Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, I want us to begin remembering so that we can truly be thankful.  Remember what?  Let’s look at the Word of God for answers.  The children of Israel, God’s chosen are preparing to enter the Promised Land.  As they prepare, God has given them a few rules to live by as His people.  If we look back in the Word to Deut 5, we see that He has given them the 10 commandments.  How long has it been since you read those?  They are still good rules to live by and important to remember that Jesus didn’t come to do away with these commandments, but to fulfill.  Maybe we should spend a little more time looking at them…We also see a scripture which should have become very familiar over the last month or so…Deut 6:5-9.  All of these words are coming together for our scripture for this morning:  Deut 8:7-18.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, here are three ideas that I want you to consider to make Thanksgiving a little more special:

1)      REMEMBER where you came from…

All of us have a past.  Some pasts are a bit more “interesting” than others – but all have a past.  As we sit here today, if we know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are here as redeemed, loved, and joyful people.  But we haven’t always been redeemed.  We became that as we came to know Jesus Christ!  Yes, the past is the past and we are forgiven…I am not disputing that.  But, it is helpful to remember that God took us out of the pits of sin and offered us a brand new life! (and I’m not going back!) 

2)      REMEMBER what God has done before…

We should be able to look back on this past year and see where the hand of God was upon us.  We can look back over the past five years…maybe ten…maybe more and see where God has been with us even when we didn’t realize it.  Even beyond that, our faith is built on remembering…the Jews still celebrate feasts to remember (like Passover).  We celebrate Christmas and Easter to remember. Why continue to remember something so long ago?  Because it is just that important and because we serve a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever!!

3)      MOST IMPORTANTLY, REMEMBER the LORD your God by keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes

Don’t go on living your life ignoring God and what He has commanded.  He has words of life for us.  He has words of truth.  Jesus pointed out what is most important… That means that we should know this Word and follow it…REMEMBER God!  We do that by following Him and serving Him!  How will you celebrate your thanksgiving this year?

November 15th

There has not been a post this week because I was out of town during the weekend.  Wendy and I celebrated our 14th year anniversary on November 15th.  We went out of town and really enjoyed the time away.  We were blessed to be able to attend a worship service on Sunday - it is always refreshing to occassionally participate in worship without leading.  It helps me to renew so that I am ready to lead in worship again.
I would like to extend a huge thanks to Chris for delivering the message and for all who participated in the worship at FMBC Sunday!  I am blessed to be able to leave for a Sunday and know that things are well taken care of!!
Most importantly, I would also like to say that I am most blessed to be married to Wendy!!  We have been together for most of our lives, but as I get older (I age, not her), I love and appreciate her more everyday.  It is great to know that I not only love her as my wife, I also love her as my best friend.  She is always by my side...even when she doesn't necessarily want to be.  I am SO glad that God gave me her to go through this life with!
I look forward to being at FMBC on Sunday to begin the Thanksgiving celebration!  I have so much to be thankful for!!!!! 

God First, Family Second

Time – we are gifted with it…but not an overabundance of it.  What you do with your time means so much.  Many people know about the time value of money…little money invested over a long period of time yields greater results than a larger amount of money invested over a short period of time…longer invested, greater money.  I want us to apply that concept to time.  How do we spend our time?  What we do with our time means so much – the little things we do can have great rewards…if we do the right things with our time.  Little investments of time yield great results if we are using our time wisely. 

This is not my specialty.  I can’t say that I use my time all that wisely.  However, the Lord has really been working with me on this lately.  This message about time has been spoken to me through many different messengers over the past few weeks.  Today, is one more way that I am sharing how the Lord is working on me. 

John 6:25-33

The people are searching for Jesus…not because of the miracle, but because they were physically fed by Him.  That was important to them.  Jesus knows their motives just like He knows ours.  He takes the opportunity to tell them what is important.  He doesn’t tell them to quit work…but does tell them that they need to find out what will yield eternal rewards.  This is right before He explains that He is the bread of life…He brings eternal nourishment as they hunger and thirst for righteousness.

For me, Jesus is telling them to look at what is most important in their lives and He has the same message for us today.  Are they putting God first?!  They don’t know Him to put Him first.  If we don't know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can't put Him first either.  I have been reminded of the commandment to “Love the Lord Your God with all Your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength!” over and over.  We can’t do that if we are putting other things first.  How do we make small installments of our time to make a big impact for God?  How about our prayer time and devotional time?

How about prioritizing what we do according to what’s important and measuring all against that?  And if God is first, what is second?

If God is first, I believe our families are second!  How do we make installments of our time that will have a lasting impact with our family?  The “big” family vacation doesn’t do that…the rare, occasional things don’t do that…it takes a little time everyday with our spouses and children.  I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what is most important to me lately.  I think it is because one year ago, I was standing before you and preaching with a heart monitor on.  It was a wake up call for me to look at my priorities.  I was trying to do too many things and doing none of them well.  I was not making the best use of my time.  It reminded me that I can make small investments of time and make a big impact if I am doing the right things.  Spending time with God and with my family is most important in my life. 

What is most important to you?  You don’t get to go back and do it all again.  You don’t get time back.  So, how will you take the precious time you have been given and make the most of it?! 

Deacon Ordination

This past Sunday was very special.  It was Deacon Ordination.  We had three Deacons ordained this year.  Here is an outline from the service - an opportunity to learn about the position of Deacon in our church:

Some of us grew up in churches that didn’t have the position of deacon.  For those who did, the position of deacon is often misunderstood.  Why have them?  What do they do?  How can they help the church?

 I want to review what it means to be a deacon and why that is important to you – even if you are not called to serve as a deacon

Let’s begin in Acts 6:1-7.

In this scripture, there are several important items I want you to notice:

1)      Deacons were chosen in order to maintain unity.

There were issues with the feeding of the widows.  In the early church, most of the widows were unable to care for themselves and were cared for by the church.  The church provided their food.  Also in the early church, there were two different factions of Jews…One spoke Greek and the other Aramaic.  There were other differences in that one was more strict than the other.  The Greek speaking Jewish widows were apparently being neglected.  So, there were some understandable complaints.  The apostles realized that their job was prayer and teaching/preaching the Word.  If they spent all their time with all that went on, they would neglect this which is very important!  That is just as important today.  We are the Body of Christ, but made up of humans living in a sinful world.  We let things of this world get us off track and this can sometimes stir up trouble in the church.  Deacons are there to keep in contact with the church, be the eyes and ears of the church to know what is going on, and to help maintain focus on the purpose of the church.

Not just anyone was chosen though.  There were qualifications:

2)      Deacons were chosen for their good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom

They were people called by God for this purpose.  If their reputation wasn’t good in the community, they wouldn’t be respected in the church either.  If they don’t know and love Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, the certainly can’t help the church.  If they aren’t seeking after Godly wisdom, the things of this world can easily sway and they can get caught up in things going on….not making decisions that please God rather than man. 

3)      Deacons had a task to accomplish:  SERVICE

The word “deacon” means service.  They were chosen with the task to serve – to serve the hungry and needy…to serve the meal…to serve the Lord as He leads, guides and directs.  This isn’t a position of power (only position of power is God’s)…this is a position of service and of love for God’s people.  When I was asked what a deacon means to me, here are some of the things that come to mind as a pastor:
·         Participation in the church
·         Support and prayer for me and for the ministries of the church
·         Prepare and serve communion
·         Keep in touch with the congregation - know what is going on so that the needs of the church are attended to
·         Along with keeping in touch, know the congregation so that if someone has a concern, they know who to go to and that their concern gets handled appropriately
·         Cover for me when I am absent
·         Represent the church at all times
·         (Finally and most importantly) - have a heart for service to the Lord!

4)      The Word of God spread and lives were changed

The apostles were able to spend time in the Word and in prayer so that they would lead and guide as God directed.  The people’s needs were attended to so that no one was neglected.  People’s lives were changed by the power of the Word of God. 

5)      When they were selected, the apostles brought them before them to pray and lay hands on them

This was a way of appointing the deacon and praying for God’s touch upon them as they begin this position of service.

All who serve the Lord in the church are so important.  We are the Body of Christ and we all have important positions of service that help to serve the Lord in the way that He calls.  May God lead and guide us and we seek to serve Him with our whole hearts!