It has been strange not having our weekly meetings. I see some of you on Sunday at church and want to know how you are and wish we could spend more time with each other. I've missed you! But, the break in meetings was a good time for assessing this ministry and deciding what is the best way to proceed. I think we have our answer.
We are going to pick up our meetings on January 17th. That is a Sunday! Yes, we have gotten this idea from a couple of our members and we agree, meeting on Sunday mornings before the Cross Creek Church service makes good sense. We will meet at 9:30am and we will gather in the "Cry Room" at the back of the Auditorium. (Go ahead and insert your own joke here.)
I'm hoping that this change in meeting day and time will make us more visible to women in our church who would like to try out our group but who find coming out on a Saturday too time expensive in an already packed full life. I also see great benefit for the young children of some of our members. Your children will have great biblical instruction and be able to make friends while Mom is meeting with the Lydia ladies.
Our time will be a little shorter - one hour as opposed to the one and a half hours we used to have. But I think this will be an adjustment that we can make. We will still plan on once a month outings, either for drinks and appetizers, lunch on a Saturday, a movie...or make a suggestion.
Our first week together will be a time to regroup, catch up with one another and welcome any new visitors to the group who may join us. Please bring a friend, and ask her to stay for church!
Sunday -- January 17th -- Cross Creek Church -- 9:30am -- Cry Room (that will be ironic to me for a long time) See you there!
Shelly
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
A Truly Different Christmas
| (A couple of weeks ago I received this true story from my cousin, Lisa. I asked her if I could post it on our blog and she was kind enough to want to share this with us all. Please read on and be blessed...)
It was going to be a strange Christmas that 2001. My husband of 21 years and I were separating. After a year, I would file for divorce. He was going to Florida to his mother’s for Christmas, the first Christmas my kids would not see him at this spiritual time. I knew my parents were headed out to Missouri to visit my sister who lived there, and I called them and asked if it would be possible for them to take my twin 16 yr old daughters on the trip. A trip would make it very different for them to be away from home, but maybe the strangeness of no father around for the holiday would be little less hurtful. That left my 8 year old son and I home alone for Christmas. I decided to do something very different that year, something memorable that he would never forget. I discussed my idea with him, and he was excited and favorable towards it. There would be small gifts on Christmas morning this year for the two of us, and very few of those. We decided to pool our money and bought ingredients to make baked confections and sweet breads, with money we could have spent on Christmas gifts for everybody and for each other. For a two week period, we made dough for cookies and refrigerated it and when the time came, on December 23 and 24th, we baked up a storm in the kitchen. Many different kinds of cookies, mini sweet breads, brownies, cookie bars. We had ten trays with a Christmas motif we purchased for a dollar each at a local dollar store. On each tray, we arranged our confections, as to be pleasing to the eye, and late in the afternoon of December 24th, we gently laid the trays in the cargo area of the old station wagon and headed out to make our deliveries, with my son riding shot gun in the front seat of the “tank”. Our goal was to try to bless people with kindness, to let them know they were thought about at this special time of year. Our first delivery was to an elderly man who monitored the fenced county dumpsters in our district. My Dad had told me he was sick, and after the holiday he was to have surgery. We took a tray to him at the manned dump site, which brought tears to his eyes. My son observed this. Our second delivery was to my son’s barber at the shop in town. He was finishing up his last few hair cuts when we walked in with the tray. Many times he had spotted my son for a hair cut (and myself) when I had no money to pay him. We wanted to thank him for his kindness to us. His wife had just had her second baby, and she wasn’t doing much in the kitchen this year, he was delighted that there would be some special home baked goods to share with her when he arrived home. To sit cuddled with her after their young son and infant were asleep, in front of the fire with a hot drink and something sweet to nibble was a perfect thing to do with his lovely wife. We visited a woman I used to work with, divorced with three kids, living in a slum lord type home that she could barely afford on her low income. She was not the domestic baking type, and I wanted her children to have something special for Christmas Eve and morning. Ken watched her children as they hustled the tray to the kitchen, and what was common place in our house, became something special in their house. He saw their excitement as they examined what was on the tray, one telling the other they “hoxied” this cookie or that. We delivered another tray to the parents of a friend of mine that had died a few years before from brain stem cancer. I told them that I felt Sharon had asked me to share with them, hugged them tight, accepted their tears and thanks, and left. We kept delivering the trays to sick people, older people, lonely people. We had one tray left. I told my son this last tray was going to someone special, and this was going to be a hard delivery. He asked why, and I said you must watch and listen, I am not going to tell you. I pulled up in front of Mabel’s house. She also was a woman who I used to work with. Before she recently retired from the plant, her husband passed away. After she retired, her daughter passed away from heart trouble, and the daughter was in her twenties. I saw Mabel’s car in the carport, but the lights were low in the house. Through the windows, I did not see the first Christmas decoration, the first blink of a tree light. Ken and I walked up to the door, I had the tray in my hands, Ken knocked on the door. No response to the knock. I said “Ken knock again, harder this time.” He did, no response. I told him to do it again. Finally, we heard footsteps coming toward the door. When the door opened and Mabel saw it was us she beckoned us inside. Closing the door behind us she looked around her house and said “I just couldn’t bear to decorate this time, she always loved Christmas and I just couldn’t do it”. I said “Mabel, Ken and I want you to have this from our kitchen. Our Christmas this year was to do something for people, and we wanted to bring these home baked goods to you, to share the love from our kitchen.” I sat the tray on her kitchen counter and turned back to Mabel. She threw her arms around me and started to cry. Tears streamed down her face and with her head on my shoulder she said, “This was always a special time of year for Jeannie, and now she is gone. She always loved Christmas, loved to bake things with me, how did you know, how did you know.” The truth is, I really didn’t know. I just felt. We stood there together for a bit, holding each other, Ken coming over to hold also, the three of us tightly holding like a three stranded cord, Ken and I sharing in Mabel’s grief. I like to think that the sharing of ourselves grieving with her was our real gift to her, not the tray of baked goods. I like to think she drew strength at that time, from Ken and I holding her. We finally said tearful goodbyes, and Ken and I started back down the highway home. He said “Mom, I am glad that we did this today.” We had a short discussion on how God gave his Son to us, at Christmas we celebrate His birth and the love of God for us, through God’s Son. We can be living testimony to this fact, when we show through action to others, God’s love in us. That night, we sat on the couch in front of the woodstove, which was stoked full of dry oak and cranked up high to keep us warm. With our home baked cookies and a cup of hot cocoa, we were silent. No conversation was needed, we just enjoyed the comfort of each other’s presence and sat thinking about the events from that afternoon, feeling blessed in our hearts from a truly different Christmas. Written by Lisa G. Hill December 2001 |
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
What's Your "Family Gathering" Like?
Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving memory? Maybe you've just always imagined what the perfect Thanksgiving Day would be like and you've hoped that yours would unfold as you imagined. For most of us "family" is a big part of our holiday expectations.
This is where we can be setting a trap for ourselves. When our expectation of a great holiday is dependant on the behavior of other people we are on shaky ground. We aren't dumb about this on normal days, but it seems that on holidays we hope for a special magic niceness to come over everyone and for all our plans to work out perfectly.
Your situation may not involve a big extended family, but you may be plagued by the disappointments of a former spouse. Or you may be especially aware of someones absence from the table, someone who used to be there. With all of these things creeping into our "family gathering" how can we have a real Thanksgiving?
Let's start by changing the initial direction of our gaze. Instead of gazing at the family we have gathered around us (or not gathered). Let's begin by fixing our gaze upward toward our Father in heaven.
See what He has done for you. He's invited you to His table, He will not dissatisfy you, there will be no empty chairs at this feast, and He is in control of the whole family. We can rest in Him and know that one day all our best hopes and dreams for the perfect gathering will not only be met, but will be wildly surpassed.
And for today, while we are living in this present reality, be thankful.
Please read Colossians chapter 3 and be encouraged!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Three Generations, Two Women and One God Planning it All...
The other night some friends were over and we were discussing the personality and character of God the Father. As I write that sentence I am struck by the absurdity of it, it's kind of like saying that a group of caterpillars got together to discuss the orbits of the moons around Jupiter. And it is truly absurd, except for the fact that God does intentionally reveal Himself to us, and it is possible to take notice of that revelation and know Him better. Without God first extending that revelation to us, we would be exactly like those arrogant little caterpillars; with God's revelation our hearts are humbled and our minds expanded. That is what happened the other night.
You know how it's said that you can't see the wind; you can only see the affects of it as it moves things in the breeze? Well, along this line of thinking we wanted to see what we could learn about the personality and character of God by seeing how His grace affected the lives of people that we see in scripture. We decided to look at the life of Rehab whose story is recorded in the Old Testament book of Joshua, yes - Rehab the Harlot, poor woman she never lost that moniker.
Rehab was a resident of Jericho; she lived in a doomed city. Jericho was about to be annihilated by the Israelites. The Israelites were told by God to take hold of the land of Canaan and Jericho was in the land of Canaan.
Rehab was, as we already established, a harlot. She was a prostitute who had a dwelling space in the upper part of the city wall. God, in his mercy and for wonderful reasons that we discovered later that evening, reached out and touched Rehab with the ability to believe in him. She had faith that the God of the Israelites was the God that she wanted to follow. When two spies from the army of Israel came to her door in need of safe passage out of the city she told them of her belief in their God and she worked out a deal with them. The deal was that if they would keep her and all those who were in her house safe when they attacked the city, she would secretly help the spies leave, and send the city guards, who were in search of them, off in the opposite direction.
Later when the city was taken by Joshua and the army of Israel they were faithful to the promise made between Rehab and the spies. Rehab and her family were taken into the community of Israel where they lived out their lives.
In this story we saw the love of God for a woman who was stuck in a hopeless, shameful and dangerous life. We also saw the strength and honesty of people who are touched by faith in God. This was great and if the revelation had ended there it would have been an evening well spent. But something amazing happened. One of the women mentioned how Rehab and Ruth were related. This was an interesting fact so we went to the genealogy in the beginning of the New Testament book of Matthew and sure enough it's true! Rehab was Ruth's mother-in-law from her second husband, Boaz.
WHOOOOSHHHH---------the breeze of revelation came through...
We know from reading the story of Ruth, in the Old Testament book of Ruth, that she was an outsider in the city of Bethlehem. She was a widow who came there with her mother-in-law from her first husband who had died. Ruth was from a pagan culture, but she put her faith in the God of Israel. After her husband died, she promised her loyalty to her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth also promised her loyalty to Naomi's God. Ruth followed through on her promise by refusing to abandon Naomi but instead she made an oath to do the best she could for the rest of her life to care for her.
This oath took her to the wheat fields of a man named Boaz. As an impoverished, foreign, single woman, taking care of her impoverished elderly widowed mother-in-law Ruth took on the work of gleaning. Basically this meant that she crawled about on the edges of a wheat field following after the harvesters picking up stray grains of wheat that were dropped. This was a dirty, degrading and dangerous thing for a woman to do. If you know the story, you know that Boaz, the owner of the field, saw Ruth and immediately made sure that she was protected from being abused by the male harvesters, she was given extra wheat, told to come drink the water set out for the hired workers whenever she got thirsty and she was invited to sit and have the daily meal with them.
Although I've always believed this story, I always wondered why it was that Ruth caused Boaz, a well-to-do land owner and respected businessman, to take such interest in this dirty, wretched foreign woman. BUT, now it made perfect sense. God revealed to us that this man Boaz was the son of "Rehab the Harlot". All his life he must have known of God's mercy and protection on the outcast woman. Now when Boaz looked at Ruth, he saw a woman like his own mother. His heart, or his sense of justice must have been stirred immediately and he acted. He protected her and eventually married her. You really need to read the story of Ruth and see how this all played out.
What did God reveal about himself as we looked at the lives of these two women, Rehab and Ruth? We saw how his design uses the pain and loneliness, the hard times and sadness in life to weave a beautiful masterpiece of grace, provision and redemption.
One more fact about these two women...they are both in the family lineage of King David, and in later generations...Jesus Christ.
You know how it's said that you can't see the wind; you can only see the affects of it as it moves things in the breeze? Well, along this line of thinking we wanted to see what we could learn about the personality and character of God by seeing how His grace affected the lives of people that we see in scripture. We decided to look at the life of Rehab whose story is recorded in the Old Testament book of Joshua, yes - Rehab the Harlot, poor woman she never lost that moniker.
Rehab was a resident of Jericho; she lived in a doomed city. Jericho was about to be annihilated by the Israelites. The Israelites were told by God to take hold of the land of Canaan and Jericho was in the land of Canaan.
Rehab was, as we already established, a harlot. She was a prostitute who had a dwelling space in the upper part of the city wall. God, in his mercy and for wonderful reasons that we discovered later that evening, reached out and touched Rehab with the ability to believe in him. She had faith that the God of the Israelites was the God that she wanted to follow. When two spies from the army of Israel came to her door in need of safe passage out of the city she told them of her belief in their God and she worked out a deal with them. The deal was that if they would keep her and all those who were in her house safe when they attacked the city, she would secretly help the spies leave, and send the city guards, who were in search of them, off in the opposite direction.
Later when the city was taken by Joshua and the army of Israel they were faithful to the promise made between Rehab and the spies. Rehab and her family were taken into the community of Israel where they lived out their lives.
In this story we saw the love of God for a woman who was stuck in a hopeless, shameful and dangerous life. We also saw the strength and honesty of people who are touched by faith in God. This was great and if the revelation had ended there it would have been an evening well spent. But something amazing happened. One of the women mentioned how Rehab and Ruth were related. This was an interesting fact so we went to the genealogy in the beginning of the New Testament book of Matthew and sure enough it's true! Rehab was Ruth's mother-in-law from her second husband, Boaz.
WHOOOOSHHHH---------the breeze of revelation came through...
We know from reading the story of Ruth, in the Old Testament book of Ruth, that she was an outsider in the city of Bethlehem. She was a widow who came there with her mother-in-law from her first husband who had died. Ruth was from a pagan culture, but she put her faith in the God of Israel. After her husband died, she promised her loyalty to her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth also promised her loyalty to Naomi's God. Ruth followed through on her promise by refusing to abandon Naomi but instead she made an oath to do the best she could for the rest of her life to care for her.
This oath took her to the wheat fields of a man named Boaz. As an impoverished, foreign, single woman, taking care of her impoverished elderly widowed mother-in-law Ruth took on the work of gleaning. Basically this meant that she crawled about on the edges of a wheat field following after the harvesters picking up stray grains of wheat that were dropped. This was a dirty, degrading and dangerous thing for a woman to do. If you know the story, you know that Boaz, the owner of the field, saw Ruth and immediately made sure that she was protected from being abused by the male harvesters, she was given extra wheat, told to come drink the water set out for the hired workers whenever she got thirsty and she was invited to sit and have the daily meal with them.
Although I've always believed this story, I always wondered why it was that Ruth caused Boaz, a well-to-do land owner and respected businessman, to take such interest in this dirty, wretched foreign woman. BUT, now it made perfect sense. God revealed to us that this man Boaz was the son of "Rehab the Harlot". All his life he must have known of God's mercy and protection on the outcast woman. Now when Boaz looked at Ruth, he saw a woman like his own mother. His heart, or his sense of justice must have been stirred immediately and he acted. He protected her and eventually married her. You really need to read the story of Ruth and see how this all played out.
What did God reveal about himself as we looked at the lives of these two women, Rehab and Ruth? We saw how his design uses the pain and loneliness, the hard times and sadness in life to weave a beautiful masterpiece of grace, provision and redemption.
One more fact about these two women...they are both in the family lineage of King David, and in later generations...Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Taking a Break...
Last week I wrote about a great new book that our group was planning on beginning together. The book is really great and I hope that we will go through it as a group, but I was off on my timing. We are not going to begin it now. This past week both Rita and I were sensing the same thing regarding our group. When we got together to talk it over it was decided that we would take a break from our weekly meetings until after the first of the year.
During this break we will pray about how God wants our group to change, how He wants it to stay the same and who will be in leadership. It is not an easy decision to suspend our meetings. And we are not doing this because we think the Lydia Ministry is not important...NO, we are doing this because this ministry is very important and that means it's important to do it right.
During this time of waiting and praying please let us know if you have comments or suggestions for how we may improve our ministry.
I hope to continue updating the blog. I may post some thoughts and insights I've had while reading the bible. Insights on the nature of evil; thoughts about what might happen to us when we die; thoughts about why God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden or why He sent Satan and his fellow fallen angels to this planet in the first place. If you're wondering now if we're suspending the meetings because I'm loosing my marbles, don't worry...I haven't had any marbles for a long time.
As always please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions or thoughts.
shelly
During this break we will pray about how God wants our group to change, how He wants it to stay the same and who will be in leadership. It is not an easy decision to suspend our meetings. And we are not doing this because we think the Lydia Ministry is not important...NO, we are doing this because this ministry is very important and that means it's important to do it right.
During this time of waiting and praying please let us know if you have comments or suggestions for how we may improve our ministry.
I hope to continue updating the blog. I may post some thoughts and insights I've had while reading the bible. Insights on the nature of evil; thoughts about what might happen to us when we die; thoughts about why God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden or why He sent Satan and his fellow fallen angels to this planet in the first place. If you're wondering now if we're suspending the meetings because I'm loosing my marbles, don't worry...I haven't had any marbles for a long time.
As always please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions or thoughts.
shelly
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Rich Single Life, Abundance, Opportunity & Purpose in God
Last week was a transition week for our group. We are just at the cusp of starting to go through a great book that was recommended to us by one of our members. More on that later.
Last week at our meeting we considered a very familiar passage. It's in Luke chapter 6, verses 46-49. Jesus tells a story of two men who build houses. One man builds a house by first digging down into the solid rock . This house has a firm foundation. The other man builds his house quickly on the ground without any foundation.
Okay - so you've probably heard this one before, maybe you even know the song from your days in Sunday School. (If you don't and you are very brave, I could sing it to you next week.) What's the point? Well, of course it's a better plan to build a house on a firm foundation. That fact is proven at the end of the story when a storm comes and the house with the firm foundation stands and the house built on the ground with no foundation falls apart.
We all want to be the wise person who builds our house on the firm foundation, right? But, what was Jesus really saying? As he told this story I can imagine him looking at the faces of many people who had come to hear him teach. Jesus had just finished preaching one of the most famous sermons ever preserved, The Beatitudes. People were blown away by his wisdom and the authority that he spoke with. I can imagine that they were hanging on his every word,
And, then Jesus tells the story of these two builders.
What is easy to miss about this story is that these two people start off at the same place. Jesus says that they both heard his words. They both were part of the same congregation. The difference comes with what the two men did with the words they just heard.
Ladies, this message hits me every time. What am I doing with Jesus' words? Am I acting on them, am I letting the teaching of Jesus really shape my life? Or, do I hear the teaching and then act the same as I did before? How about you?
In the weeks ahead we'll go through the book mentioned above. It's called, The Rich Single Life. I am confident that this book is based on words of Christ that will provide you with the tools needed for good foundation building. If you would like to purchase a copy you may do so buy typing:
www.SovereignGraceStore.com
in your browser and then follow the directions. The books are only $6 per copy.
I hope you can make it to our meeting, at Cross Creek Church this Saturday at 10:30am.
If you need babysitting please let me know (there will be a boxcar rally going on this Saturday too, so if you are involved in that with your kids, we hope you'll have a great time and we'll see you the week after).
Love,
Shelly
stimbol@comcast.net
Last week at our meeting we considered a very familiar passage. It's in Luke chapter 6, verses 46-49. Jesus tells a story of two men who build houses. One man builds a house by first digging down into the solid rock . This house has a firm foundation. The other man builds his house quickly on the ground without any foundation.
Okay - so you've probably heard this one before, maybe you even know the song from your days in Sunday School. (If you don't and you are very brave, I could sing it to you next week.) What's the point? Well, of course it's a better plan to build a house on a firm foundation. That fact is proven at the end of the story when a storm comes and the house with the firm foundation stands and the house built on the ground with no foundation falls apart.
We all want to be the wise person who builds our house on the firm foundation, right? But, what was Jesus really saying? As he told this story I can imagine him looking at the faces of many people who had come to hear him teach. Jesus had just finished preaching one of the most famous sermons ever preserved, The Beatitudes. People were blown away by his wisdom and the authority that he spoke with. I can imagine that they were hanging on his every word,
And, then Jesus tells the story of these two builders.
What is easy to miss about this story is that these two people start off at the same place. Jesus says that they both heard his words. They both were part of the same congregation. The difference comes with what the two men did with the words they just heard.
And why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and do not do what I say?
"Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words, and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:
he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
"But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
Ladies, this message hits me every time. What am I doing with Jesus' words? Am I acting on them, am I letting the teaching of Jesus really shape my life? Or, do I hear the teaching and then act the same as I did before? How about you?
In the weeks ahead we'll go through the book mentioned above. It's called, The Rich Single Life. I am confident that this book is based on words of Christ that will provide you with the tools needed for good foundation building. If you would like to purchase a copy you may do so buy typing:
www.SovereignGraceStore.com
in your browser and then follow the directions. The books are only $6 per copy.
I hope you can make it to our meeting, at Cross Creek Church this Saturday at 10:30am.
If you need babysitting please let me know (there will be a boxcar rally going on this Saturday too, so if you are involved in that with your kids, we hope you'll have a great time and we'll see you the week after).
Love,
Shelly
stimbol@comcast.net
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Let's Try Something New
Last week one of our Lydia members gently nudged me to pay more attention to our blog. With the nudge came a suggestion to post our weekly reminders and info here instead of on emails. This sounds like a good idea, so let's try it out...
Do you have plans for Saturday? Would you like to have plans for Saturday? Would you like to come to the Lydia Ministry meeting at Cross Creek Church at 10:30am and meet with other single women, like you who are looking to find purpose in life and wanting to learn more about you place in God's plan?
Well, I hope you answered, "no" - "yes" and "yes".
This week I am looking forward to sharing something that I see in many of the parables of Christ. You know Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of Heaven, in doing so He often talked of two groups of people. I want to take some time this weekend and consider what Jesus was saying and why this theme was so important that He kept bringing it up over and over in His teaching...are you interested?
Please come -
The week following this one we will begin going through the book, The Rich Single Life, written by Andrew Farmer. We'll have a couple of copies at the meeting this week. It's really a great book, I think it will be valuable for all.
If you will need babysitting at our location during the meeting please let me know.
Love,
Shelly
stimbol@comcast.net
Do you have plans for Saturday? Would you like to have plans for Saturday? Would you like to come to the Lydia Ministry meeting at Cross Creek Church at 10:30am and meet with other single women, like you who are looking to find purpose in life and wanting to learn more about you place in God's plan?
Well, I hope you answered, "no" - "yes" and "yes".
This week I am looking forward to sharing something that I see in many of the parables of Christ. You know Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom of Heaven, in doing so He often talked of two groups of people. I want to take some time this weekend and consider what Jesus was saying and why this theme was so important that He kept bringing it up over and over in His teaching...are you interested?
Please come -
The week following this one we will begin going through the book, The Rich Single Life, written by Andrew Farmer. We'll have a couple of copies at the meeting this week. It's really a great book, I think it will be valuable for all.
If you will need babysitting at our location during the meeting please let me know.
Love,
Shelly
stimbol@comcast.net
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I Keep a Blog Like I Keep a Journal -
If you are newly checking out this site because someone handed you a Lydia Ministry card - welcome. I hope that you will also send me an email if you have any questions about our group. My email address is stimbol@comcast.net or, you could send it to the address on the card, that comes to me too. Our group meets on Saturday mornings, 10:30 at Cross Creek Church in Saint Johns, FL.
This coming week (July 18) at our group we will put on our thinking caps. If you are as old as me you might remember the TV show Romper Room, if you do you might remember the "thinking caps". It's funny the things you remember. Anyway, what we will think about is what we REALLY want in life, what is REALLY the most important thing to us. Whatever that is it will take a place of such importance that it will shape our behaviors, emotions and even our relationships.
We are going to imagine our hearts as having a royal throne and we'll try to imagine what or who is on that throne. Truly we all have someone or something on the throne and whatever is there is ruling you. You may not even realize who or what that is...or you may know and want that thing or person removed, but how can you do that? What or who should be on the throne?
Please come on Saturday. We'll look at this together.
Shelly
This coming week (July 18) at our group we will put on our thinking caps. If you are as old as me you might remember the TV show Romper Room, if you do you might remember the "thinking caps". It's funny the things you remember. Anyway, what we will think about is what we REALLY want in life, what is REALLY the most important thing to us. Whatever that is it will take a place of such importance that it will shape our behaviors, emotions and even our relationships.
We are going to imagine our hearts as having a royal throne and we'll try to imagine what or who is on that throne. Truly we all have someone or something on the throne and whatever is there is ruling you. You may not even realize who or what that is...or you may know and want that thing or person removed, but how can you do that? What or who should be on the throne?
Please come on Saturday. We'll look at this together.
Shelly
Friday, February 27, 2009
Unlikely Invitation
As I was putting together the lesson for our meeting on Saturday morning I was struck by the immensely unlikely invitation we have been given. The lesson this week will center on "Who is Jesus". So, I began scouring the biblical index in the front of my bible (that index is great) and I found 228 names for Jesus! I was floored. Here is a sampling:
Advocate, Alpha and Omega, Ancient of Days, Anointed of the Lord, Beloved of God,
Bread of Life, Bridegroom, Christ a King, Counselor, Deity, Door,
First-born of the dead, Friend of sinners, Good Teacher, Great High Priest,
Great Shepherd, Guardian of souls, Head of every man, Holy One, Husband,
Image of God, Immanuel, King of Kings, Lamb of God, Light of the world,
Man of sorrows, Mediator, Messiah, Physician, Prince of Life, Rock,
Rock of offense, Savior, Truth, Wonderful, Word
Just look at this list! This is the best effort that can be made to assign words to the Son of God who loves and leads us. What really hit me hard is that this wonderful Savior asks me to follow Him. When I took the time to really think about who he is, the invitation to follow this amazing Jesus is just too much. I am struck by how unworthy I am. How can I approach the footsteps of this leader and attempt to walk behind Him? Who am I to even try?
But in this realization of my own unworthiness I think I am beginning to better understand the intimate nature of the names written above. They are not just titles, they are descriptions of the various facets of the relationship He has drawn me into. If you are a Christian the same is true for you.
Isn't that beyond words?
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