This AM as I write this, I am overwhelmed with a profound sense of loss.  A friend, a brother in the Lord has been taken from us.  Already I am missing Bob Kilmer’s, mischievous smile, big warm handshake, (he’d often hold on to your hand while he was thinking of some wise crack) and his unpredictable sense of humor.  You just  never knew what Bob might say.  Whether it was a critique of my wardrobe, or a comment about my  latest hair style or a question about how close I was to ordering that new red sports car—you never knew where Bob’s mind was going.  Just talking to Bob could perk up your day.  I caught myself on Sunday looking for Bob in his usual seat a couple of times.  We truly are going to miss him. 

Yet I’m trying to focus on the bigger picture.  I’m trying to look at this from the lens of eternity.  What are some of the things we know for certain.   

(1) We know that this life is temporary at best.  We are just “aliens and strangers on earth” (Hebrew 11: 13).  We’re just passing through.  For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (Hebrews 13: 14)  We were created for so much more.  

(2) A second thing we know is that Bob is with Jesus.  As Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  Or as Paul tells us, “we are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (II Corinthians 5:8) In some ways we should be envious of Bob—he got there ahead of us.      He’s already enjoying wonders we can only dream about. 

(3) A third thing we know is that if we put our trust in Christ, we will see Bob again.  Someday God will call each of us home.  Bob is going to be there in that crowd welcoming us into heaven [He’ll probably want to know what took us so long!]  I believe that Bob is now part of that “great cloud of witnesses, (Hebrews 12:1) cheering us on to the finish line.  We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and press on to win our race.

On Wednesday we’ll take time to remember and celebrate Bob’s life.  We’ll tell some stories and laugh or cry.  We’ll remind ourselves again that this is only a temporary parting.  We’ll comfort our hearts with the promises of Scripture.  Hopefully we may point someone toward Christ.  And we can all learn from Bob’s example and determine to follow in his footsteps.  After, we’ve said our goodbyes, it will be time to pick up the baton and keep running.  It’s what Bob would want us to do!

Pastor Barry

 
 
 
             Someone recently asked me a question I had to think about.  The question was, “Is it a sin to worry?”  My response was, “Well, Jesus tells us not to.”  In Matthew 6:25 He tells us. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”  The apostle Paul says something similar in Philippians 4: 6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

             Now most of us would have to admit that we at times battle this temptation.  But is worry a sin?  I believe that it is for the following reasons.

             (1)  When you worry you are doubting the truthfulness of God.  When you worry you are basically saying, “Lord, I don’t believe your promises.”  We may know, for instance, Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  But if we still worry about paying our bills or where we’re going to live or what we’re going to eat, then we are in essence calling God a liar.  Worry is doubting God’s truthfulness and that is the sin of unbelief.

             (2)  A second reason I believe worry is a sin is because it is an indication of prayerlessness.   You see, I believe it is impossible to pray about something and worry at the same time.  Most people who are paralyzed by worry have not taken the time to pray about the matter.

             One of my favorite Scriptures is Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  If our thoughts are directed toward the Lord, worry vanishes.  I love the quote that says “To be anxious about  nothing, pray about everything.”

             (3)  A final reason I believe worry is a sin is because it ruins our witness.  If we are worried and stressed out it is a poor reflection on the God we serve.  If He’s not big enough to take care of my puny little problems, then He must not be much of a God.  How can I convince someone to surrender their life to Christ and trust Him for salvation, if I can’t trust Him to help me pay my electric bill?  Worry is a sin because it hinders our testimony.

             So if you’ve allowed worry to get the best of you.  Confess it for what it is, a sin, and ask God to forgive you.  Then, give your worries to Jesus and trust Him to meet your needs.

 

                                       “What a privilege to carry

                                       Everything to God in prayer!

                                       Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

                                       Oh, what needless pain we bear

                                       All because we do not carry

                                       Everything to God in prayer.

             Stop worrying and start praying!

 

                                                                              Have a great week!

                                                                              Pastor Barry

 

P.S.      Don’t forget to put in your orders for pork barbeque or ham sandwiches.  We will be serving from              10:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm this Saturday.  Take-out or dine in available  This is to help fund missions              trips.

 
 
             God’s grace truly is amazing.  I like the little acrostic for grace —- God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  Grace is totally underserved and unearned.  It is something freely given us by God.  One of the things I find so amazing about God’s grace is that it is inexhaustible.  Unlike insurance policy grace periods that last about 30 days or credit card grace periods that are 10 days. (I had a conversation recently with the folks at VISA about this.  I had to threaten to cancel in order to squeeze a drop of grace out of them).  Thankfully, God isn’t so tightfisted with His grace. 

             But have you ever wondered if maybe you were reaching your limit?  After all, how many times will God forgive the same failure?  Three? Ten?  Most of us could fill volumes with our misdeeds and blunders.  How many times have we lost our temper?  How many times have we reacted harshly or failed to be compassionate?  Could God ever get fed-up and refuse to forgive? 

             The New Testament would seem to say NO.  Paul can’t seem to come up with enough objectives to describe it.  For instance in II Corinthians 9:14 he speaks of “the surpassing grace God has given you (us).”  He calls it an “indescribable gift.”  Or listen to Ephesians 1: 7-8 ”In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  Later in Ephesians 3 he prays that we might have the power “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” 

             Yet , here is the part that is so troubling.  How can we who have been the recipients of such amazing grace, be so stingy in dispensing it to others?  How about giving that grouchy co-worker the benefit of the doubt?  Lay off the horn when the distracted driver on the cell-phone cuts you off.  Why not smile and say something nice to the grumpy Wal-Mart clerk?  Or “cut some slack” to the busy waitress at lunch.  After all, “freely we have received, freely we should give. 

                                                                              Have a grace-filled week!
                                                                              Pastor Barry

P. S.     Have you ordered your BBQ sandwiches yet?  How about selling some at your work.  Or better yet show a little grace and treat your workplace to lunch.

P.S.S.   Don’t forget the Sunday School Picnic—This Saturday beginning at 5:00 P.M. (we will eat around 6:00 P.M.)
 
 
Greetings!  I hope your week is off to a good start.  This has been an emotional and difficult week for our family.  Last Tuesday evening we put our daughter, Karen, her husband, and our two grandsons on the plane back to Armenia.  We had a great three weeks spoiling and enjoying our boys.  Then on Wednesday afternoon we received word that Rosemary’s 82 year old father, Jack Meador, had been involved in an accident and was badly burned.  [In case you didn’t hear, he was putting gas in a hot lawn mower and it exploded back over him burning over 40% of his body].  He is stable and in the burn unit of UVA.  His spirits are good, but he is facing a long and difficult process of recovery.  The potential for complications is quite high at his age.  We appreciate all of your prayers and concern.  Rosemary and her sister Lisa are both Daddy’s girls and are struggling to deal with all of this.

             Needless to say we are learning much about the burn recovery process [let me just say the burn unit at UVA is phenomenal].  One of the things we are learning that relates to this devotional thought is that before the healing can begin and new skin can grow, all of the dead skin has to be removed.  The first painful surgeries and extensive procedures Jack has endured have been efforts to debreed or remove all the dead skin.  Before new skin can be grafted on, the old must be removed.  The same is true in our spiritual lives as  well.  Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4: 17-19; 21-24 “And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd.  They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself.  They can’t think straight anymore.  Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.  Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything —and I do mean everything —connected  with that old way of life has to go.  It’s rotten through and through.  Get rid of it!  And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you”—The Message.

             In the rest of the chapter he describes what this new life in Christ should look like.  We are to be truthful, self-controlled, honest, hard-working and generous.  We are to relate to one another in love, encouraging one another, being kind and showing compassion.  We are to forgive, just as Christ forgives us.

             The question I’ve been asking myself is this: are there pockets of greed, or deception, or lust, or impure thoughts, or dishonesty that are hindering my growth?  As painful as it might be, are the dead places in my life that the Master Surgeon needs to cut out, so that I can begin to grow into the new person Christ wants me to become?  May all of us have the courage to endure with patience the removal of the old to make way for the new.

             Through the prophet Ezekiel, God promises that …”I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  (Ezekiel 36:26)That day has come.  Ask God to remove the dead, unresponsive parts of your heart and replace them with a new heart intent upon following Him!

             Have a good week and remember to reach out to someone this week who is hurting.  Our congregation seems to be under attack and we need to stand together and encourage one another.
 
 
              Good Morning!  I hope your week is off to a good start.  And for those involved in Bible School last week, I hope you are beginning to recover.  It was a long, but very fun, week.

              I thought we had a terrific VBS.  One of the things that impressed me was the exuberance of the kids in praising the Lord.  Some of our children sang and danced and did the motions to the songs with great enthusiasm and joy.  We adults could learn something from them.  [Now I’m not saying we could do everything they did without injuring something, but we could surely imitate their joy in praising the Lord.] 

After all, when we think about what God has done for us doesn’t He deserve our praise?  Doesn’t He deserve our honor and our respect?

David was criticized by his wife Michal for his exuberant praise when he brought up the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  David replied, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and his family!  He appointed me as the leader of Israel,  the people of the Lord.  So I am willing to act like a fool in order to show my joy in the LORD.  Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, but I will be held in honor by the girls of whom you have spoken!” 2 Samuel 6:21-22 (NLT).

I don’t always succeed, but when I praise the Lord I try to forget that anyone else is even there.  My goal is to lift up an offering of praise to my King of Kings.

If you need something to jump start your praise this morning consider this verse from Psalm  89:8 (New Century Version). “Lord GOD All-Powerful, who is like you?  LORD, you are powerful and completely trustworthy.”   There is no one like our God.

Take time to tell Him this morning how much you love Him.  In the process you will be amazed at how it changes your perspective and mood.  Be like a kid again—Praise the Lord for all you’re worth!

In Christ,
Pastor Barry