No Matter Where You Go, He Will Love You!

       I might have said: “He will find you!” on our sign out front (and God indeed will), but I didn’t want to scare the neighbors! Then, I almost titled today’s message: “He will love you regardless, but it helps to try!” But really, it’s more than that, when the greatest power in the universe loves you in spite of you, its not a time to play hard to get. Pluss life really begins when our relationship in and with Him begins. Additionally, there wasn’t enough room on the sign out front for a whole sermon. So: “No Matter Where You Go, He Will Love You!” … Won the day.

       I almost said: “We will love you” in the title, but I shouldn’t speak what is in someone else’s heart (which is why I shouldn’t judge another too harshly), I only can speak for my own soul, and only on a good day at that. Maybe the theme should go like this: We know God loves His creation deeply, purely, and forever. …We in God’s family have dedicated ourselves to trying to be more like Him. Each in various degrees of success on any given day.

       What is certain is that our God never ceases to bridge the canyon that lays in between His salvation of eternity, and what seems to be our reckless abandon of; selfishness, fear, ego, and mindless pursuit self-inflicted pain. Of things that do not praise, glorify, and magnify His Holy and precious name. Just the opposite of what the Psalmist instructed us to do in Psalm 66: 8-12;

       And oh, where your Lord God will take you is nothing less than the sublime indeed. Just like the disciples at the time of Jesus, I never cease to be amazed at what our God is doing in this world of ours. And like disciples, time and again, just when I think I am getting it, I learn just how much I still don’t know about our Lord, and His plans for our lives and my own as well. It’s enough to make one want to say;

  “Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;”

       Thank you; John Gillespie, author of High Flight.

       Maybe that’s why this is a wonderful existence and an incredible path that we get to walk down, or soar across. It’s called the unfolding of our lives, all of us get to decide if we want to live our lives in and with the driver of our destiny. Hence, today’s message title: Bogus Pride Aside, He Drives We Ride!

       When we allow God into our lives, ask Him to be our refuge, all kinds of things begin to take place in our relationships with other people. We begin to learn forgiveness, kindness, and good will on a deeper level, and we begin to understand scripture in new and perceptive ways. Through repetition and study. As an example, as you focus on the Call to Worship reading that Nyla read earlier, see if you can get additional insight a second time around. Reading again this instruction of David, Psalm 31:1-5:

        Initially, I was thinking of using the title: “We Pour into Others, By Following Him!” I like the idea, because my hope is that we all get to a place in our lives where we learn to pour ourselves into other people. By doing so we really do begin to reflect our walk in and with our Lord, Jesus our Savoir forever. My only concern was how people walking along the street might take our pouring into other people. Hence this week’s second place title, wins out: Unto Others We Share, By Following Him!

       The idea being that we are following our Good Shepherd’s voice of serving God by serving other people, as our Lord indeed has sacrificed all for you and me. We know the Good Shepherd’s voice through our relationship in and with Him and His family, augmented with God’s word in scripture.

       We also have the examples given us by our church family, and indeed the early church sets a special example for us today. Being that this is the in between time of Easter thru Ascension Sunday, and Pentecost, some of our thoughts run deep on both the Lord’s examples of service and the early church’s responses to God. As an example, we have today’s Call to Worship read by Nena Brown from Acts 2:42-47;

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶ Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

I initially thought to title today’s Message; “Having a Blast by Serving God”. I like that title, and might use it down the road (If He leads me there), because we all should be having a blast in our service for others, each other, and ultimately God! But I wanted today to be more about our Lord’s resurrection and the disciples coming to terms about what had just happened back then, and what continues to happen in the here and now. That’s why I also nixed this title; “Pleasure is: Loving God, By Serving Others! Again, I like it but seems like not the right time yet.

       And so I thought about; “Get a Clue, God Loves You!”. But we are trying to draw people to the Lord, and not repelling people away with one upping them in clichés. So, today’s title is; Here’s a Clue, Jesus Lives for You!For our Lord not only died for you and me, but Our God also lives, and is radiant, energetic, and robustly a part of our lives when we invite Him in!

       But, in so many ways, we are like the disciples I just read about. Sad and dejected sometimes, holding sorrow about the crucifixion and death of Jesus. But there is an answer. You see, God was and is doing things in this life, back then and here today. Our problem so often rests in the fact that we are such infants in our eternal walk that we have a hard time understanding all of the marvelous things God has and is doing in our reality.

https://youtu.be/5Af4eW1mfKo

For today’s message title, I almost used: Left Our Sin & Found; A Path for Life! But that almost sounds too much like it is us doing it all. I may use it at some point down the road, but I want to focus on our Lord and what He does for and with us on this Sunday after Easter. Then I thought, maybe: Giving Up & Dying, Easy. Trying & Living? But that sounded too Clint Eastwood-ish for today. And again, today is all about our Lord’s resurrection, and our being given a new life by the Lord, and us living our faith. Hence; Fellowship of Hope by; Living in & With Him!

       The title not only fits on the sign out front, it conveys some thoughts I have had about this incredible and special thing we hold together. For we not only have a fellowship or a bond of connection that clings us to a common hope for the future… Indeed, that hope has a solid foundation that is nurtured constantly by our lives in and with our Lord, Savoir, and God.

       In a world that is constantly busy with illusions of what has value, the importance of the latest in-thing, or what are the new words that we must adhere to, accompanied by the diction, rhetoric, and language we must never repeat to remain in the good graces of an ever woke, gatekeeper class of no accounts. A world preoccupied with chasing itself only to find disappointment, mediocrity, and idiocy, looking for something better but not certain of what it is in search of… We have Good News.

He has indeed risen! This morning’s early service featured the Gospel of Mark. Reading 16:1-8 and ending with verse 8 stating;

⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

       Some of the early copies of Mark end right there, with Mary and the Disciples scarred and terrified because their walk in the Lord still has a way to go in their understanding and maturity. And before we get too judgmental on our ancestors in Christ… so do we!

       I think sometimes being scarred frozen is an excellent place to start a Faithwalk in and with our Lord. For hopefully that rough start becomes a placemark to reference all the growth that lies ahead in our futures. Sometimes, as in my own case at times, things can only go up!

       It certainly seems to be the case in our current society, and the world that we are living in right now. And yet you and I have insider information. Information that is not meant to be kept as a secret, but intended for sharing with the whole wide world.

       Today we begin the most Holy week on the Christian calendar, in fact this week is known as Holy Week, or the week leading up to our Passover or Christian Easter. Friday we will have a service here to set a couple of moments to reflect on the meaning of Christ’s Crucifixion in our own lives, and then next Sunday, we will have early service on our front porch weather permitting, a Fellowship Breakfast, and then our Easter Proper Worship Service. Followed by a nap.

       All the above (except for my nap), are intended for giving each of us an opportunity to step back from the hustle and bustle of our lives to reflect on where we are, where we are going, and just how blessed we indeed are in our God’s love for each of us! What a blessing that we have been given each other by God to appreciate and to worship Him together! That is why we are known as the Body of Christ, God’s family.

       Ya know, it seems like there are a lot of people out there in this big world, that are plain afraid of dying. They are so afraid of the thought that everything they know could all be over, that they medicate, sedate with all kinds of stuff, and some out right hyperventilate at the idea of someday dying.

       There are those that get so overwhelmed, and so obsessed about the fact that they are not in control of their lives that they adopt non-natural approaches of coping with their humanness. By this I mean, some people drink, or drug to forget and go numb, some become adrenaline addicts by pushing the envelope farther and higher to feel alive, there are those who will spend not only all of their own money, but even all that belongs to others that exists within earshot as well. All in the effort to tune out anything that seem contrary to their perceived ideas of happiness.

       My hope today is to make the case to all of you that indeed those of us who have invited the Lord into our hearts, into our lives, have already died to this world’s idea of life, and have began to learn about living forever.

Message; Children of Light, Brighten the Night!

       I almost titled today’s message; “Serving God isn’t Worth Spit, without a Little Sweat”. But my wife is back in town, and I don’t want to be put in Pastoral Time Out…again! There is also the reality that the message wouldn’t fit the sign out front so there you are.

       On top of that dilemma, is the deeper thought that you, Christians of the working day, bring light to those languishing in darkness. All of you are a part of a family that brings freedom to the captives struggling in; sin, addiction, loneliness, and hurt. I am not overstating this, because each of you are that important to the battle plans for redemption, and the salvation of humanity, by your God.

       Yes, the way we live our faith in and with our Lord, actually changes life for all those who exists within earshot of our very being. Just think about it for a minute… How many people do you know are the real thing? You know… What you see is what you get. We actually are given the opportunity to be genuine in our faithwalk, resulting in illuminating the path towards our God for all of the willing we meet in life.