Peace

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
Your peace has been given through faith in Jesus Christ,
yet,
this world is on a relentless pursuit of the wrong peace.
Oh God,
if only the world would pursue
YOU;
then and only then,
could they find true peace.
But sin muddies the water and thus we don’t see clearly
that which is our peace.
Many think that ending conflict will bring peace
or ridding ourselves of enemies
or putting down those who would oppose us.
But none of that brings lasting peace.
It only prepares a breeding ground for more unrest.
But may the peace that surpasses all understanding
come upon us,
oh God.
May we see in You our hope.
May we see in You our life.
May we see in You our salvation.
May our peace-searching end with You.
In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Morning Chuckle and Promise

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. [Psalm 119:105]

The above verse was the verse of the day on the YouVersion Bible app for Sunday, January 6. A good verse for Epiphany Sunday but that is not why I am sharing this. You see, Sunday at 1:30 AM began a 23 hour power outage for us.

[Read the verse again] 🙂

You can’t make this stuff up ~ at least not with a straight face. This is simply God with a sense of humor. Got to love Him, right? The other funny thing about it was when I shared this verse on Facebook on Sunday morning I didn’t catch the connection until someone commented on it. Either the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet or the outage had dampened my sense of humor.

Either way, no matter what happens in life, God’s Word is a light to our path. Power outage, cancer, illness, job loss, kids out of control, marriage problems, etc. No matter the situation, at the very least you have God’s Word ~ which is A LOT. For you see, If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. [Psalm 139:11-12] Basically, there is no hiding from God in the darkness AND darkness can not overtake you to hide you from God. Take joy in this fact.

God is:
Sovereign
Mighty
Powerful
Omnipotent
Omniscient
Lord
A strong Fortress
etc…

AND…

has a sense of humor 🙂

Thank you God

The Pastor -|—

Sin Crouching but Defeated

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Reflection on Genesis 4…

Sin is crouching, eyeing it’s prey.
Sin is couching, waiting each day.
Sin is crouching, longing to devour.
Sin is crouching, seeking the right hour.
Sin is crouching, wanting your very soul.
Sin is crouching, winning, it’s only goal.

Therefore…

I must be ready to fight;
To fight with all of my might.

But…

I am weak;
in defeat.

Wicked
Convicted

And lost

BUT…

My Savior wins the fight,
With all of HIS strong might.
And thus my faith is in Him,
For through Jesus’ name I win.

The Pastor -|—

Jump

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I look at this picture and I see a child leaping with wild abandon into his father’s arms. The child, never for a moment, thinks that his father will drop him. It is a faith that is unshaken and solid. The father is bracing himself and eager to catch the child. Never for a moment does the father imagine doing anything to endanger his child. It is a fatherly love unmatched by anything and anyone of this world.

Following the catch I imagine a loving embrace filled with laughter. The father spins his child around trying to elicit more laughter all the while each of them are smiling ear to ear; enjoying the embrace. The child feels safe and secure; totally content and willing to jump again. The Father is filled with joy. Nothing in this scene dampens the child’s faith, but only draws him closer to his father. Nothing in this scene dampens the father’s love for his precious child. What a love that these two share.

Are you this child? God our Father is the Father ready to catch you.

Jump

Father God, may I jump with wild abandon into Your loving arms. May I cling to Your faithfulness even though the Enemy would have me doubt You. Holy God, I know You stand ready to catch, may I have the faith to jump. And as You catch me, may I cling to You and bask in Your presence; ready to jump again and again. Oh God, holy Father, You are my life, my shield, my home. In Jesus most precious name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Be Revealed To Us

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
Mighty in power,
Great in mercy,
Awesome in love;
as You heard the cry of Your people in captivity in Egypt
and sent Moses to lead them to freedom,
You heard the groaning of Your creation
and sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to give us freedom.
He was born King and quickly upset the powers that be.
Jesus rose to prominence only to be crucified
and then raised to complete Your plan of redemption.
Therefore,
as the magi traveled far to worship this King,
may we too humble ourselves before our King.
May our pride be dismantled,
and our kingdoms be destroyed,
that we may live forever in the Kingdom You have established.
Send Your Spirit that we may see Jesus revealed again and again
as Savior and Lord of our lives;
that we too may return;
walking by the Way of the magi;
praising You,
through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Advent Prayer — Come, Holy Spirit

/ The Pastor

Father God,
holy and awesome,
gracious and merciful;
we are at the threshold of the anniversary of your glorious and loving entry into human history.
You burst into our lives in humble means
and inaugurated the beginning of the end of Your plan;
Your plan for our redemption through Jesus Christ.
And now,
we anxiously await the coming of the bridegroom
to return to gather up his bride,
the Church;
a glorious promise of New Life.
And so,
as You sent Your Holy Spirit to Mary and Elizabeth,
send Your Holy Spirit to us now.
May we, too, be filled with joy and shout from the mountain tops
that Jesus, our Lord, is coming.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Jesus is Coming!!!

/ The Pastor

Luke 1:44 (ESV) ~ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

If you want an excellent argument against abortion, well, an unborn child leaping for joy should do it. Don’t try to tell me an unborn child doesn’t matter. But I digress as I am not here to preach to the choir on this social issue.

Christmas is coming. Jesus is on the way. And an unborn child leaps for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice; knowing that Jesus is near. How’s your leaping been as of late? Are you tired of leaping through hoops? Are you tired of leaping over life’s hurdles? Whatever the case; whether you’re tired or not, remember that Jesus is coming…and that is even better than celebrating the birthday of a 2000+ year old man. This is the birthday of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is to come.
Coming to claim you.
Coming to bring you home.
Coming to show you God.
Coming to stomp out death once and for all.
Coming to establish God’s Kingdom.
This Lord and Savior is coming for you. Has you heart leaped for joy yet? No? Then drink some coffee, pinch your arm and re-read what I just wrote.

JESUS IS COMING!!!

The Pastor -|—

Faithful

/ The Pastor

Oh God,
Your Word is faithful and true,
Your Word is enduring and timeless,
Your Word is changeless and trustworthy,
You have never failed to follow through.
You have never let me down.
Oh God, so
How could I be so faith-less?
How could I be so trust-less?
How could I be so impatient?
You have never given me reason to doubt You, yet I did.

I confess.
I repent.

Hear my prayer and heal me.
Hear my prayer and strengthen me.
Hear my prayer and empower me.
In Jesus name, forgive me.

And now, oh God…

May I shine a light unto Your faithfulness
for all to see.
May I reflect Your glory,
for all to bask in.
May I proclaim Your love,
for all to know.

Satan wielded his sword against me.
Your sword is stronger for Your Word will never pass away.
May I always trust in Your faithfulness.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—


Of Whom Shall I Be Afraid?

/ The Pastor

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
[Psalm 27:1]

Fear is irrelevant unless, of course, that fear is holy awe of our most awesome and amazing God who loves you with a love that is beyond comprehension. Then fear is a command because of what God has done FOR YOU. And what has God done FOR YOU?

God is your light in this dark world.
God is your salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
God is your stronghold.
God is your fortress from the enemy.

In light of all of this, why would I fear anything or anyone of this world? Why would I fear any situation that is thrown at me? Why would I fear opposition, challenges or road blocks? My friends, do not let Satan drive you to fear, but rather direct your attention to God and fear the one who is bigger and more powerful than the fear of this world.

There is nothing that surprises God.
There is nothing that can foil His plans.
There is nothing that God can not handle.
There is nothing that God can not use for His glory.

Whom shall you fear? Whom shall you be afraid?

NOTHING and NO ONE.

Fear God and worship only Him; for He is FOR YOU and not against you. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Silence

/ The Pastor

Silence can be loud.

My wife and kids are driving back to the Midwest. I will join them on Thanksgiving Day after a nice little red eye flight. In the meantime, I’m in this quietly loud house by myself. It is so loud that my ears are ringing from the silence. My wife suggested that I turn the T.V. on for some background noise, but I’m not going to do that. This loud silence is calming. Strange, but it is.

You see, silence is a premium in our world. There’s always some noise. Here…it is so quiet that the typing sounds of my keyboard is almost too loud. And now my house is creaking. I don’t think I have ever heard those noises before. And now, standing here in my kitchen…

(yes, I am standing in my kitchen typing this because, well, I can)

…I can hear my neighbor working in his garage. I don’t think I have ever heard him before like this. Wow, that fish tank is loud. Hmm, my refrigerator sounds like that? Amazing what silence can do; what it can reveal.

Can you see…ummm…I mean, hear where I am going with this?

In this deafening silence I am hearing how much I am missing. No, not my neighbor working in his garage or that loud fish tank, but God. My kids go to bed and I turn on my T.V. or peruse social media. I have to have noise of some sort. Rarely do I just sit in silence because it almost feels like wasting time. I have to accomplish something, especially with the kids sleeping (or gone), right?

I miss so much…

[Silence]

I’m back. I was enjoying the silence again.

I need to find more times like this.
I need to soak in silence.
I need to listen to the still, small voice of God…more often.
I need to focus.
I need silence.

Silence is not scary.
Silence is not a waste of time.
Silence is not non-productive time.

Silence is a gift. Embrace it. Cling to it. Listen…

[Silence]

 

The Pastor -|—