Weakness and Strength...and A Little Adventure Just for Fun!

 Just some turkeys crossing the road...a great way to start our Monday!

Here's a quick Monday morning check in! I hope you are all doing well and that you had a good weekend. My weekend was good for the most part. Had a few glitches with the neck spasms on Friday during therapy and also on Saturday, but by Sunday I was feeling much better, praise the Lord!  Good enough to go to church and worship with our church family...

The Praise Team singing "There's Power in the Blood" was actually recorded last year. But the Pastor's sermon from Philippians 3:1-11 is current.

If you want to sing along with us, here are the words to this old time gospel song:

"Would you be free from your burden of sin?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you o’er evil a victory win?

There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the blood of the lamb

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the precious blood of the lamb.

Would you be free from your passion and pride?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide

There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the blood of the lamb

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the precious blood of the lamb.

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

Sin stains are lost in its lifegiving flow.

There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the blood of the lamb

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the precious blood of the lamb.

Would you do service for Jesus your King?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you live daily His praises to sing?

There’s wonderful power in the blood."

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the blood of the lamb

There is power, power, wonderworking power in the precious blood of the lamb.

Amen!

After going out to lunch at our local True Grits restaurant with some friends and family, we came home and rested up for a while.  Then Lily Grace was begging to go for an adventure...a Scavenger Hunt, to be exact.  You can read all about it over on her page: https://adventuresoflilygrace.blogspot.com/2021/07/lets-go-on-scavenger-hunt.html

We had so much fun doing this, that we thought you might want to join in the fun! This would be a great adventure to do with your grandchildren or just by yourself.  Then be sure to take pictures of your discoveries and share them in your next post!  Here's the list, which actually came from the August edition of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and you can upload it on your phone here:

https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/sites/37/2021/07/09/BHG-Budget-Adventures-bingo-card.pdf

It will look something like this:  

There you see all the items you are to go searching for! Don't forget to take a picture when you find it! I think it would be fun to see how many different ones you can find in your neighborhood/town. Then please let me know when you do it!  Hey! If I can do this, so can you! Enlist a cooperative husband or friend to go along with you.  I think my hubby had just as much fun as we did. I am amazed at his patience with me and my little friend Lily Grace.  Gotta love a man who will drive all over town with his crazy wife and her cute little doll, stopping the car every time she yells "STOP!  I want to take a picture of that!"  Sometimes we had to make a few u-turns to go back to the spot because he couldn't stop as fast as I could yell for him to stop.  You get the picture I am sure.    Oh, here's a few pictures that I didn't share on Lily's page:

When we had stopped the car on one of the back roads where we like to go walking to take a picture of a fire hydrant, I looked down the road and saw what I thought at first to be a bunch of buzzards gathered around some good road-kill.  But on second glance I realized these were turkeys! A whole big flock of turkeys!!  I'm thinking someone must be feeding them for them to all gather in that spot, boy did they start strutting across the road in a hurry when they saw me:

Sorry this isn't better quality, but it was my cell phone and that's as far as it goes for distance.

These pictures do beg the question:

Why did the turkey cross the road????

To get to the other side, of course...and away from the crazy lady with the doll and the camera, I'm sure!

On that note, I think I will say have a good day!

I'm off to therapy again this morning. Praying it doesn't get my nerves and muscles all in a spasm again. I know you gotta have some pain to make things get stronger, but jeepers...

One of the fellas in Sunday School yesterday made this observation, which I thought worth quoting:

"Pain is the body's way of getting rid of weakness."

Come to find out, that is a variation of a famous  quote by someone named Chesty Puller:

I had no idea who "Chesty Puller" was, so I looked him up:

"Chesty Puller, in full Lewis Burwell Puller, (born June 26, 1898, West Point, Virginia, U.S.—died October 11, 1971, Hampton, Virginia), United States Marine Corps officer who was the most decorated and venerated Marine in the history of the Corps. Across three wars and two counterinsurgency campaigns, Puller won five Navy Crosses and earned an unrivaled place in the hearts of Marines as the quintessential Leatherneck—“hard as the frontal armor of a tank, tenacious as a bulldog, courageous to a fault, and scornful of anyone or anything that did not wear the eagle, globe, and anchor insignia.”

I might have known he was a Marine.  Sounds like something a Marine officer would say to his recruits.

But hey, it makes sense. So if I want this weakness to leave my body, I guess I need to suffer a little pain in the process.  So say a prayer for me!  Thank you.

I prefer what God says to us through His Word:

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

II Corinthians 12:9-10

Maybe there's a blending of thoughts here...through my physical weakness, Christ's power will become more perfect in me. He will give me the grace and the strength I need to face this challenge and any other challenge that comes in the future.  This is another kind of strengthening exercise.

Okay...now...go find those items on the Scavenger hunt, and have a blessed day!!!

 

Sermon Notes: Being Led By The Spirit

Today we welcomed our Pastor back to church after his being out, as he called it, "having technical difficulties".  We thank the Lord for continuing the healing process in his body, and trust that soon he will be back to 100% again.  Thank you again for your prayers during this time.

So beautiful this new wooden cross on the altar, built  by special request especially for the church by my son.
So proud and thankful for the work he does.

Our scripture lesson today was from Luke 4:1-13, better known to us as "The Temptation of Jesus".
Immediately following Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist, "Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."  (Luke 4:1)
And if you know the story, you know that Jesus was tempted by the devil for forty days.  During that time Jesus ate nothing, and when the 40 days was ended, He was hungry. (verse 2)

So this was when the devil came to Jesus and began the temptation. You can read the "conversation" between Satan and Jesus in verses 3-12.  With every single temptation that the devil threw at Jesus, Jesus had an answer ready, based on the accurate understanding of the holy scriptures.  Satan tried his best to twist the words of the scriptures to use them for his own advantage against Jesus, but Jesus knew better and each and every time He put Satan back in his place.

Finally, in verse 13, the scriptures say, "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."   Notice it doesn't say that the devil left Jesus alone for good, but only until he could come up with another more opportune time to try and trip Him up.

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the 40 day period of fasting and following the Lord "in the wilderness" so to speak, leading up to Easter Sunday. (The 40 days of Lent do not include the Sundays during that period).

The 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness was actually the preparation time for Jesus to begin His full ministry.  Notice Jesus was LED by the Spirit.  Why did He go into the wilderness?
Most of us would not intentionally get ourselves into a situation that would be so obviously dangerous.  Yet, in this period of Lent, we are asked to do this for 40 days, just as Jesus did.

So what is Lent? Is it just the giving up of something?  In the Old English, the word Lent meant "Spring"...the season of Spring.
In this regard, Lent could be considered a kind of "spring cleaning" for our souls.  It is a time for followers of Jesus Christ to fully rely on God and God alone during a time of soul cleansing.

It's not about giving up something, but it should be instead a time to make room for more of Jesus in our lives....More quantity and quality of time with the Lord.
It is a time to be more dependent on God and not on things.
Some ways to do this:

• Read Bible
• Pray more
• Focus on Forgiveness...who do we need to forgive?
• Be led by the Holy Spirit as we seek forgiveness and to forgive those who may have hurt us.
• Be more self-giving instead of selfish

Remember: God never leaves us alone.  He is always there to give us life more abundantly as we are following Christ, being led by the Holy Spirit.

The devil wanted Jesus to break His fast, and he promised to give Him power for selfish reasons...

(see Luke 4:6-7)

If Jesus had done what Satan tempted Him to do He would have been saying NO to God and the Resurrection that was coming.  Then where would we be?

How about us?  Without obedience to Christ we would be left completely alone.  Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit, not by His flesh.

God has given us that same Holy Spirit to guide us and keep us going in the right direction.

In II Corinthians 12:10, the Apostle Paul says, 

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Now let us look at Luke 4:14-15, following His temptation and fasting in the wilderness, 

"Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all."

Note that He went in "the power of the Spirit"...God was with Him...

• God is there for us...we can depend on Him at ALL times.
• We can TRUST that God will be with us always

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us through this time of preparation...

The more we depend on God, the stronger we become...

It is God and God alone Who sustains us.

So, during this time of preparation, let us be LED by the Holy Spirit while we prepare our hearts for the ministry He has for each one of us.

Our choir sang this beautiful old hymn during our time of communion. Such depth of meaning in these words. I hope you will sing along with me as we continue our time of remembrance of the Lord's Crucifixion and Resurrection.

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 3/10/2019

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.

Note to Readers: I took the comment moderation off temporarily to see how things go. If I continue to get spam messages, I will have to put it back on.  I look forward to seeing your comments!  Have a blessed day.

Sermon Notes: "Who Me?"

Today's sermon was reminiscent of several other posts I've have written recently. (not sermon notes)  I don't think the Pastor was aware of this when he planned his message for today.  But I do think God was aware of it, and He apparently is trying to drive home a point.  Is it for me? Or maybe it is for you?  Let's check it out and see what message we each discover in today's sermon.

So here we go with today's sermon notes based on Exodus 3:1-14, entitled, "Who Me?"

In today's scripture lesson we find Moses tending the flock of sheep that belonged to Jethro, his father-in-law.  And while he was doing this rather mundane, possibly boring task, suddenly The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush! (see verse 2)

"So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed."

And in verse 4, God called to Moses from the midst of the burning bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 -6:  Then God said, "Do not draw near this place.  Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground."  "Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

And in verse 6, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

Then God said to Moses,

"I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt,

and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters,

for I know their sorrows."

And as we skip down to verse 10, we see that Moses has received his call from God....God tells him that He will send him to Pharaoh to bring God's people Israel out of Egypt.

But Moses replies,

"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh..."

Basically, Moses is saying what probably most of us would say if God asked us to do something so unbelievable, outlandish, and possibly even dangerous:

"Who, ME?

Moses has bought into the notion that he's a "nobody"...trying to pass the buck onto someone else...he doesn't think he's qualified enough, not a good enough speaker, just a lowly shepherd over his father-in-law's flocks...

But this call from God applies to all of us... not just the clergy, or the learned, or the eloquent of speech...

I Corinthians 1:27-28 tells us:

"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, 

and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are..."

"Be all you can be..."  You are chosen for God's Army...and He asks you to be all you can be for Him.

Jesus came to:

• Preach the gospel to the poor
• to heal the broken-hearted
• to proclaim liberty to the captives
• recovery of sight to the blind
• to set at liberty those who are oppressed
• and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

(see Luke 4:18-19 and Isaiah 61:1)

And we, as His disciples and church are expected to carry on that same mission today... and Jesus promises to be with us always, even unto the end of the age...(see Matthew 28:18-20)

God promised Moses in Exodus 3:12...

"I will certainly be with you..."

God is the God of the bush that is not consumed...

Your call may have something to do with justice, love, care of others...

If the task is incompatible with God's Word then it is not from God at all...

• Jesus tells us in John 15:5

"Without Me you can do nothing..."

God chooses imperfect people to do His work here on earth...

• David went out of his way to break practically all of the Ten Commandments
• Peter was impulsive and brash...
• Jacob stole his brother's birthright...

Leave room in the list for  your name...

God's power is made perfect in our weakness...

• "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness..." (II Corinthians 12:9)

We aren't perfect.  

• Is God calling you?
• Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)
• God will be with you no matter what

We have to go...so...

• Trust in God

When Moses got back to Mt. Horeb, God said, "I'm going to do this...", and it happened.

God is calling each of us to do something special through Him and for Him.

Make a list of people you want to touch with the gospel of Christ this week...

God is in control...

• Lean on God...
• Follow Him...
• Trust Him...
• Pray...

What do you see in this lesson that God is saying to you? And what is your response to God?

Is it, "Who, Me?"  or is it, "Here I am, Lord."

I know I am truly trying to pay attention to what God may be asking of me...and am also trying to be more willing to respond, "Here I am, Lord, send me."

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.

Sermon Notes: FUMC Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 7/22/2018

God's Grace Has NO Limit!

My friend Carolyn over at A Word About Words wrote about "cheap grace and costly grace" in her recent blog  post entitled "Simple and Easy". I found myself echoing her words as I read this post today.  I have linked it here for you to check out.

As I read this I found myself singing an old song that I haven't heard in a while, but used to sing frequently. I will write it out for you here so you can sing along.  I wonder if you have found these words to be true in your life as well?  I know I have.  Just look back through the past few months of my posts and you will see that God had to be giving me (and my family) more grace each day.  He still is. He always has. He always will.
Here it is for you:

He Giveth More Grace  (You Tube Video by Ben Markley, vocalist)

by Annie Johnson Flint

"He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;

To added affliction He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace."

Chorus:

"His love has no limit,

His grace has no measure,

His power has no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!"

"When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,

Our Father's full giving is only begun!"

Chorus:

"His love has no limit,

His grace has no measure,

His power has no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,

He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!"

"And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  II Corinthians 12:9-10

My friend, if you are going through difficult trials and feel like you have come to the end of your endurance and strength, I hope you will discover that "Our Father's full giving is only begun!"  I know I have...over and over again. When I am at my weakest point and ready to give up, that's when God's grace kicks in and takes over. That's when He picks me up and carries me. 

That's when I realize that I cannot do it alone...I need His grace. I need His power.  I need God's Great Grace.  Listen to this new song by Matt Reddman, Your Grace Finds Me.  His great grace is there for us in all the high and low moments of our lives.  "From the creation to the cross.  Then from the cross into eternity, Your grace finds me...Yes Your grace finds me..."

Knowing that God's great grace is there for us always is a huge comfort to me right now in this present trial we are enduring.  I pray that if you don't know this wonderful Savior Who gives this marvelous grace, that you will seek His face right now.  His amazing grace is there, waiting to save you.

"For the law was given through Moses, but GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ."  John 1:17

"For by GRACE you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the GIFT of GOD, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9

Okay, here's one more song we all should know about grace..."Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound" by John Newton...I won't write all of the verses for you here as many of you already know this priceless song by heart, but my favorite verses are the last two:

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And GRACE will lead me home."

"When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we'd first begun!"