Lent Day Twenty-Eight

Day Twenty-Eight: The Place of Pilate

In my Forty-Seven years of life I have had many friends and as I sit here this morning writing this blog, my vivid memories of these friends ships are going through my head. My very first friend was named Timmy (coincidence), who lived down the street from us. Timmy and I would constantly be at each others houses, and grew in friendship. "Sadly",  Timmy and his family later moved to Chicago and we lost all contact. Where is Timmy? What did he become? These are questions that I do not know, sometimes friends drift away from one another

Brothers and Sisters, today's blog is all about relationships and not letting them get away from us. Often we find ourselves at odds with those people whom we call friends, and sadly some of those friendships cease and fade into distant memories of what was, and what they could have become. As we consider relationships, the most important is our relationship with God. Scripture tells us that we can never be reconciled with one another, unless we are reconciled with God first. Only by accepting God can we truly accept one another, in the peace, fellowship and harmony that God desires. 

Today, I ask if you have let God grow distant in your life? Has your contact with Father God become a friendship that is beginning or has grown distant? Friends as we journey through this season of Lent together, my prayer for all of us is that we always make time for God. Let us be reconciled with our friend and our creator, only by doing this can we be reconciled in our earthly friendships and relationships. God through his Son Jesus Christ is the great barrier remover to all obstacles in our paths of relationship.

Brothers and Sisters, today is the day of reconciliation. Bow before the Master and restore right relationship, then call that friend who has become distant and forge a lasting relationship that only God can bind together.

Thanks for letting me be your friend

Pastor Tim.

Day Twenty-Eight Scripture Reading:

Luke 23:12

Colossians 1:19,20

1John 4: 10,11

Matthew 4: 23,24

Lent Day Twenty-Seven

Day Twenty-Seven: The Rejected Teacher

This day twenty-seven of Lent speaks about Jesus as the rejected teacher. Today's message discusses how the people listened to Jesus teaching in the temple, and the fact that he drew large crowds to listen to his teaching. The temple teaching Jesus was very popular, but yet, in the near future the people would grow fickle and yell: "Crucify Him. Crucify Him!"
The crowds turned on Jesus because they had different expectations of what a Messiah should be. They believed that he should come as the general to defeat those that ruled over them, they wanted a Messiah that would keep showing them signs and performing magic tricks to keep them as students. The people did not understand the silence of Christ after his arrest, they felt cheated, they felt deceived.

How often in life do we have preconceived notions of how something should be without looking at the big plan, how many of us turn away without being able to see the entire vision? When I was a child, I had a teacher at Garfield grade school and for this post I will refer to her as Mrs. W. I loved Mrs. W, and had her for two years in a row as she became both my first and second grade teacher. As some kids do, I had problems learning to read and became the frustrated student. Mrs. W sent lists of words home every night and as my mother would prepare dinner, we would study the word lists. To be honest, I hated this time, I rejected Mrs.W, because I hated the moment. Just as the people of Jesus time, I lived for the moment and did not see the big picture. The man that writes this today, that didn't see why he needed to study words every night as a child, now understands the picture as he writes this blog and considers himself an educated person.

Many of us this day have at one time rejected Jesus because of some crisis or devastation that has occurred in our lives, My prayer for us this day is that we look at God's "Big" complete picture for his creation. Do not reject God because of the moment, wait for the complete picture to be painted and God will give you an eternity to understand his "Master" plan.

Additionally, the rejection of Mrs. W did not last long. In fact I went back and saw her on her last day before retirement. I took her flowers and balloons and told her how much she meant to me. We both cried and saw that the big picture had taken place.

RIP, Mrs. W and thanks for the word lists.

Pastor Tim.

Day Twenty-Seven Bible Readings
Luke 21: 37,38
Luke 19: 47,48
Luke 23:21
Matthew 4:1-11
Exodus 4:1-9
Matthew 16:1-4

Lent Day Twenty-Six

Day Twenty-Six: Paying Taxes

As I write today's blog, we are less than a month from the due date to have our Federal Income Taxes submitted. This year we had a small sum to pay back in state taxes and I heard my wife say: "I will send it right before the due date!"  This statement made me think: "Why are we in such a hurry to get our refund back, but so slow in making sure our owed taxes are paid? "

In the final week that Jesus taught in the temple, the religious leaders wanted to destroy Jesus and they set him up with a question that they thought would surely be his downfall. "Is it lawful for us to give a tribute to Caesar or not?"  At this point Jesus asked them to show him a coin, and when they did, he asked whose likeness was on it? They replied "Caesar's",  Jesus stated: "Give to God what is God's and give to Caesar what is Caesar's!" 

As we pay our taxes, we glean from the words of Jesus, in that as we pay our earthly taxes and maybe grumble and complain, we acknowledge the fact that we need not be anxious about life. As we live this earthly life and pay our taxes or even receive refunds, let us always worry about seeking out the Kingdom of God and all shall be ours as well. 

We may not all agree on the amount of earthly taxes that we pay, or even in the method they are collected and used, but we understand that as citizens we are required to pay taxes. Additionally, we give to God what is God's through "faith" as we understand that all we have is from God. My prayer for us all this day is that as we pay our taxes, Locally, Stately, and Federally, we grasp the fact that in the end our taxes mean nothing in the eternity of our being. By giving our faith and love to God through his Son Jesus Christ, we know that our future is safe, secure, and solid, because Jesus paid our debt on the cross. 

Jesus paid God's taxes first, so that we would have a tax free eternity.

Giving to the Government what is the Governments and giving to God what is God's

Pastor Tim. 

Scripture Reading for Day Twenty-Six

Luke 20: 22-25

Micah 6:8

Matthew 6: 25;33

Lent Day Twenty-Five

Lent Day Twenty-Five: The Hired Hands.

As we enter this Twenty-Fifth day of Lent I'm reminded of a when I was a child living at home. On Sunday's my mother would always prepare a big meal for the family, which also meant a lot of dishes that would need washed. It always fell upon us kids to wash the dishes and  clean up the kitchen after dinner, so our parents could go in the living room and watch their favorite television show (60 Minutes). Often us kids would complain to our parents in the fact that other families had automatic dishwashers, and my father would say: "We already have an automatic dishwasher and its name is Kevin, Tim and Tracey". Well after that discussion we would get to cleaning the kitchen, and this often turned into us kids worrying about which one of us was doing the most or the least work. Often during this cleaning time the big trick was which one of us was going to say they had to go to the bathroom, which often would take as long as it took to clean the kitchen.

After Christ was resurrected he began his final journey to Jerusalem and while on the way he told the parable of the householder that hired day laborers. Different laborers were hired throughout the day, but when it came time to be paid at the end of the day, they were all paid the same amount whether they worked the whole day or just one hour. The laborers who had worked the longest complained to the householder and thought that they should be paid more or the others paid less on the account of the amount of time in work spent. The householder stated: "I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree on the amount I would pay you when I hired you?"  "Am I not allowed to do with my money as I wish?" "Why do you argue my generosity"? 

As I look back on this story in the context of kitchen cleaning as a child, I never thought of the amount of time that my mother spent in preparing a great meal, or the hours that my father labored on the docks and in the semi truck to pay for the meal. Instead I thought of only myself and the short amount of labor that it would take to wash dishes and clean the kitchen.

Brothers and Sisters the message that Christ was telling in this parable was the fact that in the larger scope of things, we need not worry about what others are getting or not getting, and what they are doing or not doing. Our faith is to be lived out in the context of our own personal faith and our own walks with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are all servants of God who have been placed in labor for the benefit of God's kingdom. It is not our place to dictate what God does! As God's beloved and blessed creation, we are to understand that God does what God does, and that he is the householder of the universe. The universe and all that God has created are God's to do with as he wishes, and it is never our call to begrudge the generosity of God the householder. 

The Happy Dish Washing Pastor

Tim

Bible Text Reading For Lent Day Twenty-Five

John 21:15-23

Matthew 20:17

Matthew 20: 12,13,15

Philippians 2: 12,13

Lent Day Twenty-Four

Day Twenty-Four: Using Our Talents

Recently I attended a camp work youth weekend and had the honor of seeing many talents used for the glory of God and his kingdom. Whether it was painting, cleaning out an old shower house, cleaning pain brushes or prepping a craft room for paint, talents were definitely is use this day. Many of us may believe that doing ministry consists of throwing money at something, but using our talents consists of so much more. 

In this mornings message we see Jesus talking about how to find true life by being involved with those nearby. We must understand that in the days of Jesus a talent was a measure of money. Today the word talent refers to ones natural ability, that involves either mental or physical attributes. When Jesus spoke about the parable of the talents, he referred to anything that we do that God (The Master) would approve of. 

Today I ask you: "What is your true gift?" Once you discover your true gift, we are called to use those talents for the glory of God and his kingdom. The Apostle Paul stated: "There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  My prayer for you this day is that you take the talent that God has given you and blessed you with, and use it for "God's Glory" all the days of your life.

Using My Talents For The Lord

Pastor Tim.

Scripture Readings for Day Twenty-Four

Matthew 25:14-30

1Corinthians 12:4,7

Lent Day Twenty-Three

Day Twenty-Three: The Money Changers

As we enter day twenty-three of Lent, we see Jesus entering the temple and encountering the money changers. We know that this scene upset Jesus and that he began to overturn tables and ordered the money changers out of the temple. Jesus told them: "Stop turning my Fathers house into a market"! We know that Jesus was upset about this occurring in the temple, but we must understand that Jesus was also upset because it blocked people from entering  a place of prayer and reflection to God.

Often many of us that gather in our own particular houses of worship get caught up in the passion of ministry, as we consider what new and next brilliant fundraising opportunity will we work on? How will we raise money to do what God calls us to do? How do we get the funds for the vision that the church is trying to cast? 

Brothers and Sisters, passion for mission & fundraising are good things, but as we have this passion let us not forget the most important passion:. "The Passion of Jesus Christ!" As we gather in mission and visioning for the future of our churches, let us be careful not to block prayer from getting into the temple. Everything that we do as Christians must be based on prayer and lifted up to God, to be blessed.

Today my prayer for all of us is that we become prayer warriors in our temples before trying to cast a vision. When we fund raise and plan without prayer, we have become money changers and have blocked the temple of God's grace in whatever we do. 

Praying for Vision: Pastor Tim

Scripture reading for day twenty-three

John 2: 13-22

Matthew 21:12

Matthew 21;13