Thu, 22 November 2007  Care has to be taken here when reading this book, because the author can almost seem terribly negative. As I read Ecclesiastes and pondered these Scriptures in my heart……….. I realized that much of what Solomon is telling us does not represent his ultimate convictions……. but they represent the journey that he had traveled and the ultimate truths that he discovered. In this sermon, we explore three questions:1. “Does work give us ultimate satisfaction?� 2.“What happens as a result of all of our work, and all of our daily toils in the end?� 3. “What is the answer to fulfillment in life?� You may be frustrated with your life, with the work that you do. You may look back on your life and wonder what it was all for………or you may wonder why you just can’t seem to find fulfillment, why it is always…just around the corner……only to find that it is not around the corner as you thought....you need more. As we focus on the days activities and live each breath with God, in all that we do, as we seek to apply God’s wisdom in our lives…….to live a life in communal existence with God, in loving Him, in loving others around us......in living our lives ethically and morally pure, we find a contentment in spirit,………… we find peace in our hearts……. and we find a love that surpasses all understanding. My hope is that you will serve God in all that you, as a homemaker, as an employee or any combination of these. My hope, and I believe Solomon's hope, is that we will realize that our ultimate fulfillment doesn’t come from the work itself……. but from the daily ability and blessing in all that we do. We’ll find that we have a reason to work hard (and in an ethical and moral manner) because we’re not merely serving a company……. we’re serving God. God bless you! Comments[0] |
Sun, 15 July 2007 
One evening a few weeks ago I was arriving home late at night and as I stepped up into the alcove to our front door I noticed a blue flashing light…….I turned around looking for a police car…I couldn’t see any at all. I looked around dumbfounded. No problem. This happened three nights in a row. I could not figure out for the life of me where this blue flashing light was coming from…..it wasn’t constant, it flashed every ten seconds or so…….. was it the flash off my neighbors TV shining through their front window across the street? Was it someone taking pictures of me, spying on me? It obviously wasn’t a police officer because there was none in sight. Finally, I asked my wife, Kelly, to come outside. Every time we would get ready to go in we would see the blue flashing light…… and we would turn quickly to try to find the source….but none could be found. We stepped out in the yard and looked everywhere, we crouched down and hid…….but we couldn’t find where this light was coming from. Then we would start to go in the house….and there it was again! Kelly went out in the yard and I turned around in the alcove by the door…..�THERE IT WAS! DID YOU SEE IT!�…….Kelly started laughing so hard she almost fell over. Here we were, two adults, sleuthing around the front yard trying to figure out where this blue light was coming from……..and Kelly saw it as I stood there in the alcove puzzled….it was the blue flash of my Bluetooth earpiece letting me know it was still there…. doing it’s job as it had promised! Is God ever like that to you? Do you wonder where he is? Are you like me…….is it sometimes hard to find Him because you have a hard time seeing Him? Well, I am here to tell you that He is there……. working in your life….if you let Him. I want to share with you three things to help develop your “Spiritual Eyes�, three things to help lead you to a better understanding of the beauty of that which we cannot see and the treasure in that which is often hidden from our sight. The first thing we can do is focus on the invisible renewal of our hearts as we follow Jesus……and the treasure that lies inside us through Christ, not the visible decay of all that is around us. The second thing that we can do to help develop our “Spiritual eyes" is to focus on God’s invisible glory by following Christ, not on the visible troubles and hard times in our life. The third thing we can do to help us see life through “spiritual eyes� is to focus on the eternal things in our lives rather than the temporary. My hope is that you will seek God, that you will focus on following Christ by living in His will, that you will experience a renewal in your life and that you will see the Comments[0] |
Sun, 24 June 2007  So, what does it mean to live in God's will? We will look at the life of Joseph from the book of Genesis to get some strong clues. 1. Living in God's will means making the best of bad situations. 2. Living in God's will means maintaining your principles even when inconvenient. May YOU be humble each day and look to God for all things in your life........may YOU rejoice in His presence and trust in His wisdom ...... may YOU live a life in God's will and...... May YOU receive peace and comfort in all that is offered you. Comments[0] |
Tue, 3 April 2007  As Jesus was nailed to that cross and the sins of man were placed on Him, He willingly accepted it. Because.......of his great love. And then for a time He separated Himself from the Father, so that men would never have to be separated. But death would not hold Him. He rose again, and He returned to His father's side. But before He did, He gave His follower's his message of hope, so that they could share with the world what He had done. And thus, the church was born. The church, a group of people who had accepted the creator's forgiveness. A group of people who would be placed upon a rock, and the gates of Hell would not prevail against them. They would be his light. And they would pursue the world with His message of hope, of forgiveness and of love. I believe that we cannot be Christians alone. We must function with others, in community. We cannot fulfill our mission in life separated from a church. We must be close enough to others to exercise our gifts by loving and serving them. We must he united by a shared commitment not only to Jesus but also to one another. Comments[0] |
Sat, 30 December 2006  The greatest announcement in the history of the world...prophesied in Isaiah 7:14, and then announced by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:26-38 to Mary in a place called Nazareth, the news that she would bear a child, though still a virgin, and that this child would be the Messiah. Then the child, Jesus, was born as related in Luke 2:1-7 and finally, the announcement to the world in Luke 2:8-20.....the angel announced to lowly shepherds in the fields the birth of Jesus...the Messiah, Christ the Lord. Though told that she, a virgin, would bear a child....Mary TRUST in God, ACCEPTS His grace and favor, BELIEVES and has FAITH. God so very often uses what we consider the "insignificant", insignificant places,insignificant people, to do such highly significant things......to fulfill His will....to change the world. The great truth is....nothing is impossible with God! Comments[0] |
Wed, 6 December 2006  "What defines your life, obligations or opportunities?" Think about this question awhile............is your life defined by obligations, things you have to do because you have no choice, or by opportunities? Did you know that Webster defines "opportunities" as "a favorable juncture of circumstances......... a good chance for progress "When we live through the "lens" of obligations.........we do just what is required ............we focus on all the energy we expend and the time that we spend to get there. When we live through the "lens" of opportunity, we act with strength, joy and determination, because opportunities are fulfilling by the vary nature of the definition. I would note here that as I study the life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus lived a life of opportunity, not obligation. Additionally, "If we were to focus on God instead of ourselves, what would it look like?" I believe that we can gain insight into both these questions and their answers in the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, verses 10-17. Comments[0] |
Wed, 25 October 2006  Jesus' primary mission was to bring people to a place of decision to have faith in God, not merely to remove their pain. The kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God is Good News! It is good news because it means freedom from slavery to sin and selfishness. The kingdom of God is here and now because the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of believers. Yet it is also in the future because Jesus will return to reign over a perfect kingdom where sin and evil no longer exist. For a deeper discussion on this subject, visit LaleoCafe. Comments[0] |
Fri, 20 October 2006  Here again we see a strong clue that the kingdom is a realm of consciousness in this life in which we daily follow Christ and seek a relationship with Him and that the culmination of this IS an eternal presence before God in heaven. This scribe was obviously touched by the Lord's answer, came near to the kingdom of God when he accepted Jesus' teaching that love is central to understanding God and ourselves, and recognized that true obedience comes from the heart.Comments[0] |
Mon, 16 October 2006  The principal theme, especially in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) within Jesus' message was and is "The kingdom of heaven / The kingdom of God". The Gospel of John refers only once to the kingdom expressly. But in the synoptic Gospels, this is the primary focus of Jesus' theology and His teaching. Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven 32 times in the New Testament, all in the Gospel of Matthew. The Kingdom of God is taught about 69 times in the New Testament, predominately in the gospels of Mark and Luke. For a deeper discussion on this subject, visit LaleoCafe. Comments[0] |
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