November 6

How often do we receive gifts from God and not express how thankful we are? In today's reading, the account of the ten lepers that Jesus healed made me think about how desperately ungrateful we are. Jesus healed these people of an incurable disease that made them social outcasts... and only one out of ten thought to give thanks.

The women's retreat at Spofford a couple weeks ago was based on a book by Anne Voskamp called One Thousand Gifts. In this book, Anne explores the idea that thankfulness is the key to living an abundant joyful life. She was challenged to make a list of the gifts that God has given her. Making this list opened her eyes to the extent of God's generous love that He gives us every single day. Everything in our lives is a gift from God and He deserves our thanks for all of it.

I felt challenged to start my own list. Here are just a few of the many gifts that God has given me:

~ The sound of the bell on my dog's collar as he runs.

~ A single pine cone hanging on a high branch

~ Clouds that look like pink cotton candy

~ Pink grapefruit gelato

~ Buying a lot of Halloween candy and then having NO trick-or-treaters

~ Finding clean clothes so I can put off doing laundry one more day

~ Laughing until I cry

~ Harry Potter movie marathon with my mother-in-law

~ Florence and the Machine song "Between Two Lungs"

~ Sunrise through my office window

~ Safety through the storm

~ My broken car

~ Pain in my foot and my side

~ My mom's depression that has lasted for years

~ My brother's divorce

~ My sister-in-law's joblessness

~ My grandmother's Alzheimer's disease

~ Family members who are not getting along

~ Friends who have cancer

You've probably noticed that not all these gifts are things that are easy to be grateful for. We need to realize that God is in everything, He is in control of everything, and He does everything for the good of those who love Him. I may not understand why people I love get cancer and suffer, or why my hardworking sister got fired and can't find another job. But what I do know is that God loves us all, He will never let us go, and He has a plan for us. This means that there is always a reason to give thanks.

There is a wall of thanksgiving in the back of the sanctuary at Grace Church. We all have been challenged to write gifts from God on Post-it notes and put them on this wall. How amazing would it be if there were so many Post-it notes, that there would not be room for them all, to see them crowded together and overlapping? Lets make this wall a visual representation of our lives that overflow with the gifts from a loving God.

Monday November 5th

In John 10:2-11 Jesus uses a metaphor of his relationship with those who believe in him.  Jesus say's he is the shepherd of his sheep and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own by name and he leads them.  His sheep follow him because they know his voice.  He also says that there are others who try to call his sheep but they do not listen because they do not recognize these other voices.  Those others are like thieves that come only to steal and kill and destroy.  Jesus, the good shepherd, came so that we may have a full life.

I want to take you back to 1982 and the movie "Annie" for a moment.  The scene is this: Annie has just run away from the orphanage and is walking around the streets of the city with a stray dog when the dogcatcher shows up.  He puts a leash around the dogs' neck and Annie, fearing for the dog's life and knowing that the pound awaits him, tells the catcher, "that's my dog."  The reply is, "If it's your dog then what's his name?"  "Sandy!" is Annie's response.  "Well if it is your dog then go over there and call him by his name."  Annie goes across the street and begins to call for Sandy.  Then a man standing next to her starts calling to the dog as well.  He is using all kinds of dog names to try to get the dog to come over to him like Rover and Rin Tin Tin.  Annie straightens up and in a clear voice calls, "Sandy" and the dog comes right to her.  The catcher removes the collar and for the rest of the story Sandy is now Annie's dog, listening to her voice and following her wherever she goes.

I am like Sandy.  Jesus called my name many years ago.  I was wandering in my life, wanting for more then the emptiness this world offers with its abundance of unsatisfying pleasures.  I heard his voice and I went to him.  The collar of sin was removed from my neck and along with it the threat of the pound, the threat of an eternal separation from the Shepherd, Jesus, who had called me.  I was excited with my new Shepherd and very devoted to him. 

But my story begins to differ from that of Sandy because my devotion to the one who called me is not always so faithful.  I'm not always so quick to follow Christ and listen to his voice.  Just like in the movie Annie and in the story in John 10, there are others who are trying to lure me away from the shepherd.  There are wolves, enemies of God who seek to steal, kill and destroy my faith in Jesus.  I will be honest and admit that sometimes these "voices" are loud and clear and over power the voice of my shepherd.  I know who these voices are, they are the voices of doubt, guilt, pride, regret, condemnation, self-pity, anger, and one of the loudest voices is fear.  I know that these voices are not from Jesus as he does not condemn (Jn 3:17), he does not give us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), he has given us hope in place of doubt (1 Peter 1:3), he has removed our guilt and regret (Isaiah 53:10), he teaches humility (Mt 11:19), I could go on and on.  But I find that despite the fact that I know these voices are not from Christ, that they are not truth, I sit and listen to them nonetheless.  What happens when I do?  They steal my joy, they try to kill my hope, and destroy my faith in the Good Shepherd.  The passage in John 10 gives me the answer in how to deal with these voices of deception, these lies that like to shout out at me from time to time: John says His sheep will run away when they hear a voice they know is not that of the shepherd.

James 4:6-8
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.

We need to constantly remember our need to draw near to God, to run to the safety of the shepherd.  To keep our ears attuned to his voice.

How do we keeps our spiritual ears tuned to the voice of the shepherd?  How do we learn to run from the voices that desire to lead us astray?  By doing what we have been doing all year…spending time reading his word.  Jesus, the good shepherd, is referred to as the Word of God several times.  If we want to know his voice we simple have to read our bibles as often as possible and become more and more familiar with it.  There are many passages that speak to this (Heb 4:12, Ps 18:30, Is 40:8, Lk 11:38, 2 Tim 2:15, 1 Jn 2:14).  Also when you hear those others voices calling out to you (pride, anger, guilt, etc) run to the shepherd, run to the Word of God, read the bible and fill your ears with the truth.  Call out to the shepherd in prayer and ask him to help you find his voice amongst the lies.  Remember the good shepherd does not desire for you to live a life that is mediocre and bland but as John 10 says he desires you and I to live a full life and that full life is found by listening to the voice of the one who called you by name in the first place.

I want to be like Sandy, I want to follow Christ with un-abandoned hope, faith, love, trust, and satisfaction in who he is, what he says, and the blessings that come from living a life in him.  I want so desperately to live the full life he has planned for me.

Nov 4

NOV 4TH I dont know about you, but I like to take tests, multiple choice  fill in the blank whatever. So here you go I hope you like it and it is fun for you! it would of been easier to write the blog :-)

Copy and paste link below

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=john-chapter-7

--
Chuck Goulart
President
Anytime Appliance
203-943-0961

"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes."

November 3

November 3, 2012    Forgiveness

 

In his short story entitled, "The Capital of the World," Ernest Hemingway tells about the troubled relationship between a father and a teenage son. Their relationship became strained, and then it shattered when the son ran away from home. His father, moved by compassion, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, Spain, the father, as a last resort, put an ad in the local newspaper. His son's name was Paco, which is a very common name in Spain. The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office tomorrow at noon; all is forgiven, I love you. Your father. As Hemingway writes, the next day at noon there were 800 Pacos in front of the newspaper office all seeking forgiveness and grace.

 

From my limited perspective as a pastor, I would estimate that 90% of the pain in life is relational.  We hurt each other in our families.  Husbands and wives do terrible, hurtful things to each other. Parents and children disconnect just as Hemingway wrote about. Kids are cruel and bully each other in school. In the work place and in friendships we hurt each other with words and actions. Even in church we can say and do things that damage one another.

 

So if 90% of pain is relational, how are we ever going to bring healing to our hearts and our relationships? The only answer is forgiveness. Forgiveness is the only ointment that heals relational pain.

 

From our reading of Matthew 18 and the parable of the servants in debt, we receive the most powerful instruction on how to experience true relational healing. The ointment that heals is understanding the relationship between horizontal and vertical forgiveness.

 

The first debt of 10,000 talents would be equivalent to 10 million dollars. Now that is a little more than I make as a pastor, but it is less than half of what Alex Rodriquez makes as a Yankee. The truth is 2000 years ago nobody could have that much money because it was more money than was used in the entire world. We are told that the entire annual revenue into the Roman coffers all over the globe was approximately 850,000 dollars. With 850,000 dollars you could pay all the judges, all the road builders, all the armies of the Roman Empire, all the politicians, all the teachers, and still have plenty left over for free bread, circuses and stadiums.   

 

So why would Jesus pick a number so outrageous? He did it to give us a picture of our vertical debt with God.  We have a debt with God that we can never repay.  Sin is cosmic treason. Nothing we can do can reverse its consequences. We have offended God. His holiness demands payment for our sins.

But Jesus, in his love, went over to that ledger and ripped out the pages with our debt, a debt that we cannot pay.  He said he would pay for them. So he went to the cross and died with our ledger nailed to his cross.  Now we stand before the king of heaven debt free.

 

The second figure of 100 denarii would be equivalent to 100 bucks. This is the picture of every horizontal debt we have on earth. That is why we must forgive every horizontal debt that occurs in life, even if we must do it 77 times. This is a hard teaching but God requires it because of the vertical forgiveness we have received from Him. Realizing the extent of our vertical forgiveness directly impacts our generosity with horizontal forgiveness.

 

So who do you need to forgive today?  Don't wait for them to make the first move. Because you have tasted of the Lord's forgiveness, you take the first step.  

 

If you want to see a 4 star movie on forgiveness rent the DVD "October Baby." I highly recommend it for teens and above.

Friday, November 2, 2012 – True Humility

Friday, November 2, 2012 – True Humility

Have you ever asked God to perform a miracle in your life? If so, did
you give up after just asking him once? How persistent in prayer were
you? In today's reading, we see a Canaanite woman ask Jesus to perform
a miracle in her life – she asks Him, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy
on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
(Matthew 15:22) Jesus heard this woman cry out to Him, but he didn't
answer her right away. First lesson to take away – God hears your
prayers. Even if you've only asked Him for something once, He's heard
it. He may not answer right away, but believe, He knows every prayer
you've ever spoken. Sometimes (perhaps more often than not), God wants
to grow your persistence, faith, and humility before answering your
prayer.

Jesus hadn't answered this Canaanite woman right away, but after she
kept crying out to Him, He eventually answered, "I was sent only to
the lost sheep of Israel."(Matthew 15:24) Now I'm not sure if you
recall the history between the Canaanites and Israelites, but they
were huge enemies. Jesus was calling this woman to humble herself – to
acknowledge everything she followed beforehand was false – and to
admit that salvation came through the people that were her sworn
enemies, the Jews. I can relate to this woman very much. Before I
really followed after God, I had to admit that I had chosen to be an
enemy of Him. For a long time, I rejected Jesus as my King. I chose to
make everything else king in my life. I can distinctly remember my
junior and senior years of college, when a woman I was close with
asked me, "to consider Jesus was God." I told her, "Get Jesus out of
my face." I was an enemy of God. But once I saw the miracles that
Jesus performed in the lives of people, I couldn't deny the truth. I
had to accept Jesus as the truth.

Now I'm not saying that nonbelievers alone need to humble themselves
before God. Even in my short time knowing the truth (Jesus), I've not
followed the truth many times. Many people know God, but don't seek
Him; and everyone, has their moments when they turn away from Him.
Humbling ourselves before God is a day by day, moment by moment
process. So again, in testing and humbling this Canaanite woman, Jesus
said (after first not answering her), "I was sent only to the lost
sheep of Israel." The Canaanite woman then humbled herself before the
Lord, got on her knees, and cried out, "Lord, help me!" (Matthew
15:25) What a beautiful prayer! "Help me Jesus" is a great prayer. In
times of struggle, when we simply acknowledge God's strength and
ability above ours, it's a beautiful thing. Humility requires
dependence on God, not ourselves.

Yet even after crying out to Jesus for help, Jesus humbled the
Canaanite woman even more when he replied, "It is not right to take
the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." (Matthew 5:26) By
this, Jesus implied that he was sent to the Jews (children) first, and
Gentiles (dogs) second. This statement might seem harsh, but it was
well understood by the Canaanite woman who replied, "Yes, Lord, but
even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
(Matthew 5:27) Now if the Canaanite woman's response troubles you,
than you are suffering from what is known as "pride." I admit, when I
first read this, I was infected with pride as well. Perhaps your
thinking, "hasn't this woman already humbled herself and shown great
faith? I mean when God didn't answer her the first time, she didn't
stop pleading with him and even got on her knees and cried out, 'Lord,
help me!"

This story portrays what true humility is all about – when you can
acknowledge yourself as a "dog" before God, begging for the "crumbs"
from His table, and mean it with all your heart, then you've truly
humbled yourself before God. We have to constantly remember that,
"Apart from me [Jesus], you can do nothing." (John 15:5) We have to
remember, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and
this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so
that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) There is nothing that we can
do to earn what God has freely given us through faith. We have
salvation not because of anything we have done, but because of God's
grace – because God poured the righteous wrath that we deserved onto
His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, so that we could have life. I
don't know about you, but for God's grace, I'm a "dog" any day of the
week. And please, I'll take a "crumb" of a "crumb," for here were
God's "crumbs" to the Canaanite woman – "Then Jesus said to her,
'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her
daughter was healed at that moment." (Matthew 15:28)

In the storms of this life, let's cry out to God for mercy. Let us not
give up, but be persistent in prayer, begging "Lord, help me!" When
humbled even more, let's truly recognize our unworthiness compared
with God's perfect standard of holiness. I encourage you to be "dogs"
today, pleading for the "crumbs" from our loving, forgiving, and
faithful Father's table. His "crumbs" will blow your mind.

God Bless,
Anthony

Matt 10-11 ish, Mark 6 ish, Luke 9 ish

Matt 10-11 ish, Mark 6 ish, Luke 9 ish

If you open up my Bible or any of the journals I have had over the last 10 years, you will always find the same image. It's repeated in journal notes, and will soon be drawn on page 1401 in our chronological Bible. The image is an outline of my left hand with 2 words written in each finger, one word in English, one is Spanish.  I will never forget a message I heard from a great and Godly man in Mexico City named Felipe Vazquez.  He is a loving father, husband, fellow barista and coffee lover, cake maker, generous friend,  pastor, and church planter. He is a man who has molded me into who I am today through his example and passion for Christ and as you can tell I care for him and his family very much! 

In 2003 Felipe gave a sermon based on some of these verses, reminding us as Christians what we need to focus on in our lives and especially in our prayers. The image of the hand is a tool to help us remember the 5 H's (and in Spanish it is the 5 C's.  it is so perfect that it works out like that!) In our path and walk with Christ we remember: 

1.  The Harvest

2. Heaven 

3. The Highways 

4. The Home/House

5. The Heart

As I read the passage yesterday, I put my "H words" to the side and was pretty pumped that this was exactly what Jesus was talking about. 

1. The Harvest: it is here and ready. We need to be in prayer for the seeds that have been planted and will be planted in the future. Pray for the workers (that means you!) that we would be many. Our family, neighbors, strangers, people we don't even know yet, are ripe for the picking! Or maybe they need to be cared for and nurtured in Christ's love. Pray for the harvest. 

2.  Heaven: As Scott preached on Sunday, Jesus came with the message of the kingdom. We need to be focused on the kingdom and know that is the goal... The finish line. Be prepared for it. 

3. The Highways: Jesus sent the disciple out 2 by 2. They went all over and to many places. Some accepted, some didn't. We need to pray for the highways and roads that are ahead if us and those are on now. Pray for the people we will meet, the challenges ahead (that we may be thankful) and that we will be simply be willing to GO! 

4. The Home: this is a given. Joshua 24:15: As for me and my household, we will serve The Lord. We all pray this. I know I do. I pray that my home (and family (present and future) would serve and love Christ. I pray and am reminded that we should use our homes for the glory of God. The disciples journeyed from town to town depending on the hospitality of others. Many, MANY of you did the same this week. It was so awesome to see the emails, messages, and call of those who offered their homes to others during this crazy week. Thank you. You bless me and others. 

5.  The Heart: guard your hearts. We are like sheep among wolves. Guard your hearts. I can't say that enough. We know how ugly this world is, but I fight and battle it. I sometimes tell Divan how much easier I think it would be to be in the world. Sin sin sin. I fight it.  We will be tempted, deceived, threatened, and alone sometimes. But I remember my other H..Heaven. 

My friends. I hope you draw a hand somewhere and remember these H's just like Felipe challenged me a decade ago. Teach them to your kids. be in prayer. Guard your hearts. Like Jesus sent out the disciples 2000 years ago, we are being sent out everyday. Don't go out unprepared or alone. We have 2 months left of reading and it is time to sprint. 

November 1: Miracles and Multitudes

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Miracles and Multitudes

 

 

Today’s passages provide a look into the changing nature of Jesus’s ministry, at least from the perspective of His disciples.  From our retrospective vantage point, it is important to remember the disciples’ preconceptions and how His words either confirmed or redirected those expectations.  Jesus displays His great power and gives insight into what commitment He demands from His followers.

 

 

1.  Feeding the 5,000.  This miracle, the only to appear in all four Gospel accounts, touches upon several key themes of Jesus’s ministry.  First of all, He had great compassion for the lost of Israel:  “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So he began teaching them many things.”  We have a Lord Who sees the trials and tribulations of His people, not a being that is distant and disengaged.  Out of His great love for us, God is indeed engaged and brought to compassion for His children.

 

In the actual miracle, we see Jesus’s focus on multiplication.  The small amount of “human” elements, the loaves and the fishes, become a great feast for more than 10,000 people; the Jewish reckoning of the crowd just included the 5,000 or so men.  Expressing the sentiments that we likely would have had in the situation, Philip acknowledges the great challenge of feeding so many people:  the disciples would need to pull together eight months’ wages to feed such a crowd!  Our human understanding falls to the limitations in such a circumstance, not to God’s power.  Jesus’s motivation lay in bringing glory to the Father.  As with the healing of the man born blind, Jesus indicates that some circumstances “happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

 

Indeed, the incident further demonstrated the imperative to rely on Christ for multiplication and service.  The disciples’ plan does not differ too greatly from the response that I would have expected from myself.  Indeed, if we have a need, we often immediately begin brainstorming the steps to alleviate that issue, instead of first approaching the King:  “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14–16)

 

Furthermore, we find that, in serving this meal, the disciples somehow received an overflowing blessing:  each disciple collected a basketful of leftover bread!  In this account, we learn that, by relying on God’s resources in the face of a need, the disciples received their sustenance.  As Richard Stearns notes in The Hole in Our Gospel, “the principle here is so very important for those of us who are overwhelmed with the immensity of human suffering and need in our world:  God never asks us to give what we do not have…  But he cannot use what we will not give.” (253)

 

 

2.  Walking on water.  In order to escape the crowd’s monarchial urges, Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee by walking on water.  In the process, an emboldened Peter asked Jesus to invite him to walk on water too.  In the experience, Peter faces the wind and begins to doubt:  “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out:  ‘Lord, save me!’”  How often too that our present reality obscures our trust in God’s power!  Jesus reaches out to Peter and rescues him, and, upon returning to the boat, Jesus calms the storm.  The disciples then worship Jesus for His power.  These verses call to mind the worshipping throngs in Revelation 5:13:  “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb,/be praise and honor and glory and power,/ for ever and ever!”

 

 

3.  Discipleship and opposition.  After seeing Jesus’s miraculous power, the disciples wish to know how they may follow Him.  Jesus explains that, instead of searching for human bread, they should seek the Bread of Life:  “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:26–27a)  Of course, they wish to know how to accomplish this work.  Most likely, the disciples anticipate a laundry list of commandments, such as those the Pharisees and Sadducees had prescribed.  Instead, Jesus offers this clear statement concerning eternal life:  “The work of God is this:  to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)  Jesus then explains that He is indeed the Bread of Life.

 

In believing in Christ, however, the disciples would face opposition.  Eating His flesh and drinking His blood would entail following His path of self-sacrifice and dying to self.  Jesus would “lose none of all that [the Father] has given me,” but “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”  (John 6:39,65) Clearly, both God and man play a part in salvation:  God reveal His truth and offer of eternal life, but man must commit to following Him, in spite of the costs.

 

Many disciples turn away at the hardness of the teaching.  Because of God’s call on their lives, the Twelve do not turn away.  Peter explains:  “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”  (John 6:68)  While they were simple fishermen, their faith and trust, both in heart and head, made them fully qualified to honor and serve Jesus.

 

 

4.  Heart, not tradition.  Finally, Jesus addresses how the Pharisees’ traditions had supplanted their faith.  Jesus argues that serving God is less about outward appearance than inward reality.  What did their hearts say about them?  The Jews had great concern over the dietary restrictions but allowed enmity to fester in their hearts.  Jesus re-prioritizes the state of the heart as above obedience to external regulations.

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

1.  What limitations are you currently seeing or placing on your life or God’s work?  How may you look beyond them?

 

2.  How do you recognize God’s power?  What may you do to remind yourself? 

 

3.  How may you more fully embrace the Bread of Life, in spite of the costs of discipleship?

 

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