Peace in Chaos

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. (Charles Spurgeon).

Concern is a normal part of life. There are things we should be concerned about. Our teenager is about to take the car out on his or her own for the first time. You may have confidence that they will not do anything foolish, but you also know that they lack experience in dealing with the unexpected things that may happen on the road. You are concerned. Your spouse, child, parent, etc. is in the military and is about to be deployed to a dangerous part of the world. You know that they are well trained. You know they will be on guard. You trust the people who surround them during their time over there, but. . . It is that but that causes you concern.

It is one matter to be concerned about situations that involve obvious and realistic dangers and unknowns. It is another matter to NEVER allow your teenager to drive on their own because of what “might happen.”

Over anxiety has a long list of health consequences.[1] In normal situations these consequences can actually help us as we deal with mild stress. It is those times when we allow the stress to take control that the harmful consequences begin to affect our lives.

Peace comes not from the passing of the event and the return of relative safety. True peace comes when we recognize that the one who holds the outcome of events in the palm of his hand holds our heart close to his own heart as well.

Pastor Craig

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[1] http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/how-worrying-affects-your-body

Wanting What God Wants

When we want something other than what God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy.”[1]

C. S. Lewis

I believe I can say with confidence that there are few, if any, people on the face of the earth who do not want to be happy. A large amount of our energy is spent running after, or trying to obtain happiness. We look for satisfaction in the things we buy, in the people we choose to surround ourselves with, and how we approach our careers and vocations.

Society tells us that the only way to be happy is to be true to your inner self. The only problem with that is that the majority of us have trouble deciding what we want off the dollar menu at a fast food restaurant, much less searching through the deepest parts of our soul to find that part which is authentic, if indeed there is one.

My question in this dialogue is, “Why would we spend so much time searching for what has already been found? Why do we go on the quest that has already been accomplished? If we want to how to operate a piece of technology in the most beneficial manner, it is usually best to consult the manual or to ask someone who knows a great deal about the piece of equipment in which we are interested? God qualifies in every aspect of that issue, but often he is the very last person we want to consult.

We fear that God will make us start something we really don’t want to do or require that we cease an activity that has become a personal favorite.

The truth of the matter is that God has programmed us to find peace, happiness, and satisfaction  in any kind of ultimate sense only as we conform to his standards. Anything else is a shadow of that ultimate reality, temporal and fleeting.

This season, as we light the candle representing love, consider Christ, the one who gave himself that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.

Pastor Craig

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[1] #CSLewis at Twitter.com

The Sermon from the Stock

It is Christmas, just barely, yet it is Christmas. I just came in from the barn. I fed horses, Longhorns, and a miniature donkey. I talked to them as I went about my business, as I usually do. I asked them about their day and told them about mine.

I know, for some of you, the mere thought is foolish. For those of you who dearly love animals, you know you speak of them as you do children. Many times you make sure they eat before you do. You tend to their every need, and you know they will listen to your concerns even when everyone else is too busy.

However, tonight is special. It is Christmas Eve. It is the night the animals speak. As tradition tells it, Jesus was born exactly at midnight. In the few minutes after the birth of Christ, the animals in the stable were the first ones to praise the birth of the new king. These praises lasted but a few minutes and were over by the time the shepherds showed up, but the legend continues and there are children and adults each Christmas Eve who are a little more attentive to the animals in their keeping.

To all of you who might be asking, “No,” I have never heard the animals talk on Christmas Eve. I have said many a thing to them, but I have never heard a reply. Yet there is a sense that those animals who tended the birth of Christ from the beginning somehow may be more in tune with the coming Messiah than many of us are.

On Christmas Day we celebrate that we live in a world into which the Messiah has come. He has come and is blessing us already. His very presence brings strength, life, hope, joy, and peace into our world of disorder, apathy, depression, and pain.

One of my favorite hymns is, God rest ye merry, Gentlemen.

God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay.

Remember Christ our Savior

Was born on Christmas Day

To save us all from Satan’s power

When we were gone astray.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy!

The first line of that song is my favorite. The word “rest” has a better meaning of “make” or “keep”. I have often heard people argue for the translation of “merry” as “mighty” when in fact that actually goes against the rest of the meaning of the first verse. We are not mighty. We are in need of radical intervention against a powerful enemy.

The comma belongs after merry which mean that the merry is not a descriptor of gentlemen. The first line is a short prayer or encouragement that God would make us merry and that our merriness comes from the victory already secured for us in Jesus Christ.

The phrase brings us rest and security. I get that same sense when I am out with the animals at midnight. When the one who cares for them is present, when they know they are cared for and loved, even a storm like blew through our area last night with lightning and thunder causes them no worry or concern. They rest in the presence of one they believe will make everything safe and right.

May God grant you that same sense of belonging, safety, and peace!

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Craig

Not Just a Good Idea!

Peacemakers – It’s not just a good idea. It’s not something for the betterment of humanity or the future of the planet. It IS  the command of Christ. We are not to wish for peace only. We are to make peace, sometimes against what seems to be the will of the parties in opposition to one another.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has called the parties involved to find ways to make peace in the Middle East. The GA has even offered some suggestions, some challenges, and identified some of the obstacles to peace in this region. The result has been attacks from almost every side. Remember, Christ did not call us to identify the party at fault. Christ called us to make peace between the parties involved, regardless who is at fault.

Romans 5:1 says We have peace with God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That peace wasn’t easy. It was achieved through much suffering and anguish, through pain and suffering, through death and resurrection. Being a peacemaker is dangerous and difficult work. It may bring attacks on you rather than the peace for which you are working.

It is so much easier to point fingers, to lay down conditions, to accuse someone else. Fighting seems so much easier.

I Peter 3:10-12 says, Whoever would love life and seek good days . . . must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.

How do you live the good life? How do you have more good days than bad ones? Peter says we do it by seeking peace and pursuing it. We don’t just wish for it. We go out and do something to obtain it. We work for it in our personal lives and in the lives of others. We DO NOT  sit on the sidelines and make pronouncements about who is right and who is wrong. We solve the problem. That’s a tall order, considering how long some of the hot spots in the world have been hot!

We do this because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. That’s us, people. It’s you and me. God looks to us to take the peace of Christ that he has showered upon us and do something with it. We offer it to the enemy, even as the Jews struggled through those first attempts to offer the Gospel, the peace of God which passes all understanding, to the Gentiles.

Pastor Craig