Wednesday, January 31, 2007

OUR DAY OF PRAYER AND PURPOSE

Good day dear friends.
As we pray let us be in prayer for Doug Carson, who was in and now out of the VA Hospital in San Antonio. Doug has been battling cancer and it's been quite a fight for him. He needs our prayers. Also, this morning at 11:30, Perry and Pat Heath will have a new grandbaby delivered by C-Section so please pray for a safe delivery and healthy baby. We continue to praise God for Luke (Luciano) Marazzo's recovery. His skin graft went well and he was set to do his first walking yesterday. He may be going home today or tomorrow and Friday will be when doctors assess the success of the graft. Leonard Moeller is recovering from hip surgery and should be in rehab soon.
We thank the Lord for last night's Prayer and Healing Service. Eric Brown provided music and we spent time at the altar asking God's power and presence in the lives of those who need healing. Join those present at church in your daily devotions this morning.
Here is our prayer guide for today:
Wednesday: This is our day of prayer and purpose. Please take time to appreciate the children around you. Make a list of those children who have blessed your life and lift those names up in prayer. Please pray now for those children that you know are suffering, hurting, hungry, thirsty, unwanted, abandoned, homeless, afflicted; and ask God to use you or your gifts to bless them and make them feel the love of the Lord.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

A MEMBER OF THE HOUSEHOLD?

Good day dear friends.
Luciano (Luke) Marazzo was set to have a skin graft yesterday at either 1 or 3:15. The parents were very hopeful all would go well. I visited with them yesterday morning. Doug Carson was on his way to the VA hospital yesterday afternoon. Please hold these families in your prayers.DON'T FORGET OUR JAN PRAYER SERVICE OF HEALING TONIGHT AT 7 PM.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Psalm 103:17 is a verse that speaks to us even today. Please find that passage and see what instruction it offers to us.
Here is that Psalm: "But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children."
God's love is like a neverending spring of water. Springs have always fascinated me. When I attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX, and in the years after when our annual conference was held there, I had to visit the park on the San Gabriel River. It was in the park that there were springs feeding the river. The little pebbles around the springs would dance nonstop as the water gushed out. In the same way, but more powerfully so, God's love come gushing onto us. Steadfast and everlasting. But it comes to "those who fear him." Always a catch? No. Always a blessing! God's love means more to those who respect God and are aware of God. And the added blessing is that to those who respect and love God receive a blessing of righteousness for their children.
It makes sense. In a home where God is real and loved by the parents, the children learn by example. Usually these are homes where God is so real that He's treated as a member of the household. He is praised, He is loved, He is spoken to and about, He is invited to all family functions, especially family crises. And the children of that household grow to have that relationship. In those homes where God is forced upon the children and the children have yet to see Him real in that family, grow to question and doubt God is real and available. The solution? Make God real for you and God will become real for your family.
PRAYER: Living God, fall afresh on me today and all days. Let me see to make you a part of my life in all things. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Monday, January 29, 2007

MAKING OUR KIDS COUNT

Good day dear friends. We continued our Made to Count sermon series with one called Making Your Kids Count, about how to instill in our children that which is most important namely their relationship with God. And with that in mind here is our study guide for today:
Monday: A very familiar Proverb is found in the Book of Proverbs 22:6. In it you will find an eternal truth. Please look it up and let it speak to your spirit as to what we should be doing with the children of the faith.
Here is that well-known proverb: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
A child is never too young to learn about God. Along with his or her crawling, walking, smiling, talking, he or she can learn about praying and the reality of God in your life and one day it will become real for them as well. Sadly, some folks believe teaching about God is for later years when a theological concept can be more realized. Yet, the simplicity of teaching something so theological profound as "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..." will come back later as a tremendous blessing for your child(ren).
"We've lost control of our kids" one church member told me after the first service. And that thought stayed with me throughout the day. I mentioned kids shoving their way through stores with no thought of saying "Excuse me" or even a "May I please get by?" Some would argue this is not a spiritual matter, but I would beg to differ. Lack of respect for others is not healthy in any realm be it spiritual, emotional or physical.
We all have a stake in raising kids in the God way. We all have to share in affirming that children are God's investment in our future.
PRAYER: Loving Father, speak to my heart as I seek to speak to my children and the children around me. Make me a servant and an example of how my life counts in You. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

THE MESS OF THE PAST

Good day dear friends. I trust we're all seeking to live as if we had a God-heart; guided by the Lord to be His servants.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Please find John 8:3-11. Here is the story of a woman caught in a dreadful act. We don’t know more about this woman only that something led her to a life that was not her potential. She was not living to God’s standards and Jesus’ compassion touched her and blessed her. Be blessed by this story!
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."]
Jesus could see through the woman and knew her history. We do not. There could have been countless things happen in this woman's life as child, as a teenager, as a young adult that led to her making some unwise decisions for herself and her life. It may have been her seeking the approval of a man that led her to be "caught in adultery." And it was a very big, very serious offense and matter. The ones who brought her out said, "this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery." We don't know who caught them (for there was a man involved and we don't know where he is or what happened to him), but they were ready to deal with this woman and to offer her life in exchange for her sin. The penalty was death through stoning. They wanted to trap Jesus by quoting the Mosaic law. Jesus replies by writing on the ground. We don't know what He wrote, but they kept questioning Him and he calmly says, "Let anyone among you who is without sin to cast the first stone." (my version). He then wrote on the ground again. Some have said Jesus was writing the sins of each person there on the ground. I think that would have tired out his finger. The question about being sinless is what left them speechless and made them walk off one by one. Jesus spared the woman's life and set her free from all she had ever done. "Go and do not sin again."
It is a sin to live outside God's potential for your life. It is a sin to allow past mistakes or sins done against you to keep you from living life in the full abundance offered by the Lord to us. This woman was now free to go and live a life that did not require her to seek approval or affection or love through men in this way.
What's holding you back from living with a God-heart?
PRAYER: Erase, O Lord, the sins of my heart and the pain of the memories of things done and said against me. Let me rise above the mess of the past, to the promise of the potential that is mine in Christ Jesus. I pray in His name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

IT'S NOT ABOUT BILLBOARDS!


Good day dear friends.
We continue to discover that in having a God heart we become builders and we discover the true potential God intended for us.
Here is our study guide: Tuesday: In the same book in chapter 6, the same powerful thinking continues about fullness of life. Please find verses 4-9. Read those prayerfully and allow the Lord to speak to your heart about what is truly important in life.
Here is that passage from Deut. 6: 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The above passage is known as the Shema by the Jewish faith. It is the morning prayer every Jew should pray. It is a prayer of identification and affirmation. It reminds the person praying of who s/he is and who God is. Look at those verses again and see if you don't sense the importance of God in one's life. We affirm there is only one God. And this one God is our God and deserves our love with such intensity that we love Him with our heart, our soul, and our strength. In other words in every realm of our lives we should be loving God! And not only is it meant for our instruction, it is something that guides our living and should guide our children's living. Verse 7 says we should be teaching our children about God. Instruction about God does not start in Sunday school; it starts at home. Every person who believes in God should be a Sunday school teacher every day. In your home, in your travels, as we are about to go to sleep and as we arise. If you need help remembering, don't tie a string around your finger, bind these words as a sign on our hand, and another one as an emblem on our forehead. And if that's not enough, let your neighbors know as they enter your house and your property!
You know what they meant. If God is so important to you, no one will have any doubts about your faith. It will be evident in all ways of your life. It's not about billboards, it's about beliefs lived out in ways that make a positive difference in your life: how you treat yourself, your spouse, your children, your family, your loved ones. It goes beyond the cross necklaces, Emmaus bracelets, cross label pins, etc. Are you living your faith in a loving way?
PRAYER: Father, it is so much easier to put a display of faith on our person than it is to live it. Help me to realize that I am called to live my faith in a way that makes You have first place in my life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Monday, January 22, 2007

A GOD HEART


Good day dear friends.
Our sermon yesterday in our series MADE TO COUNT was on discovering our God potential through having a "God heart," meaning one centered and guided by God. We spoke of being "builders" of one another and of God's reign here on the earth.
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday: We’re so familiar with the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus. Did you know they were also in Deuteronomy 5 as well? Please find those and look carefully at the relationship involved in each. See how the fullness of life comes to those who accept and try to live out each of the Ten Commandments.
Here is that passage: Deut. 5:6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 7 you shall have no other gods before me. 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, 10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. 16 Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 17 You shall not murder. 18 Neither shall you commit adultery. 19 Neither shall you steal. 20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife.
1. I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me. A declaration of relationship. God is ours and we are God's. In this relationship we are in first place with God and likewise we should have God first in our lives.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol. Nothing irked God more than to see people making idols with their own hands and then bowing down to worship their own handiwork! God cannot be confined to one spot. God is everywhere and an idol or an earthly representation ties Him down.
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God. God's name is sacred and should not be defiled or made unclean by our brining God's name to our level to suit our purposes. God's name is meant to be worshipped and loved. To bring it down in any way is a sin.
4. Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Set aside a day for God. And you. The Sabbath was a worship day and a day of rest. To observe the Sabbath means to keep that day as a day to go to God's house and worship Him and to set time to be restored for the coming week.
5. Honor your father and your mother. Remember the instruction and love given to you by your parents or those who raised you. Hold those memories and instructions in your heart. May your parents always hold a special place in your life. Do not disrespect nor profane the memory of them.
6. You shall not murder. Remember that life is a sacred gift from God. Do not take life away from anyone, including yourself. Seek to build up the life in others with kind words, acts, and thoughts.
7. You shall not commit adultery. If you are married, remember the vows of the covenant of marriage. Seek to hold on to your relationship and find ways for that relationship to grow. Disregard lust and passion and pleasure you think you might find in others.
8. Neither shall you steal. Respect other's property. If someone has something you would like to have, work hard to have it. Seek to have that which you need more than what you just want.
9. Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. Do not lie against others especially when you know a falsehood would bring harm or injury to someone else. Seek to affirm others and build them up.
10. Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife. WIth a God heart you respect others as being children of the Most High and do not see them as potential objects of pleasure or lust.
God's commandments were meant to affirm life and the relationships that are positive and uplifting between God, us, and others. Seek to have the full potential of life by living a life guided by a God heart.
PRAYER: Grant to me loving Father, a heart like Yours. Let me be guided to the fullness of life through You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

A WEEK OF SATURDAYS

Good day dear friends, from the land of Thawsville. We are finally seeing the end of the freezing weather and icicles and other sheets of ice are beginning to fall to the ground. It is still a beautiful sight, but after being inside for all these days, it seemed like each day was a Saturday. I kept thinking, "I'm not ready to preach tomorrow!" And I also wondered why certain shows that are not Saturday shows were on television.
But we've suffered enough and we continue our study of suffering with this study guide:
Thursday: Please find Matthew 26:36-46. In that pasage you will read about Jesus’ own suffering prior to His arrest. Please read it prayerfully. Let the words of the Lord comfort you. You may have been betrayed by a loved one(s) on whom you depended much. As the Lord said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” pray that for your life today.
Here is that passage from Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38 Then he said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me." 39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." 40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; F194 the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42 Again he went away for the second time and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." 43 Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand."
There is perhaps nothing worse, than to need someone and to find them asleep. You and I may have been in those situations with a friend or loved one when we've asked them to be awake and the heaviness of sleep overcame them or us, and we were not able to be heard or to hear the pleas of someone. Such was the case with Jesus. His heart was heavy from all He had suffered and would suffer. One of His own disciples, after almost three years of ministry, had betrayed Him earlier that night. Now he leads the eleven to the Mount of Olives where He wants to spend time in prayer, leaves eight at a certain spot, climbs higher with his inner circle of Peter, James, and John and shares with them these words, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me." But did they? No. They fell asleep, leaving Jesus to be in agony by Himself. The only One to whom Jesus could always turn was His Father.
May we know we should be there for friends and loved ones when they need us. May we also know that when suffering becomes more than we can bear, God is always there for us, ready to listen and to lighten our load. God never lets us down. God sees us through.
PRAYER: Loving God, be with me now and always. Let me be a person with whom others can share. Be there for me always. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

GOD IN FIRST PLACE?

Good day dear friends. I trust this finds you all warm and safe!
We continue to affirm God's presence with us even through the suffering. Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: In the same book as yesterday in the very next chapter, Genesis 4:1-14, we find the first suffering caused by murder, a fratercide. Thankfully, the Bible spares us the details of Eve’s response to this murder. Please read those verses and let the Spirit speak to you.
Here is that passage: Genesis 4:1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the Lord." 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" 10 And the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." 13 Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me."
As with most familiar stories usually there is not much we can add. This is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. We find that after the Fall, Adam and Eve now living outside the Garden begin their new life. They are blessed with their first child, Cain, later with their second Abel. The two parents instructed them both with what they knew about God and the worship of God. I can almost guarantee they stress that God should be first in their lives and deserves our first and best. Yet, this instruction was taken by the oldest as "whatever," as some of our kids say when they don't truly believe what we have shared. The youngest took it to heart. When it came time to worship, they reflected their faith in their acts. God had favor on Abel and his willingness to put Him first, and no favor on Cain as he brought an afterthought offering. This angered Cain so much that the first murder recorded in the Bible occurs between brothers, a fratecide. What a terrible thing. Cain's decision to avenge his disfavor with God stayed with him the rest of his life. His decision led him to be separated from his parents and subsequent family for the rest of his life.
If we put God first in our lives and live our lives and make our decisions in that way, imagine the blessings that will be ours!
PRAYER: God, come into my heart and take first place. Let me be guided by You so that all my decisions will reflect Your love and peace living in me. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Monday, January 15, 2007

WRONG CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES

Good day dear friends.
Part II of our MADE TO COUNT Sermon series dealt with "Through the
Suffering," and a study of the life of Job. The 8:30 sermon is
available online at www.fumcsm.org for you to hear if you wish.
Job's faith is a model for our faith when we feel pressed beyond
what we can take.
Here is today's study guide:
Monday: Does suffering come as a result of wrong choices? Read
Genesis 3:21-24. What events happen that one could label as
suffering in this passage?
Here is the Genesis passage 3:21 And the Lord God made garments of
skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the
Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good
and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from
the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"— 23 therefore the Lord
God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from
which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the
garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and
turning to guard the way to the tree of life.
In the creation story, Adam and Eve made a wrong choice. They chose
to disobey God and as a result everything changed. And in our lives
we sometimes make the choice of doing something we know is wrong but
justifying it in our irrational ways, we proceed and then wonder why
we got sick or lost a relationship or got thrown out on the streets.
In the creation story, the wrong choice resulted in 1) animals dying
to "make garments of skins for the man and the his wife." 2)
Getting thrown out of the Garden, 3) Work for the man and woman, and
4) access to the "tree of life" denied to them.
What wrong choices have you made? What have been the results? The
good news is that you don't have to stay there! You can walk away,
with the Lord's help, to the place you know God wants you. One
suffers as a result of wrong choices, but it is God who can comfort
us and help us out of our suffering.
PRAYER: Loving God of second and more chances, grant to us the
faith to know with your guidance we can make the right choice of
life and the fullness of life. Grant to those who suffer, hope and
deliverance. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Amen.
e.v.
PS Please stay warm!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

CHOOSING WHAT COUNTS

Good day dear friends.
We continue to affirm that our lives were made to count and here is our study guide to help us Live a Life That Counts!
Thursday: 2 Timothy 4:7-8 speak of Paul’s final thoughts about the Christian faith and how he had lived it. Please find and read this passage and let it speak to your heart. Apply what you hear with your heart, to your life.
Here is that passage from 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Paul knew from day one what he was to suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and still he said yes. I often wonder how many of us, myself included, would truly give ourselves to the Lord knowing what lay ahead. Would foreknowledge of difficult days ahead keep you in bed, instead of going out and facing what you knew you had to face? Would foreknowledge of the struggles of being a Christian keep you from being one? Paul saw the risen Christ. A man who was supposed to have been dead some years before, now alive, and in glory, helped Paul know he had had a life, not death experience. His invitation to become a Christian from Christ was, like for us, an invitation to become a part of a life that never dies. Suffering may come, and that's a normal, natural thing, but we press on nonetheless. So, we read Paul saying he's been faithful: He's "fought the good fight," "finished the race," and "kept the faith." What lays ahead nothing but great things: a "crown of righteousness," in other words, the symbol of a life well-lived, a life lived in faithfulness, and a life that would not end with our earthly death.
Can you hear Paul speaking to you about what is truly important in this life? For Paul, being well-connected, and influential in this world, was not as important as being well-connected and influential for the Lord. Sunday, we said we can plot our life, but until we come to life in Christ, our lives will not count in the eyes of the Lord.
PRAYER: Loving God of all life, speak to my heart about what truly counts in Your eyes, and then let me live in that way. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Sermon Guide

28 Made to Count: Discovering Your Potential (Mt 15:10-20)

February

4 (Super Bowl) Made to Count: God Wants You to Win! (Rom 8:31-39)

11 Made to Count: Making Your Kids Count

18 Made to Count: Making the Golden Years Count (Gen 23-25)

Job Passages

1 There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.
4 His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another's houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." This is what Job always did.
6 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8 The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil." 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 The Lord said to Satan, F7 "Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!" So Satan F8 went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you." 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you." 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you." 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you."
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.
1 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 3 The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason." 4 Then Satan answered the Lord, "Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." 6 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life."
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die." 10 But he said to her, "You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. 13 They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;

JUSTICE, KINDNESS, AND HUMILITY

Good day dear friends. A meeting early this morning in San Antonio
kept me from sharing at an earlier hour.
Prayer Request: Howard Moon continues to be in a coma and may be
moved home to be under hospice care. Edna continues to need our
prayers. We also learned today that Audrey McElroy has been in the
hospital since Jan. 4th. Please keep Audrey and husband Bill in
your prayers.


Here is our study guide for today:


Tuesday: Please find Micah 6:8 and read what God desires in a life
that counts. Does this apply to the way you're living your life
now? What needs to change in your life for it to be better?


Here is the Micah passage from 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what
is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?


A life that counts takes justice, kindness and humility seriously.
This means we put ourselves in a proper place by placing others and
their needs as important. The passage from Micah was speaking to
the people who had placed themselves first in any list of needs. The
Lord speaks to them and says that we must be men and women of justice,
treating other fairly and equally. We are to love kindness, putting
consideration of others as important, treating them with kindness,
gently tending to their wants and needs. And humilty sums it up.
We are who we are because of Whose we are. If we belong to God, then
we humble ourselves before the Lord and let our actions reflect that
very thing: God has made us to be who we are and our lives will count
when we place ourselves as being God's and as God's serving others.


PRAYER: Make us dear God, the people of justice, kindness, and
humility. Let our lives reflect that we count because we belong to
You. We pray in He who modeled His life after You, Jesus our Lord,
amen.

Have and great blessed day in the Lord.

e.v.

STUDY GUIDE

Tuesday: Please find Micah 6:8 and read what God desires in a life that counts. Does this apply to the way you’re living your life now? What needs to change in your life for it to be better?
Wednesday: This is our day of prayer and purpose. As we’ve heard in church, the Goals Committee has asked for us to have 2007 as The Year in Prayer. Please be in prayer to ask God to show you what true prayer is, for whom you should be praying, how to better worship Him as your pray, and to be a person who listens after you say, ‘Amen’ to your prayers. Listen!
Thursday: 2 Titus 4:7-8 speak of Paul’s final thoughts about the Christian faith and how he had lived it. Please find and read this passage and let it speak to your heart. Apply what you hear with your heart, to your life.
Friday: This is our day of prayer. Repeat your prayers of Wednesday today. But for today lift up concerns about the New Year . What did you resolve in your heart to do for God in this New Year? Have you kept it? If you didn’t resolve it, make "Being a better person in prayer" one of your top goals for your personal life!

Monday, January 08, 2007

RELIGIOUS OR RELATIONSHIP?


Good day dear friends. We had a tremendous evening of Gospel music last night in Kyle! What a beautiful theatre and setting for our annual celebration and fundraiser. If you missed it, you missed a blessing.


We started a new sermon series on MADE TO COUNT, sermons about living a life that counts. Yesterday's kick-off sermon was "Living a Life That Counts." This sermon, like most, if available online at http://www.fumcsm.org/, click on the sermon title). A life that counts is one open to the leading of God's Spirit and one who realizes that one has a heart to love and be loved. The biblical example was the life of the Apostle Paul. His life had two major chapters, the anti-Christian persecutor and the pro-Christ evangelist. You can read these in Acts 8 and 9.
Here is our study guide for today: Monday: Philippians 3:4b-8 relate more about the very interesting life of Paul. Read this passage and learn a little more about his life prior to his becoming a Christian. See how though a very religious man, he was not in relationship with God only with his traditions. What can be said about your life?


Here is that passage: Philippians 3:4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ



Paul's first part of his life had been plotted out. At an early part of his life he knew he wanted to serve God. He went the appropriate route and had his life goal of serving God planned out. In this passage he affirms his life and life choice by sharing his thoughts on his lineage. He was a circumcised Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, a "Hebrew born of Hebrews," a Pharisee. He goes on to show that he was a persecutor of the church and even blameless in the standard of measuring one's life against the law. But in coming to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior, he said, nothing else compares. His life only counted when he became a Christian and realized his mission and purpose in life was not to arrest and try Christians, but to spread the word of God in Christ.
One can see that being religious can be seen as something "nice," but as long as one is not in relationship with Christ one has gained nothing. I'm glad people come to church, but I want every Sunday worship experience to be one where one's relationship with Christ is strengthened. And if one doesn't have a relationship yet, I want that to be the place where one can begin.


I pray that in your life you can say, "I have a loving, trusting relationship with God!" And that my friend, is what counts!

Have a great day in the Lord!

e.v.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

TO MAKE KNOWN, TO SHOW, TO REVEAL...EPIPHANY!


Good day, dear friends.



Today, January 6th is the Day of Epiphany, traditionally associated with the visit of the Magi to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel lesson about their visit is in Matthew and reads,



"1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 "And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.



In some corners of the world shoes have been left outside doors expecting the main gifts of this holiday season. In some places the shoes are placed outside the main door of one's house; others the door to one's bedroom. And for many, the gifts are quite nice. Some, though, do report they just receive the same grass they left in them for the camels of the magi!



The gift was really ours. God acted on our behalf and sent the precious gift of an invitation to a better way to live. God having sent Jesus Christ was to invite us to a full relationship with Him.



The magi brought the gifts they were led to bring: gold, the gift for a king. Jesus is known as the King of kings; frankincense, (how we giggled as children thinking it was too close to frankinstein) the gift for a priest, whose burning of incense was to remind the people of God's presence. Jesus is the High Priest, He who intercedes for us; the 'bridge' between God and humans. The gift of myrrh. The gift that puzzled Mary but knew that it involved death. He who would die for the sins of the world, for your sins and mine. This was a symbolic gesture on the part of the magi; they did only what God instructed them.



They came from the East, nonJews obedient to God's leading, eager to know how the ancient prophecies they had studied would come true. That night in the Christ child they found out. Have you?



PRAYER: God of true light and love, make us know Jesus today and all days. Let us know Jesus came for all the earth. Help us to be a part of those who share that news with others, especially the ones who have not yet heard. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.



Have a great and blessed day!



See you in worship!

e.v.

Friday, January 05, 2007

THE THREE FACES OF CONNIE


An interesting story shared by a dear friend:
Three postcards were found in a book at the Northern Michigan University library. Each card was from the same person, but addressed to three different people.
(TO HER PARENTS)Dear Mom and Dad, Thanks for sending me on vacation. We've toured a lot of interesting places. The historical society was really fascinating and I learned quite a bit about Marquette, Michigan, in its mining days. We've even tried some of the local food since we've been here.Love, Connie.
(TO A FRIEND)Dear Sue, Hi! I finally woke up and felt awake after one week of totally intense partying! I figured it was a good time to write before we start again. The guys up here are sensational! I went out with a different one each night. Well, take care, and don't party too much!See ya, Connie.
(TO HER BOYFRIEND)Dear Jim, Boy, I sure do miss you! I wish you could be here so we could share the fall scenery together. I haven't been doing too much here, just visiting and touring around quite a bit. I can't wait to see you!Love and Kisses, Connie.
By Carol Kent, "Detours, Tow Trucks and Angels in Disguise," a 1996 NavPress book and from Dr. Richard Evans' "God's Children."
You and I have probably played that game. Sadly, with God the most, as if God couldn't figure it out even before we said or thought like this "Connie." As Parent, we sometimes think God is too involved and shouldn't be, so we put on a "front" for Him. As Friend, we put on another front. As our intimate Friend, the same thing. God wants us to love Him and to present ourselves just as we are, knowing we need God to help us be the people He meant for us to be.
This new New Year marks the time of new "starts" for so many, and some may still actually still be on diets, running programs, etc., etc. But the best start should be that of knowing God is here for us and we should be here for God.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for loving us even as we are, but thank you more for helping us be the people You meant for us to be. Help me today and all days. In Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.