Celebrating September 2014
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Pastor’s Notes September 2014
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Who can ever forget the story of the 33 miners trapped in the Chilean mine back in 2010? After the collapse they were buried under 700 feet of dirt and rock. The entombment of these men lasted for 69 days.
The first thing a mining company will do after a collapse is to try to locate the miners. Mining companies have learned that trapped miners can survive up to 5 times longer when they realize someone knows where they are. It took 17 days but the miners were finally located and a message was sent to the miners.
Nothing much had changed. They were still trapped and there was no certainty of rescue, but they knew that they had not been abandoned to their fate. Someone was working on their behalf.
We can find ourselves trapped in our sin and guilt. We get buried in a collapse of bad decisions and choices. Are we relegated to our fate? Does anyone hear our faint cry for help? Can we be found?
Yes, someone hears us. Yes, we can be found. The Lord knows where we are at all of the time. When we are entombed because of our sinful nature we are not left alone. The Lord Jesus is working and has worked on our behalf. His death and resurrection from an empty tomb has freed us. Someday we will breath in the clean air of heaven.
Remember the weary smiles of those miners as they were brought to the surface one by one? We have that unending joy each and every day because we have a Savior who knows us and rescued us.
In Christ,
Pastor
Pastor
Stewardship Corner
The parable of the unjust steward vexes us. Why would our Lord commend the unjust steward and the sons of this world as He does? It’s because the sons of this world know how to treat something that they think is valuable. They love money and the earthly comforts that come with it. They jump to get the job with higher pay, better benefits, or greater prestige.
Yet all of this, as we know, will fade and wear out. And so, Jesus does not commend the sons of this world for what they love. He commends them for how zealously they love and the lengths they will go to attain it.
Mimic their zeal, but do not become a son of this world. Do not be drawn away by the love of money. The sons of this world are set for destruction, but at least they pursue it with vigor. They know what they want, and they go after it.
We, on the other hand, as Christians, desire the joy of eternal dwellings, but sometimes you would hardly know it. And so, we are accused of lacking zeal for the kingdom of God. For we have not pursued what we supposedly value with the same zeal that the sons of this world pursue what they value. We don’t seek fellowship with the Father like the sons of this world seek the comfort that money provides. We don’t put on purity with the enthusiasm that the sons of this world put on the latest fashions. We don’t invest in the work of the Church, our very salvation, with the same zeal that the sons of this world invest in the markets.
Don’t get sucked into pursing the love of money and what it provides, but what money you do have, use for good works. Use money and possessions, but don’t allow them to use and possess you. God in His grace and mercy gives you many things. You are stewards over what He gives into your hands. You control them. Don’t let them control you. Use what you have been given to serve your neighbor, those who are part of your family, your community, and your church.
Get what you need to eat and drink, a home to shelter your family and clothes that you need. But don’t squander. Don’t waste your excess on things that don’t serve you and your neighbor. Make friends with it instead. Give it to those in need. In so doing, you show mercy. And in showing mercy, you give a picture of God’s mercy to you in Jesus Christ. You imitate the loving-kindness and mercy that God has given you to others. By faith, trusting in the promise that God will never leave you or forsake you and will provide everything that you need, you demonstrate what is of the highest value to you: the eternal dwellings of heaven. Thus, on the last day, Christ will receive you into them.
For Christ is the one Son of light who is the most zealous, the most single-minded. He squanders the possessions of His Father with wanton abandon, not in wastefulness, but for your benefit. For these can’t be wasted. They never run out. And so He lavishes the grace and mercy of God upon you without price, without charging you a cent, without keeping any books, without demanding any accounting of you. Christ takes all that belongs to the Father and gives it to you in abundance. And the treasures He gives never run out, never fade away, but are stored where moth and rust cannot destroy. They are eternal. They never end.
Rather than mimicking the zeal of the sons of this world, trust in Christ, and imitate His zeal and His works, for He gives out not only earthly treasures, but also heavenly ones.
Celebrating this Month
Birthdays
8/01 Georgia Boriack
8/02 Ryne Brewer
8/03 Vicki Miller
8/05 Paul Gerike
8/05 Eric Schneider
8/09 Jeanette Ross
8/10 Bryan Benjamin
8/11 Clayton Piper
8/11 Emilia Schempp
8/12 Brian Dirks
8/15 Jacqueline Kwasny
8/16 Kristina Warren
8/18 Chad Boudinier
8/18 Becky Love
8/22 Kitti Miller
8/24 John Campbell
8/24 Michael Huth
Baptismal Birthdays
8/07 Deborah Huber
8/11 Andrew Benjamin
8/15 Phoenix Kleiboeker
8/23 Stephanie Schempp
8/24 Paul Gerike
8/25 Eric Schneider
Pastor’s Notes
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Have you ever faced a difficult decision that involved many options? You look at it from all possible angles and scenarios. You try to make the best decision with all the information you have available. You pray and then decide… but what you decide does not work out the way you thought it would. You’ve been there, haven’t you?
If you have lived long enough you know of whence I speak. Oh, how we wish that all those decisions would work out the way we want. We want the timing to be right, we want the outcome to be bright, we want to smell the roses when we cross the finish line.
But then the timing is all wrong; the outcome is dark and bleak, and the only thing we smell is the stench of defeat. It can knock us down. It can cause us to hang our heads low. It can bring tears to the surface.
What to do in these situations? First, realize that you did the right thing. You took what you knew at the time and you made the call. It felt right, it looked right; you knew in your gut this was the direction to take.
Secondly, you prayed about it. The Lord led you down a path that He wanted you to go. In the end, the path didn’t lead to what you had hoped, but the Eternal Guide was by your side.
Thirdly, you learned a life lesson. I know we used to despise this when our parents told us this, but it is true. It makes us stronger and wiser for the next time we have a big decision. This is part of maturing in our Christian faith.
When our decision involves our faith then we also are making a strong witness to those around us. Never underestimate the eyes that are on you. This is where the Holy Spirit works.
This one is fresh in my mind. I pray these thoughts help you.
In Christ,
Pastor