God of all

A few of my friends are going through some really tough stuff right now.  A few others are celebrating some big successes.  As I am praying for them both I am reminded that our God is God of both those in seasons of prosperity and seasons of trial.  I think that there is some comfort in that.

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."  John 14:27 

What do you value?

 I have this friend who spends a lot of money on his hobby.  He collects vintage, third party, and current Transformer toys.  He has hundreds of the little plastic dudes, and has been collecting for almost thirty years.  Although he knows he should save all his extra cash to pay off debts, sometimes he just can’t resist buying the latest toy, or surfing ebay for a rare find. 

Ok, that friend is me. 

I admit that I have a problem.  But I have loved Transformers since I was eight years old.  I still have some of those original toys.  And although sometimes I know I should save my pennies, it just goes to show that for better or for worse our values drive us.

Have you noticed that we make decisions in life based upon that which we value?  If we value intimacy we will devote ourselves to pursuing it, sometimes in unhealthy ways.  If we value success, we will go for it, and sometimes we get swallowed up by that pursuit.

Not all values lead to pain.  Just misdirected values, or ones we don’t moderate. 

At Knox Presbyterian Church, Midland, we have six values that define who we are as a congregation, and what we will go after.  We value:

- Jesus and his teachings

- authentic Biblical community

- spiritual maturity

- making disciples

- culturally relevant ministries

- basing all we do in love of God and one another

It is our hope that all of our ministries will be driven by these six core values.

So what are your values?

-A

www.knoxmidland.ca 

More than you can handle?

Has anyone ever told you that God won't give you more than you can handle?  Did you know that isn't in the bible?  There is a verse that sounds something like it:

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.  Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry." 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 

Now look at this passage.  Really look at it.   What it is talking about is being tempted into idolatry.  Idolatry is putting anything before God. 

                Money can be an idol.

                Technology can be an idol.

                Acceptance can be an idol.

                Family can even be an idol.

Paul is telling us that we have the power (in Jesus, through the HS) to resist any temptation.

Why are we talking about this?  Well, Sunday we are going to explore the book of Job.  If you know anything about Job you know he was given a lot to handle.  I mean, A LOT to handle.  And when we talk about suffering I don’t want us to turn to Christian catch phrases or bumper sticker theology for answers.  Because if you have ever been through a difficult time in your life you will know that bumper sticker theology just makes things worse.

-A

www.knoxmidland.ca 

Why did Jesus do that?

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.  So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."  When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."  Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. John 11:1-6  

 This week I’m studying the story of Jesus’ friend Lazarus.  Two things come initially to mind.  First, Lazarus would make an awesome heavy metal band name. Right?! Second, why did Jesus delay?

I mean Jesus finds out that his friend is sick and he waits two days before he goes to visit him.  As a pastor my first response would be to get to the hospital asap.  But Jesus finds out his friend is sick and he’s like, ‘Meh.  He’ll be fine.’  :/

Then two days later he goes to see Lazarus.  Lazarus is dead – like four day old stinky dead.  And of course nobody is happy, and there is lots of blame to go around.

‘If only you had come right away Jesus.’

“Jesus Wept.”  John 11:35

Then Jesus says to them, ‘Roll away that stone.’  Of course they suggest otherwise (remember 4 day old stinky.)  But he says, ‘Do it.’  And they obey.  He prays a prayer, tells Lazarus to wake up and come on out, and I will leave you to guess what happened next.

Now what I’m going to say next in no way mitigates the pain and grief that Lazarus’ family felt at the time, but Jesus knew what he was doing when he waited those two days.  He waited because he wanted to show everybody that death was not the last word when Jesus was around.

Yeah, he could have rushed there and prevented his friend from death.  But they all figured that once dead meant always dead.  Nuh uh says Jesus.  ‘Not when I’m here.  When I’m here, I’m the last word.’

Isn’t that awesome?! 

So God knew what he was doing after all.  I’ll have to try and remember that the next time I’m feeling down and out.  

-A

www.knoxmidland.ca

What would you do if you were absolutely confident that God is with you?

On Sunday morning at Knox, Midland, I want to introduce you to another guy out of the Old Testament. Right now I’m studying all about Joseph’s life.   From him we learn another incredible lesson about how to deal with the ups and down’s of life.

Joseph knows all about plan B’s. His life was a series of plan B’s. It almost seems unbelievable, but then again you’ve probably been there. Maybe not quite so many times as Joseph, but you recognize that whiplash feeling. You’ve been in the good-news season of life where you feel things couldn’t get much better, only to transition into a crushing bad-news period.

-Maybe you prayed for a particular job and were thrilled when you finally got it . . . only to find out your boss was a total jerk that made your life miserable.

-Maybe you remember celebrating the fact that you finally got pregnant after years of trying and praying . . . only to miscarry a few weeks later.

         

-Maybe you stood there at the altar gazing into the eyes of someone you thought you would be with for the rest of your life . . . but something happened. Now you’re staring into the same person’s eyes across a courtroom.

What do you think our response is going to be when we go from the good news part of life into the bad news season where everything seems to be falling apart?  From our desired Plan A into a Plan B we never asked for and don’t want?

I think there is a question that can lead us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with God at times like this… if we have the guts to ask it.  The key question is this:

What would you do if you were absolutely confident that God is with you?

Stay dry folks.

-A