Tuesday, January 31, 2012

By Grace Through Faith

I don't know if you were there or not; but I was, and I was fairly well blown away.  "Where?" you ask.  At the performance of our first grade choir at the Green Campus.  You'll have to ask Mrs. Seacrest about the history, but somehow it became a tradition for our sixth graders and our first graders to sing and to put on a musical at Christmas.

The gym was packed with students and parents; and I was thinking, "These first graders are gonna be scared by all these people.  I don't know if they'll be able sing so the crowd will even hear them.  I'm not sure this is gonna work out!"

Silly me.

Not only did they sing, but they sang with enthusiasm and joy; and they filled the gym with music!  As I watched them I remembered that this was the class that had invited me to their picnic just last year when they were in kindergarten.  Two of the children that befriended me immediately when I started my new job were Grace and Faith from this class.

I located them in the choir and sure enough they were singing with mouths wide open, totally caught up in the message of Christmas.  Faith was singing so hard that she had her head thrown back and her hands placed firmly on her hips; I guess just to brace herself, so she didn't go backwards off the risers.  Amazing!

Many of us older types were wiping our eyes; you'll know why when you're our age.

It got me to thinkin' of a song and a Scripture.  Amazing Grace and Ephesians 2:8-9.


Yes, our girls Grace and Faith are Amazing, but even more Amazing is God's Grace that I can receive through Faith. 


 Get ready for a big word kids: REDEMPTION.  It means that God's free gift (His Grace) is to buy us back from being stuck in and stained by sin.  We receive the gift by believing, yes, trusting our lives to the person of Jesus as the One who bought this gift by His death and resurrection.


So Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by Grace you have been saved, through Faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."


Hey, Grace!  Hey Faith!  Thanks for the reminder!  


Dear Lord, thank you for first graders that sing with all their might about Your coming to earth in the person of Jesus.  We are grateful again this morning that you came to rescue us, "rob our sin and make us holy."  Give us Your full Faith in Your Amazing Grace!   In Jesus' name, Amen.


Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson   

Monday, January 30, 2012

Fixing Wheels

Over the fall I was watching Alexandra's dad walk through the parking lot.  He had a slight limp.  I asked him about his "wheels (meaning his leg)."  He said something like, "Torn ACL (hurt knee); gonna need surgery." I like a man that gets to the point with as few words as possible.

As we moved from fall to winter I noticed that the limp had moved from slight to fairly major.  And as he walked, I could tell by the look on his face that every step was pretty painful.  It was a good-sized task to walk from the car to the entryway of the school.  I hoped, as I watched, that he wouldn't slip on a slick place.   Yep, you guessed it; he'd had the surgery.  And now the walking was what would help him get better quicker.  Boy, was he determined!

We exchanged the normal pleasantries as he walked by with his precious pre-schooler on a few occasions.  Then one morning he stopped.  I could tell that all this walking on a stiff and painful "wheel" had got him to thinkin', but I wasn't quite ready for how deep that thinking had been.  He said something like, "It's amazing that when my knee was injured on the inside it looked normal on the outside.  But for it to be truly  healed, it needed to be cut open and repaired which caused a bunch of pain and a pretty good sized scar on the outside."


Wow!  Does that get you to thinkin', or what?! So, for example, sometimes our relationships look just fine on the outside, but there is something that's needs repaired between friends.  It takes the painful task of an apology and the granting of forgiveness for healing to take place.


Do you know who really understands this?  God.  God looked down at His creation and saw that they needed surgery so sin and its effects could be removed.  He did the most costly and painful thing possible!  John 3:16 says that He "so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." God's gift of grace was very costly; it cost Jesus a very painful death, but Jesus purchased healing and eternal life for all who believe!


Our role is to receive His gift by faith in humility.  It may not be easy to admit we have the need for His forgiveness, but it is absolutely necessary in order for us to "fix the wheels" of our friendship with Him.


Let's thank God for His "unspeakable gift!"  Dear Lord, we are so deeply grateful that You paid such a high price for us.  Thank You for the healing and forgiveness that are ours through Your gift of love.  Help us, Lord, to constantly extend Your healing and forgiveness to others with a willing heart.  In Jesus' name, Amen.


Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson


  

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Fully Charged

This is John; I am one of those sixth graders at Chapel Hill Christian School.  Pastor Wilson is letting me write in the blog today.

I really like music.  Country, rock, gospel - almost anything.  I have an I pod to hold this music, so I can listen to it.

The thing is this I pod is six years old, and it's almost as big as a computer (not quite, but you know what I mean).  This I pod can only play two songs before running out of power.  I have to constantly keep it in the charger, or it won't work.

Of course, my I pod got me to thinkin'.  Without a main source of power my I pod won't work.  That's like it is in our lives.  If we don't stay plugged into God, our lives will start to break down. 

John 15:4 says, "Remain in Me and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

We don't always stay close to God. We may think we can live without Him.  If we try life without Him, things will begin to fall apart.  Just like my I pod without a charger, we need God's power to keep our lives rockin' and to be a light for Christ!

Let's pray over it!  Dear Lord, please help us stay connected to You and learn to love You more deeply each day.  In Jesus' name, Amen.