Chapter 17 of Matthew has this wonderful story from an encounter of three of the closest friends of Jesus.

 Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

Worship is that way for me. It is something wonderful which I want to remind myself of over and over again. I will never forget the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. I had opportunity to be alone for about one hour, and I decided to sit on one of the rock out-croppings. It was breathtaking and an event which I will never forget.

What made it so wonderful? Was it the wind blowing through the canyon making an eerie sound? Was it panic pumping through my body because of the danger of where I was setting? Was it the sheer beauty of the sun glimmering on the rocks just across from me? Each one of those things made for an amazing experience; however, the thing I remember the most was the stillness of the moment.

Perhaps it was in that stillness that I heard the voice of God. God speaks that way you know. He comes and speaks to us when life is still and the shouts of so many voices fade in the background and every time He speaks it is wonderful. It should be because it is worship.

I love to sing, and Christian music is moving for me. I love the new music of our church and the message it speaks of drawing close to God. Many times you can find me immersed in music with headphones on and arms raised high because music moves my soul.  Yet, God still speaks to me in the simple quietness of every moment.  It is there that I hear most clearly.

So where do you hear from God? How does God speak to you? Share your story and encourage others who are on this discovery with you.

Blessings

Pastor Rip

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Luke Chapter 16:9-11  Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

Service is a word that is kicked around in the local church and for most of us it means a variety of things. However, the most striking part of the passage above is the instruction on how to serve with the use of our resources. I always get caught when scripture talks about helping others with worldly resources.  It is difficult to define this apart from anything else except our money.

Often we like to think in terms of activity or caring or supporting with our talents, and while these things are important and needed, Jesus is hitting us at the core when He talks about using our money to benefit others. Please note I am not talking about giving; I am talking about service. The key words are “benefit others,” and it comes with a promise.

The promise is important because it defines a reality of a giving heart against a small selfish heart. If we are faithful in our service to others, we open the door to increased opportunity of more service to others. Service begets more service. Pretty simple formula, and the beauty of this idea is that it works.

So here are some action steps:

• Commit to doing a work of benefiting another person this week.  We call this a  “random act of kindness.”
• Send a letter to a college kid with some money in it to help them at the start of the school year.
• Give some worldly processions to a clothing center or soup kitchen.

The ideas can go on and on, but I challenge you to come up with your own plan to put into practice the act of service.

Pastor Rip

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I love this verse in John Chapter 15, Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

I refer to this idea as “abiding presence”. It is the practice of living within the awareness of the presence of God. I admit I am not always sure what that means, however there are times in my life when I experience such an abiding presence. It usually happens in the midst of worship or the experience of some divine appointment where you can only explain what happed as a God moment.

In reality God moments happen all the time, our problem is becoming aware of how they happen and when they happen. Jesus gives us some insight into this idea when He encourages His followers to remain in Him, and He will remain in us.

I could say a lot about that passage but there are three main thoughts which I want to discuss with you today.

The first is the practice of worship where I empty myself, where I release my anxiety and fears and come before God in awe. In worship we enter into relationship so that we can connect at a deeper level.

The second is the practice of sustained remaining. I use this term to express my belief that to really know someone you do it through the long-term. God is not into short term relationships.

The third idea is fruitfulness. Unless we are in the practice of fruit producing, (which is defined as growing in grace) we tend to lose the ability to do any of the above mentioned things.

So the question is this. What kind of worshiper are you? Do you have an abiding presence? Do you come to worship to empty yourself? Are you producing fruit?

Now granted these are sometime difficult to determine but they are marks of a worshiping follower of Jesus.

Tell me what you think.

Blessings

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to read today's Gospel.

OK, foot washing yesterday, and today I am talking about GIVING! Well, don’t shoot the messenger. I am just reading the Gospels and reflecting upon some of the directions for living life that I find there.

Today, I was struck by the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 in the Gospel of Matthew.  So cool!  However, there are some important lessons for us in this passage. Note first of all that there was very little given--five loaves of bread and two fish. Not much for even one person let alone 5000. However, I think the first lesson I get from this is that God will use whatever I give Him.

If you’re like me, I sometimes think that I really don’t have much to offer God. Truth is, I really don’t have much to offer God.  No, that was not a reprint. It is a truth which says: I would have nothing at all except what God in His mercy has provided. I guess the question I raise is this: who am I to determine how much enough is for God?  I mean, I did not create it in the first place; I am only entrusted with the power to use God’s resources wisely.

A second lesson is that God is in the habit of creating miracles. My problem is that I have little understanding of how miracles work. Apparently, so did the disciples of Jesus. I think we live in a society that does not expect much from God. We are self-sufficient in many ways and depending upon God is difficult because we tend to think it shows a lack of strength.

 My question is this: which action below requires more?  The ability to do it ourselves or  the trust/faith required to see and expect God to act?

So here is a challenge for today.  Trust God to do something out of the ordinary through you. Perhaps your act of courage might be an opportunity for God to perform a miracle. Now, how cool would that be!

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to read today's Gospel

 In our reading today we are faced with a real challenge.

                John 13: 12-14   When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

Before you close this page… please know that I am not going to ask you to wash each other’s feet--even though this is a practice in complete surrender and humility. I know of some churches that still practice this, and it is a very moving and humbling practice, but not here for us today…not now anyway.

 What I want you to think about is why we do service for others.  What is our motivation? In our passage above, Jesus states that it was done unto them (by Jesus) so they should do the same to each other. Service is not something we do in order to receive something back; that’s not what this says.  Service is, however, something we do to demonstrate to others a better way.

 Here are some questions to ponder: 
 What would happen if we took on this attitude modeled for us by Jesus in this act of service?
 What would your family look like?
 How would people respond to us differently at work, at school, and even at church?
 Does service make a difference, or do we continue along in our own self-serving attitudes? 
This week I am are going to look at some of the issues that affect how we usually do things and examine these issues in light of what God's word says.
I encourage you to journey along with me, and together we can learn a better way the feet of the master.

Oh by the way ….see you at the foot washing next time.

 Pastor Rip

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