Sunday Evening Thoughts

Today on the church calendar is what is remembered as Ascension Sunday...the day we recognize and "celebrate" when Jesus was caught up in the clouds and ascended back into heaven 40 days after His resurrection on Easter Sunday.  You can read more about that in the first chapter of Acts, with particular attention to the following verses:

Acts 1:9-11 Jesus Ascends to Heaven

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 

11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Our Pastor preached a very good sermon on this topic today, and if you wish to hear the whole message, you can watch it here, right after the choir sings.

This morning before breakfast we were reading our daily devotions and scripture verses, and this was also the topic for today.  When I got to these verses above, I was overcome by emotion. It took me back to when I was a little girl, sitting in our church services in the old church building, where these two big stained glass windows adorned each side of the sanctuary:

On the right side was this one above, the Ascension of Jesus Christ, and on the left side was this one below, of  Jesus as The Good Shepherd.   I've written about this before, and the link is below, but today in particular my mind went right back to that picture depicting Christ ascending in the clouds, and I can remember as a child thinking about that and wondering how He did that...because at that time I didn't really understand the whole story of Jesus overcoming death and then going up into heaven right before their eyes, and also hearing the angels stating that He would come back again in the same manner! But as I grew in my relationship with Christ and studied the Bible more, the wonder and amazement that I felt as a little girl actually became even more pronounced, and so much so that even today I was overwhelmed with emotion in thinking that one day we will see Christ coming back in the clouds to call us all up to heaven to be with Him forevermore... But in the meantime...

Psalm 47

"1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome;

He is a great King over all the earth.

3 He will subdue the peoples under us,

And the nations under our feet.

4 He will choose our inheritance for us,

The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

5 God has gone up with a shout,

The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

7 For God is the King of all the earth;

Sing praises with understanding.

8 God reigns over the nations;

God sits on His holy throne.

9 The princes of the people have gathered together,

The people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

He is greatly exalted."

I think it is amazingly appropriate that today also marked a Day of Prayer for our Nation to turn back to God...Reclaiming our nation for Almighty God, because our country was founded as "One Nation, Under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  And also that even our monetary system proclaims, "In God We Trust".   I didn't get to watch any of the proceedings at the Washington Monument in our Nation's Capitol today, but I hope to see some of it tomorrow on YouTube.  However, we definitely prayed for our nation this morning in church, and in my heart it felt good to know that churches and people throughout the country would be doing the same thing.  I do believe God is at work in our midst, and there are some very good things ahead. May we continue to pray.

You can Click HERE for another post on the back story on these windows.  And I thank my sister Doris for these current pictures of the new windows that have replaced the old ones in that same building, which you can read about in that post linked above.

I was going to write some other stuff and show a few pictures from the past couple of days, but I think I will save that for another day and  just close this post now with all of the above giving us all much food for thought and prayer.  

So until then, good night my friends. Be blessed.

 

Friday Fotos : Things Are Looking Up!

 Hello Everyone!  I hope you have had a wonderful week! Here we are again...another Friday already!  (writing on Thursday night, however).  Some weeks just seem to drag by and we get to Friday and I have nothing to share with you...and have to go searching through the archives.
But this week seems to have been a good week for photos.   Or perhaps I've just been more observant than usual. That may be a good sign that things are looking up and I'm feeling more like participating!  Possibly because we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and there is a sense of optimism in the air that everything is going to be okay.

I wonder what Mrs. Cardinal is trying to say to Mr. Cardinal..."Hey Red, Do you think we ought to tell the children where we are getting these seeds from?"

 "It might be easier than us having to keep taking the seeds over to them and feeding them one by one...seeing's how there are three of them over there waiting in the tree for their food!"

And then "Red" secretly showed up on my new window feeder, right in front of me as I was sitting here working. I don't think he told Mrs. Cardinal about his secret stash of the good stuff!

There she was. left on her own to keep gathering food for her youngins.  But they all looked healthy and happy and that's what matters! Things are definitely looking up!

After watching the birds here at home, we headed to our woodsy place to take our morning walk.

I was happy to see this beautiful "Buckeye" butterfly flitting about. He landed long enough for me to take his picture, and then off he went.

Here's another sweet little yellow wildflower, which I will have to look up and find out the name.

 Okay, it is a Piriqueta Cistoides, subsp.caroliniana.  Click HERE for more information.  I know you want to know!

Someone had cut up a tree and left the logs sitting in an area where people like to dump stuff in the woods. At least this is biodegradable.

 I wanted to gather them up and take them home and make stools to sit on in the yard for whenever we get a firepit.  But it would be easier to cut down one of our own big dead trees and do it right there than to try to lift these heavy stumps and haul them home.  Anyway, I appreciated having a little place to sit down and rest for a spell.

And then I got up and started walking again, and this beautiful Gulf Fritillary landed right in front of me and waited for me to take it's picture! I guess everyone was being quite the little "ham" today!!

Then we took a little ride out to the other side of town and down a road that we used to travel a lot before we moved over here as it was one of the routes we would take to come over back and forth. I have taken pictures of this old Florida "Cracker Style" house before, but I was inspired to take a few more pictures today. Now they have it all roped off with "Posted, No Trespassing" signs across the property, so I couldn't get any closer. Probably too many curious lookers have been stopping by.

  Can't you just envision the old folks that used to live and loved here? I hate to see it being let go to ruin, but I suppose it would be too costly to restore it.

 It's the style of house that I would dearly love to have (as long as it had indoor plumbing and electricity).  Here is a link to more information about Florida Cracker Style homes.

Yesterday evening I took this picture of a new rosebud on my Memorial "Don Juan" rosebush. See the cute little green grasshopper on it?

Here is that same rose this morning, and that grasshopper is still munching away.

So I thumped him off and cut the rose and brought it inside where I can enjoy it. This is yet another rose from our son's Memorial Rosebush, and again, it is blooming at another special time. Monday will be  the 6th anniversary of our son Matthew's passing, and I know I've told you this before, but this rosebush always seems to bloom around special dates in our lives. I always consider each blossom a gift from our son in heaven.

Tonight we took another walk, and I thought these clouds were encouraging...they look like rain could possibly be coming...but so far nothing. Please pray for rain! Our area of the state is very dry and that can be very dangerous when it starts getting so hot. Plus our poor little Still Waters Pond is really getting dry, and literally the waters are very still!

Seeing these clouds also reminds me that today is traditionally remembered as Ascension Day,  the day that our Lord ascended back into heaven, 40 days after His resurrection from the dead.  In the book of Acts 1:1-11, we see Jesus giving His last instructions to His disciples, and then in verse 9-11 it says:

9.  "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched,

He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10.  And while they looked steadfastly 

toward heaven as He went up, 

behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

11.  who also said,

"Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?  

This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,

will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

I don't know about you, but I am so looking forward to seeing Jesus come back "in like manner" as the Disciples saw Him go into heaven. I pray it will be soon.  Yes, then we will definitely be "looking up"!  I hope we are all ready for that grand and glorious day.

Have a blessed and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. I will look forward to hearing all about it next week!

Sermon Notes ...Christ WILL Come Again!!!

Before our Sunday School class began yesterday I had an opportunity to go into our little prayer chapel...a room set aside for prayer. It was a very moving experience as I studied the pictures on the walls and thought about what they really meant...and how Jesus is our Great Shepherd, and that He came to seek and save that which was lost...

Read what Jesus said in Matthew 18:11-14...

"For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

What do you think? 

If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, 

does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains 

to seek the one that is straying? 

And if he should find it, assuredly, 

I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven 

that one of these little ones should perish."

I was reminded of the 23rd Psalm:

"The Lord is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil; 

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me int he presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

And then our choir sang this beautiful song yesterday in church, "Dwell in the Light Forevermore". 

If you click on this link and click on the arrow you can listen to it.
https://www.lorenz.com/choral/church/choral/church-choral/dwell-in-the-light-forevermore 

It wasn't an easy song to learn, but it had such a beautiful message. Here are the publisher's words about how this song was written:

"I was working on Susan Bentall Boersma’s new lyric, Dwell in the Light Forevermore, on Friday, December 14, 2012, when a lone gunman burst into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, inexplicably taking the lives of twenty young children and six adult staff members within a matter of minutes. As news of the tragedy spread, I, like so many, was devastated by the senseless loss of life. I found Susan’s words to be a source of solace and hope that day: 

"Into the valley of shadows

under a veil of gray,

God calls the good and faithful,

then guides us on the way...

Through the valley of shadows, 

lost in the dark of night, 

our God goes before us to lead us to the light. 

There will be no more night! 

No need for lamp or ray of sun, the Lamb will be the light. 

There will be no more night! 

No need to fast, to watch, to weep around the throne so bright. 

My dear friend and mentor, the late Dr. Robert H. Reardon, President of Anderson University (IN) from 1958-83, said to me several years ago following the unexpected death of his wife, Geraldine, “Grief is a common journey we all share in life. Though none of us wish to take the trip, eventually we must all travel it.” Pain and disappointment come in many forms. Life is never scripted quite the way we would have chosen. But by faith we know that God walks with us and goes before us shedding light in our valleys of shadows, longing to embrace us when we reach the end of the journey‒be it long or short– with joyous words ushering us into the eternal presence of Christ’s holy light: 

"Out of the valley of shadows,

We step into the day,

We see the Lamb upon the throne

and hear the Savior say:

“Well done, well done, my good and faithful one! 

Come, dwell in the Light of Life forevermore!” 

This is the eternal hope to which we cling!" – Lloyd Larson

I know I haven't been keeping up with the Pastor's sermon notes here lately, and I must apologize to our pastor as well as to you. It seems like each week things have come up that have distracted me from my purpose, and by the time I got around to it, it was time for the next message! So today I just want to say thank you to our Pastor A.C., for his faithful commitment to our church for the past 18 years. This past Saturday we had a luncheon to celebrate his upcoming retirement.  He will be with us a couple more weeks, and then on to enjoy whatever the Lord has for him and his wonderful wife Leslie.  Here are a few pictures from the celebration:

The church gave him this plaque, which is appropriate for him as he loves old cars...

His message this past Sunday was about the Ascension of Jesus Christ, from Acts 1:1-11.  Some of the key points were:

• Jesus HAS to come back again...we've made such a mess of things here on earth...we need Jesus to come and straighten it all out...
• We don't know when He is coming...but we've been given work to do in the meantime....both in "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth...even in Interlachen..."
• We've been commissioned by Jesus to preach the Good News... (Matthew 28:18-20) and to be His witnesses
• We need the Holy Spirit to help us do that...(see Acts 1:8)
• We have that ministry to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick...be the hands, feet and eyes of Jesus to a lost and dying world
• Our world is in a mess. We need to get out of our comfort zone and reach out to those who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and His Salvation.
• We need to be more accepting of God's people...welcome them and pray with them and for them, and introduce them to Jesus, and let Jesus do the rest.
• We need to "reach out and touch someone" with the love of Christ today...
• Jesus IS coming back again...
• 
  
• "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11

Therefore...let's get going...there's work still to be done until He comes again...

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 6/2/2019

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.