Soon and Very Soon...

What a service we had today!!!

This is a link to a pre-recorded service/message for today.  It starts out with our choir singing 

"Soon and Very Soon, We Are Going to See the King, Hallelujah!"...but actually that song was sung by the whole congregation at the close of the service.

Also, the Pastor preached/taught from Matthew 18:15-35, entitled

"How to Get Along When You ain't getting along"...talking about forgiveness...a message there for each and every one of us for sure.

But what you can't see in this video is the real service that was going on. As I said above, this was pre-recorded ahead of time. Our choir recorded the song last week at choir practice. The Pastor pre-recorded his message on another day during the week before an audience of video recorder and perhaps his wife handling any technicalities (or maybe not...he may be alone with just the camera, I'm not sure). We started recording the messages like this back during the pandemic of 2020 for the benefit of everyone who had to stay at home and not attend church in person.  Then as we started coming back to church, using masks and social distancing, we continued the recorded services for those who were not well or who still did not feel comfortable coming back to church in person.  As time went by, the masks came off and we once again crowded into the pews together, rubbing shoulders and giving hugs, singing out loud and coming forward for the Lord's Supper (Communion) each week.  But still, we continue to record the choir singing a song that people at home can sing along with, and the pastor records his message so those who cannot come for whatever reason can still be a part of the worship service from a distance. It's not live-streamed, so there are still no other people in the audience, and no interaction with one another. It may be okay for those who have health issues and are not able to participate in person for one reason or another, and I am not being critical of that because it definitely serves a purpose, but it was never intended to become the norm for church attendance and worship.

I saw this quote on Facebook today and shared it, and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people:

And today in our service there was a good example of the real church in action, in person.  In the middle of the Pastor's sermon, there was a bit of a commotion in a pew toward the back of the sanctuary. An elderly woman had suddenly fainted. Immediately someone across from her noticed and jumped up to her aid. We have several nurses in our congregation, and they each one also jumped and ran to offer assistance. A gentleman in the back called 911. The Pastor stopped his sermon and led the congregation in prayer for this dear woman.  The EMT's arrived in short order and came in and began to assess her situation. By then she had regained consciousness, Praise God, and she sat up and asked for us to sing a song while the the EMT's continued to check her out. We sang Jesus Loves Me and Amazing Grace.  Meanwhile someone who knew that she lives alone and that her daughter lives out of state, and that she had just been here but had left to go back home, was able to get her phone number so that she could be contacted right away. It turns out that this woman is diabetic, and she admitted that she had not eaten any breakfast this morning. Soon the EMT's took her out to the waiting ambulance and she was transferred to the hospital. The Pastor then, amazingly, was able to pick up where he'd left off in his message and completed the sermon. Then is when the congregation sang the song from the video seen above, "Soon and Very Soon, We are Going to See the King, Hallelujah!", and it was sung with such joy and exuberance, because we know that each one of us will have that day when we will meet Jesus face to face...where there is no more crying there...and no more dying there...Hallelujah, Hallelujah! We are going to see the King!"  And again there was a prayer for our dear friend who appeared to be doing much better and who wanted to hear us singing instead of showing fear or alarm...a very sweet and calm spirit pervaded the room...and we all left feeling a sense of knowing that the Spirit of the Lord had been in that Sanctuary with us today for sure...

My friends...this was the church in action today. It was a great example of how much we each need the fellowship of the church, the Body of Christ in service to one another...praying, singing, ministering, and healing...

If you are at all physically able to attend church, please do. 

"The church needs you, and you need the church."

Amen.

 

Friday Foto Friends: A Visit to A Friendly Little Church on the side of the road

Last weekend we had the opportunity to "visit" this "Friendly Little Church on the side of the road" in Florahome, FL.  I've been there before, and I may have shown some pictures of the outside here before, but on this day we were privileged to go inside and I could take pictures to my heart's content. Maybe you will enjoy coming in with me.

The occasion for our visit wasn't for a church service.  No, something quite different.

Our son, the carpenter, was asked to construct a sound booth for the sanctuary, to accommodate their new sound and technology equipment.  They are bringing this little historic church in the country up to modern standards as far as the sound system and visual technology goes.  Everything else will remain the same...

Anyway, our son needed a helping hand to hold some things in place while he fastened them together, and so my hubby was willing and able to assist him for a while, and I took advantage of this time to take some pictures that I've been wanting to get for a long time.

This is our son, but he is not finished yet.  Still had some trim and other things to do to complete the job, but we had done our part to help him.  I wish I had a picture of the finished work. I should ask him to send one to me.

I will start with these ancient oak doors and the very unique door handle. 

Can you imagine how many people have come in to worship through these doors over the past century?

The sign outside says the church was founded in 1914. I was thinking it was older than that, but still, that is over 100 years old, so that is still pretty significant.

The thing that is so unique about this little country church is this beautiful stained glass window that catches your eye when you first walk in. I've never seen one just like it, kind of a wagon wheel design.

The sanctuary is beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Then I love to look at these beautiful old oak curved back pews. I also love that picture of Mary, weeping at the foot of the cross of her precious Son, Jesus, as He was dying for the sins of the world.

Reminds me now of the Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know?"

"Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb?

That sleeping child you're holding is the great I Am.

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know?

Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Mary did you know? Oh

Mary did you know?"

(Written and sung by Mark Lowry)

The Nativity Scene is waiting for the Baby Jesus to appear.

The Christmas tree is filled with ornaments all about the Christmas story

Beautiful stained glass window in the back of the sanctuary;

Walking back outside, I was happy to see the camellia bushes are starting to bloom:

A peaceful little garden area in the courtyard:

The back of the church:

Such a pretty little country church:

And then I walked around their beautiful oak shaded yard to see their wonderful outdoor Nativity display....again we await the arrival of the Christ Child on Christmas Eve:

Last year our church choir joined their church choir for a special Christmas service of singing Christmas carols and then we came outside for a candlelight service at this scene and sang Silent Night together. It was so very beautiful and peaceful.  Following that we had a time of fellowship and lots of good food! Sadly, we won't be able to do that this year because of the  "restrictions".  

Praying life will start returning to "normal" soon. Praying for all those who are still suffering from this horrid disease, and praying especially for those who have lost loved ones in this battle.

Focusing our thoughts on Christmas and the Baby Jesus who came to "one day rule the nations"...

The Great I Am...

May He soon restore healing, peace and comfort to our land.

Amen.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the "Friendly Little Church on the side of the road". 

Have a blessed and beautiful Advent weekend.

P.S.  Here are a couple of pictures of the finished Sound Booth, although after this he went back and finished the inside of the booth with stain as well. And the church is going to carpet the floor of the booth.  But you get the idea:

 

Sermon Notes: "Church: A Life Saver or a Live Taker?"

After our choir sang the above anthem, "Our Grateful Praise!"  (it was a workout, but we made it through!), the Pastor started out his sermon sharing some excerpts from the following article in Christianity Today, "Boring Church Services Changed My Life", by Daniel Darling.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2017/february-web-exclusives/boring-church-services-changed-my-life.html

This sounded so familiar to me...I believe I have read this article before on Facebook and it struck me then just as it did now, hearing our pastor quoting some of the key points:

"God changed my life using routine worship services in which I sang hymns I didn’t quite understand and heard messages I didn’t quite grasp."

"This repetition built in my heart a deep reservoir of theology. And now, as a husband and father and pastor, whenever I stand and sing these hymns, I can barely contain myself. At times I cannot sing; I can only weep. Some choruses evoke memories: My father serves communion while “Jesus Keep Me near the Cross” plays faintly in the background. Dad fights back tears as we sing “Jesus Paid It All.”

"These rituals train our hearts. We sing to ourselves songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. We hear the same gospel preached to us, over and over again. We lift the cup to our lips and the bread to our tongues remembering, again, our place at the King’s table. Through these practices, God takes our hearts and seals them for his courts above, to paraphrase another hymn writer, Robert Robinson."

"When I think back on the simple routines—the liturgies—that changed my life, I’m encouraged in my own pastoral role. I’m reminded afresh that the work of ministry is not so much about finding new, tantalizing ways to make people excited about Jesus, but about the timeless rituals that shape their hearts...

Because somewhere in your congregation are children singing words they don’t know, listening to Scripture they don’t understand, and fighting sleep during a sermon that doesn’t hold their interest. They don’t realize it yet, but the Spirit of God is pressing the gospel message, through yet another “boring” church service, deep within their hearts."

Daniel Darling is the vice president for communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (ERLC). Previously, he served as senior pastor of Gages Lake Bible Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

I guess the reason this article touched my heart when I first read it, and then again in hearing our Pastor expound upon it is because I grew up in a church that followed a certain liturgy and ritual each Sunday, and even though as a child I didn't quite understand everything that was being said or prayed, or the songs that we sang...they were teaching me nonetheless. The words were seeping into my heart and planting seeds that took root and grew and developed as I matured into a young woman seeking God in my life. When the time came that I was confronted with my own sinfulness and recognized in myself to be in need of a Savior, the words, prayers, and songs of the formative years found a home in my heart, and the Lord opened my eyes to understand His truth and purpose for my life.  And it is interesting that in the ensuing years I not only embraced Jesus Christ as my Savior and King, but He also found many ways to use my life to serve Him in His church and kingdom. I can honestly say along with the author of the above article:

"This repetition built in my heart a deep reservoir of theology. And now, as a husband and father and pastor,  Wife and mother and retired pastor's wife, whenever I stand and sing these hymns, I can barely contain myself. At times I cannot sing; I can only weep. Some choruses evoke memories: My HUSBAND serves communion while “Jesus Keep Me near the Cross” plays faintly in the background. He fights back tears as we sing “Jesus Paid It All.” 

Back to the sermon notes from our Pastor:

Scripture Passage was read from Revelation 22:10-11

"And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, 

for the time is at hand.

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; 

He who is filthy, let him be filthy still'

He who is righteous, let him be righteous still;

He who is holy, let him be holy still."

• God is empowering us...He wants to use us
• God is alive...He is working...He wants you to know Him on a personal level.
• The church needs to be honest and sincere about what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ in today's world.
• What are we doing?  
• Can we do it better?
• Where do we fall short?
• We live in a secular time...but that is not a reason to give up, but a reason to get up and get going to share the Gospel.
• We need to BE the Church of Jesus Christ...We need to LIVE  the church of Jesus Christ
• Jesus is the ONLY hope this world has.
• The church is not the building...You are the church. We are the church.
• This is our place at the King's table...what are we going to do about the world beating on our door?

Another quote from the article:  "The work of ministry is not so much about finding new, tantalizing ways to make people excited about Jesus, but about the timeless rituals that shape their hearts."

But before we can share these timeless rituals of the faith with them from the reading of God's Word and the singing of songs and choruses and prayers that shape the heart and soul to receive the Lord, we have to bring them in. We, who are "The Church", have to reach out to the lost and dying souls around us and welcome them into God's House.  

Sermon Notes from FUMC, Interlachen, FL. Pastor A.C. Myers, 11/25/2018

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.

A Place of Perfect Peace

 

The obituary of an untimely death...

"___ entered the Presence of the Lord on August ___, at the age of 24."

"___enjoyed too many things to list them all, but most notably were baseball, traveling, music, dogs, food, the shore, and fishing. Most of all, he enjoyed meeting people of different cultures, countries and backgrounds. He traveled through Europe, parts of Africa and different islands around the world. He was a person to “ride the river with”.

"__was a member of the US Army, and recently retired due to an injury attained in Afghanistan. He was based in Germany and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was trained in infantry and cross trained for the Cobra Strike Team. He went on over 180 missions and received numerous medals and recognition for his service to our country." 

"__was attending Penn State at the time of his death. " 

"He was loyal, kind and generous, yet he was also a warrior and sheep dog through and through. He was a preacher’s kid who loved Jesus, but struggled with the church. One of the highlights of this year was when he was working with His Work, His Way, and he exclaimed, “if every town did this, our country would be turned around for the better”. 

It was with much angst that I read the above obituary recently. Although I did not know him personally, this young man was the son of an acquaintance of ours who was a former colleague in ministry. We knew his grandparents more so than his parents. They were also former colleagues, serving as the District Superintendent & wife for the religious denomination in which we served in the pastoral ministry for many years.  His great-grandparents were very well known in this particular denomination, having served first as missionaries and then in the highest position of leadership for the denomination. He came from a very loving Christian home, with his ancestry steeped in service to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What this obituary did not state was the fact that this wonderful young man, with such a strong Christian heritage and ancestry,  a stellar record in service to our country, and with the intelligence and ability to enroll in an excellent university to begin the next phase of his life's journey...what it didn't tell you was that he died tragically from an apparent drug overdose.

I am not aware if the overdose was on purpose or accidental...and at this point, I'm not sure that matters.  The fact remains that this young man, with such great potential and so much positive influence in his life had his life come to a screeching halt at the age of twenty-four.

My mind is reeling and my heart is breaking...for him, for his family, and for everyone who knew him.  Only God knows what happened that brought him to that point in his life...but I suspect it may have had something to do with the action and injury that he sustained in his service to our country in Afghanistan. I don't know that for a fact and I'm certainly not going to ask...but we see so much of this in the lives of our military when they come back home.  They are wounded in ways that medicine can't fix, and our country has failed in its efforts to rehabilitate and properly care for the countless thousands of men and women veterans who are in similar circumstances.

However, this is not intended to be a political message ...but it does give one pause to reflect on that particular subject, and say a prayer for those in service to our country.

The other part of his obituary that caused me to stop and take notice was this statement:

"He was a preacher’s kid who loved Jesus, but struggled with the church."

From one who knows about these struggles, having had three sons who are preacher's kids, I can so relate.  My kids (now adults--one in heaven) all loved Jesus, but they have also had struggles with "the church".  Not with God, not with Jesus, not with true Christianity, but with "the church".  Or perhaps the expectations of the members of "the church"...expectations that were placed on "the preacher's kids" that no one would dare place on their own kids.  (Something to think about, huh?)

Now, I am not going to bash the church because I love Christ's church, the Body of Christ.  However, all too often things are done and said in "the church" in the name of "the church", or religion, that are not totally representative of Christ and what He intended the church to be. Sadly, many times "the church" stands in judgment of people and forgets that we are to extend the LOVE of Jesus to all people.  Christ offers love and forgiveness to anyone who will come to Him and ask.

Jesus said in John 3:16~

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

But have you ever read the next verse, John 3:17?

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world through Him might be saved."

Remember what Jesus said regarding the woman taken in adultery in the Gospel of John, chapter 8...

Vs. 7:  "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."

And when one by one all the accusers dropped their stones and walked away, Jesus asked the woman 

in verse 10:

"Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"

She replied to Him, (vs. 11) "No one, Lord."  And Jesus said to her:

"Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

But this isn't exactly where I wanted to go with this either.  It concerns me that perhaps there are those who would cast stones at this young man because he very possibly took his own life due to the wrong choices he made.  Again, I really don't know the details or particulars of what led him to this point in his life.  But this one thing I do know, according to God's Word:

John 6:39:  

"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, (Jesus)  that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day."

Vs. 40:

"And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Vs. 47:

"Most assuredly, I say to you,

he who believes in Me has everlasting life."

Our God is a God of great mercy...

"But God, who is rich in mercy, 

because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ 

(by grace you have been saved)

and raised us up together,

and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace

in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith,

and that not of yourselves;

it the the gift of God,

not of works, 

lest anyone should boast."

Ephesians 2:4-9

It is my prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ give the comfort that only He can give to this dear family and friends during their time of great grief. May they feel His Presence and know that their child is safe in the arms of Christ today... 

No more suffering...no more fears, but in a place of perfect peace forever. Amen.

"Let not your heart be troubled; 

you believe in God, believe also in Me.

In My Father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. 

I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and receive you to Myself;

that where I am, 

there you may be also."  

John 14:1-3

"Peace I leave with you,

My peace I give to you;

not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

John 14:27

Amen.

(All photos are from a walk in the woods to a "Place of Peace")