How do you feel about my sermon topic for this coming Sunday?  We’ve always prayed for your needs be they physical, emotional or spiritual yet over these 10 years I’ve never preached a sermon just about healing.  But, for the past three weeks I’ve feel like I should.  Then of course, why preach about healing and not actually pray for the sick?  So we will be doing that as well.

I need your prayer support for this service, asking God to be with us in a special way.  During the ministry time, bring your need and feel free to bring others to the service who also need prayer for healing.  Let these Scriptures build the faith of us all as we move toward this special service that is really not focused on our physical need but on Jesus!

Exodus 15:26 I am the Lord who heals you.
Isaiah 53:5 He was whipped and we were healed.
1 Peter 2:24 You have been healed by his wounds.
Psalm 6:2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.  Heal me, Lord, for my body is in agony.

Join us on Sunday as we study about healing from God’s Word and then as we put what we learn into practice.  Join us in prepratory prayer over the next four days.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 7:47 am and is filed under General, Pastors Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Everyone is talking about the company AIG.  We are told that AIG is just to big to fail.  It is super large and composed of many divisions of which insurance (the main thing) is only one part.  Another part based in London sold financial products – which it is not possible for us to really understand.  So while insurance sales did well this other part brought everything down and if it fails all of AIG fails.  Many other major companies are so tied to AIG that they will fail as well.  There is the danger of total collapse.  So, we say that AIG is to big to fail.

I bet you feel like that sometimes.  Maybe today?  Do you feel like you are at the center of so many things that you cannot let any part of your life’s demands fail or everything will collapse.  What pressure!  Cannot afford to loose your job.  Just think of how much depends on your check each payday.  Then maybe you have people working for you or under you and you feel the responsibility for them and their families.  You have to keep the company going.

What about family?  You may have older parents or relatives who depend on you in someway.  They cannot care for themselves so you have to be available and able to care.  Then there are your children.  No two are the same and there is always some issue or need going on with at least some if not all of your children.  Your marriage, our marriage is the most important aspect of our life besides our walk with God.  We need time to nurture our marriage so we are both going in the same direction.  Loose our marriage and nothing else matters.

Then add to all these big responsibilities the endless activities, appointments and involvements of our lives.  Sounds to me like you’re to big to fail.  Do you feel the emotional weight of trying to hold up this “house of cards” all on your own.  The truth is that you cannot walk away from any of it.  You are needed and others are depending on you.

Remember yesterday’s scriptures that promised that God’s presence is always with us.  Let me add a couple of other verses as you seek to do your best handling your responsibilites today.

Philippians 1:6 I am sure that God who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.

Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.

With these promises – go face the day.  Take it one minute, one step at a time.

Prayer – Jim Setty is having greater back problems.  Jay Summers sister’s cancer has returned.  Vicki is taking my mom to a number of appointments as we think she has had another small stroke, heart or blood flow problem.  We’ll see.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 8:01 am and is filed under General, Pastors Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Well, here it is another Monday morning.  You’ve heard I’m sure that Monday’s are not the best days for Pastor’s.  Some pastor’s joke that they resign every Monday.  Well this is not one of those Monday’s for me and trust me I’ve had some.

In some ways I could let that happen.  We’re just back a few days past six weeks from our time away and it seems a decade ago.  I’m just back a little over a week from seeing my daughter and that seems like many weeks ago.  There is always so much “going on” at church, in our immediate & extended families, and on our jobs that it never seems to stop.  Every Monday I have to decide what I will drag along from the past week and how I will approach the new week.

I choose to not focus on what we might call the “negatives” this Monday.  We’ve been having our marriage seminar for our younger couples on Sunday evenings and I come home from that really uplifted.  The connection I feel with these couples is always a positive for me. Then, I think of the husbands and wives who are praying together each day in the church.  I’m further uplifted because I know the power of prayer.

This morning, our devotional was based on Hebrews 13:5 I will never fail you.  I will never forsake you. What a great reminder as we start the week.  We all know the we do not always “feel” God close.  All the things in our life cloud our view of him and if we stop or slow down our running toward him (yesterday’s sermon) we really get sucked back into the negative and destructive weaknesses of our life.

Focus on and accept by faith (not feeling) that God’s promise is that I will never fail you.  I will never forsake you. Of course when we focus on all the negatives and we feel God is distant “fear” takes over so very quickly in so many areas of our life.  So we need to grasp God’s promise to us.  In fact, Hebrews 13:6 goes on to say that our response to God’s promise should be: this is why we can say with confidence, The Lord is my helper, so I will not be afraid.

Finally, I am reminded that the key to getting to that place we need to be as we start this week and the place we need to be in our lives in general boils down to, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Don’t wait for what God will do but start now even if you don’t feel like it to actually draw near to him.  It may be Monday in your life but I am confident with with God, Sunday’s coming!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 8:08 am and is filed under General, Pastors Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

In the Orlando airport on the way home from Haiti (March 07) I purchased the book by Barack Obama entitled, The Audacity of Hope. I wanted to know a little more about this rising political star and I was particularly drawn to the title itself.

You should not read anything political into my reading this book (for which I make no apology). In fact, last night a couple of political comments came up and I decided that was a good time to go reload my dinner plate. As a pastor I’ve chosen to not get into politics and I think everyone in my congregation has the privilege and right to support the candidate and or political position of their choice.

Anyway, back to my point. I read the book like I do every book, with a pen and marker in hand. I read, underlined, highlighted and put the book on my shelf. But I keep picking it up just to read the cover. I am drawn repeatedly to that title and the byline beneath it. The Audacity of Hope, thoughts on reclaiming the American Dream.

Let’s think some this week about what it takes to reclaim God’s dream for your life. To do that, think about the term, “audacity of hope.”

Audacity is a great word meaning boldness or daring, especially reckless boldness. It is not calculated, not something you’ve thought out by considering all aspects and all odds. It is build on “presumption” which is our assumption that something is true.

When was the last time that any of us were daring? I find that I calculate away any possible boldness I might otherwise have. Some of that is just the way we were or were not raised and each of us finds ourself somewhere on that continuum. It is wise to not be rash and assuming on any number of earthly matters but here we are talking about the how we approach hope. How many times have we dashed hope with our calculations? How few times have we approached hope with true audacity?

Hope as a noun in the NT is defined as a “favorable and confident expectation” in terms of the future and the unseen. It is the word that describes the anticipation of good. As Christians we can feel this because all of our hopes are focused on Christ. 1 Timothy 1:1 Hope as a verb in the NT is basically translated “to trust.”

So hope by its very nature contains the element of audacity. Does my current relationship with the Lord produce in me the anticipation of good? Does it produce confidence? Does it engender actual acts of trust? Does it produce within me greater boldness and daring (audacity)?

I hope these comments serve as a STARTER to where your meditation and study of the Word will take you this week.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 10:53 am and is filed under General, Pastors Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.