Sunday Service-Aug. 30, 2009

It was a busy morning.

We had two baby dedications and something we call 'The Right Hand of Fellowship.'
New members are welcomed into the church by the church staff and pastors, board members and trustees and their spouses. The leaders line up at the front of the church and as the new members names are called, everyone claps and they come up and make their way through the line, shaking hands and being hugged and hopefully, made to feel welcome into our body.

Sermon-"Intense Effort"-These are the notes I took complete with my own distractions and perceptions.

Main point-"If we want to experience what the early church experienced, we have to do the things they did."

Scriptures-
Acts 2:42,43-"And they continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."

Eph. 2:8-10-"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, least anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

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Too often we think we are in complete control of our lives.
We think "we are the master of our fate and the Captain of our souls."

Pastor Frank told the story of a man who was riding his donkey one day and came upon a little feather ball lying on the road. Upon closer inspection, he discovered a sparrow lying on his back, with his feet pointed in the air. "Are you Okay?," asked the kind man. The sparrow replied, "I heard that the sky was falling and I am doing all I can to hold it up there."
How foolishly, we, like the sparrow, try to control all the circumstances in our lives.
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Grace is the foundation of our salvation.
Mercy is when a police officer let's you off after he's caught you going 20 mph over the speed limit.
Grace is when he invites you home for dinner after he's caught you and given you mercy.
God has not only taken care of the payment for our sin, He has invited us Home.
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I think I have the following right:
A perfect passive indicative tense refers to an action that occurred in the past that has present current ramifications.
The past act?-Christ crucified and rose from the dead; forgave my sins
Present tense?-When we believe the action that has already taken place.
I have been saved by faith once I believe.
The process of salvation has already been done.
By grace, I have been saved through faith.
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The Cross is not:
Knowledge-even the devils believe and tremble-James 2:19
A Feeling-not based on a positive mental attitude;Faith has to have a substance to it. It must have a subject to it.
Is not faith in yourself-(Unless there is something in yourself worth believing in.) We are born in sin. Our hearts are deceptive. We have a natural propensity to do wrong. We cannot have faith in our humanity. It will fail us.
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God gives us a new heart, a new song, and a new name.
God replaces in us what the nature of sin takes from us.
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Faith is based on:
A fact-Jesus Christ was more than just a historical figure.
Commitment-Take up your cross and follow Him.
If there is not commitment in the home, there won't be commitment in the church.
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In Acts 2, we read how all the people devoted themselves.
To devote means to continue to do something with intense effort.
Before they saw the move of God, they devoted themselves.

They devoted themselves to fellowshipping with each other. Hebrews exhorts us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, especially as we see 'the day' approaching.
The church cannot save you, but the church can help you.
We need each other on this journey.
If two of us agree on anything touching His name, miracles will happen.

The believers devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles.
We need to keep taking personal responsibility to learn, grow, and understand the ways of God.
We need to be able to give an answer for the hope that is in us.
We look so much like the world that no one is asking us questions.

The believers were devoted to caring for one another.
Elton Trueblood, in his book, the name of which I didn't catch, quoted a student's writings.
"It takes courage to care. I keep a secret store of indifference to keep myself from being too involved..."
We are to love the unlovable.
Caring is done with intense effort.
It will cost us something.

The believers were devoted -with intense effort-to worship.
An example of intense worship would be the kind of praising that Paul and Silas did in prison while bound in chains. The earth shook and the prison doors were open and their chains fell off. Not only did the love God and praise Him, but they cared for the jailer and his family after they were set free.
Don't worship God if you don't care for those around you.
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Before God can send revival, we have to love each other, be devoted to fellowshipping with each other, care for one another, study the Word of God, and worship Him with intense effort.

(Isn't it interesting how the worship of God and the caring for one another go hand in hand?
The First and Second Commandments fulfilled-'Love the Lord your God with all your heart...and love your neighbor as yourself" appears to be the pre-requisite for a time of refreshing from the hand of God. Revival also seems to bring with it a time of cleansing, and we will really need to love God and each other through that process, won't we?)
We had a special time up around the altar, but some things are too sacred to write about.
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I read this on the same morning Pastor Frank preached this sermon. It's from the devotional book by Bill Freeman-'The Supplied Life'.

"...The kind of church life described in the New Testament requires a higher and deeper love than we have in our natural life. We are called to love sinners. We are called to love those who are unfinished, who are still in the process of being transformed. We are called to love weak, and oftentimes failing, saints. Divine love is Calvary love-the love demonstrated on the cross. It is love that flows out to despicable kinds of people-ugly people, hateful people, dirty people, rebellious people, deceived people. The love of God in Christ is all-embracing and full of forbearance and longsuffering. "

"To have the church life that is unveiled in the pages of the New Testament demands this divine love. It is a church life that is beyond the reach of our natural man. In ourselves we do not have the capacity to love one another the way Christ loves us. But that is okay. When we are overwhelmed with the demand of the church life, we are put more and more into contact with Another life that can supply us with divine love. The demand escorts us to Christ."

Hertzler Doings~Aug.31-Sept.7, 2009

Mon.-Phil was home working in the office today. The cool autumn air was invigorating. I went for a walk that was shortened by cold rain. I washed clothes and cleaned the back room where we've all been dumping our things. Phil bought me four mums when he was out running errands. I know just the spot for them.

Tues.-Great day at school. We are studying some music theory, vocal exercises, Fanny Crosby, Mozart, and some music for our Christmas and spring program. I was eating salad at lunch and some of the little girls were begging for some. Interesting. We danced with our crayons on big scrap paper to Mozart's 'Eine Kleine Nacht Musik.' Really fun. Fanny Crosby became blind at 6 weeks old from strong poultices put on her eyes. Walked in Appomattox during my break and found a Webster's dictonary-large-at Salvation Army for one dollar! Walked with Susan later in the eve. Naomi and I talked for awhile about life...

Wed-I've been teaching the children about Fanny Crosby. She has had 5,900 hymns and 2000 poems published. One of my second graders asked me a question, something like this,"If God knew that she was going to love Him so much and do these things for Him, why did He let her become blind?" I told her that I didn't know but that Fannie herself rejoiced in her blindness, because she felt it gave her a close relationship with God. We talked about distractions and how she could focus on her writing when their weren't so many things to see. The little girl who asked me the question is only seven years old. I've noticed many times before that she has a maturity and perception beyond her years. My seventeen year old son can sit down and have a wise conversation with her. I wonder what the future holds for her. Only seven years old and already able to verbalize the age-old question-"Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Thurs.-Not feeling that great. Walked to the river with the happy dogs. Barely made it back. Played around with Face book, read 'The Client', washed clothes, picked and froze tomatoes, etc. Decided to give myself a more restful day and not push so hard. It seems like I need Thursdays to recover from teaching Tues. and Wed.

Fri.-Had more energy today. Cleaned the house, made biscotti, whole-grain pizza's and pancakes. Did more wash. Katie Hertzler and Erik Weaver arrived around 4:30. We visited and ate pizza and then they decided to shorten the life of one of our fowl, and the next thing I knew, they were bound for the river to make roast duck for a second supper. I saw white feathers and webbed feet sticking out of the bucket. I hope they de-feather it before roasting it. These cousins do wild things when they get together and they usually have something to do with killing and roasting an animal. Last time, it was an unfortunate snapping turtle that met its maker. They are down there now. I have the house to myself.

Sat.-The kids relaxed and watched some TV in the morning. Ran around on the farm vehicles later and went fishing in the swamp. Freeman and Michael dipped the fish in a corn meal combination. Very good. Katie, Susan, and I made my famous chocolate cake and as soon as I iced it, we had big pieces of it. Oh my word. Later, in the eve., all of the kids here went over to the Martins and played Risk. I picked up Katie and Susan around 9 and we watched 'The Sound of Music.' The guys stayed at Martin's until after 1:00, playing halo.

Sun.-Went to church after a leisurely morning at home. Susan graduated from Kingdom Kid's and next Sunday, she will be with us in church. Went to the Chinese restaurant for lunch. Alli came home with Freeman after church. Erik, Chad, and Joel went snow boarding at Liberty this afternoon. Katie and Susan are doing homework, Michael and Philip are out walking some where, Alli and Freeman are watching a movie, Phil is taking a nap and I am baking a cake and blogging. The cousins are going over to the Martin's for supper tonight.

Mon. Labor Day-Katie and Eric left around 12:30 and got home around 8:20. Took a wrong turn somewhere. Phil and Freeman were making silage. Philip and Michael were setting up decoys for dove season. Susan and I were working around the house. I took a 2 hour nap. Nice mix of labor, rest, and fun for Labor Day. Rained toward evening. Came to grips with my homesickness and realized I am where I am supposed to be.

I Have a Dream

Micah 6:8-NKJV-"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you, But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God."

I have a dream.

I dream that one day,
our farm will have greenhouses,
and guest rooms,
and people will come to stay for awhile,
and find themselves restored,
and happy,
and closer to God.

I have a dream.

I dream of a little house
in a nearby town,
with the freedom of time
to help friends of ours
tell people about Jesus
on a secular college campus.
I dream of studying more
and getting a degree or two.

I have a dream.

I dream of going to a foreign country
for a few years,
learning its language,
absorbing its culture and enjoying its ways,
opening our doors
so others can come in,
and eat and dine with Him.

I have a dream.

I dream of hearing the pitter patter
of little feet,
and baby voices calling,
"Grandma! Grandpa!"
I dream of rocking
and singing,
and holding while sleeping.

I have a dream.

I have a hope.

I hope that one day,
I will see God face to face,
and that He will say to me,
"Well-done my good and faithful servant..."
Not because I made a refuge for others,
or got my degree,
or worked with Chi Alpha,
or was a missionary,
or heard the next generation calling my name.

I hope He will say 'Well-done,"..
not because of what I have done,
but because of how I have done them.

I hope that I will have done my doings
with justice, and mercy, and humility.

I have a dream.

I have a hope.