15
Jan '24
Something Don’d on Me! examine words
15
Jan '24
“Now these Jews from Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11
Big kudos to Alex Juarez who caught my TYPO in the Sunday Sheet this week! Apparently, I was in a big hurry to send it in to Candace and my fat fingers made a mistake…have you caught it yet? Go turn to the Scriptures and tell me what you see! (Hint: Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome was NOT that long!) Yep…that was supposed to be Romans 12:4-5!
I know it’s not really a big deal…I wasn’t trying to re-write Scripture or teach a “New Gospel”…I just made a typing error. But I’ve pondered about it for a couple of days now. Alex practiced an ancient tradition that the Bereans were COMMENDED for doing: EXAMINING THE WORDS! We often say we are a “Bible Believing and Bible USING” Church…we want our Bibles OPEN and looking at what the writers said in context so that we can follow the Teachings of Jesus as completely and correctly as possible. DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT…we ALL need to look and make our understanding complete!
Thank you for practicing grace to me because Almighty God knows that I do NOT know it all! We really are learning TOGETHER!!
As we continue to dive into this word and theme for our year: ANOTHERING, I’m challenged at how MUCH we need to be “People of the Word” (Last year’s theme) and how we need to show that GRACE to others! Charles Spurgeon was once having a tough day-he said he came home discouraged, weary & depressed…when a verse flashed in his mind: “My Grace is sufficient for thee!” (2 Cor. 12:8) He said he started laughing and said out loud, “Of COURSE, it IS sufficient for me!” He went on to share this: “His Grace is so strong that it shall never run out! It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and the Father of the River said; “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for you!” Or as if a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt, after 7 years of plenty, feared he would eat it all up, and Joseph came in to say, “Cheer up, little mouse-my granaries are sufficient for you!”
Part of ANOTHERING is going to be diving DEEP into the GRACE that Yahweh gives to us! And because that VAST OCEAN OF GRACE has been opened to you and me…then we need to SHARE that grace with one another!We are going to look at another passage this week: “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the Law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2) SPOILER ALERT…it’s not as easy as just “saying” I care…it’s being Jesus to someone! Even KidZone will be looking at “Carrying each other” this week…and Kidzone will be in action on SATURDAY AND SUNDAY!
THERE’S A PLACE FOR YOU HERE AT CENTRAL! Maybe you are here every week…maybe you haven’t been in a while-doesn’t matter, you are WELCOME and WANTED here! And you are valuable to God! May we look to Jesus as the one that perfects our faith, and may we link arms with one another as this new year continues!
God Bless You All- May HIS PEACE Be Upon Your Home and Heart!
(And keep your Bible and your Sunday Sheet OPEN!)
Don
18
Aug '20
Something Don’d on Me! 6-24-20
18
Aug '20
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
I’ve found myself reading Psalm 19 several times lately! It’s a brilliant passage from David regarding the GLORY OF GOD! I think there are parts of it you will recognize…but I encourage you to just soak in all 14 verses!
David begins by getting the focus of our Worship where it belongs: ON GOD ALMIGHTY! “The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Vs.1) – most of us know that verse and we hear it more after big storms like we’ve had lately. Many of you took pictures of the powerful lightning and the magnificent clouds…those were beautiful…THANK YOU! But David continues to talk about God’s glory!
“Day after day they (the heavens) pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words, no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth!” (Vs 2-4) Nature is SCREAMING about how great God is! From peaceful sunsets to thundering hail…nature reminds us that we have NO control over weather! No matter how smart we seem, God is still GLORY!
In the next section, David talks about the LAW of the Lord. Most people would want to say, “Yeah, but LAW is boring!” David would disagree! “The Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul…they are more precious than gold…in keeping them, there is great reward.” (Vs. 7-11) When we look at God’s laws as precious and perfect, they aren’t hard to follow! It isn’t a drudgery to “do the right thing.” It’s FREEDOM!
And then David gets to the heart of the matter: the purity of our thoughts and our words. “Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant from willful sins.” (Vs. 12-13) Most of us can maintain good behavior MOST of the time. But a lot of us fight a battle within our own mind: the negative thoughts, the selfish ideas, the doubts and depressions that eat us up from the inside. David realizes this…and NAMES IT: keep me from WILLFUL SIN!Keep my eyes on you, God!
The passage finishes with the powerful request: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts in my head be PLEASING in Your Sight.” (Vs. 14) I’ve been quoting this a lot lately…not for your help, but for mine. May ALL of our thoughts be based on Him! May ALL of our words (and our posts on social media, and our comments to our spouses, and how we react to our children…you tracking with me here?) BE PLEASING TO HIM!
“Ok Don…why all this about the Psalms?”
It seems that in our world right now…there’s a big focus on ME! My needs, my wants, my rights, my freedoms, etc. What would it mean to our community if we STOPPED looking at our problems…and put our attention to HIS GLORY? First…you’d see a lot less of our worries…and a lot more peace! Then we’d see a lot more people are struggling and we aren’t so bad! And we would – ABOVE ALL – see that our God is FOR US!
Take time to get outside YOU…and get eyes on Him this week! And when you do…thank Him for His Glory…and for the rain!
Have a Blessed Week!
Don