How many of you like to move? Most of us are like, "NO WAY!" or "FGEDDABOUDIT!"
We're moving. Yep, we're boxing up all the stuff we're going to keep and putting it either in our garage or on a trailer, cuz' over the next couple weeks we're supposed to move into a different house.
Most of us, if we're honest, like things to stay the same. But there seems to be just one thing we can be sure of in this world: things will change. You'll be in a different grade this year with different teachers...your old computer won't run your new programs...your old x box won't play your new games...your little teeth will fall out and your big teeth will grow in, and then those teeth will eventually fall out as well, and the dentist will give you some teeth that aren't yours. Oh yes, things are changin' all the time.
There are changes that make us feel good: we get bigger and stronger. But there are some changes that are just hard to swallow: friends move away, loved ones get sick and sometimes people that are close to us die. Oh yes, even things that are important change.
Some of the kids at camp were singing the song "Lord I Lift Your Name On High." And I got to thinking, "Wow, Jesus went through unbelievable change: 1) He came from Heaven to Earth to show us the way, 2) from the Earth to the cross, our debt to pay, 3) from the cross to the grave, 4) from the grave to the skies..."
How did He deal with these huge changes? Read Philippians 2:6-11. First, Jesus didn't grasp what He was; instead He became all that God had in mind for Him.
Second, He came to serve. He found the work God had prepared for Him, and He did it to the glory of God.
Third, He obeyed God no matter what it cost. Don't forget; Jesus' obedience cost Him His life!
Finally, He trusted God, the Father, to reach down and take Him out of "the grave" and exalt Him to "the skies". Was God faithful? You better believe it! The Bible says that we will all bow before Jesus and say that He is Lord.
Philippians 2:5 says that I should let Jesus' mind be my mind! Hey, cool, huh? Moving is a good chance for me to try out becoming more like Jesus!
Let's have a good prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us the way to go through changes. Things change so much, Lord!
We give You permission not only to show us how to go through change, but to live Your life out through ours. Sooooo that as things change around us, we can impact the world for You to Your glory.
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Slip n Slide II
No, this is nothing like Toy Story II or Shrek II...this is something entirely different.
This is using the slip n slide idea but seeing it from a completely different angle.
Skyler, Josh and Mary Ann had thoughts that were totally different from mine when we were trying to invent a devotional thought from slip n slide.
Of course, they all thought it was funny when I belly flopped and stuck to the slide. Yep, its always a bit funny to see teachers or pastors get dunked in the dunking machine or wipe out in the inflatable moon bounce (which I also did last week). When I smacked my head against the moon bounce floor, everyone stared in shock; but once we all knew that I wasn't hurt, we were rolling around laughing.
So Skyler's devotion is simply this: "get up and keep trying!" If you belly flop or smack your head, which we all do at times, get up without whining and give it another go.
The Bible has a lot to say about a big word called "endurance". Hebrews 12:1-3 teaches us to "strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (NLT)."
Notice that the Bible doesn't just say, "Hey, quit being such a sissy! Get up off the ground and keep trying." It doesn't even say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
No, the Bible teaches us to focus on Jesus. He is the One who started our faith, who gives us faith and who perfects our faith. In other words, to "get up and keep trying" we must focus on the One (Jesus) who allows us to believe. Can you do it?
Let's pray about it!
Prayer: Lord, you know we will all fail, yes, do a complete belly flop. In fact there are times You build things around us in such away that we learn to look to You and trust You. But teach us, dear Lord, to keep looking to You when things are hard so that we can "get up and keep trying." In Your Powerful Name, Amen
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson
This is using the slip n slide idea but seeing it from a completely different angle.
Skyler, Josh and Mary Ann had thoughts that were totally different from mine when we were trying to invent a devotional thought from slip n slide.
Of course, they all thought it was funny when I belly flopped and stuck to the slide. Yep, its always a bit funny to see teachers or pastors get dunked in the dunking machine or wipe out in the inflatable moon bounce (which I also did last week). When I smacked my head against the moon bounce floor, everyone stared in shock; but once we all knew that I wasn't hurt, we were rolling around laughing.
So Skyler's devotion is simply this: "get up and keep trying!" If you belly flop or smack your head, which we all do at times, get up without whining and give it another go.
The Bible has a lot to say about a big word called "endurance". Hebrews 12:1-3 teaches us to "strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (NLT)."
Notice that the Bible doesn't just say, "Hey, quit being such a sissy! Get up off the ground and keep trying." It doesn't even say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
No, the Bible teaches us to focus on Jesus. He is the One who started our faith, who gives us faith and who perfects our faith. In other words, to "get up and keep trying" we must focus on the One (Jesus) who allows us to believe. Can you do it?
Let's pray about it!
Prayer: Lord, you know we will all fail, yes, do a complete belly flop. In fact there are times You build things around us in such away that we learn to look to You and trust You. But teach us, dear Lord, to keep looking to You when things are hard so that we can "get up and keep trying." In Your Powerful Name, Amen
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson
Friday, July 22, 2011
Slip n Slide
When was the last time you ran at full speed toward a sheet of plastic covered with water?
We got to play on a slip n slide just this past week at camp. My first trip wasn't very successful, cuz' I wasn't wet yet. I flopped on my belly and just stuck to the slide.
I quickly asked myself, "Are you hurt?"
"No, just having a little trouble breathing," I answered, "but I definitely don't want to show that; I just need to get up and try it again."
My next trip was quite a bit better. Ran fast...kicked my legs out in time...slid on my bottom off the end of the slide and made it out onto the grass about four feet. Almost as good as Skyler...well, not quite.
Only one problem...when you make it all the way to the grass you get mud and grass stuck to yourself in places that you couldn't believe!
And I got to thinking...that there are many slippery places in life. You know... places where if you step on the "wet plastic" with both feet you are going to fall. These places are things we allow ourselves to watch that are not good for us: wrong TV programs, wrong video games, wrong internet sites. They are slip n slides. There are slip n slides with wrong conversations: times when we talk badly about someone else or listen to lies or gossip or times we complain. Slip n slides also come in the form of wrong acts like fighting or disobedience to parents or teachers.
Many of these slides end in something called sin. Its sort of like getting covered with mud and grass you can't get off. The only way to be rid of sin is to ask Jesus to forgive it through the gift of His death on the cross. He died to take our punishment for sin!
When we stand on Him and His gift of love for us, we are not trying to stand on a slip n slide (which is almost impossible). No, the Bible says standing on Him is like standing on a rock. Listen to this from Psalm 62:2: "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
No slipping...No sliding! No mud...No grass! Solid Rock!
"On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand" (or slip n slide)!
Proud of you,
Pastor John
We got to play on a slip n slide just this past week at camp. My first trip wasn't very successful, cuz' I wasn't wet yet. I flopped on my belly and just stuck to the slide.
I quickly asked myself, "Are you hurt?"
"No, just having a little trouble breathing," I answered, "but I definitely don't want to show that; I just need to get up and try it again."
My next trip was quite a bit better. Ran fast...kicked my legs out in time...slid on my bottom off the end of the slide and made it out onto the grass about four feet. Almost as good as Skyler...well, not quite.
Only one problem...when you make it all the way to the grass you get mud and grass stuck to yourself in places that you couldn't believe!
And I got to thinking...that there are many slippery places in life. You know... places where if you step on the "wet plastic" with both feet you are going to fall. These places are things we allow ourselves to watch that are not good for us: wrong TV programs, wrong video games, wrong internet sites. They are slip n slides. There are slip n slides with wrong conversations: times when we talk badly about someone else or listen to lies or gossip or times we complain. Slip n slides also come in the form of wrong acts like fighting or disobedience to parents or teachers.
Many of these slides end in something called sin. Its sort of like getting covered with mud and grass you can't get off. The only way to be rid of sin is to ask Jesus to forgive it through the gift of His death on the cross. He died to take our punishment for sin!
When we stand on Him and His gift of love for us, we are not trying to stand on a slip n slide (which is almost impossible). No, the Bible says standing on Him is like standing on a rock. Listen to this from Psalm 62:2: "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
No slipping...No sliding! No mud...No grass! Solid Rock!
"On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand" (or slip n slide)!
Proud of you,
Pastor John
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Genesis 1:1
Well, we all know that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Well, at least most of us think that, don't we?
Well, I hope you believe that!
Some people have other ideas about how it all got started, but I was with a group of you the other day who all thought it happened like it's written: "In the beginning God..." So I had this really hard question: "Why is it so important that we believe that God created the heavens and the earth?"
I was hoping that one of you kids had a good answer, because I wasn't sure I had an answer myself...at least not one that everyone would understand.
No one raised their hand. I started thinking, "Uh oh." But I sucked in a deep breath and asked my really hard question again.
Katie raised her hand. I blew out the breath I had sucked in and called on her. She said confidently with a very thoughtful look on her face, "Well, its important to know who created you; because if you don't, you won't have a real purpose for living. And if you don't have a purpose for living, well, everything will just be chaos."
WHOA, you better read that answer again!
Class dismissed, cuz I simply can't improve on that!
Prayer: Help us be thankful today and everyday that You created us...and all we see and know. Thank you for giving us the purpose of glorifying you with our lives. Help us to know how to do that by listening to Your Holy Spirit and reading Your Word. And thank you that instead of living in and feeling chaos all the time, we can know Your "peace that passes understanding."
Philippians 4:6-7,
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson
Well, at least most of us think that, don't we?
Well, I hope you believe that!
Some people have other ideas about how it all got started, but I was with a group of you the other day who all thought it happened like it's written: "In the beginning God..." So I had this really hard question: "Why is it so important that we believe that God created the heavens and the earth?"
I was hoping that one of you kids had a good answer, because I wasn't sure I had an answer myself...at least not one that everyone would understand.
No one raised their hand. I started thinking, "Uh oh." But I sucked in a deep breath and asked my really hard question again.
Katie raised her hand. I blew out the breath I had sucked in and called on her. She said confidently with a very thoughtful look on her face, "Well, its important to know who created you; because if you don't, you won't have a real purpose for living. And if you don't have a purpose for living, well, everything will just be chaos."
WHOA, you better read that answer again!
Class dismissed, cuz I simply can't improve on that!
Prayer: Help us be thankful today and everyday that You created us...and all we see and know. Thank you for giving us the purpose of glorifying you with our lives. Help us to know how to do that by listening to Your Holy Spirit and reading Your Word. And thank you that instead of living in and feeling chaos all the time, we can know Your "peace that passes understanding."
Philippians 4:6-7,
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson
Friday, July 8, 2011
Bumper Boats
Have you driven a bumper boat? Matthew and I drove one recently.
A bumper boat has two buttons. One is green for "go". The other is blue for "shoot". Shoot a stream of water, that is. I was operating the green button; Matthew had the blue.
The trouble came in when I couldn't get the green button to make our boat go straight. Matthew, who was pushing the blue button for all he was worth, was struggling to do much more than shoot water. He wasn't really making many direct hits on other boaters. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the idea is to "super-soak" your friends who are driving the other boats?
On the other hand, Alex had learned how to get his boat to go in the direction he wanted it to go. By using his blue button, he was able to send a waterfall our way that landed directly on my forehead. Yes, I was "super-soaked"!
It reminded me of some verses in the Bible from Psalm 25:4-5: "Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You."
When we walk on God's straight path and put our trust in Him, the actions of our lives will not "miss the mark". We'll be "on target" and please God by letting Him lead us and teach us.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing us the straight path. Give us courage to walk with You by letting You lead and teach us each day. Then the things we do and say for You will be "right on target" and please Your heart.
Proud of you!
Pastor Wilson
A bumper boat has two buttons. One is green for "go". The other is blue for "shoot". Shoot a stream of water, that is. I was operating the green button; Matthew had the blue.
The trouble came in when I couldn't get the green button to make our boat go straight. Matthew, who was pushing the blue button for all he was worth, was struggling to do much more than shoot water. He wasn't really making many direct hits on other boaters. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the idea is to "super-soak" your friends who are driving the other boats?
On the other hand, Alex had learned how to get his boat to go in the direction he wanted it to go. By using his blue button, he was able to send a waterfall our way that landed directly on my forehead. Yes, I was "super-soaked"!
It reminded me of some verses in the Bible from Psalm 25:4-5: "Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You."
When we walk on God's straight path and put our trust in Him, the actions of our lives will not "miss the mark". We'll be "on target" and please God by letting Him lead us and teach us.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing us the straight path. Give us courage to walk with You by letting You lead and teach us each day. Then the things we do and say for You will be "right on target" and please Your heart.
Proud of you!
Pastor Wilson
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