Jesus

Morning devotions ~ Dare to believe

/ The Pastor

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. [Acts 12:5]

King Herod has Peter thrown into prison and the Church begins earnest prayer for Peter. What we are NOT told is what they were praying for. Reading what happens next; that an angel rescued Peter and returned him to his church, one can surmise that they were praying for his release, but we don’t know.

The church might have been praying for his well being. They might have been praying for God to strengthen his faith to stand strong before Herod. They might have been praying for God’s will to be done. And maybe, they were praying for his release. Who knows. But when Peter knocks on the door of the house and it is reported that he is there, they don’t believe. The church is praying for Peter but don’t believe that he could possibly be there.

What a shame.

Yesterday before worship I got a report about a man that we have been praying for. He had a brain tumor (notice the tense of that last verb) but after 30 radiation treatments there is no sign of the tumor. The doctors at one time did not have much hope for this man but apparently God has other plans. He still has chemo to go through, but the tumor appears to be gone.

I just love giving the congregation reports like this. We had been praying for him to be healed in anyway that God sees he needs to be healed but deep down inside we were still hoping for a miracle.

Praise be to God!!!

It is OK to dare to pray for miracles. It is OK to dare to believe that God will do something amazing. But also:
~ Dare to believe that God is God and that His will, will always be done.
~ Dare to believe that God’s will is always perfect (even though it may not seem perfect at the time).
~ Dare to believe that God sees the big picture and knows what is best.
~ Dare to believe that God is in control.
~ Dare to believe that God is your Father and that you are His child.
~ Dare to believe that God will give you what you NEED, not necessarily what you WANT.

But also, dare to believe the miracle of all miracles:
Jesus Christ dying on a cross and then rising from the dead that you may be forgiven and thus live forever with him.

If nothing else, dare to believe that.

Holy Father, grant us the faith to believe and trust in your wisdom and mercy. Help us to see that as a loving father provides for his children, that YOU do so and more. May we dare to believe that you can do the miraculous and may we praise and worship you always and forever, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Messing with heads

/ The Pastor

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8]

Isn’t this awesome; that God would show such an amazing love even though we are sinners. But better yet, God shows this amazing love because we are sinners. This is what is called unconditional love. And praise be to God for that because we would never live up to God’s demands and expectations.

So if God shows us this kind of love shouldn’t we show this same kind of love to one another; especially our enemies?

[In case you’re wondering, the answer to the previous question is ~ YES]

Too often we make our love for people conditional. If they are nice to us then we are nice to them. But Jesus says, what reward is there in that, even the Gentiles do that; even those outside the faith. But when you show unconditional love to those you feel don’t deserve it and those who are not expected it, you proclaim the love of Christ and show people that there is something “usual” about you.

I have always enjoyed this fun-loving quote:
Love your enemies. It messes with their heads.

I giggle at this but there is Gospel truth there. Your enemies are not expecting love from you. They expect revenge or apathy or coldness from you but not love. So try it sometime. Show Christ’s love to an “enemy” and see what happens. It may tick them off at first, but keep at it. Keep at it and proclaim Christ’s love. Keep at it and Praise God always and forever.

God of love, your love is amazing. You love is life-giving. And your love is something I don’t deserve. Help me to receive this love into my heart so that I can show this love to others; not to my glory but to your glory Oh God. Thank you, God, for showing me unconditional love, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Rewarded

/ The Pastor

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [Matthew 6:3-4]

Have you ever met a person who likes to make sure others know about the charitable things they do? What they do is great and it helps others but it causes me to wonder what their motivation is. Are they seeking a reward? If so, their reward won’t last long or their charity will backfire as people will think they are arrogant for bragging about it or worse yet, God is not impressed.

Seeking rewards in this life, through things we should be doing anyway, is not the way of the Christian. Seeking praise is this life is idol worship. Seeking attention is stealing glory away from God. Besides, why seek a reward when you have already been given the best reward? And that reward was something that Jesus won through the cross and then handed over to you through faith. Anything we might gain in this life pales in comparison to the eternal life we have through Jesus Christ.

Matthew says here that if you service others in secret, your Father will know and He will reward you. This reward is nothing more than the realization that what you have done has come through saving faith. You can’t earn your way to heaven you can only receive and then worship God through your life ~ all the way to heaven.

As a Christian, one way we worship and praise God is through serving others. So do it. Don’t brag about your serving; boost about what God offers all sinners. Don’t worship to show off to others, worship God because He is worthy. Don’t shout from the mountain tops that you are awesome, but shout that Jesus Christ was born for all.

Praise be to GOD always and forever, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

New Year’s blessing

/ The Pastor

May the Lord bless and keep you as you leave 2014 and enter 2015.

May you leave 2014 with hope as you confess your shortcomings; remembering that the past is the past.

May you see 2015 as a fresh start; a reminder of the forgiveness you have through faith in Jesus.

May you see 2015 as a gift; reminding you of God’s amazing grace.

May you see 2015 with new eyes, reminding you of the New Life you have through Jesus.

May you know the strength that only comes from God.

May you know peace that only comes from the hope of the resurrection.

May you know the amazing love of God in this new year and may that love shine though your life as a witness to others.

All glory to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy New Year and Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning devotions ~ Longing and Fainting

/ The Pastor

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord ; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. [Psalm 84:1-2]

I like to travel and visit new and interesting places or visit some of my old favorites. One of my favorite places to go is NW Washington. It’s beautiful out there; along the Cascade Mountains and the Puget Sound. I love the seafood and especially seeing friends. And being out on the road can be fun for a while; driving through the mountains, but eventually the traveling and the time away gets old and I begin to long for home. I long for my place of rest and peace.

How lovely is your dwelling place

The psalmist here is longing to go home. He realizes he has been away long enough and is anxiously awaiting the day that he will return to the courts of the Lord. Later in this beautiful Psalm, the author writes, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

We do live in a sinful and wicked world and the heart wired for the Lord longs to return to it’s creator; to dwell in the lovely place of the Lord. Christmas is a time to remember that God has opened the way for his children to return home. And the way home is Jesus. Through faith in Jesus; in his death and resurrection, we can have the hope dwelling in God’s lovely places someday. And when you see your salvation in Jesus, your heart, too, will long and faint for the glory of God and to dwell in his courts forever.

Sing for joy to our living God for He is Good and Awesome!

Have a very Merry Christmas and God bless!

The Pastor -|—

The Feast

/ The Pastor

This morning the preaching text is John 2:1-11; Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. This miracle is labeled the first of Jesus’ miraculous signs.  It also serves as a bookend to the Gospel of John.  In this miracle we see the promise and then at the end of John we see how Jesus is going to accomplish the promise.

The promise ~ The best is yet to come.
How? ~ The cross and the empty tomb.

The rest of the Gospel of John fills in the blanks with proclamations of forgiveness; more miracles (in case this one wasn’t enough to show you that Jesus is the one who is to come), awesome acts of mercy, instructions on how to carry on with this ministry and encouragement to endure to the end.  The Gospel of John is plump full of “good stuff” that carries us to the BEST of what is to come.  This life is not it so don’t cling to it as if it is.

Let’s pray together as we prepare to worship this morning:
Loving God, through Jesus you show us that you have prepared something much better for us.  Through Jesus you give us hope that this world is not our final reality.  Through Jesus you give us a foretaste of the feast to come; a great feast that will have no end.  May we not cling to this life as if it is the final course.  May we not try to build this life in such a way that it ends up being our final course.  But…may this life just be a teaser for the Great Banquet that has been prepared and where; through faith in Jesus, we have a seat reserved.  Tempt our “taste buds” to seek Jesus more and more. And may we also seek to share this feast with others.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

The table has been set, let us feast together 🙂

The pastor -|—

Children of the Heavenly Father

/ The Pastor

On Sunday I said some words in response to the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT.   It was difficult to talk about this but I knew that something had to be said.  I shared the hope of Christmas, that God entered this world of suffering and overcame this world in Jesus Christ.  I shared words of peace and Good News.

Following the sermon I asked my small country congregation what hymn they would like to sing next.  And…without missing a beat, someone immediately said, “Hymn #781, Children of the Heavenly Father“.  I had to fight back tears when I heard that.  Here are the lyrics:

Children of the Heavenly Father safely in his bosom gather;
nestling bird nor star in heaven such a refuge e’er was given.

God his own doth tend and nourish, in his holy courts they flourish.
From all evil things he spares them, in his mighty arms he bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever from the Lord his children sever;
unto them his grace he showth, and their sorrows all he knowth.

Though he giveth of he taketh, God his children ne’r forsaketh;
his the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy.

We are indeed his children who are wrapped in God’s loving arms.  Evil, sin and death may cause havoc now, but they have ultimately been defeated through the cross.

Praise be to God!

The pastor -|—

Christ the King

/ The Pastor

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
[John 18:36-37]

Today is Christ the King Sunday (according the the common lectionary).  This is considered the last Sunday of the Church year (with Advent beginning a new cycle next Sunday).  But whatever the so-called Church calendar says, I still want to get you thinking this morning what it means for Jesus to be the king of your life.

~ Does Jesus rule your whole life or only parts of it?
~ Do you go to Jesus with your hopes and dreams; joys and sorrows or do you look to worldly saviors?
~ Does Jesus get your complete worship or are there other “kings” you worship?
~ Do you seek Jesus for direction and guidance in your life or look to day-time talk shows or the self-help section?
~Do you celebrate and hold onto worldly kingdoms or seek the Kingdom of God?
~ Does Jesus sit on the throne in your heart or have you reserved that for something or someone else?

May this “Christ the King” Sunday shine a light on the defeated gods/lords/kings of this world that continue to seek your attention and alligence; and may your true KING, Jesus Christ, shine forth.  The gods/lords/kings of this world have lost but Jesus has won.  And because Jesus has won we also win through faith in him.

Jesus IS King!
Jesus IS Lord!

Alleluia and Amen!

edh -|—

Real victory

/ The Pastor

The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the Lord.
[Proverbs 21:31]

Prosperity theologians like to proclaim that victory is something we can claim through a right attitude.  They claim that if we can think correctly about ourselves or look at our situations in the right light we can claim victory or “favor” [ as one particular and misguided prosperity theologian likes to say].

But the author of Proverbs is saying that we can only prepare ourselves for battle but when it comes to “victory”…well…that belongs to the Lord.  And this is a victory we are given through faith in Jesus Christ.

Prosperity theologians don’t like to specifically mention the name of Jesus because that would give Jesus the power (which Jesus already has). To acknowledge that power takes power and control out on one’s hand.  The thing is, we have no victory (or favor) in this life without Jesus.  We have no future without Jesus.  We have no life without Jesus.

So prepare your horse for battle but don’t get too cocky.  Remember who’s in charge.  Any victory you win is from the Lord.  And favor?  Yup…through faith in Jesus Christ we have that too ~ the cross is proof of that.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[1 Corinthians 15:54-56]
AMEN!

edh -|—

Bread of Life

/ The Pastor

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (ESV, John 6:35)

There is so much theologically one can do with this text, but all I want to say is “Thank you, Jesus!”

When I get hungry during the day I eat.  When I crave something more for my life, you, Jesus are there.  Even when I seek after other gods to satisfy my “hunger” you, Jesus, prove to be faithful.  You remind me, “Dear child, I am the bread of life“.  I then seek you and am filled…

…and I wonder why I even tried to find other “bread”.

Jesus…YOU are the bread of life.
Jesus…YOU are the one who truly satisfies.
Jesus…YOU are the one I truly need.

In you, Jesus, we have eternal life.  Thank you, Jesus, for “feeding” me.  And giving me what I need to be truly satisfied.  And what do I need?

FORGIVENESS!

Wow…it doesn’t get any better than that. Thank you, Jesus.

-edh-