I was prepared for it and yet I wasn’t. I knew that James was right, “Life is a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” but I wasn’t prepared for the emotion I felt. Dad had been sick for so long. During his last week we knew he was in great pain. His death was a blessing and a sweet release but when it came I was a boy again. I thought of his strong hands; his confident, assertive ways; his laughter, his love of life; his determined will and I wondered, “What am I to do now?” I’ve never drawn a breath but that dad was here, now he is gone what will that mean? As a kid I never had a worry because I knew my dad could handle anything. Even through his health problems it never occurred to me he could be afraid or uncertain. He always embraced life, never backed down from a challenge and faced each obstacle with faith and courage. Life would be different from this point on. I was glad he had gone home to glory. I rejoiced in his joining the land of the living with Christ his Savior. I knew mom and dad were together again. I thought of all our family gathered in a great reunion and I experienced peace.
I’ve been thinking since Thursday about what my father taught me. He tried to teach me about cars and their maintenance…it didn’t take. He tried to teach me to love mincemeat, I refused! However, he did teach me the love of God the Father by the way he loved me. He taught me that love is unconditional and yet firm. He taught me that love cares enough to instruct, correct and rebuke. He taught me that real love makes sacrifices. He taught me to love the Scripture as he read and studied his Bible daily. He taught me to love the music of the church through his belting out the hymns Sunday after Sunday. He taught me relationship through his lifetime friends. He taught me respect, dignity and responsibility by the way he lived. I thought about another verse from James, “Every good and perfect gifts comes down from the Father above.” Thank you Father and thank you pop.
Can you believe we are almost at the end of another school year? I know, the kids can believe it. It has been so long. Parents are thinking, “Where did the time go?” Of course around here we know that means things are about to get busy. This Sunday, May 17, we will be hosting the Vespers Service for Webster’s Class of 2009. The service will be at 2:00 p.m. In a few weeks Vacation Bible School will kick off followed by a youth mission trip and before you know it youth camp! That means there are exciting opportunities ahead. We are going to be asking for volunteers and prayer commitments and an offering or two. This is such a wonderful time to invest in the lives of our children and youth but it also means that we will have a great deal of expense in a short amount of time. Please keep this in mind as you remain faithful in your regular giving and as you have opportunity to give to some special offerings.
Don’t forget that Sunday morning our children’s choir will be participating in our morning worship service. It is always great to see the children help lead in worship. I hope to see you and your family in Bible study and worship this coming Lord’s Day.
I had a thought Sunday (you know they say the first one always hurts). I was approached by a member who asked me to preach a sermon from a certain text. It was one of his favorites and he asked if I would preach a sermon from that text. The thought was this, “What if I asked for others? What if I planned my preaching this summer around ‘favorite texts’ or texts that folks had questions about?” I’m game, how about you? Here is the way it will work: You need to submit a text to me in writing. I say “in writing” because I have no confidence in my memory! The series I began Sunday morning runs through the end of May. I’ll start preaching from the suggested texts in June. I can’t promise to cover everyone’s but I’ll try to honor every request. I’ll also try to publish ahead of time what the next text will be. Now give me a chance, let’s not play “stump the preacher.” I’m looking forward to seeing how “Summer Favorites” comes out.
I also want to remind you that we’ll not be having an evening service this Sunday (May 25) due to Memorial Day Weekend. I hope that you’ll have a wonderful time with friends and family. I’ll see you and your family as we gather for worship this coming Lord’s Day.
Summer is here. Can you believe it? Where did spring go? Of course summer means that VBS (Vacation Bible School) is just around the corner as is the youth mission trip, children’s camp and youth camp will be here before you know it! That means things will get busy around here real quick. It also means that we’ll be spending a bunch of money over the next couple of months. I’m telling you this because we’ve been losing ground financially over the last few months. We’ve had repairs and upgrades and in the process our general fund has gone from a balance of $25,000 in January to $6000 at the end of April. It is critical over the next few weeks that we hold spending as much as possible and that we maintain giving to replenish funds. I know that summer is busy with travel, vacations and weekends at the lake and with family but don’t forget the financial needs of your church in the process.
In last week’s Messenger I mentioned the “Summer Favorites” series, to date I’ve just received one request! There is still plenty of time to get those in and I’m hoping that I’ll see several in the next few days.
I look forward to seeing you and your family as we gather for worship this coming Lord’s Day.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25, ESV)
05/17/09 a.m.: “Marriage: What Is It & What Happened?”
