The Apostle Paul wrote: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” As we move through this Christian season of Lent and approach Palm Sunday and Easter, we know that the message of the cross can sound rather foolish to some people. During difficult times we often begin to question the purpose and meaning of life. We say to God, “Please give me a sign!”
God does send signs! However, we have trouble understanding them. Or we are trying to find signs that prove what we want to say, and not what God really means. Or we don’t see the signs for what they are. In the Bible, Jesus gave sign after sign and many ignored him. He changed water into wine. He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind. He fed 5,000 with just 2 small fish and 5 small loaves. He healed leprosy and raised Lazarus from the dead. Many of Jesus’ followers and even the disciples would not or could not read the signs. Often, we are the same way.
There are signs of the presence of God everywhere! Every time someone reaches out to love and care for someone else; every time the poor and hungry are fed and cared for; every time a missionary doctor brings healing to those who are hurting; every time a child smiles and laughs because they know they are loved. Every time we offer unconditional love and forgiveness to others we see the presence of God.
Attending worship, prayer, study of scripture, partaking of the Lord’s Supper, all these things help us stand in the presence and love of God, and keep us focused. We have to maintain that focus and we have to take care of ourselves spiritually so that our faith stays fresh and our love of God and our love for God stays fresh. While trying to minister to others, while trying to live as followers of Jesus Christ, we need to make sure we keep our own spiritual houses in order. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism said we can do that by “staying in love with God.”
We stay in love with God by faithful participation in what John Wesley called the “Means of Grace.” Those things which help us stay in love with God are attending worship, prayer, Christian fellowship, Bible Study, the Lord’s Supper and by being faithful stewards of all that God has given to us including our time, talent and money. That brings us back to the cross again. It may seem foolish, but the cross is the wisdom and power of God. The cross becomes our focal point, which allows us to see beyond the worldly view to the divine point of view. The cross is a bridge between God and humanity. So many times in life we wish that there were a place where we could leave the past behind and start over again. There is only one place in the world like that, and it is located on a hill called Calvary, at the foot of an old rugged cross.
Jesus gave us the ultimate sign when it was discovered the tomb was empty! Jesus has risen from the grave and He gives us eternal life! The tomb is empty, but not the promise. The tomb is empty, but not our lives. The tomb is empty, but not God’s love or the love we are called to share. The tomb is empty, but not our faith. The tomb is empty because Son of God is alive and so are we! Jesus’ resurrection is the ultimate sign and it fills us with promise, possibility and purpose. See you in church!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Finder's Keepers
From The Pastor’s Pen
“Finder’s Keepers”
After reading Luke 15: 1 – 10, we discover a passage of Scripture about searching and finding. In this passage, Jesus not only illustrates the frantic nature of those doing the searching, He also shows how much rejoicing there is for the one who is found. When we look around our society we soon discover that there are so many that are lost. People are lost in materialism, entertainment, alcohol and drug abuse and the list goes on and on. The good news is that we have a God who doesn’t forget about the lost.
God doesn’t write anyone off as sinners unworthy of love, grace and forgiveness. God’s love and grace are too big for that. No matter how lost we become, God offers us love, grace and forgiveness. We have a Savior who searches for the lost. He is the Shepherd who leaves the 99 and searches for the one lost sheep. He is the woman with 10 silver coins and lost one. He sweeps and cleans high and low until we are found. Then all heaven rejoices because we have been brought home and the lost have been restored.
One of the things the scripture tells us is that there will be rejoicing over the lost that is found. It really is finder’s keepers. When you find that which was lost, you want to tell everyone. Don’t you start yelling and telling everyone when you have found the car keys you misplaced? That is the way God and the angels in heaven react when one comes to Jesus Christ for the very first time. There is rejoicing! God throws a party and we should rejoice with God.
The real problem with the Pharisees is that they wanted to be the keepers instead of the finders. And when we sit like the Pharisees were doing, and look down our nose at people who are different or people who are not living the faith, that is what we are doing, trying to be the keepers instead of the finders. When we sit in judgment of others, in essence, we have moved God out of God’s rightful throne and taken over. That is not our job; we are called to be seekers.
In actuality, there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who know and have the experienced the love, grace and forgiveness of God and those who have not. We are not called to judge others! Instead, we are called to seek and rejoice because someone else has found the love and grace and forgiveness of God. There are millions of finders but there can only be one keeper, and it is not you and I. God is our one keeper!
As finders, we are called to find the lost and then be part of the party and celebrate when they are found. Jesus looked beyond the outer person and looked beyond ones status in life, and loved and accepted everyone unconditionally. That is what every church should be like, because that is what God’s love is like, and that is what we are called to be like. We are called to look beyond the outer person and see a child of God, loved unconditionally by God. We are called to offer others spontaneous, authentic, and unconditional, grace filled love! Take time this week to pray, study your Bible and attend worship. See you in church!
Rev Jim Robinson
http://www.gbgm-umc.org/mesquite
“Finder’s Keepers”
After reading Luke 15: 1 – 10, we discover a passage of Scripture about searching and finding. In this passage, Jesus not only illustrates the frantic nature of those doing the searching, He also shows how much rejoicing there is for the one who is found. When we look around our society we soon discover that there are so many that are lost. People are lost in materialism, entertainment, alcohol and drug abuse and the list goes on and on. The good news is that we have a God who doesn’t forget about the lost.
God doesn’t write anyone off as sinners unworthy of love, grace and forgiveness. God’s love and grace are too big for that. No matter how lost we become, God offers us love, grace and forgiveness. We have a Savior who searches for the lost. He is the Shepherd who leaves the 99 and searches for the one lost sheep. He is the woman with 10 silver coins and lost one. He sweeps and cleans high and low until we are found. Then all heaven rejoices because we have been brought home and the lost have been restored.
One of the things the scripture tells us is that there will be rejoicing over the lost that is found. It really is finder’s keepers. When you find that which was lost, you want to tell everyone. Don’t you start yelling and telling everyone when you have found the car keys you misplaced? That is the way God and the angels in heaven react when one comes to Jesus Christ for the very first time. There is rejoicing! God throws a party and we should rejoice with God.
The real problem with the Pharisees is that they wanted to be the keepers instead of the finders. And when we sit like the Pharisees were doing, and look down our nose at people who are different or people who are not living the faith, that is what we are doing, trying to be the keepers instead of the finders. When we sit in judgment of others, in essence, we have moved God out of God’s rightful throne and taken over. That is not our job; we are called to be seekers.
In actuality, there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those who know and have the experienced the love, grace and forgiveness of God and those who have not. We are not called to judge others! Instead, we are called to seek and rejoice because someone else has found the love and grace and forgiveness of God. There are millions of finders but there can only be one keeper, and it is not you and I. God is our one keeper!
As finders, we are called to find the lost and then be part of the party and celebrate when they are found. Jesus looked beyond the outer person and looked beyond ones status in life, and loved and accepted everyone unconditionally. That is what every church should be like, because that is what God’s love is like, and that is what we are called to be like. We are called to look beyond the outer person and see a child of God, loved unconditionally by God. We are called to offer others spontaneous, authentic, and unconditional, grace filled love! Take time this week to pray, study your Bible and attend worship. See you in church!
Rev Jim Robinson
http://www.gbgm-umc.org/mesquite
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Importance of Prayer, Worship and Bible Study
All of our communication devices and computers are supposed to help us slow down and take life easier. But they don’t. We meet ourselves coming and going. We live in a world that runs at a fevered pitch. Prayer and worship and Bible study is the antidote for the fevered pitch of this world. When you’ve let your stress and anxiety skyrocket to new heights, prayer and worship brings you back down to earth. Prayer, worship and Bible study also lifts you toward heaven. Prayer reminds us that we are not in control. Through prayer, we acknowledge that ultimately God is in control. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 5: 22 – 23 that, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we pray, attend worship and study our Bible, we are reminded us to use these fruits.
In 1932 Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr wrote what we know today as the Serenity Prayer. Most of us have heard part of it but have you ever heard it all? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking as God did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that God will make all things right if I surrender to God’s will, that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with God forever in the next. Amen.”
Prayer, worship and Bible Study are also the fuel for faith. You can run out of gas in your spiritual life. If you spend more time watching TV, golfing and going to the casino than you do your devotional life, by studying God’s Word, praying, and attending worship, then you are probably running on empty. If you are running on empty in your spiritual and prayer life, you could find yourself stranded one of these days and being stranded spiritually is no fun. Scripture reminds us that Jesus went to a place to be alone and centered Himself in prayer. Jesus received wisdom, courage and strength from prayer and so can we.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Seek God and discover God and make God a power in your life. Without God all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without God life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing. But with God, we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope! With God, we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy! St. Augustine was right, we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in God. Take time this week to find your rest in God by taking time to pray, read your Bible and attend worship!
In 1932 Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr wrote what we know today as the Serenity Prayer. Most of us have heard part of it but have you ever heard it all? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking as God did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that God will make all things right if I surrender to God’s will, that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with God forever in the next. Amen.”
Prayer, worship and Bible Study are also the fuel for faith. You can run out of gas in your spiritual life. If you spend more time watching TV, golfing and going to the casino than you do your devotional life, by studying God’s Word, praying, and attending worship, then you are probably running on empty. If you are running on empty in your spiritual and prayer life, you could find yourself stranded one of these days and being stranded spiritually is no fun. Scripture reminds us that Jesus went to a place to be alone and centered Himself in prayer. Jesus received wisdom, courage and strength from prayer and so can we.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Seek God and discover God and make God a power in your life. Without God all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrises into darkest nights. Without God life is a meaningless drama with the decisive scenes missing. But with God, we are able to rise from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope! With God, we are able to rise from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy! St. Augustine was right, we were made for God and we will be restless until we find rest in God. Take time this week to find your rest in God by taking time to pray, read your Bible and attend worship!
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