw possibility and potential and, more important, they were prepared to do something about it. God continually presents us with fields that seem barren, boxes that look empty, things that don’t work the way we anticipated, burr-like annoyances, unbeatable foes, locked doors, and people with questions. Yet, in all of these circumstances, God provides us with opportunities to serve and witness for Him with our lives and words. Every situation (both good and bad) comes with an opportunity to be Jesus to someone. But, as Pasteur pointed out, we need to be prepared, both to see and to do.

Remember as you go about your day that you may be the only Jesus some of your friends, neighbors, and family will ever see. [Wanda Brunstetter] 

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. [Thomas Edison]

Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. … Don’t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. [Colossians 4:2,5 (MSG)]

Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith. [Galatians 6:10 (MSG)]

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January 11, 2016

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, Family, Friends & Fellowship, God's Grace & Love, Joy, Love & Works, Obedience, Sharing Our Faith

RAINDROPS FALLING ON MY HEAD

Celebration community beach church
As you serve the Lord, work hard and don’t be lazy. Be excited about serving him! [Romans 12:11 (ERV)]

Do your best to be the kind of person God will accept, and give yourself to him. Be a worker who has no reason to be ashamed of his work, one who applies the true teaching in the right way. [2 Timothy 2:15 (ERV)] 

It rained in southwest Florida yesterday. While that is of little interest to most of you (especially if you are experiencing an Arctic blast in the north), it was of concern to our church. We have one of the most beautiful churches in the area—designed by God (with a little help from the park district)—but it has a leaky roof. Actually, since we meet outside in a city park, we have no roof at all! While God and the weatherman seem to cooperate most Sundays, every once in a while our sanctuary has mud puddles and the chairs are wet. Many find shelter in the nearby gazebo while the early birds crowd onto the band shell with the band and singers. The truly hardy (and latecomers) hunker under their umbrellas in the rain.

Pastor was asked if there would be an abbreviated service because of the weather. As long as we were without tornado warnings or lightning, the service would proceed as planned. If, in spite of the inclement weather, people came to our church, a full worship service is what they wanted and what they’d get. Without a doubt, I am sure there was a least someone there yesterday who desperately needed the entire service, not just a Reader’s Digest version that had been condensed because of the weather. I’m sure there was at least one person whose heart was moved by the words of Amazing Grace and more than one who needed to hear every word of Pastor’s message about truthfulness. There probably were many more who craved laughter and truly needed to hear each one of his jokes. There were many who were there, not just for music and message, but also for Christian fellowship. Along with worship, they needed the welcome, kind words, smiles, handshakes, and hugs that came with the service.

Yes, we are saved by faith alone. All the work in the world does not mean salvation and even our grandest efforts will not get us into heaven. That doesn’t mean, however, that we are not to put our best effort into everything we do for the Lord and His church. God expects a first-class effort, not a half-hearted attempt, even when it’s raining.

While those who passed by the park may have seen a rather bedraggled group of church-goers gathered together and trying to stay dry, I think God looked down from his heavenly throne and saw a grand cathedral filled with joyful worshippers. He didn’t hear just a few voices raised in praise, he heard a choir much grander than that famed one in Utah! He saw people expressing love—for one another and for Him. Yesterday, God was just pouring a little of his goodness down on us and I pray that His goodness continues to grow because everyone did his or her best during worship service. After all, “Into each life some rain must fall.”

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary. [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]

May the clouds in the skies above pour goodness on the earth like rain. May the earth open up to let salvation grow. And may goodness grow with that salvation, which I, the Lord, created. [Isaiah 45:8 (ERV)]

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December 22, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Holidays & Holy Days, Love & Works, Obedience, Sharing Our Faith

THE ALONE

Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. [1 Timothy 5:3 (NLT)]

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. [Isaiah 1:17 (NLT)]

great blue heron
In Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, there is a funny scene in which Jacqueline, a recently divorced out-of-touch wealthy socialite, complains that her husband got their maid in the divorce. “I’ve been in this dress for two days because there’s no one here to unzip it. I took a shower in it and now it’s rusted shut.” I thought of her grievance as I struggled to get dressed last night. Needing my husband’s assistance, I joked that I’ll have to keep him around since we don’t have a maid.

I then thought about the widows and divorcees on our street who have no one to zip and unzip or hook and unhook all of those closures on the back of their clothing. How do they cope? Do they discard a major part of their wardrobe when they lose their spouse? Do they arrive at work or parties partially dressed? While that’s a possibility, what about when they get home? Do they wake their neighbors at midnight or, like Jacqueline, sleep in their attire? Dogs and cats are a great comfort but, without opposable thumbs, they aren’t much good at zippers or buttons.

The Bible is very clear about caring for widows. Granted, the plight of a widow thousands of years ago was far worse than today. It was a man-ruled world, women had minimal inheritance rights, and honorable employment wasn‘t readily available. Yet, today one in three women still live in poverty or at the brink of it, so there are economic issues to address. It is more than just a person’s economic status, however, that should concern us when we think of people who’ve lost a spouse, whether through death or divorce.

As I walk through the park each Sunday taking photos before church, I am struck by the number of people (both men and women) who used to be part of a pair and now are alone. I am painfully aware that one half of every couple eventually will be widowed. There are many men whose experience in the kitchen consists of making a PB&J or opening a bag of chips and a tub of dip. There are some men who ran corporations but never ran the dishwasher, washing machine, dryer or vacuum. There are women whose husbands did all the driving, who’ve never handled the finances or done the taxes, and never eaten out alone or taken a trip by themselves. There are many who will sit alone at their table tonight, who have no one to complain to when customer service doesn’t serve, who have no one to laugh with at the funny YouTube video, who have no one with whom to share their deepest secrets, and have no one with whom to walk while holding hands. I’ve been part of a couple for nearly half a century. Believe me, if my husband goes before me, I will miss him for far more than his assistance with zippers and hooks.

God’s tender concern for the bereaved is declared through all of Scripture. While today’s widowed may not necessarily need our legal and economic protection the way they did in days of old, they still need our love and compassion. The command to care for the widowed is as valid today as it was centuries ago. As we gather with family over the holidays, let us not forget those without family, whether men or women, single, widowed or divorced. May we keep them in our prayers but, more important, let’s reach out our hands in friendship and love (and maybe with an offer to help with difficult zippers!)

This is a time to celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. [Deuteronomy 16:11 (NLT)]

Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord—rejoice in his presence! Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. [Psalm 68:4-6 (NLT)]

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