“Birth of a Lord”

Matthew 1:18–19 ¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

            Everything just has to be perfect, family is coming, friends will be there, and every preparation must be completed just right.  I’m cleaning the house so don’t get it dirty, and if you have any trash take it out to the garbage can because I’ve emptied the waste paper basket, and trash receptacle and washed them too.  So… don’t you dare get anything dirty or messed up!  The wife has put in many hours to make sure everything is perfect from a clean house to the baking of Christmas goodies, to making sure the perfect meal is being served on the perfectly set dining room table with all of the festive decorations. It’s just perfect.  What! Why did you have to go and touch something?  .Now look at it!

            Something to that effect, had to be going through Joseph’s mind.  Everyone will be looking, the law included, everything must be perfect for this marriage to start off right.  You know those Jewish traditions.  What happened should not have, his bride to be was with child and it wasn’t his and this means it is against all the laws they were taught.  If anyone finds out Mary will be stoned.  Thank God for His intervention, without it everything about this marriage would be going south and I don’t mean Bethlehem.

            This is the Son of God, the promised savior; should He have come into this world respecting all of the laws of those God has called His chosen people?  After all, didn’t our God make the laws?  Why was this child born in such mean estate?  Not only was He born in a stable, resting in a feeding trough, and wearing rags, He was born of a mother who was to be betrothed to man who would only be the His stepfather.  This just doesn’t seem right it surely isn’t perfect, especially for one who is to be the savior for all people, and especially a savior to God’s chosen Jews.

            Romans 1:1–6 ¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ²which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ⁶including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

            He is our Lord in the flesh, “Immanuel,” God with us fulfilling the scripture of the Old Testament, Genesis, Isaiah, and others.  He came in such mean estate to face a people who lived in the meanest of estates, the one we call sin.  Not to punish those who sinned but to save them from the consequences of their sin.  Just believe and it will be done.

            The Christ came to us in the poorest of means to gift us with the mercy that keeps us out of the clutches of a spiritual death and the grace of His salvation that gives us eternal life and close relationship with our God.  Christ was not born to force our allegiance and lord it over us.  Who would you follow?  Would you follow the one who bosses you around?  Would you follow the one who shows you that you are not being asked to do something that the one asking would not do too?  Would you follow the one who takes or the one who gives?

Matthew 1:20–25 ²⁰But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

²³“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). ²⁴When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

            Our God, our Savior, our Lord came to us humbled coming not as a great and powerful God, rather coming as a simple peasant child.  Though Jesus Christ came in such humbleness, He proved to be the greatest of Lord’s to a people who needed mercy and also turned everything around to give us Saving Grace through eternal life and relationship with our loving God.

Romans 1:7 ⁷To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

GO and Serve The Lord; Being Excited in What He Gives You.

God Blesses Us Always, Christ and You are Living Proof

of It.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Prayer with Thanksgiving”

1 Timothy 2:1–4 ¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

            There is no doubt that you pray and ask God for help with your life and with those whom you love.  We all pray at some time or another.  How many of us pray for the poor, the evil, and those whom have hurt us, not to say that you don’t, however these are not always the first things we pray for.  Most of our prayers but not all usually deal with what is going on in our lives around us and those things that affect us the most.  This is good; God surely loves it when we pray, because He knows that we are trying to depend on Him and we believe in Him, and this is what God wants from us, that we depend on Him.  It is called faith and trust and so we should continue praying to God through faith and trust that He will be faithful and answer our prayers. 

            Faith and trust is something we all have a hard time with, and especially at the times we pray.  We do not always trust that God listens or even answers all of our prayers all the time.  This is sometimes caused by not praying for the right things, that is, not praying in the will of God (James 4:3).  What God wants us to pray for is as important as God wanting us to pray to Him (James 5:15-17).  Getting back to trusting God, trusting in God does not come by just saying you will trust Him, it comes from getting to know Him.  Those who know God know Him through His word and actions.

Some try to recreate the creator and turn God into an idol of man’s making, this is not knowing God.  To know God is to know His word.  Some try to discredit God’s word and therefore hamper others from knowing God, this too turns God into an idol of man’s making and prevents the building of faith and trust in the one true God.  It is the very words that God had the writers put down in the canon we call the bible that tell us we have a God who answers prayer.  The Holy Bible is probably the most owned book and the least read of those who possess it.

            Jesus Christ says that whatever you ask in His name you will receive, (John 14:13-14).  Jesus also says that you will receive if you have faith, (Matthew 21:22).  That is, if you know God you will trust Him and look for the answer to your prayers and petitions to God our Father who will give you a fatherly answer.  Yes, God answers sometimes with yes, no, not yet, and He does it out of fatherly love and care for all. 

            1 Timothy 2:8a ⁸I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

            I love the time just before worship service, because our Elders come together and pray for all of you.  I love hearing their prayers for you because they come from their heart.  This is the one time we come together and put all other things aside and look to do the work our Lord has called us to do.  It is very uplifting to see the men of our church pray together.  True men are not afraid to pray together, and these are true men.

            I love it also when our Board of Directors get together and we pray for guidance from God trusting that He will answer what we have prayed for in His name and His will.  These too are real men.  Some people like to pray alone and that is good and that should happen in all of our lives. But lets not get hung up on our Lord’s word.

            Matthew 6:6 ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

            The message that our Lord Jesus Christ is trying to get across is to be genuine in your prayer, do not pray to be seen so as to bring glory to yourself.  Jesus surely wants us to pray in privateand He wants us to pray together too.

            Acts 1:14 ¹⁴ All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

            When we pray together we become one together in the name of Christ.  We become an active member of the body of Christ, not dysfunctional, but healthy growing, and a productive member of Christ’s body the Church.

1 Timothy 2:5–7 ⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

            We can surely pray thanking our Lord for all His blessings and intersession for us all.  Jesus Christ prayed for us too, and asked that the Father be one with Him and we too be one with Him, (John 17).  This Jesus did through faith and trust that God would help Him fulfill this prayer.  Jesus was part of the answer to His own prayer for us by giving Himself for our sake.  Christ is the answer to most of our prayers as He suffered humility, pain and a death nailed on a cross.  It is through this extreme effort that He ransomed Himself to give us a life we ask for.  Though God has said to many not yet, we can be assured that His not yet is a yes given at the proper time.  A testimony is something true, and Jesus Christ is the testimony of God’s promises fulfilled.  Christ is the answer to our ultimate prayer for a life of pure joy, which is given to us in an eternal life and loving relationship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

By Pastor Curtis May

GO and Serve The Lord

 Being Excited in What He Gives You

God Blesses Us Always, Christ and You are Living Proof of It.

“I Am The Foremost, and still in the Body of Christ”

Ezekiel 34:20–21 ²⁰“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad,

1 Timothy 1:12–17 ¹⁷To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

          It is said that the first impression is what gets you into the door.  This is true when one is new to an area, in an interview, or introducing themselves to the parents of the one they would like to spend the rest of their lives with.  It is also true because the first action we take in almost every facet of life is to judge another person, a situation, or an action performed by another person.  This is also true, most of the time when we judge someone else, we find that what we judged them on we too possess that same fault.  It becomes a reality check on pointing ones finger and seeing three fingers pointing back at us.  Most of time, when we judge, we do so with little or no good information, and then we judge each other with attitude and agenda.  This is why God should judge and we should not.  This is why Jesus Christ says…

Luke 6:37-38 Judging Others

^{37 ,} “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

          However like Paul, we can judge our self, or maybe not, for Paul did not really judge himself, rather he was judged by God’s word.  We too are judged by God’s word and find that we are a sinner and like Paul we are numbered among the foremost of sinners throughout our life. 

I too have to look at myself every day and see my reflection in the mirror that God has placed before all of us.  The mirror that God has given us reflects our true image and is made of God’s laws that we break and misuse on a daily basis.  We even rewrite God’s laws and give them new definitions to justify our breaking them.  We even try to water God’s laws down and try to make them to be something not important enough to worry about.  No matter how hard I try God’s laws still reflect who and what I am, a foremost sinner just like Paul and just like you, and we are all still in the body of Christ.

1 Timothy 1:12–14 ¹²I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, ¹³though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

          Acts 9:15-16 ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. ¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

          Paul was all that he judged himself to be or rather that the refection God’s laws portrayed him to be, and Paul accepted this image of himself to his humbleness and to His reward (1 John 1:8).  It seems odd that God say’s Paul will see how much suffering he will have to face for God’s name’s sake and Paul then thanks God for appointing him to God’s service.  After reading this I thank God too for appointing me to His service, for I know that God forgives me as He forgave Paul.  In fact we can all rejoice for God has called and appointed us all to His service and for the same purpose as Paul was appointed to serve.  We are called to be a functional part of the body of Christ, for His will setting our will aside.  God’s good and gracious will is…

1 Timothy 1:15–17 ¹⁵The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

          God’s will for us is to share in the eternal life and relationship He has promised us and therefore witness to the world Matt.28: 18-20.  What did Paul say?  We have a God of patience.  We do have a God of patience and His patience is preceded by His grace and mercy. God has given us the greatest and best of His love through Jesus Christ who also suffered and died in service to His and our Father in Heaven.  It is the greatest show of love that Jesus Christ could show to those who came from His Father’s creation.  Jesus Christ shows His love for God by suffering the punishment for all sin and perfecting the means to give continued life to those whom God loves, you, we, us.  So we suffer in this world; our tears will be wiped away in the next world that is an eternal life and relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We can look forward to that perfect life, relationship, and joyful love, given as a gift from God’s heart.

Luke 15:10 ¹⁰Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

John 10:11 ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Amen in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“Getting Excited Part 4”

Isaiah 66:18–19a ¹⁸“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, ¹⁹and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory.

          We have put a lot of thought and work into our festival, “The Gift of Peace.”  God knows of our thoughts and why we thought them, He also knows our works and the cheer we felt as we did them.  Sometimes the labor is hard and takes us out of our comfort zone or our daily routine.  Biblically we can consider Abraham, Joseph, the Prophets and Moses. They too had thoughts and they were not always as positive as God would have liked them to be.  However, each of these historic people saw some of the fruits of their labor and gave glory to God for what they saw and what was yet to happen.

          We might not see all of the fruits of our labors, but we will see more fruits as we continue to labor towards God’s commission we read in Matthew 28:18-20.  It is looking at the little things along the way that allows you to see the fruits of your labor. This is easy to see in the life of Joseph. There might be set backs on the way, however if you look close enough you will see the gains.  Abraham, Joseph, The Prophets, and Moses saw little gains and they were excited to see these gains.

          I know that I have seen a lot of these little gains throughout my life when I look back at where I’ve been.  I see these little gains continuously every day as well as I realize what God is showing me.  My excitement grows as God shows me what gains He has lead me to be a part of.  We can all grow in our excitement as God is showing all of us the little gains happening all around us every step God takes with us and we take with Him.

Isaiah 66:19b–20 And they shall declare my glory among the nations. ²⁰And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.

          Along with every little gain follows a larger gain and this larger gain is filled with pure excitement as it also is made up of pure joy.  When we get excited over the little things, we can give God the glory and in return God will build your excitement.  God wants you experience the excitement that He provides, especially when it comes from His Glory, because it brings excitement to Him as well.

          Just think about as we reach out to all of our brothers in mankind to let them know we care, these brothers get excited to see this care.  This excitement grows as we all feed off from God’s word, His promises, and especially as we realize how he works His gift of salvation for us.

          Isaiah 66:21–23 ²¹And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

²²“For as the new heavens and the new earth

that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so shall your offspring and your name remain.

²³From new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me,

declares the Lord.

          These verses we just listened to should bring us great excitement.  Here God tells us that we have something to look forward to, that not only will there be a new heaven and a new earth but they will remain.  That is, God is making us something that will not fade, or disappear, or be destroyed, but something to remain for all eternity.  This comes from the words of our Lord that we read in John 3:16-17.  God gave us His Son to save us not to condemn us.

          Jesus Christ chose to die for those whom God calls His own, and we are all His own.  Jesus chose to die so that we could have eternal life.  And in this new and exciting time looking forward to the new heavens and earth; we will not only live in this place but have an eternal exciting relationship with our God. Amen.

Written by: Pastor Curtis A. May

“Getting Excited Part 3, By Faith”

Jeremiah 23:16 ¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

            We live in a world that is being taken over by Hollywood through actors and actresses who played a role of a smart person, or some great politician, or an airline pilot.  We are allowing our world to be changed by role models that think because they played a wise and great person in a movie they too are great and wise and become philosophers and profits in their own mind.  These people play a make believe scenario of life and now are convincing people they are life’s experts.  And, for what?  So they can justify their own sin by convincing you if they do it, it is ok for you too.  

Hebrews 12:3 ³Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Jeremiah 23:17-18 ¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

            ¹⁸For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord

to see and to hear his word,

or who has paid attention to his word and listened?

            At one time in the history of mankind, actors and actresses were look down upon as people who were too lazy to work.  Don’t misunderstand me, there is a lot of work in their business however acting a part of Moses is not the same as being Moses, nor does it make you an expert on Moses.  You see these people and others count on your faith being little to none.  The false prophets of our time want to take advantage of your human nature, and obscure your sinful nature to make it look all good.  Where is your faith and how easy are you trapped by the unknowledgeable?

            Faith in God described, is to believe in what you have been told by God will happen even if you cannot see it before it happens.  What faith is not is doing it yourself because you’re afraid that it won’t get done otherwise.  In the book of Hebrews chapter 11 the author writes a list of examples of faith.

Hebrews 11:17–31 ¹⁷By faith Abraham, offered up Isaac his only son, Abraham considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead,  (all of the “By Faiths” is paraphrased)

²⁰By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

²¹By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph,

²²By faith Joseph, at life’s end made mention of the

            Each of these people did not see the promise given by God in their life time, yet they still had faith in God’s promises.  Their faith comes from believing that God will fulfill all of His promises in heaven and in the new earth, and in the new Jerusalem to come.

²³By faith Moses, when born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw the child was beautiful, and were not afraid of the king’s edict.

²⁴By faith Moses, refused to be the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

²⁷By faith Moses left Egypt, not being afraid of the king, as he endured seeing him who is invisible.

²⁸By faith Moses kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

²⁹By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land,

            Though Moses and the Hebrews with Him did not see the promised land, their offspring’s did.  Though the promised land on earth did not welcome them, they are all being welcomed into the promised land of God’s kingdom of heaven.

³⁰By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after encircled 7 days.

³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with the disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

            By faith we come to worship the one who is not seen

By faith we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

By faith we read and study the word of God and take it as the inerrant and inspired word of God.

By faith we believe that our baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, cleanses us from all sins and assure our name to be written in the book of life.

By faith we believe that when we take the bread and wine with the word of God that we are taking Jesus Christ’s true body and blood.

By faith we, help our neighbor and forgive one another.

By faith we have the courage to step out of our comfort zone and know that God’s will for us to succeed is real.

By faith we know that our little church congregation can give the gift of peace and that we might be part of the heart of God.

Hebrews 12:1–3 ¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

            By faith Jesus Christ endured the pain, suffering and humility to the cross, and died on that cross trusting that He did not die in vain.  So then, by Christ we have been given faith, for God keeps all of His promises and has promised His Son that this act of grace and mercy needed to be accomplished to save His fallen and misplaced children.  We are misplaced through our sin, that is, we are separated from God.  However God through Christ Jesus bought us back denying deaths hold on us by giving us mercy as we deserve death.  And God gives us eternal life, a grace we do not deserve, He washes us and clothes us to be perfect with the blood of the one who is perfect Jesus Christ our Lord.  By faith we can be excited in that we have a God who loves us into eternal life and relationship with Him.  Amen.

“Getting Excited Part 2 Giving by Faith”

Luke 12:22–23 ²²And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

            Rusty notices us getting ready; he sees all the signs and usually figures out that Anita and I are going somewhere.  You know when Rusty has figured out that we are going somewhere especially when he runs to the door leading to the cars and waits nose pointing to the edge of the door where it will open.  Then comes the let down, those sad puppy eyes stare up at you as you try to explain it will be to hot or to cold in the car and we would not be able to take him in with us when we get to where ever we are going. 

It takes Anita half the trip to get over seeing Rusty standing there at the door feeling rejected, froze in his tracks and looking like he’s ready to give out big puppy tears.  And then…, we come home Rusty is waiting at the door wagging his tail, jumping up and down for joy so glad to see us that you wonder if he really was sad that he couldn’t come along.  Of course Rusty is expecting a plastic bag to grab out of our hands and tear open to find a new toy just for him.  And if we don’t have the bag, Rusty runs to his toy box grabs an old toy, one or two days old, and brings it to us so we can chase him around as he plays keep away with us, he usually wins. 

Rusty seems to be excited to be with us and wants to be with us all the time.  So his sadness, when we have to leave him behind, is just temporary and short lived at least until we come back home.  It never ceases to amaze me, Rusty finds ways to keep excited about our return, whether we bring him a new toy or not.  Rusty is very much a part of our lives and he wants us to be very much a part of his life too.  Maybe that is why a dog is God spelled backwards.  Dogs are an example of the will of God in the form of wagging tail.

Hebrews 11:1–4 ¹Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ²For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

⁴By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

By faith Rusty knows he will be fed, loved, and cared for even when it doesn’t quite go his way.  Abel had a faith like that and gave to God by his faith.  Rusty doesn’t wag is tail because he feels he has to, Rusty wags his tail because he wants to show his excitement to be with us.  Cain felt he had to give; Abel was able to give by true faith and love.  Dogs don’t give out blind love, but they give out genuine forgiving love.  I have seen dogs turn on masters who continually abused them.  James says he will show you his faith by his works.  Works come from having faith in that God will provide the way to succeed in His will.

Matthew 7:16-17 ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

            Thus the difference between the giving of Abel and Cain.  Abel gave unselfishly by faith and love and was excited about it.  While Cain selfishly gave and felt it was something he had to do and lacked in faith and love.

Hebrews 11:5–6 ⁵By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Our Faith can be strongest in that we through the word of God know we have a God who loves us.  We know that God loves us because He has given us His word written and through His promises that are written for us God shows His love too.  We can be assured of our Lord’s sincerity is genuine as He has worked Himself to death to give us the assurance of our salvation.  Our Lord shows His love for us by dying on a cross to pay for our adoption so that we too can be the children of God.  This is why we seek after Him, that He has made us His forever.

Hebrews 11:13–16 ¹⁴For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

            What a gift to be given at the door of our new home, life eternal, paid with great love so great that He did not count it as a sacrifice but He counted it as love.  Jesus Christ our savior, the one whom we can have faith in that our hopes to have eternal life and relationship with Him is assured through His works and by His faith in the Father.

Luke 12:22–34 ³²“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

            Our treasure is Jesus Christ, His heart is with us so that our heart can be with Him.  It would be worth having a tail to wag just to show the excitement that our Lord grows in us each day we ponder on the salvation he has given to all, wanting for all, perfecting for all.  Amen.

Written by Pastor Curtis May

“Getting Excited In Christ Part 1”

Colossians 3:1–4 ¹If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

          Why are you not excited about your life with Christ?  The answer could be as simple as this; your focus is on the here and the now.  We are asking, “Where am I in the scheme of life?”  “How close am I to the rich man’s life?”  Or, “have I provided enough for myself to live a leisurely vacation for the rest of my life?” Well, leisure and vacations are nice, no work, no worry, just enjoy. 

Vacations are the simple life of leisure that lasts for a week or two, or if you can afford it maybe a month.  And then, it’s over; we scurry back to our life of humdrum thoughts of wishing our life were like a vacation all the time.  Of course we know that if life was always a vacation we’d soon want something more, and who does not want more?  No, we’re not excited about our life with Christ because we are too busy being worried about making this life exciting or our life to be heaven here and now.

Luke 12:16b–20 ^1b6 “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ ²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

          Where were we?  Not that I am trying to continue a conversation that I forgot where I had left off.  Rather I am asking, where were we, when we first started together as a congregation struggling to survive and wanting to grow? 

          This is an experiment you can try and it really works so I’m told.  This experiment might tell us about ourselves and where we were and where we can go. 

Take a 16oz. mason jar and put some live fleas in it.  You might have to stop the flea treatments you give your pets, take off their flea caller, or just see if your husband has some in his beard.  A full beard might produce more fleas; I’m not sure about foo-man-chooes or goatees.  Well, once you have the fleas in the jar screw the top on the jar so the fleas don’t escape and go back to where you found them. 

Now comes the exciting part, watch your captive audience as they try to jump out of the jar.  You will notice that the fleas will jump and bounce off the top of the jar’s lid.  Ouch, that’ll leave a mark.  As they continue to jump and hit the lid with their tiny little heads, they realize that they cannot go any further.  The fleas lose heart and they start to jump to only 3/4s of the way up the jar.  After awhile all of the fleas get used to the idea it is only safe at the 3/4s mark and they all succumb to that height of jumping. 

          Now comes the interesting part.  When someone comes along and takes the lid off the jar, what do you think happens to our little fleas?  Well one thing is for sure they don’t flee as you might expect.  Our free fleas though free to flee continue to only jump 3/4s of the way up the jar they have gotten used to living in.  They have been trained to a comfort zone of 3/4s and less of what they had before when they could have jumped out of the uncovered jar.

The fleas don’t get excited that they are fleas free to flee their captivity.  They don’t get excited because they are still living in their here and now.  They are captives of their comfort zone, and fear being free to flee their flea bitten captivity.

          Luke 12:21 ²¹So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

          Our lives they come and go in the flash of time, and when you think of eternity, our life is not even a blink of an eye; nor is the time our planet has existed.  The sadness we might face here and now will not even be a measurable fleeing flea bitten moment. In fact when you stop and really think about it, our life here and now is a mixture of sad and happy.  And if we have had happiness at all regardless of our sadness there is a joy waiting for us that is an eternity and our time of sadness was the least of all.  And Christ perfects all our eternal joy and happiness.

          A student from Africa once asked me why we wear such ornate crosses.  He went on to say that it was the instrument that took away our savior in such a bloody way, and we wear it as an ornate decoration.  It took me some time to think this through, but I eventually answered him.  It is true that our Christ died a terrible death on the cross, shedding His blood for all of us.  The true instrument that killed our savior is our sin and not the cross.  The ornate designs of the crosses we wear signify the contrast of what happened on the cross.  Jesus who was perfect died to give us the sinner a life of pure joy and not this life but our life with Him when He comes to take us all to the place He has prepared for us. 

          John 14:1-4 ¹ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”

          I’m excited for Christ, even though I am a sinner He has assured my life eternal and gives me freedom to flee the captivity of sin and have an eternal relationship with Him forever and ever, Amen.  And this He does for you too.  Christ is building that excitement in you too. Amen.

Written by: Pastor Curtis A. May

“Turning the Corner Part 4; God is Your Neighbor”

Luke 10:25–28 ²⁵And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

            If you can keep these laws first given to the Hebrews in Deuteronomy 6:5 (loving God) and Leviticus 19:18 (loving your neighbor), then you will live.  Jesus did not tell this lawyer everything though.  To live by the law one (the lawyer) has to follow the law perfectly, and then he will live the eternal life he is asking about.  It’s not surprising that a lawyer would try and dig deeper to throw off Jesus whom he is cross-examining. 

The lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?”  Most people would say our neighbors are those who live close by on the street we live on or on the other side of our back yard.  Jesus teaches us that everyone is our neighbor, especially those in the immediate proximity of where we are at any given moment.  So where is God in all of this?  I’ll give you a hint; He is always with you.  Lest we forget and we do, God is with us everywhere we go and all the time.  But, we do forget, and what is worse is that we will eventually forget again that God is with us always.  The next time you swear, gossip, or do anything that is a sin you might want to look around to see if God is there with you before you do it. 

Leviticus 19:12 ¹²You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

This is how we love God; we forget that God is always with us.  We sin, thinking no one is looking, and because we can’t see God we forget He is there right beside us.  Drat’s! He sees us in our captivity of sin, and now the broken law cannot save us.

Have you ever poured coffee in a cup that had a hole in it, or water in a glass that was cracked?  The only way the law can hold water is if it is not broken, in other words there can’t be a crack or hole in the law, it must be held perfectly to save us.  Do you keep the greatest command perfectly, do you love God with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind.  If you said yes you might want to read 1 John 1:8.

Leviticus 19:16–18 ¹⁶You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

¹⁷“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. ¹⁸You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

            Do you love your neighbor as yourself?  This is the question that Jesus asked the lawyer, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  We read/interpret most things to our advantage, even the lawyers interpret to their advantage for their clients.  It’s all about what’s in it for me, what will I gain?  Very seldom is it about our neighbor and what will they gain for their benefit.  To the Priest and the Levite, seeing this man on the side of the road beaten and stripped of his belongings, this man could be anyone and maybe one who is unclean.  It was very important that they kept ceremonially cleaned especially if it was the Sabbath or a festival.  After all the law is more important then loving ones neighbor.  The word of the law can entangle us at times and get in the way of doing what is right, that is, loving our neighbor. 

Luke 10:36–37 ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

            Jesus told the law keeper (lawyer) go and do likewise, that is, keep the law of the gospel and show mercy.  Maybe it would be better to know of God’s mercy and help our neighbor rather than think our works and the law will save us.  The one who shows mercy follows the true law, of loving God and loving our neighbor, the gospel. 

Jesus Christ allowed himself to be put into the hands of those whom the Jews said were unclean.  This was to show that it was not just the sins of the Jews that crucified Jesus; rather the guilt belongs to the whole world.  Never the less Jesus died for all sin offering mercy to a world of all sinners.  When Jesus could have stepped away and crushed us all for our sins, He stands firm in His love for us and took the punishment we deserve for our sin. 

Yes God is your neighbor, and He shows us mercy every day, and then gives us His grace too.  Through mercy though we are unclean, God saves us through His Son, sparing us from the means of the law.  Through grace though we are unclean He washes us clean with the blood of His Son, giving us eternal life and relationship with Him.

Colossians 1:13–14 ¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Amen.

Written by: Pastor Curtis A. May

Let us go forth in the Peace of our Lord and Serve the Lord who loved us first.

“Turning the Corner Part 3, Go Therefore”

Luke 9:57-62 The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

            Jesus had just turned three possible followers away, or they thought it over and stayed, Luke 9:57-62. However, those who did stay got a different speech from the One whom they still followed. 

There is a price to pay when you follow Jesus and it’s not $19.⁹⁵.  The question to be asked is it too costly to follow Jesus?  Well, are you ready to leave your previous priorities behind to put Jesus as your first and most important priority? 

To paraphrase Matthew 6:33, seek God first and all your needs and good wants will be added unto you.  But, when do we do that and think that putting our desires first is not a sin, or have we forgotten the first three Commandments, Exodus 20:3-11, or even the greatest Commandment Mark 12:30.  Oh well, what does it matter there is of course forgiveness.  Of course forgiveness does come with repentance.  What would it look like in every congregation if we did put God first?  Now that would be turning the corner.

Luke 10:1–3   ¹After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ²And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

            Jesus did not guilt people into following Him rather He told them the truth, if you are to follow Jesus you might lose some of what you have, and certainly you will lose your life as you live it now.  Believe me when I tell you I know this first hand, my life is nothing compared to what it was before I was called to be a pastor. 

Actually my life is better than when I had more of the earthly wealth; because I count the heavenly wealth God has gifted me to be much more valuable.  (It lasts forever)  You do not all have to become pastors to follow the call of Jesus, but you do have to listen to what God has called you to do, hear His message for you, and have no anticipations.  Oh yah, and be aware of the wolves out there, as well as the wolves within the congregation of all believers too.

Luke 10:4–6   ⁴Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. ⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.

            What Jesus is saying here is not to be taken too literally. It is that Jesus tells us what is important is staying on task and not deviating from the task that is set before us.  What we do, we should do in peace, and do not return attitude with attitude.  If you are not received in peace then do not force your way, but go and offer your peace to others who will receive it.

            Luke 10:7–11 ⁷And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you.

            Again do not take this too literally, however if they offer you refreshments be kind to accept them because you show that you accept them too.  Staying in the house means for us to be the nurturer of those whom you are helping to seek out the Lord.  Again remember it is the work of the Holy Spirit working through you that is doing the nurturing.  Therefore do not abandon those you sought out as if you are putting notches of accomplishment on your belt.  Rather be part of their walk with Jesus and let them be part of your walk with Jesus.  Once they are mature in their beliefs then both of you can go to different houses to cultivate and grow more believers as the Holy Spirit works through them and you.

Luke 10:16–20 ¹⁶“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” ¹⁸And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

            All glory to God who first saved us.  Christ came to save a world not just a few.  Jesus died on the cross for everyone’s sin not just those who believe.  The Gospel is to be shared as Jesus Christ shares His inheritance of eternal life and relationship with our Father in heaven.  Our Father in heaven adopted us back into His arms through the great love He has for us even though we have all fallen away.  And that we have fallen away Our Father in heaven helps us turn the corner towards a better life, an eternal life and relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, the cross and Christ’s resurrection.  Go therefore and serve the Lord only out of the love you have for the one who loved you first.  Amen.

Written by: Pastor Curtis A. May

Let us go forth in the Peace of our Lord and Serve the Lord who loved us first.

“Turning the Corner Part 2”

“Giving God the Glory with Cheer”

Galatians 5:1, 13–16 ¹For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

            It seems anymore that the generations of people in this country who claim our freedom to be great, confuse slavery to sin as freedom.  Sin is not something any of us can escape from on our own.  We might be able to abstain from some sinful acts, but we are unable to abstain from all sinful acts.  This inability to abstain from all sin makes us slaves to sin and therefore we do not have true freedom.  Well, I guess if we justify our sin and then we call it desire and under the name of desire we are slaves to desire, nothing changes.  So how one spells sin, does not change that it is still sin and we are still slaves to it. 

            Have you devoured anyone lately?  I saw on T.V. Paula Dean is being devoured for something she said and sounds like it was taken out of context to make it a hate crime.  If we take a close look at what is going on, everyone including the news, and her sponsors are committing a hate crime against Paula Dean.  They are doing everything they can to ruin her life, judging her saying she is only being sorry because of money, and making sure her name is dirtied in the ears of everyone.  Sounds like the news people should be charged with hate crimes, and our politicians too.  If mudslinging is not a hate crime then what is? This is not the example Christ showed us as He died for our sins so we could receive forgiveness.  Christ says love your neighbor and your enemy too.  Paul says we can fail through spending our time devouring our neighbor and then we are consumed by non-forgiveness.

When we disguise the name of sin we only fool ourselves and not the one God whom we pray to.  We act as if God is not looking, doesn’t care, or accepts any and all kinds of sin, unless we choose Him not to, based again on our desires.  We are that way with everything in our “me society.”  We only think of the other person when others are looking or we feel we have to.  It seems that we live on the auspice of “we’re only doing this because we feel we have to.”

Luke 9:51–62 ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

            “I’m doing it because I feel I have to”, this is working under the law.  “I’m doing it because of my love for God and His love for all people”, is letting the gospel work through us.

Galatians 5:16–18 ¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

We are turning a corner and moving forward more and more towards giving God the glory for what He is doing through us, because Christ freed us from the slavery of sin.  Christ also freed us from the slavery of the law so that we can live in an eternal freedom of life with God and have an eternal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

The law’s slavery demands payment for the sin it rules against, and the punishment is eternal death and separation from God.  Christ suffers, dies and pays in full the debt that the law requires and gives us the key to unlock the shackles we are bound in.  The key Christ gives us is belief in the forgiveness He paid for out of His love for us therefore freeing us from the clutches of sin and the demands of the law.

Galatians 5:21b–25 I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

            We live by the Spirit because the Spirit lives in us.  With the Spirit living in us we are able to realize the great gift we received from Christ Jesus.  As Christ the Son of God gives Glory to His Father in heaven, we too through the works of the Spirit can give glory to the same Father for we are now fully paid for by Christ to be His sons and daughters too.  It truly is something to cheer about, the grace, peace and mercy through the love from our Father above.  Amen.

Written by: Pastor Curtis A. May

Let us go forth in the Peace of our Lord and Serve the Lord who loved us first.