Coming to the Still Waters

  My dear cousin passed away last week.  It was a fun trip to head to Oscoda to see this part of the family when I was a kid.  Also, this dear one would spend time with us in the summer when my mom was on summer break from school.  I learned a lot from this dear one.  She even made it into some of my sermons!  She kept me grounded to the expansion of grace both common (to all) and saving (to God's children).  Much more could be said here but I will leave it that her passing was a diversion I needed this week. We are getting to the end of our focus on humble service and generous lifestyle.  July gives us an extra Sunday this year to wrap it up with a little different type of service.  We are back in Mark with Jesus again addressing His disciples with what is going to happen and answering their insertion that " they " are in control rather than a full surrender to Jesus truly as the Christ! The main illustration this week I heard first from Ali...

  Our church has a pantry and these are a couple of the pantry team members posing for a picture for me.  Thank you ladies and also for all the work you and the team do twice a month for those needing assistance.  It is an act of humble service and displaying a generous lifestyle.  The shelves behind them represent many of the church who donate on a regular basis to help those in need.  The title of the sermon this Sunday is " Beware & Be Aware! "  Both of these commands require our attention.  Beware of religious leaders who are putting on a show and following after them.  Be aware of those who are displaying true faith and also for ways to serve them.   The first beware deals with salvation or goodness or my ticket to paradise tied to anything I say or do or wear.  There are definite changes in my life since I responded to Jesus with repentance and with faith of Him being the One who rose from the grave.  Some of these ...

  I took this photo of the courthouse of Waushara County just recently.  I was curious to why wherever there was a " u " needed, a " v " was put in its place.  For example, instead of " court " it is etched into the stone " covrt ".  I was thinking that it is probably easier to chisel a " v " rather than a " u " because of the curves but then we have " c " and " o " and " r " in the word that have curves as a part of their letters.   After some internet digging, did you know that " v " was used for both " v & u " until " u " was added?  This was also the case of " i " for " j " which is the last letter added to the English alphabet.  " I " and " V " were doing double duty for awhile.  Have you ever felt you were doing " double duty " and could use another " letter " to help you out?  Some stages of life p...

  I quoted C.S. Lewis a couple of times in the sermon and here is another.   "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less."  As we venture into a new month, we also move onto two more of Jesus' discipleship practices with His disciples.  These help us to be disciples so we can fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples.  We will look at Jesus speaking and showing humble service and a generous lifestyle. To look at the positive or the desired result, sometimes it is a help to look at the negative or undesirable result so...pride and selfishness.  This first sermon deals mostly with the topic of pride but selfishness is so closely tied to pride that it comes out in the real life examples that I give.  I should say that when I share real life examples I do so trying not to elevate myself or my hearers or readers but to give flesh to the principle.  I can say that almost every example I have regrettably di...