Jesus Speaks to Modern Problems: Limited Vision - Luke 5:1-11 and 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

GOD’S CALLING ON MY LIFE
I was a senior in high school when I first felt called into the ministry. It was October and we were in the middle of a fall revival at church. It was the last night of the revival and I had decided to stay home. I had been to all the other nights of the revival and I needed to study for a test at school. So my parents left and I sat at my desk in room trying to study. But I couldn’t concentrate. It got to the point where I almost couldn’t breathe and I knew that I needed to be at the revival. So I walked to church – you could see the church from my front yard – we only lived four houses down and across the street from it. I slipped in and sat towards the back since I was late. The minister was speaking about surrendering to God’s call upon your life and as I was sitting there I got the most profound sense inside of me that I needed to turn the direction of my life over to God. I had felt for a long time, ever since I was in second grade, that God was somehow going to use me in ministry, but I didn’t know what that meant. I figured I would grow up to teach in a Christian school, because I loved school and the teaching that I did with kids at church. I responded to the invitation to go down to the altar and pray and while I was there I felt God speaking to my heart that I was supposed to go into ministry, into pastoral ministry. And a great sense of peace enveloped me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to that, but it certainly felt like the right thing to do. My pastor came and I shared with him what I was feeling and he prayed with me.

I wish I could say that everything from that point on was smooth and easy. It wasn’t. Sometimes I wandered and wondered about my calling. While I had sung solos in church for years, I couldn’t imagine standing up in front of people and preaching – I knew I could do the administrative stuff and visit people and lead Bible study – but not preach. Another obstacle was that I’d only met one female pastor in the United Methodist Church. And the Baptist high school I attended was not supportive of women in ministry – unless they married a pastor, served as a teacher or as a church musician or secretary. It took me a while to overcome those barriers in my mind. It was two years before I had worked my way through those issues and was ready to start the candidacy process to be a pastor. It took getting hit by a drunk driver in a parking lot to wake me up and help me realize that I’d never be really happy until I followed along with God’s calling on my life to be a pastor in the United Methodist Church. It wasn’t what I had planned, but the last ten years as a pastor have proven that I am right where I am supposed to be.

GOD CALLS SOME FISHERMEN
Last week we talked about the end of Jesus’ ministry and Peter’s failure and redemption. But this week I want to go back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry when he first called the disciples. The people in our Scripture lesson this morning from the gospel of Luke were called out by Jesus to do something beyond the scope of their limited vision as well. In the beginning of the story, Simon Peter and the brothers James and John are fishing for fish and by the end of the story Jesus has called them to be fishers of men.

When we first meet them, they are frustrated fisherman. They have been out all night by the Lake of Gennesaret (another name for the Sea of Galilee) and they have caught nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. This was their livelihood and there was nothing to show for a long night’s work. Dejected, they are now sitting on the shore cleaning out their nets. Jesus has been teaching and people are crowding around him. He approaches Simon Peter and asks him to put the boat out a little from shore. Jesus is able to get a little distance from the crowd and keeps teaching while in the boat. I find this pretty interesting. Simon Peter apparently knows who Jesus is – in the Gospel of John we find out that his Peter’s brother had first been a follower of John the Baptist – and so Peter is not put out in the least when Jesus asks him to put his boat out in the water. Simon does it and patiently listens to Jesus teach.

When he’s done talking to the crowd, Jesus asks Simon Peter to put the boat out into deep water and “let down the nets for a catch” (Lk. 5:4). Here Simon Peter starts to protest a bit: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything” (Lk. 5:5a). But as if he thinks better of his words while he’s speaking, the next thing he says is: “But because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Lk. 5:5b). There were certainly reasons for Peter to be skeptical. After all, the experience of the previous night seemed conclusive. As a professional fisherman, Peter knew the lake. And he knew that sometimes even the best fishermen get “skunked.” He could have said, “Sorry, Lord, but it’s not worth the trouble.” Or “I’m the expert here.” But he goes fishing, not because it makes logical sense to him, but because Jesus says so.

And Scripture tells us that after letting the nets down, “they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink” (Lk 5:6-7). Please note that the fish were there all along. It’s not as if Jesus created the fish on the spur of the moment. Those fish were in the water the night before; Peter just couldn’t find them. But when Jesus is in the boat with men, everything changes. Everything is happening according to God’s plan. Peter’s failure paved the way for him to understand what he could do with Jesus’ help.

And a catch like that is what fishermen dream about. They spend a lifetime fishing in hopes that maybe one day something like this will happen to them – no exaggeration necessary here about the catch. But interestingly enough Simon Peter wasn’t bragging about the catch. But he’s overwhelmed, astonished. He sees Jesus for who he really is – the Son of God – and he says to him, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Lk. 5:8). Like most of us, Peter thought in “man-sized” categories, not “God-sized” miracles. He had room in his mind for anything he himself could handle. But when Jesus got involved, the results were more than he could wrap his mind around and it drove him to his knees in desperate prayer.

Interestingly, Jesus ignores Simon’s protest of unworthiness and says to him: "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men. So they (Simon Peter, James and John) pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (Lk. 5:10-11). By trade Simon Peter and James and John were fisherman. And now Jesus is giving them a new occupation. Before they had fished on the seas for actual fish; now they will fish on land for the hearts and souls of men.

LESSON 1 – GOD STILL CALLS PEOPLE NOW
This Scripture lesson of these frustrated fishermen this morning really speaks to my heart. And there’ are several things that I think we need to consider in light of this passage for our own lives. The first is this – God called people then, and he still calls people now. What is that call? The original call was for the fishermen to come and follow him – to be Jesus’ disciples, that means students, followers. Nowadays we who have accepted that call refer to ourselves as Christians, bearing the very name of Jesus Christ himself as we move in this world.

Sometimes I think that we in the church have the tendency to think that only pastors are called to be “in ministry.” But the reality is that every person who accepts Jesus’ call to follow him is called to ministry. For some of us that calling is to be a pastor and to help shepherd other believers. But that doesn’t make my calling any better or more important than your callings to ministry. For most people, the call of Jesus Christ to “follow him” means letting of our old lives of sin. It means going back to work tomorrow morning with a new determination to serve God on the job. It means going back to the classroom determined to be a disciple for Christ no matter what anyone else may say or do. It means going home to your family and sharing the love and faithfulness of Christ with them through your words and actions. It means going to work and living a life where your actions match your words of faith so that others may see.

LESSON 2 – GOD CALLS US INTO DEEP WATER
God still calls. And second, God often calls us into deep water. By deep water, I mean areas outside our comfort zones, places where there is sometimes risk, called to activities that are not always easy. Just imagine that God sent you a pretty clear order today to pack up and move to Canada. Now, if the Lord sent me that message, I would ask him to put it in writing. But when we look back in the Old Testament at the book of Genesis, we find that God sent just such a message to Abraham – “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you." (Gen. 12:1) God called Abraham into deep water and Abraham took the risky step of faith to follow where God was leading, even though it meant leaving behind everything that was familiar and safe to him and going out into the unknown without any tangible proof of what or where God was calling him to.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, experienced God’s calling to deeper waters. A pastor’s kid, a pastor himself, he knew there was something missing from his relationship from God. Wesley wrote in his diary one day in May, 1738, "I went quite unwillingly to divine services on Aldersgate Street." Well, that night on Aldersgate Street, John Wesley’s heart was strangely warmed and he experienced God in a totally new way and because of that he launched a renewal movement within the Church of England that would eventually grow to become the United Methodist Church. It was amazing to me to stand in all of the Wesley sites in England this past summer and realize that we wouldn’t be sitting here if Wesley had been content in the shallow waters of his own limited vision.

If I had stayed in shallow waters, if I had followed my vision for my life, I could certainly have served God – as a Christian school teacher and a faithful active local church member. But in my life, God was calling me to deeper waters. When I surrendered my will to God’s and began to let him set the vision for my life, he stretched me way out of my comfort zone, and that was a good thing.

LESSON 3 – GOD DOESN’T CALL THE QUALIFIED; HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED
God calls. He often calls us into deep waters. And finally we have to remember that God doesn’t call the qualified, but qualifies the called. Many of us feel unworthy of serving God. We believe in him, we love him with our whole heart, but we don’t really feel qualified or spiritual enough to lead, let alone follow. But the wonderful thing about the great God we serve is that if God asks you to do something, he will give you the resources and equip you for the task.

When you look throughout Scripture, what you find is that God often calls some of what we feel are the most unlikely candidates to do extraordinary things for him. In Exodus, God sent Moses to demand freedom for the Hebrew people from an Egyptian Pharoah. But Moses had several reasons – EXCUSES – as to why he could not go and God answered every single one. One of Moses’ excuses was, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent." And with remarkable patience the Lord replied, "Who gave man his mouth? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." (Ex. 4:10-12). There’s no excuse we could come up with that would be new to God or that God cannot answer.

Remember our Scripture lesson from II Corinthians? “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (II Cor. 4:7). We are the jars of clay. Pieces of pottery that can be easily broken. Nothing special or remarkable about these everyday containers until they are filled with the power of God. God often does his best work through those who seem unqualified because it is then that his glory shines brightest and best – when others know you couldn’t have done it on your own but were guided by supernatural help. Need more examples?

• When God called Gideon to lead Israel in fighting against the mighty Midianites, Gideon only had an army of 300 against tens of thousands. It seemed insurmountable odds. It seemed stupid and foolish. But God gave them the victory.

• When the entire army of Israel hid in their tents when faced with the prospect of doing battle with the great Philistine giant Goliath, God called a young shepherd boy named David to fight. No armor, no sword, just a small stone and slingshot. And God gave David the victory as the giant went down.

• When God called Saul the Pharisee to serve him, he was traveling around persecuting Christians – arresting them and in some cases helping to execute them for their beliefs. And yet after encountering God on the Road to Damascus, Saul turned his life around as the Apostle Paul and became the early church’s greatest missionary.

CONCLUSION
And just as God qualified those he called in Scripture, he qualifies and equips us still today for his work in the world. Giving us the heart, giving us the love, giving us the words to say, giving us the strength through the Holy Spirit to put aside our own limited vision and cast out into deep waters.

It was no mistake that the first word Jesus spoke to Peter and the other disciples before saying “Come, follow me!” was “Don’t be afraid!” Getting past our limited vision and casting into deep waters is often scary at first. We’re so aware of our own limitations and problems. Yet God calls to us still saying, “Don’t be afraid! Come, follow me!” It is God’s call, God’s work and God’s miracle. The invitation doesn’t begin or end with us. The One who calls us is the One who knows that he only has imperfect people to call. For our part, we simply have to decide if we are going to follow where God leads. None of us are ever good enough, but God is good enough. And that’s where we must start and finish if we want to cast off limited vision and see what God has in store for us.

Bible Challenge 10/30 - 11/05

Greetings All.

We're working our way through the Gospels this week, finishing up Matthew, reading the entire Gospel of Mark and reading a few chapters of Luke.

Gospel of Mark
Mark is believed to have been the first Gospel written, about 50AD, as the other three Gospels all quote it, but Mark does not quote the others. The author is believed to be John Mark, the son of a Jerusalem widow whose home was a meeting place for early believers (Acts 12:12). Mark most likely recorded the events as he heard them firsthand from the disciple Peter. The book's non-Jewish flavor suggests it may have been written to believers in Rome. At the time Rome had begun persecuting Christians. This book is clearly meant to encourage suffering believers. Mark shows Jesus as the suffering servant who came to die as the Savior for the world (including non-Jews). Over 40 percent of this Gospel focuses on the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus' final week.

Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of Luke is the first of a two part book written by the same author. The first part is an account of Jesus' life and the second part, the book of Acts is an account of the history of the early church. The author Luke was a physician who was a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul on several of his missionary journeys. He addresses the books of Luke and Acts to Theophilus, probably a Gentile who was either a new believer or someone seeking to learn about Christ. Luke elaborates on a lot of the information from Matthew and Mark, including more parables and more stories about Jesus' interactions with people that show his interest in the non-Jewish world and for the poor.

Here is the schedule:

30, Sunday - Matthew 21-24

31, Monday - Matthew 25-28

1, Tuesday - Mark 1-4

2, Wednesday - Mark 5-8

3, Thursday - Mark 9-12

4, Friday - Mark 13-16

5, Saturday - Luke 1-4

May God bless the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word. Amen!

Friday Fives

1. Preaching Series – This week is our Fifth Sunday Swap and while I am at Belleview UMC leading worship, you all will be blessed by having Pastor Debbie lead you in worship. Come and hear as Pastor Debbie shares with you what Jesus has to say to our problem of limited vision. I know you will moved, challenged, and certainly uplifted by her gentle spirit and loving presence. Bring a friend and I hope to see you there!

2. Bible Study - We are continuing our Bible study entitled, “Yes Lord I Have Sinned But I Have Several Excellent Excuses” by the Rev. James Moore. Sin is something that affects all of us and this study will help us learn how to take ownership of our sin, be more readily able to recognize temptations in our lives that will lead to sin, as well as help us understand the hope and grace that is ours through Jesus Christ. Next week we will focus on the sins of presumptuousness and losing our spiritual balance. The class will run through November 10th and will be offered at two different times: 10:00am and 7:00pm each Thursday. The cost is free. If you would like the book, which is not required, it is $12. If you would like to come, just show up! It is never too late to join and we would love to see you there!





3. Christmas Gift Cards - If you normally buy gift cards for the holidays I want to invite you to consider buying them through the church this year. This is an excellent way for you to buy those cards for your loved ones and allows the church to raise extra funds, all at the same time. For a full listing of all participating vendors you can contact Carole in the church office.





4. November Newsletters - The November edition of our church newsletter will be available Sunday in the narthex, or immediately today on our church website, under the Church Publication tab. Please to be sure to pick your copy up and help save us the cost of postage of mailing them out.

5. Commitment Cards - Two weeks ago we concluded our annual focus on Stewardship. If you would still like to turn in your commitment card you can bring them to the church office, or simply drop them in the plate on Sunday morning. I encourage all of you to prayerfully consider how God is calling you to respond with not only your treasure, but your time, talents, gifts, and witness as well.




Have a great weekend and I will see you soon!

Midweek Moment

This past week in worship Becky Klotz and Ellen Sisson talked to us about their journey in becoming a part of this body of Christ. They mentioned all of the different aspects that they encountered that lead them to feel Druid Hills was the place for them. They used words like, compassion, love, and welcoming.

For our part of the body to be these things; to be compassionate, loving, and welcoming, it takes many people. It takes many people coming together, using the various gifts that God gave them, and actively participating together in order to truly be successful. You see for us, as a community of believers, to effectively reach the least, the lost, and the last, we need to work together. You can not do it by yourself. I cannot do it by myself. God has given each of us different gifts and when can can work in concert with one another, then the magic happens.

I stole this picture from a pastor friend of mine. It is six young people using their hands to form a cross. And it helps make my point. For us to be the cross of Christ we need to work together. If anyone of those young people were not there, using their hands, the cross would be incomplete. For us to be the cross of Christ, that means that we love each other as we love ourselves. It means that we put the needs of others above our own...always. It means that we seek to show others no matter their past, they have value to us. It means that we put our selfish desires aside and we seek to follow God's will. It means that we empty ourselves out for the one that sacrificed himself for us. It means that it takes all of us, doing all of these things, to be the cross of Christ for others. If we missing just one piece, then our cross in incomplete.

When we as the body can put all of our trust in God, when we as the body can step out on nothing but faith, when we as the body can be in this world but not of this world, then amazing things will happen!

This week I encourage you to spend some quality time looking for how you can be a part of the body of Christ. What role can you play, along side others, in reaching out in God's name? What mission can you plug into that will allow you to bring the type of forgiveness that Christ preached during his ministry on earth? What example can you bring into a group that will allow the Holy Spirit to be moving and active within that circle?

This world is full of challenges, challenges that can be overcome when we all work together, as one, as the cross of Christ.

Have a great week and I will see you soon!

Bible Challenge 10/23 - 10/29

Greetings All!

This week is the turning point!!! At the end of the week, we'll have made it through the entire Bible and start over again in the New Testament.

Here is a bit of info for you about you will read this week.

Malachi - The last of the books of the Old Testament, Malachi is named for a prophet. And the name means "My messenger or God's messenger." There is virtually no biographical information concerning the author in this book and very little historical information for placing it as well. We can infer that Malachi was a prophet in Jerusalem at some point after the return of the exiles and probably before Nehemiah. He speaks out against lax religious and social behavior of the Israelites, in particular the priests.

Gospel of Matthew - Matthew is the first of the Gospels recorded in the New Testament and is also one of the three "synoptic Gospels" (meaning similar or together because they include some of the same stories in the same sequences and the same words - John is the exception). This Gospel is attributed to one of Jesus' disciples, Matthew the tax collector. And from the information and perspective he includes we can tell that he was writing to a primarily Jewish audience: he stresses Jewish law, he doesn't explain Jewish customs, and in the beginning of the Gospel he includes a genealogy which takes Jesus' ancestry all the way back to Father Abraham. There are seven main sections in this Gospel, with a prologue about Jesus' early life, five sections covering his ministry and the last section about his death and resurrection.

Here is the schedule:

23, Sunday: Zechariah 11-14

24, Monday: Malachi 1-4

25, Tuesday: Matthew 1-4

26, Wednesday: Matthew 5-8

27, Thursday: Matthew 9-12

28, Friday: Matthew 13-16

29, Saturday: Matthew 17-20

May God bless the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word. Amen!

 

Friday Fives

1. Preaching Series – This week we will celebrate Laity Sunday!  We will be lead during worship by the laity of the congregation as we celebrate the vitality, the gifts, and the graces, that you all bring to our body of Christ.  I encourage to come and see each other in action as you pray for us, preach to us, and lead us in song.  I am sure it will be inspiring, refreshing, and so meaningful to us all.  Bring a friend and I hope to see you there!





2. Bible Study - We have begun our Bible study entitled, “Yes Lord I Have Sinned But I Have Several Excellent Excuses” by the Rev. James Moore. Sin is something that affects all of us and this study will help us learn how to take ownership of our sin, be more readily able to recognize temptations in our lives that will lead to sin, as well as help us understand the hope and grace that is ours through Jesus Christ. Next week we will focus on the sins of overreaction and the sins of hostility.  The class will run through November 10th and will be offered at two different times: 10:00am and 7:00pm each Thursday. The cost is free. If you would like the book, which is not required, it is $12. To register for this class, you can register on the website by clicking here - Bible Study Registration or contact the church office.  It is never too late to join and we would love to see you there!





3. Pumpkin Patch - The pumpkins are here! And the patch is in full swing! If you would like to help there are many ways; reading stories to the children's groups; working a shift selling the pumpkins; and several other ways. We need everyone's help to make this a wonderful experience for all. Please see Roy Baugher or call the church office to sign up to help.





4. Pumpkin Patch Photos - Jennifer Walker is the new photographer for the Pumpkin Patch.  Meet Jen at the patch: Fri. Oct. 21, 4pm-dark; Sat. Oct. 22, 4pm-dark; Sun. Oct. 23, 2pm-4pm.  No sitting fee!  Easy online ordering!  If you have any questions, please contact Jen at 572-3171 or by clicking here for her website.





5. Christmas Gift Cards - If you normally buy gift cards for the holidays I want to invite you to consider buying them through the church this year. This is an excellent way for you to buy those cards for your loved ones and allows the church to raise extra funds, all at the same time. For a full listing of all participating vendors you can contact Carole in the church office.





Have a great weekend and I will see you Sunday!

Stewardship – Commitment: Taking a Leap of Faith - I Kings 17:8-16 and Matthew 6:25-34

Introduction
Today is our last Sunday in this series of stewardship and it’s going to culminate in the dedication of pledge cards at the altar regarding our time, talent, territory and treasure.

Two weeks ago, we began our look at stewardship with the principle of Management, getting it straight in our heads that God owns everything and we are just the stewards or managers of it all. We looked at what we have in our hands to offer back to God and challenged ourselves to discover the best ways to use those gifts. Then last week we continued by looking at the principle of Investment as we explored some of the whys of giving: 1) It keeps our hearts in the right place, 2) it benefits the needy/serves as a witness; and 3) it glorifies God. We also explored some of the hows, the actual application for our giving, using the guideline of sowing and reaping and the practice of tithing. Today we are going to wrap this series up by looking at the commitment God calls us to make by looking at the difference between giving and understanding.

Taking the Plunge!
Commercials on TV are meant for you to remember them and its amazing what certain catchy jingles or images we remember. One that stands out for me is the Nestea commercial. The commercial shows a man on a hot, sunny day standing next to a shimmering, blue swimming pool. He is dressed in a suit with sweat pouring off his face. With his back toward the pool, he grasps a glass of golden tea that jingles with ice cubes. Then, in slow motion, the man, as he drinks the tea, falls backward into the pool, clothes and all. He hits the pool with a gigantic splash and lets out a contented “Aahhh!” Television viewers then hear a background voice-over: “Take the Nestea plunge!”

For us to be good and faithful steward, is for us to take such a plunge. Because being a good steward of all the resources God has entrusted us means living by faith, indeed living by trust. We have to let go of what we have, grasp God’s promises, and then lean back and take the plunge. In those moments of risky, reckless abandon, we discover how much God and others care for us. We also find out how much we care for others.

The Widow of Zarephath
The woman we meet in our first Scripture lesson today took this plunge of faithful stewardship. The Bible doesn’t give her a bona fide name; it only identifies her as the widow of Zarephath living in Sidon, north of Israel. She receives a visit from the prophet Elijah, who has fleed Israel’s king. Evidently, Elijah told Ahab that it was Yahweh who controlled the rain, not Ahab’s chosen god, Baal, and that did not go over so well. Elijah promised a long drought to prove his point, and the drought came. So Yahweh sends Elijah north for protection and points him to our widow. Yahweh promises Elijah that this widow will feed the prophet during the drought.

There are several things we need to understand about this widow. One, because Sidon was a Baal-worshipping community, we can reasonably assume this widow was loyal to Baal and the Lord did not choose her for any particular devotion to Yahweh. Two, we also must remember that she too suffers under Yahweh’s imposed drought. Three, as a widowed woman in that time, without the help of a husband, we are certain her life was difficult to begin with, without a full-blown drought making matters worse. Finally, to add to her worries, she also has a son to care for and no resources in which to aid her.

We find her searching for left-behind sticks of firewood in order to make one last fire so she can shape her last handful of flour with the last bit of cooking oil. She is resigned to death, for this is the end. Then suddenly, Elijah, a stranger, approaches and asks for a drink of water. The widow retrieves a drink for him and Elijah goes on to press his luck asking for a morsel of bread. At this the widow protests: “But… I have enough only for one more cake and that will be the last meal I will make for my child and me.”

Elijah then has the gall to tell her to make a cake for him first and then make one for her and her son. And if that was not enough, Elijah then tells her to do this and not to be afraid. This woman lived fear, fighting to scratch out a life for her and her child and now at the end of her resources, she is facing a death of hunger and want. Why should she share this last ritual of eating and drinking with a total stranger?

As she stands at the gate to the city with the prophet, the widow faces a huge decision. “This man says his ‘god’ has a word for me. This ‘god’ will not let my flour or oil be used up until the rains return. I don’t know his ‘god.’ But what if I took the risk? What if I shared my flour and oil and gave this man something to eat? Would the promise of this ‘god’ come true for my child and me?” Something clicks and she receives a word, a kindling of hope. The woman at Zarephath takes the plunge. She turns, goes, and makes a little cake, giving it to Elijah first. “And the jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of fat oil, according to the words of the Lord.”

Giving – The Difference Between Understanding and Practice
This widow was faced with a decision. The same decision we face as we try to become faithful stewards of all God has entrusted to us. We can hold on to who we are, rely in our own strength to care for our needs and grip what we have so tightly our knuckles turn white. After all, that does seem like the most prudent option, even though that really is a dead-end. Or we can open our hands and let go of what we have. Thereby, choosing to take the plunge into a future with God, standing on his promises to provide for our needs. The widow of Zarephath took the plunge. She found a jar of endless meal and a jug of never-failing oil to last her and her son through a drought.

Most of us understand with our minds all the principles of giving and the reasons we should tithe. But we often find it hard to give and put the things we know into practice. And that’s because we’re scared. Because stewardship and giving ultimately comes down to a question of faith – CAN WE REALLY TRUST GOD TO TAKE CARE OF US?

Jesus himself gives us the answer to that question in Matthew 6 as part of his teaching called the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus questioned why people worry about what they will eat and drink, about their bodies and what they will wear. Jesus said our lives are about more than food and our bodies are about more than clothes. He then gives us two wonderful examples from creation of how much God loves and cares for what he has created. He talks about how the birds of the air are fed, even the littlest tiny bird is taken care of by God. He describes how the lilies of the field and the grass itself is beautifully clothed, and it doesn’t even have a long life span. He then tells us that we are certainly more valuable to God than the birds and the grass, for after all God sent his only Son into the world to die that we might have life with him.

The message from Jesus is this - we can trust God to take care of us. Why? Because God created us and he loves us and our Heavenly Father certainly knows all of our needs. And furthermore, the message of Jesus which is confirmed elsewhere in Scripture is that God doesn’t want us to be consumed with trying to work out the details of our needs for ourselves. What God wants, is for us to seek first His kingdom and in return he promises that he will see to the needs of our lives.

So can we trust God to take care of us? The answer according to Jesus is, ABSOLUTELY YES. I’m not saying that being a faithful steward is easy. Sometimes it’s scary. And I’m not saying that being a faithful steward means you’ll get everything you’ve ever wanted, because you don’t. But God is faithful to supply our needs when we are faithful to remember the principles of giving and give back to God as he has asked.

Learning to be faithful stewards is like learning how to walk. The muscles in our legs have to grow stronger in order for us to walk, and then our coordination has to improve for us to be able to walk well. In our lives of faith, our spiritual muscles and coordination require development too. Being a faithful steward isn’t always easy. In fact, at the beginning, it can be downright scary trying to take those first few steps on wobbly legs. There will be bumps in the road, times when you’re tempted to bail out because it seems too hard. It may mean rearranging your priorities and your budget for a few less meals out so that you can tithe to the church. But if you keep working at it, eventually the muscles of your faith grow enough so that you can stand and walk without fear.

Being a faithful steward isn’t about manipulating God into a corner so you can have everything you’ve ever wanted. God is faithful to supply our needs when we are faithful to remember to give. We have Jesus’ own assurance that God provides for the animals and the grass and that we are far more valuable than these.

Will You Walk Out in Faith?
With all that in mind this morning, my question to you is this - what is God asking you to risk? What are you holding onto that you could “let go and let God?” Our challenge for this upcoming year is to follow the example of the widow from Zarephath and take the plunge of faithful stewardship. We know God will be faithful to supply our needs so we can be faithful to do as God has asked.

I invite you to take that first step of faith today. If you haven’t already done so, you can fill out a pledge card this morning while we sing our final hymn. And as you do this, I want to challenge you to give with confidence. If you have never given regularly before, maybe this means next year you give faithfully one, three, five, or seven percent. If you are currently a giver, maybe that means you strive to be a tither next year and give the ten percent. If you are already a tither, maybe that means you go up a bit in your gift.

But whatever you do, do it prayerfully, do it confidently, and do it out of gratitude for what God has already done for you.

Bible Challenge 10/16 - 10/22

Greetings All!

We're almost through with the entire Old Testament - just one more week after this one! This week we continue our way through the minor prophets as we finish all of Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai and get partway through Zephaniah.

Micah - The name of this prophet means "Who is like Yahweh?" and he hails from the southern kingdom of Judah. This book has three major divisions (1-2, 3-5, 6-7) and each alternates announcements of doom with expressions of hope. He reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor against the rich and the powerful, and preaches social justice while looking forward to the time of the Messiah (the world of peace under a new king from the line of David).

Nahum - Nahum means "comforter" and yet his book is not about comfort. This prophet followed Jonah in prophesying to Ninevah around the time of the invasion of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. Ninevah was the capital city of the Assyrian empire and this book deals with prophecies regarding its complete and final destruction.

Habakkuk - Not much is known about Habakkuk. Because the final chapter of his book is a song or psalm, many scholars believe that he was from the tribe of Levi which served as musicians in Solomon's Temple. One of the interesting features of this book is the conversation between God and Habakkuk.

Zephaniah - The great-grandson of one of Judah's kings (Hezekiah), Zephaniah prophesied during the days of King Josiah in Judah and was one of Jeremiah's contemporaries. His book contains many warning about the "day of the Lord," a judgment that will extend beyond Judah to other nations including Assyria. In fact, Assyria did collapse in 625 BC when Ninevah burned to the ground.

Haggai - Haggai was one of the prophets who ministered after the return of the people from exile to Jerusalem. Both chapters of this book urge the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the temple.

Zechariah - Like Haggai, Zechariah ministered to the exiles after they returned to Jerusalem. His name means "Yahweh has remembered" and he was of the priestly line. The first six chapters deal mainly with the nation's past history told through a series of eight visions. Two years elapse between that and chapters 7-8 which deal with the question of whether the days of mourning for the destruction of the city should be kept any longer.

Here is the schedule:

16, Sunday: Micah 1-4

17, Monday - Micah 5-7; Nahum 1

18, Tuesday - Nahum 2-3; Habakkuk 1-2

19, Wednesday - Habakkuk 3; Zephaniah 1-3

20, Thursday - Haggai 1-2; Zechariah 1-2

21, Friday - Zechariah 3-6

22, Saturday - Zechariah 7-10

May God bless the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word. Amen!

Friday Fives

1. Preaching Series – This week we will conclude our preaching series focusing on stewardship. As believers we understand God as the giver of every good and perfect gift. We consistently call on God to help provide for us in our day to day lives. And God answers. Our first week, we looked at stewardship from the perspective that we are managers of what we have, rather than owners.  Last week we looked to the whys and hows of giving as a method for reaping God's blessings and sharing those blessings with others.  This week we will look at stewardship from the lens of commitment and how we can prepare ourselves to take that leap of faith as we move from an understanding of giving to the practice of giving.  Bring a friend and I hope to see you there!





2. Upcoming Bible Study - We have begun our Bible study entitled, “Yes Lord I Have Sinned But I Have Several Excellent Excuses” by the Rev. James Moore. Sin is something that affects all of us and this study will help us learn how to take ownership of our sin, be more readily able to recognize temptations in our lives that will lead to sin, as well as help us understand the hope and grace that is ours through Jesus Christ. The class will run through November 10th and will be offered at two different times: 10:00am and 7:00pm each Thursday. The cost is free. If you would like the book, which is not required, it is $12. To register for this class, you can register on the website by clicking here - Bible Study Registration or contact the church office.  It is never too late to join and we would love to see you there!





3. Pumpkin Patch - The pumpkins are here! And the patch is in full swing! If you would like to help there are many ways; unloading pumpkins, reading stories to the children's groups; working a shift selling the pumpkins; and several other ways. We need everyone's help to make this a wonderful experience for all. Please see Roy Baugher or call the church office to sign up to help.





4. Pumpkin Patch Photos - Jennifer Walker is the new photographer for the Pumpkin Patch.  Meet Jen at the patch: Sat. Oct 15, 3pm-dark; Sun. Oct. 16, 4pm-dark; Tues Oct. 18, 8am-10am; Fri. Oct. 21, 4pm-dark; Sat. Oct. 22, 4pm-dark; Sun. Oct. 23, 2pm-4pm.  No sitting fee!  Easy online ordering!  If you have any questions, please contact Jen at 572-3171 or by clicking here for her website.





5. Christmas Gift Cards - If you normally buy gift cards for the holidays I want to invite you to consider buying them through the church this year.  This is an excellent way for you to buy those cards for your loved ones and allows the church to raise extra funds, all at the same time.  For a full listing of all participating vendors you can contact Carole in the church office.





Have a great weekend and I will see you Sunday!

Midweek Moment

Last week the Allen family went to Gainesville to see the World Vision Experience. Trinity UMC is hosting this museum quality exhibit that takes you through the life of four children living in Africa. These stories are real, the children are real, and the issues they face are very real. But the biggest issue they each face is the danger of AIDS.

According to the United Nations, 22.5 million Africans live with HIV and 90% of all children that are HIV positive live in Africa. The four children whose stories are told, Babirye, Mathabo, Kombo, and Emmanuel, all face an uncertain future. Their very survival is anything but guaranteed.

We followed the story of Babirye, a young girl whose mother was infected with HIV. We were given headphones to listen to Babirye's story as we walked though the exhibit and saw pictures of Babirye and her sister, their dirt-floored home, their church, and their village. We heard the fear in Babirye's voice as she talked about the emotions she endured when she thought of losing her mother to this disease. We listened as Babirye shared her predictions of what her future might look like. We cried as she described how lost, alone, and scared she felt.

I was instantly reminded of Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Babirye needed rest. She needed someone, some place, where she could turn for comfort, reassurance, mercy, and peace.

At the end of the exhibit, you find yourself in a chapel, similar to one you would find in Africa. There you are encouraged to pray for the child whose story you just experienced. They even provide paper and pencil for you to write a prayer and pin it to their prayer wall, if you desire. Also in this area there are packets of information about children in Africa that you can sponsor. While we did not allow Parker to listen to the Babirye's story, he was so moved by the pictures that he asked if we could sponsor a child. He and Wesley picked a little boy from Malawi named Precious, that was born one day before Wesley. If you adopt a child you are then given the opportunity to write them a letter. Parker jumped at the opportunity and we sat down and wrote to Precious.

I would encourage each of you to take the time and go see this exhibit. To experience for yourself what life is like for these young children. It runs through Friday, October 14^th and is free. I would also encourage you to take some time today and thank God for the blessings in your life, for the interest God takes in your life, and for ways you can use your life to impact others for God. We do serve a God of love and for that we can all be very thankful.

Have a great week and I will see you Sunday!

Stewardship – Investment: The Whys and Hows of Giving Luke 21:1-4 and Galatians 6:7-9

Introduction
Today we are going to continue our annual focus on stewardship by looking at our resources and our responsibility to manage those resources well. Last week we talked about our first principle: management. We acknowledged that God owns it all and we are just the managers as we looked to answer the questions, “what do we have in our hand to use?” and “how will we use it?”.

With that foundation in mind from last week, I want to move on today towards the second principle of giving in God’s Stewardship Plan, investment. Today we’re going to focus on some of the reasons why we should give, why we “need” to give, and a couple of “how-to” principles to keep in mind when thinking about giving.

Stewardship of Resources
Some friends of ours were once faced with a great financial need as they prepared to return to the mission field. Their plan had been to sell their car and all their household goods prior to departure, but they felt strongly impressed by the Lord to give away everything instead. With great joy, they handed over their car keys to a needy couple, and to a local church they gave all their belongings to furnish a house for visiting missionaries. As a result, and as an expression of love, that same church took up a surprise offering for my friends and presented them with a check that amounted to more than double what they could have received from selling their car and furnishings. God blessed them, they blessed others, and then God blessed them again.

The stewardship of resources is a serious business; and God’s will is that we give it serious attention. This demands that we have the right perspective on our resources, and that is possible only if we have the right focus on our source. Everything that we have – every earthly resource – comes from a heavenly source. God is our faithful supplier and His plan is that we be His faithful stewards.

The Whys of Giving
Scripture is anything but silent on this topic, so I want to share with you some of what we find as an answer to the question, “what are some reasons why we should give?”

From our first Gospel lesson this morning we are given the understanding that giving keeps our hearts in the right place (Luke 21:1-4). The Pharisees picked on this widow’s gift because all they saw was the amount that she was giving. But Jesus saw and understood her heart. He knew that her heart was in the right place, that she had been motivated for the right reasons to give, and that though her gift was small, she had given all she could.

Jesus talked about money over and over again. He never discourages being thrifty or saving money. But he does discourage hoarding, burying our stuff and piling up more and more. He talked about money in the context of keeping our priorities and perspectives straight – the heavenly above the earthly. He links our hearts and treasures and tells us how to keep our hearts in the right place.

The simple inescapable truth is that whatever we are interested in, think about, and keep our hearts in touch with, that is what we invest in. Money has a magnetic power to draw our hearts wherever it goes. As a sunflower turns to face the sun, out hearts are inclined to go where we place our money. It is more blessed to give than receive because it keeps our hearts in the right place. But there is another reason:

Giving benefits the needy and serves as a witness (2 Corinthians 9:12; Matthew 25:31-46). The most obvious reason for our giving is it benefits those in need. According to 2 Corinthians the giving of benevolent gifts “supplies the needs of the saints.” Giving of time, talent and treasure keep the work of the church going both inside and outside the walls of this building. Congregations wouldn’t be able to conduct ministry within the community without the generous support of members and friends in all of these areas.

Jesus also discussed in Matthew 25 that those who give unto the least of these - whether the gift be food or shelter or clothes or a visit – are giving as if to Jesus himself. It’s a witness. And likewise when we refuse to give in Jesus’ name, that says something about us as well. When our hearts are in the right place, our giving to others and those in need is motivated by love. There is a truth that we ought not miss: You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving. Giving is as natural a byproduct of love as smoke is of fire.

The Hows of Giving
So far we’ve explored some reasons to give – the whys. Now I want us to turn our attention to some actual principles of giving – the hows.

Sowing and Reaping (Galatians 6:7-9)
From our second Scripture lesson this morning, Galatians 6:7-9, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” There’s a correlation between sowing and reaping. Little sown, little produced. But if much is sown, much is produced. This principle holds true in every aspect of life. Consider the “secular” parts of life, marriage, job, school, athletics, little invested, little dividend in returns. Consider the “spiritual” parts of life worship, fellowship, prayer, Bible study, giving, little in, little out, much in and much out.

There’s a major difference between Jesus’ way and the world’s way. The world says, “Get all you can, in any way you can, and keep what you get.” Jesus says, “Give and it will be given to you.” He also says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The world says, “Hoard it, store it, bank it, grasp it.” Jesus says “Lay up treasures in heaven by laying them down on earth.” The world says, “Use it first for you and donate left-overs.” Jesus says, “Give the first and best to God.”

Give and it will be given to you (Luke 6:38), should be continual, for this is how our needs will be met:

• God’s blessings will be met with “good measure.” There will be plenty. God does not hand out His blessings in a miserly fashion.

• God’s blessings will be “pressed down, shaken together.” Have you ever bought a box of cereal or bag of potato chips and found you had more air than product? Jesus says God’s blessings are firmly packed.

• God’s blessings are “running over.” They are so abundant that you will have all you need and more to spare.

• God’s blessings will be “put into your bosom.” A. T. Robertson says this refers to the “fold of the upper garment” in the tunics of Jesus’ day that “made a pocket.”

The heart of this principle is this: “For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” What you sow is what you reap. This is true in every aspect of life.

Tithing
Another how of giving is tithing. Giving a tenth of all one makes or has to God is an ancient practice. The first tither mentioned in the Bible is Abraham. After defeating a pagan army, he gave God a tenth of everything (Gen 14:18-20). The next tither we read about is Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. In gratitude for God’s promised blessings, Jacob vowed, “Of all that you give me I will give you a tenth (Gen 28:10-22). Then the people of Israel were given the law and instructed that “a tithe of everything…belongs to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30). Remember we already established that everything belongs to God and we are just the managers. So not to tithe, not to give, not only robbed God of what was rightfully God's, but it also robbed us of a blessing in the process.

Tithing is God’s most basic financial plan and it cannot be improved upon. Biblically understood and practiced, tithing is human response to diving grace. We give to God because he has already given to us. We bless God because he has already blessed us. He is no poorer if we fail to tithe, but we are impoverished. He is no richer if we do tithe, but we are enriched. Tithing is rewarded, for God rewards all obedience to His Word. But we do not give in order to get; we give because we have received.

Look, I know that giving in this economic climate can and is very hard at times. A great many of us are barely hanging on to a job. Others of us are looking for a job. Some of you are living on a fixed income from the government or from your pensions that have not seen a cost of living increase in at least three years while over those last three years the cost of living has definitely increased! But what I am telling you, what God is telling us, is that the amount does not matter. It is the act. It is the act of giving back a portion of what we have, in gratitude for what God gave us. When you trust God, rely on God, and allow God to bless you...it is truly amazing! God will never fail you. So the question now becomes not can you afford to tithe, but can you afford not to tithe?

Debbie and I both grew up in homes where tithing was practiced and when we got married we decided to do the same. We had both witnessed numerous occasions in our own families where God had provided in difficult circumstances when our parents had been faithfully giving. That didn’t mean it is always easy for us. For our entire married life, prior to our move here to Ocala, we have lived on one income. Either I was working while Debbie was in seminary or Debbie was working while I was in seminary. There have been many times when we have struggled financially and times when we wrote that tithe check knowing that it left us little to nothing for things like gas and food. But we have always given our tithe. And God always been faithful to provide for our needs – notice I said needs, not wants.

One particular time we wrote the tithe check to the church, knowing that it would leave us no money till I got paid again two weeks later. Also knowing that we did not have enough gas in the car or groceries in the pantry to last those two weeks. I panicked and I worried all day that Sunday. However, the very next day Debbie and I received a wedding card in the mail with a $60 check in it. Plenty of money for us to get by for two weeks. That in and of itself is wonderful, but what was divine about it was that we received it 18 months after we got married. My 2nd cousin and his wife had written when we got married, intended to mail it from their home in California, when we got married. But it had gotten lost on their desk and they had just found it. They did not know of our financial situation, but God did. They did not intend to misplace it, but I believe God intended for them to. The timing was too perfect. The need to great, for God not to be involved. We have tithed for 12 years, God has blessed us and provided for us, consistently, for 12 years. Not one time have we ever been without what we needed. Have we been without what we want? All the time. But never what we needed.

A good pastor friend of mine goes so far as to offer a money-back guarantee on tithing, encouraging people to take the step of tithing - giving 10% of their income – for at least 90 days. If at the end of the 90 days, the people regret their decision for any reason, they can ask the church to refund their giving. Pastor Roy’s church isn’t made up of wealthy families - mostly young blue-collar folks in which both parents work to support the family – they don’t have to do a lot of fundraisers because their regular giving covers their expenses – and the church itself tithes – giving 10% of its income away into community missions and outreach. If you’ve been wondering about how to incorporate this level of giving into your own life, let me encourage you to try it for 90 days as a demonstration of faith.

Conclusion
God’s stewardship plan is about management and investment to help free us from being weighed down by our possessions and our finances. We need to give to keep our hearts in the right place. We need to give to benefit those in need and witness to Jesus. We need to give to glorify God. And as we give some good principles to keep in mind are the idea of sowing and reaping as well as the challenge of tithing.

God gives you a chance to invest in what will be untouched by the ups and downs of this world’s economy. He pays back, with interest, what you invest in His work. You can never out-give God. We only need to give and the giving starts with surrender. What will you surrender to Him today?

Bible Challenge 10/09 - 10/15

Greetings All!


Well last week I said that Hosea was the 6th major prophetic book; let's set that straight. Hosea is actually the first of the twelve minor prophets. And we're going to go through several of those this week. In addition to finishing up Hosea, we will also read all the way through Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah!

HOSEA - Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel before its fall. His ministry as a prophet is talked about in the context of his marriage to an unfaithful wife - a way of demonstrating the nation of Israel's unfaithfulness in their commitment to God.

JOEL - Joel was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. This book deals with a lament over problems of plague and drought, the promise of future blessings and also a reminder of coming judgment. Part of the book of Joel is quoted by Peter in his sermon in Acts 2.

AMOS - This prophet was from the southern kingdom but his message was for the northern kingdom of Israel before their exile. The basic message of this book is that God puts his people on the same level as other nations - he expects purity of them all. Israel and Judah will not be exempt from judgment over their sins.

OBADIAH - Obadiah is said to have been a convert to Judaism, as originally he was from Edom (those descended from Esau). This makes him the perfect person to go back and prophesy against Edom for their arrogance and wickedness.

JONAH - Jonah and the whale right? But the best part of this story is that this prophet really understands the heart of God and wrestles with that. For he is reluctant to pronounce judgment because he knows God's heart of mercy and love and he doesn't want to see the Ninevites forgiven.
Here is the schedule:

Sunday, 9: Hosea 4-7
Monday, 10: Hosea 8-11
Tuesday, 11: Hosea 12 - Joel 1
Wednesday, 12: Joel 2 - Amos 2
Thursday, 13: Amos 3-6
Friday, 14: Amos 7 - Obadiah
Saturday, 15: Jonah

May God bless the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word.

 

Friday Fives

1. Preaching Series – This week we will continue our preaching series focusing on stewardship. As believers we understand God as the giver of every good and perfect gift. We consistently call on God to help provide for us in our day to day lives. And God answers. Last week we looked at stewardship from the perspective that we are managers of what we have, rather than owners.  This week we will look to the whys and hows of giving as a method for reaping God's blessings and sharing those blessings with others.  Bring a friend and I hope to see you there!





2. Upcoming Bible Study - Last Thursday we began a new Bible study entitled, “Yes Lord I Have Sinned But I Have Several Excellent Excuses” by the Rev. James Moore. Sin is something that affects all of us and this study will help us learn how to take ownership of our sin, be more readily able to recognize temptations in our lives that will lead to sin, as well as help us understand the hope and grace that is ours through Jesus Christ. The class will run through November 10th and will be offered at two different times: 10:00am and 7:00pm each Thursday. The cost is free. If you would like the book, which is not required, it is $12. To register for this class, you can register on the website by clicking here - Bible Study Registration, fill out the insert in this week's bulletin, or contact the church office.  It is never too late to join and we would love to see you there!






3. Craft Show – Tomorrow is our community wide Craft Show and we have a good variety of vendors that are participating.  The Fellowship Hall will be full of shoppers (we hope) and this can be a great way to introduce folks to our church. All proceeds will go toward new floor covering in Fellowship Hall.  Bring a friend and we would love to see you there.






4. Pumpkin Patch – Our first shipment of pumpkins arrive October 12th and then our pumpkin patch will be in full swing. If you would like to help there are many ways; unloading pumpkins, reading stories to the children's groups; working a shift selling the pumpkins; and several other ways. We need everyone's help to make this a wonderful experience for all. Please see Roy Baugher or call the church office to sign up to help.





5. World Vision Experience - From now through October 14th, Trinity UMC in Gainesville is hosting the World Vision Experience.  This is a museum quality exhibit that transports you to an African Village to personally experience the lives of children affected by poverty and AIDS.  This exhibit will challenge you and offer inspiring opportunities to make a difference.  The exhibit is free and offers walk-in childcare.  If you would like more information you can visit them on the web by clicking here or if you would like free tickets we have them available in the office.  I encourage you all to prayerfully consider attending this experience.



Have a great weekend and I will see you Sunday!

Stewardship - Management: What’s In Your Hand? Exodus 4:1-7 & Matthew 25:14-30

Introduction
Today we’re beginning our annual focus upon stewardship. I’m well aware that this can be a sensitive topic in the church. Many of us associate the word “stewardship” with money and so folks become uncomfortable when the subject of stewardship comes up and we get to talking about how we spend money and give it to the church.

I think one of the reasons we’re so uncomfortable with talking about stewardship is because we don’t understand it. Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to discuss it and try to fix some misunderstandings about it by focusing on what God has to say about stewardship in Scripture. We’re calling this: “God’s Stewardship Plan.” Because stewardship is an important topic in the life of the church, it’s probably the most accurate indicator of our level of discipleship and devotion to God. In other words, there is a real link between our spiritual health and how we use our resources of money, time and talent for God.

Management vs. Ownership
While we can’t avoid talking about money in relationship to stewardship, there’s another “M” word associated with stewardship that I want us to focus on this morning: “Management.” Stewardship on its most basic level is simply the careful use and management of the resources that God has entrusted to us. Scripture reminds us over and over that we are simply the managers of all we have, not the owners, for God is the ultimate owner. Here are a few examples from Scripture.

1. Psalm 24:1-2 – “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.”

2. Job 41:1 – “Everything under heaven belongs to me.” (God speaking to Job)

3. I Chronicles 29:14 – (When the people of Israel were gathering gold, silver and other precious materials for the building of the temple) “Who am I?” asked David, “and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

God is the real owner of everything; of us and our lives, of our time, of our talents, of our finances. We are simply the managers or stewards. God has loaned it to us. That’s difficult for us to grasp at times. We say things like: “Sure it’s my time, my talent and my money, who do you think works for it so hard?”

So let’s look at it another way: How many of you own your home? Do you have now or have ever had a mortgage on that home? If you’ve got a mortgage, you may “own” the home, but until you finish paying the bank for it, the bank technically owns it and they’re just loaning it to you. You’ve become the manger of steward of the bank’s investment. It’s the same with our lives. Until the end of the mortgage schedule when we go home to be with God, we don’t own anything. God’s the owner. We’re simply managers of our time, our talent and even our money.

Moses and the Staff in his Hand (Exodus 4:1-7
We’re the managers, not the owners. So what do we have that God can use and how will we put it to use? Something to ponder this morning. Have you ever noticed how people excuse themselves from something by appealing to the things that they do not have? They say things like: “I’m too old.” “I’m too young.” “I’m not educated.” “I’m too busy.” “I’m not good enough.” “I could never do that.” Or they play the “if only” game. “I would love to teach a Sunday school class, if only I had her ability.” “If only I had his voice, I would sing in the choir.” “If only I had a little bit more money, I would tithe to the church.”

Offering excuses and rationales for our behavior is nothing new. Moses does the same thing in our Scripture lesson this morning. The context around our lesson from Exodus is God’s call to Moses to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go. God was speaking to Moses through a burning bush while Moses was out in the field tending sheep. Moses used a number of phrases to complain about what he did not have: “Who am I that I should go…?”; “Suppose they do not believe me?” and “I have never been eloquent.”

After listening to all of Moses’ complaints, God asked Moses one question: “What is that in your hand?” With this question, I believe God was in effect saying: “Moses, I am not interested in what you do not have; I am only interested in what you do have… Reach out your hand… and certainly I will be with you.”

And what did Moses have in his hand? He was holding his shepherd’s staff. God told him to throw it on the ground. Moses did and it became a snake and he ran from it. Something dead, the wood in Moses’ staff, became alive when he threw it on the ground at God’s instruction. Then God asked him to pick it up by the tail. And Moses did and then the snake died and turned back into his shepherd’s staff.

What Do We Have in our Hands?
Maybe you are sitting there thinking this morning, “Well that’s great for Moses. But I don’t have anything to use for God.” I have good news for you then. You most certainly do have something to use and offer back to God. In addition to your time and your finances, each one of us has been SHAPE'd by God for some special contribution to the Kingdom of God. SHAPE stands for Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences.

One of the greatest blessings as a pastor is the opportunity to watch as members of the congregation recognize their SHAPE and find a place to use it. They light up inside as they realize that there really is a place for them and a way God can use the things they’ve been given or gone through. I’ve seen it starting to happen in the last few months. Folks in the church with business backgrounds who are using what they love to do to help the church out with finances and auditing; a woman with a passion for others and missions stepping forward to give a focus to our mission efforts and giving…I could go on and on.

Everyone has something that they have been given, which can be used by God. For Moses, it was his shepherd’s staff. What’s your SHAPE? What’s in your hand?

How Will We Use It?
Once we realize that what’s in our hand can be used by God, our reaction is very important. What will we do with it? How will we use it? Because we are accountable for what we have been given.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told the “Parable of the Talents.” The premise is that a wealthy landowner goes away on a long journey and before he does he entrusts “talents” or a sum of money to three of his hired hands. One of the hired hands gets 5 talents, another got 2 talents and the last one got just 1 talent. When the landowner returned he called his servants before him for an accounting of what they had done with his money. Both the 5 talent servant and the 2 talent servant had doubled their money. But the 1 talent servant buried the money instead of doing anything with it. And in the end the landowner was angry and he took it away from him and gave the money to one of the other servants.

Just as the wealthy landowner in the story assigned various amounts of money to his servants, we all have unique SHAPE's and receive various different gifts and resources from God. And there will come a time when we will answer for our stewardship of the things that God has entrusted to us. Fortunately, God expects us to perform based solely on what he has given us. When we get to heaven, God’s not going to ask: “Why weren’t you more like your sister?” “Why weren’t you more like your friend?” The questions he’s going to ask are going to be very personal: “What did you do with me? What did you do with what I gave to you?

Moses took what was in his hand and he followed God’s instructions. God asking Moses to lay the staff down on the ground was pretty significant. It was a huge symbol of his life. It represented his identity as a shepherd; it was a symbol of his finances, for all of his assets were tied up in the sheep that he cared for; and it was also a symbol of his influence, for the staff was used to help move sheep from point “A” to point “B”.

Conclusion
From this day on, Moses’ staff would not be a symbol of his life as a herder of sheep, but rather a symbol of God’s blessing upon him and his leadership over the Israelites. With his staff, he would now lead people, and perform many miracles at God’s instructions, like the parting of the Red Sea. How will you use what has been given to you? Will you bury it, hide it, ignore it, use it for your own purposes? Or are you willing to offer back the things in your hand and say, “Lord, use me”

I encourage you to hear the words of God calling out to us: “Use the gifts that I have given you. Don’t complain about what you do not have or who you are not like and start concentrating on the things that you do have, the things in your hand.”

For us as managers, for us as believers, for us a disciples of Jesus Christ, we have been entrusted with a great many things. These things are not ours for us to squander or to waste. Rather, they have been entrusted to us to bring God glory. Glory through feeding the hungry. Glory through loving the lost. Glory through the building of God's kingdom here and now in this world and in this space. If you are struggling with how to properly manage that which God has given you, come to this altar and ask for guidance. If you are not sure how to let go cheerfully but rather hold on with fear, come to this altar and ask for strength. God has an incredible blessing waiting for each and every one of us. But we have to take the first step, we have to manage well, live for Christ, and trust God.

The things that we have, what we think we own, is really just on loan from God. Because we were made by God and our lives will not make sense until we know and understand the concept of stewardship. We’re the managers. So I ask you...”what’s in your hand?”

Bible Challenge 10/02 - 10/08

Greetings All!

This week we finally fish up the fourth major prophetic book (Ezekiel), read through the fifth book (Daniel) and begin the sixth one (Hosea)!

The prophet Daniel was one of the young men carried off into exile in Babylon, along with three of his friends. While there, they were selected for leadership and given new names. We don't call Daniel by his foreign name (Belteshazzar), but we do call his friends by their exile names (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). Daniel famously is imprisoned in a lions' den for expressing his faith at one point and he's also known for his interpretation of dreams.

The book of Daniel with its twelve chapters can be broken down into three sections: 1) Daniel 1:1-2:3 which introduces Daniel and his friends and their circumstances; 2) Daniel 2:4-7:28 which are the court tales of Daniel and his friends living among the Babylonians; and 3) Daniel 8:1-12:13 which contains Daniel's prophetic visions of Israel's future.

Here is the schedule:

2, Sunday: Ezekiel 36-39

3, Monday: Ezekiel 40-43

4, Tuesday: Ezekiel 44-47

5, Wednesday: Ezekiel 48 - Daniel 3

6, Thursday: Daniel 4-7

7, Friday: Daniel 8-11

8, Saturday: Daniel 12 - Hosea 3

May God bless the reading, the hearing and most importantly the living out of His Holy Word. Amen!