Good morning church,
For those that are interested, I am inviting you to a CIC Prayer meeting.
It will be from 7:00 to 7:40 pm tonight, Saturday, April 18th.
Zoom Meeting ID: 602 090 1479
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/6020901479
BTW, Robin sent out our prayer update and a calendar on Friday. On it you will find our schedule for classes and sermons. I hope you can join us as we start our adult Sunday school class this Sunday at 9:00. If you didn’t get the email and would like to, just let me know. Details are also available our website.
The other day I had probably watched too much news about the virus and all of the pain and misery going on. I had thought about the people in the church that were struggling with various things. It was one of the days when things just felt heavy. After thinking and praying and working on things, I loaded my backpack, got in my car, and headed toward home. As I pulled out onto Nieman I ended up behind some guy in a fancy overpriced car. I know this because he changed lanes without signaling so I had to hit my brakes. When we stopped at the light, I noticed his license plate frame. It said, “Life is Cabernet.” Honestly, I sat there looking at it and thought, “What an idiot.” Yes, I know I am only supposed to have pure thoughts and be in a persistent state of prayer and dispensing kindness. However, with all of the stuff going on in the world, I thought how could life be summed up so tritely. Life is wine. Really? That’s all you got? The sum total of your existence boiled down to an alcoholic drink. How sad. As I thought about it, there are many such license plate frames. I have seen them emblazoned with things like: Life is Golf, Life is Surfing (obvious not around here), Life is Skiing, Life is…almost any sport you can think of. Others will say things like Life is being a Dog Mom or something like that. Life is like a box of chocolates. I am sure there are some that are a bit more significant but I haven’t seen any lately.
Sometimes, we discover that we are focusing on the wrong things. Perhaps, we even miss the point of life. I can assure this, God did not create us so that we could declare our life is based on something that makes no difference in eternity. As Rick Warren wrote in the Purpose Driven Life, “You were created by God and for God. Until you understand that your life will never make sense.” If there in any silver lining in this crisis we are in, it is in the fact that many people realize that the things they thought were certain are not. Life is uncertain. It is unpredictable. In this time of uncertainty, people are searching for something certain. There is an openness to the Gospel right now. People want to hear about the One that is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In Matthew 7, Jesus taught an incredible lesson that is very applicable in the midst of this crisis.
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
The question is, “what is your life all about?” Wine, beer, sports, entertainment, self-indulgence, vacations, money, etc.? Might I suggest that life is about Jesus? He said that He came to give us life, and that we could have it more abundantly or to the fullest. He certainly wasn’t talking about the items I just listed. No, there is nothing better than a life that is found in Jesus. He is our life. Let’s seek to live everyday for His glory and honor.
You are loved,
Larry
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