The Real St. Patrick's Day.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and many of us will be wearing green, attending parades, and eating corned beef and cabbage dinners. But what of the real reason for celebrating St. Patrick's day that is much more than a holiday to celebrate Ireland.

St. Patrick as a young lad had been captured and was sent to Ireland as a slave. Patrick was able to escape, but had a vision from God to return to Ireland as a missionary to those that had once enslaved him. Patrick returned as a missionary and baptized many and started several monasteries. Here are some awesome St. Patrick's Day aids to the visual items of the day.

The Shamrock: He used the shamrock, a three-leaved clover which grows all over the island, to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity ie the theory that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are each separate elements of just one entity.

St. Patrick removing the snakes from Ireland: It is, however, very unlikely there were ever any snakes in Ireland! This particular legend of Saint Patrick is easy to translate as snakes were sacred to the Druids; their banishment reflects St Patrick's success at removing pagan influence from the island.

As we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and put on all our green and orange clothing, may we celebrate the true missionary work and saving souls for Jesus Christ that Patrick completed in Ireland.

May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.

Sources: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/legend-of-Saint-Patr…

1. Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (San-Francisco: Harper, 1984), 235.

The Out of This World Blessing

Psalm 5:12 ESVFor you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

This week we speak of Leonard Nimoy who portrayed the Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock in the Star Trek television series and movies. Did you know that his iconic Vulcan salute  had religious beginnings that are used to this very day.

In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy wrote that he based it on the Priestly Blessing performed by Jewish Kohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (ש), which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the salute. The letter Shin here stands for El Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)", as well as for Shekinah and Shalom. Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue, where he saw the blessing performed and was impressed by it.

Mr. Nimoy had the right idea with the utilization of this salute for his Vulcan character, in the fact that we are called to bless others in the name of God the Father and Creator of all.  Am I asking that you approach everyone from now on with this greeting, sure if you want to. More importantly is the prayer that you will greet all that you meet with God's Love and God's Blessing.

Live Long and Prosper! This is the day that the Lord has made.

The blessing gesture which was the inspiration for the Vulcan salute

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute

Finding Your Wings

And The Oscar Goes...........

Micah 6:8 ESV 

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Philippians 4:13ESV

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Last night the Oscar Awards were televised and many were awarded the prized gold statue(s) in celebration and commemoration of their acting skills, and acting achievements. Some were awarded the golden statues in celebration and commemoration of their skills in making a movie look and sound realistic in appearance .

Yet, at the end of the day these awards and these actors were only portraying a certain event or a certain character(s). Often those is society will either live their live vicariously through the actors, and even confuse some of them with reality.

The message that I want to communicate this morning is in the fact that those of us that are not winning gold statues are not to be envious, but rather to praise the eternal reward that awaits those that follow Christ Jesus.

None of the awards last night went to those that clothed and fed the poor, those that helped to heal the sick, those that form relationships with the downtrodden. As we journey through this season of Lent we must focus on the cross in which Christ Jesus sacrificed himself for our eternal reward.

A golden statue can never give one the strength that they need to endure, it can never give us the will to go out as the Body of Christ to the world and for the world. We that follow Christ go out in ministry not for the acclamation, not for the pats on the back, but rather in the fact  it is who God has made and called us to be. 

Beloved, my prayer for you today is in the knowledge that we that follow Christ have already achieved the victory and that Christ paid the price for our eternal reward. this prize can never be represented or fulfilled by a gold statue, only a wooden cross and an empty tomb achieved that.

You are all winners in Christ, go out today shouting and claiming the victory.

Pastor Tim.

The True Reality

John 3:16-17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." 

It seems like every time that we turn on the television or open a magazine we are bombarded by the characters that are called "Reality TV." Often these so called reality television shows are the farthest from reality and instead are societies menu on how to behave badly.

This morning I want to address the true reality that modern society and so called reality television shows fail to address. This Wednesday is not only Ash Wednesday, but it is the beginning of the forty days of lent.

  

The forty days of lent are the true reality that the world needs to focus on. The reality is that God loves us so much that he sent his Son to love us, teach us, heal us, be arrested by us, be beaten by us, be crucified by us and finally be resurrected by God.

Beloved, the true reality that the world truly needs is less of the supposed real world and more of the real Jesus Christ, who came to save our lives and to make them eternal. The true reality that Kim and Khloe Kardashian and all the other so called reality stars must understand is 

 Jesus Christ 

Is 

The true reality and the salvation of the

 Life that 

We 

Lead!

My prayer for you this week is those that call themselves Christ followers will reach out to the world this Lenten season, and profess the true reality that the world needs to hear and to live.

  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For god did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

My friends go out this day living and loving the true reality of the world by loving others and by sharing the love and witness of Christ Jesus. By doing this, we have truly made reality by creating "Survivors!" that will live eternally instead of surviving on an island.  

Pastor Tim.

The Sea The Shore and God

Mightier than the thunders of many waters,

    mightier than the waves of the sea,

    the Lord on high is mighty! Psalm 93:4

Often in our lives we will encounter storms and rough sea's. When these times occur we look to calm sea's and the shore to bring us peace and stability.

When troubles occur, when we feel like we are drowning in the high seas of life, God is our lifeguard and our calmer of the sea's. He provides us with the shore to stop the raging waters.

Beloved, God is our shore. He is well acquainted with trouble, and He will never be overtaken by it. God is the one who consumes the waves, and he is its limitation. 

God is our shore and He will not let you sink. When we hear the waters of life begin to create waves, may you know that you are never far from the shore. 

Friends, God controls the waves and God is the shore that will not let the troubles of life drown you in a sea of raging troubles and problems. 

My prayer for you all today is that you always remember to swim to the shore when the waters get rough.

 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalm 107:29

You Are Beautiful

1 Peter 3:3-4 ESV 

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

These days when viewing television, movies, and magazines we are overwhelmed with pictures and articles about having the perfect body, the perfect clothes and accessories as to make us the most beautiful people that the world dictates.

Today's text from 1 Peter 3:3-4 speaks about the beauty that God sees in us and has created in us, rather than how the world views what is beautiful. Many people in today's society believe that their outward appearance must be based on what the world claims as fashionable and stylish.

Beloved, my prayer for you this week is that you know that God loves you and created you beautifully and without blemish. So go out this week in confidence and in the knowledge that God has given you a beauty and a spirit that is precious in His sight.

This is the day that the Lord has made.