Praying for the Protectors

Yesterday in church my sermon dealt with Christ's description of the Holy Spirit in the fact that the Holy Spirit is our advocate. One of the descriptors for the Holy Spirit is Paraclete and I identified it in the following description:

You are facing forward and looking ahead and unable to see what is behind you. As our Paraclete the Holy Spirit has our back and is guiding and protecting us from things that we can't see. As I was preaching this sermon, our brave men and women of Benton and Marshall County Emergency Services were on the scene of house fire.

This week First Christian Church will host it's first committee meeting in reference to bringing author and former police officer Jeff Billingsly to Marshall County. We are bringing Jeff to Marshall County to speak to our emergency service providers about he role that faith plays in ones life in emergency services.

Brothers and Sisters, our emergency service providers are our Paraclete's in the fact that they have our backs and protect us from the dangers that we cannot see and do not expect. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did this first when he gave us the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us (his people) from the world.

My prayer for us all this week as we approach Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit, is that we have the backs of the people that have our backs. While we are at church, while we are sleeping, while our children are in school, and while we are at work, emergency services are our Paraclete's.

Rest and Live Well
Your Back is Covered.
Pastor Tim.

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Sheep That Comfort the Shepherd

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Sheep That Comfort the Shepherd: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-14   We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,...

The Sheep That Comfort the Shepherd

1 Thessalonians 5:12-14 

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

In seminary and throughout the Christian environment, we that feel God's call to ministry are often told what God expects of us as shepherds of his flock. We are told that our responsibility is to guide, nurture, protect and love our flock.

With this being said, are there times in which the shepherd feels alone and needs guided, nurtured, protected and loved by the flock? In God's Holy Word we see Jesus tell Peter three times to take care of his sheep, and we see this as a powerful statement for those that are called to the ministry of shepherding a flock.

In the text from 1 Thessalonians 5: 12-14, I point out three words that sum up the responsibility of the sheep to the shepherd.

1. Urge: God wishes the sheep to remember the one whom he has called to serve.
2. Encourage: As the shepherd feeds the sheep, so the sheep are to provide the food of encouragement to the shepherd.
3. Patient: When the day is done, the sheep must remember that the shepherd is human with all of the frailties and failings that exist in humanity.

My prayer for all of us this week:

• Take Time to nurture those who nurture us
• Urge them with compassion
• Encourage them with love and respect.
• Be Patient with them in their time of human failings.

As a people made anew through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us keep our relationship with Christ new, fresh, and vibrant while comforting his shepherds. Acknowledge the moments in which God has placed you at the right time and in the right place.

Pastor Tim

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Chill That Only Prayer Can Warm

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Chill That Only Prayer Can Warm: The Chill That Only Prayer Can Warm! Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you;   be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will str...

The Chill That Only Prayer Can Warm

The Chill That Only Prayer Can Warm!

Isaiah 41:10

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

At FCC Benton whenever somebody is sick or hospitalized, a blanket pattern is selected that fits the persons personality (Our Miss Betty at church always gets this spot on). The blanket is placed for everybody in the church to see and to physically pray over as they tie a blanket knot. 

Recently I posted about my father who is fighting cancer and going through treatments. Additionally, I attached a picture of my dad with his prayer blanket that was made for him by our loving folks at FCC Benton.

As I write this today, I guess I will call it part two about Don's (my dad) prayer blanket. Yesterday when speaking to my mom I was told the following: "Tim, your dad shows this blanket to everybody and just raves to all about his blanket". But what struck me was the fact that dad takes time out to literally feel every knot, as if touching them places the individual prayers directly into his body.

Recently the cancer treatments have given dad bouts of the chills, and he always reaches for his prayer blanket to fend off the chills that are raging throughout his body. When not using his blanket, dad neatly folds it and places it on the end of the bed and treats it as a precious jewel or a fine piece of china. 

My friends, prayer is so powerful and can truly be felt at a great distance, and they can even be touched as to strengthen people. As you go through your week, say prayers for those who are in need, and rest assured God will lift them up with his righteous right hand.

Have a great week and keep praying, it really works!

Pastor Tim

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Gift of A Smile

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Gift of A Smile: A joyful heart is good medicine,      but a crushed spirit  dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (ESV) As I sit at my desk thi...

The Gift of A Smile

A joyful heart is good medicine,

    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (ESV)

As I sit at my desk this morning and contemplate the day, it comes to mind that I have a dentist appointment this morning and I hope the dentist is in a good mood and has a smile on his face. Yes, I hope that he has had a full nights sleep, a good breakfast and a staff that greeted him with a smile as he entered the office. The first thing that I will do upon greeting him this morning will be to smile and show him the love that God has called me to share.

Do you know that our smiles are gifts? There was a story about Mother Teresa and her helping a terribly sick woman. Mother Teresa stated that she did all that her love could do for the woman in the fact that she put her in a bed and cared for her needs. Mother Teresa stated that the woman didn't complain, instead she said thank you, and died. In the woman's death she gave Mother Teresa a gift, the gift of a person who died with a smile on their face.

As we all gather this day after the events at the Boston Marathon, what can we do, what can we say to others. My prayer is that we will take the advice of Mother Teresa and do all that our love can do, and do it with the gift of God's presence in the form of a smile.

Beloved when encountering events that we have no answer for, when not able to comprehend what can be done for a people in crisis, extend to them the presence of God in the form of a smile. Additionally, when others embrace us with the gift of a smile, understand that that we have been extended the first and most visible gift of God!

Smile today my friends, and give a gift to all you encounter.
Pastor Tim