Sermons from "The Old Rev" Mark Matthews - Concordia Lutheran Church Berwyn

[Juliet]

The famous bumper sticker says, "Honk If You Love Jesus." We honk our horns, cheer, and get rowdy for the Lord. Then we read another bumper sticker that says, "Tithe if you love Jesus. Anyone can honk!" To this we just sort of drive by and pretend we really didn't see it. "What does tithe mean, Daddy?" "Do your homework!" For the first, it's easy to honk as a Christian. For the second, which involves much more of a commitment, we often just don't want to go there. It's much like the example of a ham and eggs breakfast. The chicken was involved; the pig made the commitment. The chicken laid an egg and the pig gave his life.

Palm Sunday is especially nice for chicken Christians, and Good Friday is for the pigs.  On that Palm Sunday some 2000 years ago, many cheered the One Whom they thought would save them from the Romans. "Hosanna!" "Save Us!" They were involved. They honked for Jesus! It was fun to wave their palms. It was easy to be one of the crowd on Palm Sunday. As the week moved on and Jesus spoke more of commitment and the cross and blood and death, the cheering stopped. Palms were thrown down. This message wasn't what they wanted to hear, and the results were either apathy or anger. Some walked away, while others threw rocks. It's often easy to cheer, as we are involved in what we want or we say, but call for real commitment and listen to the pin drop. 

God's call for the kind of sacrifice that true faith, Good Friday pig type of sacrifice faith requires, hushes the crowd big time. Our sinful nature can handle the easy times of cheering along with the crowd. Once the message leads to commitment, sacrifice, giving time, talents, and treasures generously for God's will, not our own agenda, we are left with heads down, hiding behind the hymnals, scrunching down in the pews, hoping not to be seen. 

Our sins and fears leave us as quiet, chicken Christians this Palm Sunday. "Do it our way Jesus and we're happy." "Give us what we want and we'll follow You, Jesus" "Call for commitment, sacrifice, the cross, and You walk alone!"

It's amazing that Jesus loved us so much that He chose to be the sacrificial pig of Good Friday, to forgive the sins of us Palm Sunday chickens. We cheer for a fun and games Jesus, but one Who's bloody, and dying calling to us to live a life pleasing to God and show real love to others often leaves us speechless. For those speechless times, He died. We openly cheer for the Sox or Cubs, but our Christian witness, our good words about our Lord or His church are whispered at best. For those whispers, He died. I'll tell you what happened in my favorite TV show, but to talk about Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the dead leaves me quiet and embarrassed. For those quiet times, He died.

What will the Lord hear from you this Holy Week? What will He hear from you after Easter? Chickens hang out with the Colonel; Children of God cheer for the King. Trusting in Jesus, I hope we all make joyful noises, noises well beyond simply honking our horns for our Lord now and forever. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Security seems to be a very important concept in our world, especially following 9-11. We look for security for our Country, at the airports, wherever people gather. We want security for our homes so we have extra locks, alarms, big dogs, etc. We want financial security for our family or when we retire. We need the security of health insurance if we get sick. Hopefully, somewhere in there, we want the eternal security of knowing we have a home in heaven.

As a child, most of these were pretty unimportant to me. In fact, the only one I can remember really being a part of my life was the spiritual security of a home with Jesus. I had a Mom and Dad who took care of the other stuff and it never really was on my mind. Knowing that Jesus loved me was what mattered. I used to pray the old familiar prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus' sake. Amen." Sound familiar to you too? I slept like a log knowing my parents were there and Jesus was there too.

When Jesus spoke His last words from the cross, "Father into Thy Hands I commit My spirit" Quoting Psalm 31, He was also saying "Now I lay Me down to sleep..." Here we have a Child finding security in His Father's Hands. Jesus spoke to His Father. While suffering the pain of hell He had cried out "My God, My God" now we are back to Father. Jesus had a close relationship with His Father over the years and found great comfort in His Heavenly Father's strength and support. "Now I lay Me down to sleep..." 

He committed His spirit to His Father's hands. What a great place to be. He had been handed over to the hands of sinners, because He needed to do that as the sacrifice for our sins. Now, He was back where He wanted to be, in His Father's hands. John 10 tells us that no one can ever snatch us from the Father's hands..eternal security!

He did this on His own. He committed His spirit to God. He chose to give up His life to His Father. Even bloody and weak, enduring the cruelty of man, He was still in control!

Even as He died, He still teaches us. Through faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I can call His Father, my Father. My earthly Dad was a great guy..imagine how great my heavenly Father is? Now that's security! As we go through life, even passing through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil..why? because He is with us. Now that's security! Through faith in Jesus, we live in our heavenly Father's hands and no one and nothing can pull us out! Now that's security!

My Mom died of cancer some 18 years ago.  I was living in New Jersey and she was in Detroit. The story was told to me that they had just given her a sponge bath and tucked her in bed at the hospital. She said to them, "Now I'm going home." With that she went to heaven. Now that's the security we all have in Jesus!  Now I lay me down to sleep...amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

EASTER 2006 "A Thief On The Cross"
Old outfit

Looking through the bars of my prison cell, I could only reflect upon how screwed up my life has been. Here I am, locked up again, freedom lost again, another prison, only now getting close to a painful death and what have I accomplished? What has my life meant? I could have had a wife and family, there was this girl in Jericho who loved me..but..I had to have thing my way, my freedom, my fun, and her father's purse filled with gold as I ran off. I wonder how she is? She was so sweet. she loved me..but...

No time for those thoughts as the soldiers approach. Time for that last, long walk..dead man walking. Hard to see at first, been in the dungeon so long..however, as my eyes adjust, I see that there are three of us providing the show today. The one guy I know..we've been in and out of jail over the years. He's a mean guy. Stay away from him.  The other is a stranger..oh man, what happened to him? The two of us who were in jail didn't get the whip, but He really got it! I've never seen so much blood, open wounds, and pieces of flesh hanging by a thread. No wonder He needs help with His cross.

Weird crowd around him too..some angry, throwing rocks; others praying, crying, calling out to him. Is this the same guy who had the parade a few days ago? I think so. The so-called prophet from God? Jesus is His name I even heard the shouts from my cell..hosanna!  "God save" "save us" not much saving going on here. If He can't even save Himself, how can He save us from the Romans?

Long walk to Golgotha, seems like they're taking the longer route..to make Him suffer even more? There it is..the place of the skull..seems appropriate! Now for the pain! For a guy who only cared about what felt good for me..that all ends right here with the nails! As other prisoner is nailed he's yelling, cussing, spitting on the guards...can I be stronger than that? Can I face this as a man? Oh God it hurts! Oh God it hurts! I almost passed out. Stranger's turn..no cussing..no spitting..did He say what I thought? Forgive them? God forgive them? Look what they've done to him. Look how they've hurt him and He's forgiving them.  Who is this guy?

We've been hanging here for a while..seems like an eternity. The stranger keeps looking my way. His eyes, barely visible through the blood from His wounded head, show a love I've never seen. His eyes remind me a little of that girl in Jericho who loved me. I don't feel so alone anymore. My jailbird buddy breaks my thoughts with his yelling and cussing at everybody, even to the stranger. "Get us out of here"  "If you're the Christ save us"  "hosanna?" "save us?" "hosanna"..here? now? what a jerk! I told him to quit it! We're getting what we deserve, but He isn't. There's nothing bad about Him. In fact, there's something very good about Him.

The sign over his head says "King" "King Jesus" he's my kind of king. I'll follow Him anywhere. Jesus, remember me when You come to your kingdom! It was then that I heard the most beautiful words I had ever heard.. "Today you will be with Me in paradise" today, he said, today..no more days living in the gutter of selfishness, living only for myself..today..and where? paradise! This is my last day on earth, my last hours, and soon I'll'be with Him in paradise. paradise...He forgave me and told me He wanted me with Him in His kingdom. I know He'll keep his promise! I know He will. What a way to die!

new outfit

He did keep His promise..I am with Him in His kingdom. Now He's no longer a stranger, now He's Jesus, my Friend, my King, my Savior. if He can forgive me, He can forgive you. Look through the blood..listen to His voice..He is speaking to you, too. This might be your last day on earth, like it was mine..Where will you spend eternity; with Jesus in paradise or with the other guy who hung with us in hell? Listen to Him..trust Him..He'll free you from your prison. Because He rose from the dead, I rose from the dead. You will too! Come, be with us forever in heaven.  Amen    pastor matthews

[Juliet]

April 23, 2006.."Jesus Greets Us With ....."

Easter Sunday evening, doors are locked, suddenly Jesus appears. What are His first words to His disciples? "Hi? How are ya?" "What's Happenin'?" "Greetings!" "Happy Easter" "I am risen..." "What's for dinner?" All possibilities, but Jesus chooses to say, "Peace be with you." A simple "Peace be with you" was enough. In Hebrew, we know that the word for peace is shalom. "Shalom be with you" our Lord shares with His disciples after He has risen from the dead.  Why that word?

We know that the word Shalom is used both as a greeting and a good-bye.  Peace is a great word, a great concept, a great feeling, but Shalom has much more connected with it.
According to a Bible Concordance, it can mean peace, safety, health, prosperity, fully paid, harmony, rest, and the absence of agitation. In other words, someone else is watching your children. This is a wonderful word, a great blessing to people you care about. One thing more we need to know is that the root word for shalom is the word for complete. The Shalom that Jesus offers is one of completeness. With Jesus here, He's telling His disciples, all these blessings of shalom find completeness. Their life is now complete.  With the Shalom that Jesus gives, we are complete, at one with God, we have peace, because all of our sins have been paid for by His death and resurrection.

Without Christ as our Savior, as our true Shalom, we'll never have complete peace, complete prosperity, complete harmony, we'll always have aqgitation. All these other things we use to try to bring us peace such as drugs, alcohol, possessions, people, sex, t.v., and all the rest never bring completeness because there is always something missing. Because of our sinful nature leading us, there's a big hole in our thinking, in our lives, in our hearts.

The answer is in Jesus, our Shalom. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that He is the Prince of Peace. Philippians 4:7 tells that the Shalom of God that transcends all of our understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The Shalom of God is Jesus Himself. The Only way to finding peace and harmony with life or with God, forgiveness and hope eternal, is through faith in Christ Alone. Not only does Jesus bring us God's peace, He is God's peace. A peace and hope and joy that is complete, fully paid for through the cross. A peace that lives in and fills up our hearts.

It has been said that we are all born with a hole in our hearts shaped like God. We search and search for completeness, but nothing else fits. Once we know and trust in Jesus as our Savior, life becomes complete, the hole is filled. Through faith in Jesus, we have  complete peace, hope, joy, complete forgiveness of our sins, and a home in heaven. This is a message we need to share with family and friends who walk around with emptiness in their lives. So, what do you want to hear from Jesus today? "How are ya?" "How's it going?" Maybe simply, "Shalom;" a message of complete peace from the Prince of Peace Himself for each and every one of us. What a blessing that is!   Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Good Shepherd Sunday May 7, 2006

I wonder how many of us have marks or scars somewhere on our bodies? I was reminded of this while attending the LWML Convention in Grand Rapids when my niece Annie, who goes to college in the area, fell and needed some 21 stitches in her lip and chin. She'll have a nice little mark, but she's a cutie and no one will notice. I have scars going back to sliding into second base and gashing my elbow open during a water fight at college. These are marks that will always be with me.  I'm sure many of you have them too.

As I was looking through a little book by Phillip Keller called "A Shepherd Looks At The 23rd Psalm" reading about his experiences as a shepherd, I read a section of the book that speaks about how shepherds mark their sheep so they can always find them even at a distance. Marking a sheep is done by taking a sheep, placing its head on a block of wood and cutting a notch in one ear. As he said, this was painful for both the sheep and the shepherd. Once finished, this sheep was definitely his possession. Blood is spilled to mark this relationship. 

Looking back at the Old Testament story from Exodus, we are reminded of the blood of the lamb that was spread on the wooden doorposts as a sign that this family belonged to God. If you remember, the Angel of Death would pass over that house, killing only the firstborn of families not in God's household. Blood was spilled to mark that relationship. Also in Old Testament times when a servant wanted to become part of a family, the servant's ear was placed on the doorpost, and an Awl was used to puncture a hole in the servant's earlobe. Blood was spilled to mark this servant as a member of the family.   

Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross so that all who believe in Him are marked as children of God. The cross in your heart is God's mark on you. The Shepherd took the pain so His sheep would have the gain. As we join His family through Baptism for instance, we are marked as belonging to the family of God. Isaiah 49:16 tells us that our names are engraved on the palms of God's hands. Marked by God to be His forever. Receiving His body and blood at Holy Communion for the forgiveness of sins marks you as a child of God.  Responses of faith in Christ through worship, Bible Study, prayer, and a God-pleasing life mark us as His children. As with the sheep, following our Good Shepherd Jesus can sometimes be painful. We are sinners.

Because of that sin, we just don't want to follow our Good Shepherd Jesus. We like to go off on our own following other shepherds of greed, fun, lust, and laziness. We follow our own ideas, the way our world points us, leaving the Shepherd behind. Things like worship, prayer, Bible Study, forgiving others, faithful giving, volunteering our time, are not that important. We don't want Jesus to be in control. We like Him as a spare tire, not a steering wheel.  I'm reminded of a Pastor leading a tour group in Israel. Wanting to impress the group, he has told them how shepherds always lead and the sheep follow. Seeing some sheep approaching, he was embarrassed to see the flock running, chased by the shepherd. Going up to the man he shared how he had told the tour group that shepherds always lead their sheep, now he sees the shepherd run after them. "Shepherds do lead the sheep," the man replied, "You see, I'm not the shepherd, I'm the butcher!"  Are we following our Shepherd Jesus or running from the Butcher Satan?

Marked as a child of God through faith we have a Good Shepherd with a rod and staff to protect us so we can have a peaceful sleep. Marked as His sheep, we are strengthened by our Lord to follow Him and are forgiven when we wander off. Marked as His sheep, we need not fear evil with our Shepherd there to defend us. Marked as His sheep, we can even face death with peaceful hearts because the Shepherd is there. His mercy is there for those marked as His children and we know that we will be with Him in heaven forever. Beats running from the butcher, huh?   Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

In Matthew 5, our Lord looks each of us in the eye and says "You are the light of the world...let your light so shine before the world that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit reaches into each of our hearts. We'll use the Sunday School song, "This Little Gospel Light Of Mine" to reinforce the message.

THIS LITTLE GOSPEL LIGHT OF MINE, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
THIS LITTLE GOSPEL LIGHT OF MINE, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
THIS LITTLE GOSPEL LIGHT OF MINE, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE,
LET IT SHINE, ALL THE TIME, LET IT SHINE!

When the Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts, we want to say "Thank You." Shining for Jesus is our message. Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead to forgive my many, many sins and open heaven for me. Telling others of His love, inviting people for worship, praying for others, forgiving, worship, Bible Study, and so much more are ways that our faith in Jesus shines. 

HIDE IT UNDER A BUSHEL? "NO!" I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
HIDE IT UNDER A BUSHEL? "NO!" I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
HIDE IT UNDER A BUSHEL? "NO!" I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
LET IT SHINE, ALL THE TIME, LET IT SHINE!

We all have our favorite bushel baskets that can hide our light. We're afraid we might say the wrong thing. We might be embarrassed. People might treat us differently if they knew we were Christians. I want to be politically correct and not offend anyone. Religion is a private thing! 

DON'T LET SATAN "POOF" IT OUT, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
DON'T LET SATAN "POOF" IT OUT, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
DON'T LET SATAN "POOF" IT OUT, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE
LET IT SHINE, ALL THE TIME, LET IT SHINE!

Satan wants to poof your light out so you can live forever with Him in darkness. A Pastor visited a man who hadn't worshipped in a long time. They sat in front of a fire. The Pastor reached down, took a flaming stick from the fire and watched as slowly the flame grew smaller and smaller until it went out. The man replied, "I get the message, Pastor. I'll see you on Sunday."  If we stay away from the flame of worship, Bible Study, Prayer, fellowship, and more, the sinful nature wins and the flame can go out...darkness.

ALL AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
ALL AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE
ALL AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
LET IT SHINE, ALL THE TIME, LET IT SHINE!

Your neighborhood includes many people. When family and friends know about our faith, we're shining. When people at work, at school, on my team know that I'm a child of God, I'm shining. There is no such thing as a closet or secret Christian. If you truly care about these people, you'll want to shine in your witness, invitation, love, or just being a little Jesus in their lives.

IT WILL POINT THE WAY TO HEAVEN! I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
IT WILL POINT THE WAY TO HEAVEN! I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
IT WILL POINT THE WAY TO HEAVEN! I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE.
LET IT SHINE, ALL THE TIME, LET IT SHINE!

All we can do is point to the Way. Jesus is the Way, we point to Him. He has loved us, He died and rose for us, He is ready to welcome us home. Thank you Jesus! You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, are the light of the world. Let it shine to the glory of God! Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

The Sandpiper name is given to a large family of shore birds. Their long legs and slender bills are excellent for probing the sand or mud for small crabs and so on to eat. Sandpipers are found in flocks along seacoasts, in inland waters, and in wetlands around the globe where food is abundant. What's interesting is how far they migrate. It has been shown that they undertake a transoceanic trip from New England and Canada to South America. Powered by extra reserves of bodyfat, they often fly nonstop for over 4000 miles. It's amazing what a strong will God has given them.

I read another story recently of a couple walking the beaches in Florida and spotting a one-legged Sandpiper darting in and out of the water. This one-legged creature of God had tremendous balance and agility, even to the point of catching a sand crab, moving it to dry land and in three pecks, finishing off his meal and back to hunting again. This Sandpiper was a real example of optimism and joy with its heart, adaptability, and perseverance. The familiar Bible verse from Philippians 4:13 reflects this one-legged Sandpiper and all the migratory Sandpipers, "I can do all things through Him Who gives me strength." If our loving God has given little Sandpipers strength of heart and will, to fly 4000 miles and thrive on one leg, how much more through faith in His death and resurrection can He bless His children. We can be Sandpipers too.

If I can do all things through Him Who gives me strength, then falling short of a God-pleasing life is my sin and points to my lack of faith in calling to our Lord. We aren't Sandpipers to each other bringing hope and encouragement, when we would rather criticize others, make fun of them, exclude them from our little click, refuse to forgive, and act more like vultures ready to eat their dead flesh. This is true in families, workplaces, and from I've observed, at least at one church in Berwyn. It's difficult to change from a vulture to a Sandpiper..repenting of our sins changes our feathers as we reach out for strength from our Lord. Living as a Sandpiper, encouraging those around us, happens when Jesus becomes our steering wheel, and does not remain our spare tire. 

A true story comes from Robert Peterson. He would drive to the beach to clear his head when the world closed in on him. On one trip he met a little six-year old. She tried to talk, but he wasn't in the mood. She was building things in the sand, when a sandpiper flew by. "That's a joy," she said. "A what?" he answered. "My mother told me that sandpipers come to bring us joy." Robert wasn't in the mood. He was depressed. She asked his name and told him that she was six years old and named Amber. In spite of his gloom, she brought a smile to his face. After days of pressure and stress, Robert told himself that he needed a sandpiper. Arriving at the beach, he discovered that Amber was there. They walked and talked. Though it was wintertime, she wasn't in school. She told him that her mother said they were on vacation. Three weeks later he rushed to the beach in no mood for a little girl. Seeing her there he said he wanted to be alone because his mother had died. "Did it hurt?" she asked. "of course it hurt when she died" and he walked away. "Then this is a bad day" Amber said as Robert walked away. A month or so later he returned to the beach. He didn't see Amber and felt ashamed and guilty about the way he had treated her. He went to their cottage, introduced himself to her mother and said he had missed Amber. The mother invited him in and told him that she had spoken often about him, apologizing for her being a nuisance. "Not at all, she was a delight, I was just in a bad mood." "Amber died last week from leukemia. Didn't she tell you she was sick?" She loved the beach and asked to come here because seeing Sandpipers and all brought her happy days. She left something for you. Handing him and envelope, he saw "Mr. P" on the front. Inside was a drawing of a Sandpiper and she had written "A Sandpiper To Bring You Joy." He cried, hugged Amber's mom, and apologized for how he had treated her. Since then, he has framed the picture and remembers the six words from the six year old and her courage and love, and joy. She had been a Sandpiper.

Life gets so busy that we don't find time to be Sandpipers to one another. It's so easy to be a thoughtless vulture. Reaching out to Jesus can help us to be more like Sandpipers to each other. What a great Mother's Day gift that would be for those we love. I wish all of you a Sandpiper today. amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

A number of years ago we had a dear lady who was a member with a father suffering from Alzheimer's. She took very good care of him, but mentioned to me that every time she would leave the Home, she would say, "Dad, I love you" and there was no response. For some 50+ years of her life, he had never once said that he loved her. One day, as she was leaving, her heart very sad over his condition, she said "Dad, I love you" and suddenly he responded, "I love you too!"  The tears fell down her cheeks as she embraced this special moment. Shortly after that, he died. Even in her time of pain, she had been able to hear what she needed to hear, that her Father really did love her.

There are lots of things we'd like to hear; it's not Cancer, it's a boy, it's a girl, I've arrived safely, you're the winner, and possibly best of all, "I love you" from someone near and dear to our hearts. Sad to say, sometimes it seems that words of good news in our lives come few in number and far between. Because we live in a world filled with sin, more and more we get news of loved ones who have died. Most recently the paper told of tainted drugs that have killed many young people. We get calls about checks that have bounced, report cards arrive with failing grades, and we hear words of anger that tell us we're worthless, hopeless, and unloved.  The world can be very cold.

The story is told of a husband that read a book on being more assertive at home so he couldn't wait to tell his wife off. "When I get home tonight," he told his wife, "I want my favorite dinner on the table. Then make me a dessert, wash the dishes, leave me alone to watch t.v., and when we go to bed, give me a message until I fall asleep, and keep quiet!  In the morning I want to be shaved, bathed, and dressed. Guess who's gonna do that?" "The way you're going," she answered, "It'll be the funeral director!" These were words he didn't want to hear.  In John 3, we read about Nicodemus who heard some good news.

Nicodemus was a religious leader at the time of Jesus. He had been raised hearing only about rules and regulations. Over and over he heard that he better do this, or you gotta do that to please God. There might have been times his pride told him he had been a good person, better than most, a pride-filled but unloving attitude, yet other times he certainly realized he had broken some of the over 600 laws the Pharisees had to keep and could be lost eternally. Into this spiritual roller coaster ride came Jesus with a message of new life, love, and forgiveness.  Sneaking away at night, Nicodemus wanted to hear more from this Prophet of God.

Jesus spoke to him about a new birth, new life through water and the Word. This new life of faith brings the assurance of hope and joy and peace with God because it is grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus. This was the Gospel, the Good News of salvation when you hear that God the Father loves you, God the Son died for you, God the Holy Spirit brings you to faith and gives you a heavenly home. God can love poor, miserable me?  Jesus died and rose to forgive my many sins? The Holy Spirit gives me a home in heaven? That's Good News we need to hear, that's the Gospel message everyone needs to hear. After all, G.O.S.P.E.L. stands for God Offers Sinful People Everlasting Life. At the funeral of a 21 year old, this past week, who used to come to our Sunday School and VBS, these are the words that bring hope to grieving family and friends. These are words we all need to hear from Jesus. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

The story is told of a young man who was graduating from college. He had done quite well with his studies, so he asked his father for a new car. When the big day came, the father handed him a Bible. "A Bible!" the young man shouted, "After all my hard work you just give me an old Bible?" With that, he threw the Bible to the ground, walked away from his father, refusing any attempts to speak to him again. Many years later, the father died. The man returned for the funeral and began rummaging through his father's stuff. He came across that Bible and was ready to throw it away again, when some papers fell out. One was a note written by his father and dated back to graduation time. The father wrote to his son that he loved him, was very proud of him, and that in the Bible, he would find the Greatest Treasure he would ever need in Jesus Christ Who died and rose for his salvation. Attached to the note was a bill of sale that said a new sports car had been purchased for the son by his father. Anger and pride kept the young man from his father. All those years were wasted!

Time is certainly a gift from God. We have so much allotted to us in this life. Whether you're a Bill Gates or a homeless person in town, there are 60 seconds in your minute and 60 minutes in your hour. The important thing  is how you use the time. Ephesians 5:15&16 tells us to be careful how you live, not as the unwise, but as the wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil.

Jesus never wasted time, or killed time, He knew it was too valuable. He knew that He had just so much time on earth; actually 33 years, and His ministry was only the last three. Three years to preach, teach, make disciples, help, heal, and eventually die, rise from the dead, and finally ascend back to heaven. He never said, "Let's wait till next week to go to that town" "I'll heal you in a couple of days" "I'm too busy to talk with you."  Jesus knew that He only had a certain amount of time with people and He wanted to make the most of it and not waste it.

We're the ones who always seem to waste time, kill time. Maybe that's why the days are evil? Evil here can mean troublesome, unhappy, harmful, even worthless. If we waste time, use it for evil, neglect showing love and support to others, it can easily be evil. When time with things are more important than time with people, the days are evil. When money for someone replaces time with them, the days are evil. When possessions that can be replaced outweigh people who can never be replaced, the days are evil. When killing time doing "stuff"  becomes more of a priority than time with your Lord in worship and prayer, the days are evil. I only had 17 years with my Dad. I could have spent more time with him. I could have learned more from him. I could have had more memories than I do. I never thought about time. I just figured he would always be around. Sad to say, it often takes the death of a loved one or a 9-11 to kick us in the pants to what's important.

Redeeming the time is to take it back, take some ownership in it. Spending time in God-pleasing ways, not evil pleasing ways, redeems it. Redeeming time begins with the Redeemer. He is there to strengthen you for today, and forgive you for the yesterdays. Jesus died and rose to not only open heaven for you, but open your eyes to the people. Redeeming time shows with loved ones. A father was out playing football with his four boys on the front lawn. A neighbor came by and called out, "You're killing your grass doing that." The Dad replied, "I'm not here to raise grass, I'm here to raise my boys." What are you here for? Don't waste the time, please. 
Amen. Pastor matthews

[Juliet]

July 2, 2006 "G.R.O.W."

Meredith Kelly of Operation Stars and Stripes picked up the gifts for service men and women from our VBS this week. She was telling me how the program was growing thanks to Concordia people and many others. Thousands have received gift boxes.  It's wonderful to see this excellent program grow. Better to see our young people get home safely.

Our Vacation Bible School showed growth over last year with some 225 children and staff enrolled. As your Pastor for almost 16 years, it's a joy to see these little ones grow up and to see so many from Concordia growing in their faith. We have people helping with VBS who never helped before. We have people sharing their faith as they have never done before. We even have some in Bible Study who have never attended before. What a blessing, but I know it isn't easy. Growing to be the person the Lord wants us to be is always difficult because so many things get in the way.

The Word of God never encourages us to be lazy; we do that on our own. It never tells us to just do the same old, same old, we like our little ruts. It never tells us to neglect those things that are pleasing to God, worldly values always seem more important. Rather than growing and bearing fruit for the Kingdom, we find it easier to pull away from God, do what we want to do, and eventually dry up and be lost forever. So many things get in the way of growing in faith and service to our Lord. I'd like to cover three.

One thing that gets in the way of growth is our self-worth. How can God want me? What can I possibly do for Him? The other side of that is thinking that lowly service in the Church is below me. We can even feel unloved, or love other things more. To help us grow, G.R.O.W. God's Word not only tells us we are sinners, but reminds us in John 3:16 that God loves each of us so much that He sent Jesus to suffer, die, and rise for our salvation. GROW; God Reaches Out Wonderfully. Growing in faith and services always begins with Jesus, Whose love for us we don't deserve, but is a reality. Time with Jesus in prayer is crucial to GROW.

Another block to growth can be our past. As poor, miserable sinners, we are held back by the baggage we choose to carry. We tell ourselves that no one can forgive what we've done. We can't even forgive ourselves.  1 John 1:9 assures us that when we confess our sins to Him in faith, He will faithfully forgive them. GROW; God Releases Our Wrongs. In a great scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana's father has been shot and is dying. Indy takes the cup that Jesus supposedly used for the first Holy Communion and pours holy water on the wound. It is miraculously healed! Forgiven by the blood of Christ, shed on the cross for us, we are free to grow in the Lord. Remembering our Baptism, and attending Communion faithfully keeps us close to Jesus and helps us GROW.

A third block to growing in the Lord is often fear of the future. What can I do? What's going to happen? What if I mess up? Philippians 4:13 assures us that we can do everything through Jesus Who gives us the strength. With His Word as a lamp and a light for our path through life, Psalm 119, we can go where we've never gone and try all kinds of new things with Jesus by our side. GROW; God Refreshes Our Way. One of the things that Operation Stars and Stripes does along with the gift baskets for the troops is distributing dolls, and stuffed animals to the children in war-torn areas. Meredith told the story that some of our soldiers were out driving on maneuvers when they saw a little girl in the middle of the road holding her Raggedy Ann doll that Stars and Stripes had given out. They waved for her to move, but she wouldn't. Finally, one soldier went down to her. As he approached, he noticed that behind her was a land mine. As a thank you for her little doll, she had saved their lives. God can send all kinds of people to help us through the land mines in our lives, too.  I pray that each of us might GROW in the Lord and bring hope to those around us. Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

The story is told of a King who had his servant to the river each day and bring back two pots full of water. The servant carried these pots over his shoulder on the end of a long pole. Each day he would walk to the river, turn around and come back to the King. As he returned, he would only return with 1 and ½ pots of water. One pot was perfect, while the other had a crack. The perfect pot was proud of all it could do, making the cracked pot feel worthless. What made the crackedpot feel more ashamed was the fact that on the return trip from the river, half its water would drip out. One day the cracked pot spoke to the King, apologizing for the imperfection and its failure to do what the other pot could do. "Not at all," the King replied. "Don't you see the beautiful flowers growing on one side of the road and not the other?" "Knowing of your crack, I had seed planted there and each day as you return from the river, you gently water the flowers. We have beautiful flowers all over the castle because of you. You are a real blessing to us."

Our cracks and flaws make each of us unique individuals that God can use in special ways. Sadly, we either look down at ourselves because of our imperfections, believing we are worthless before God, or like the proud pot, we look down on the imperfections of others. Sin does that.

We find it easy to be ashamed of who we are and what we do. It's so easy to compare ourselves to others and come up short. We can feel ashamed for all that we can't do. We don't make tons of money. We aren't great looking. We don't have an important job, a big house, boat, new car, and worldly possessions.  I must be a failure. I'm a loser at life! The other side of the pole is to act like the proud pot and criticize others. We find flaw after flaw with the way others look, act, dress, speak, and the little they may have. Like the proud pot, it's easy to make fun of crackedpots to feel better about ourselves.

2 Corinthians 5 tells us that as God's children, we should no longer look at ourselves or others from a worldly point of view. As forgiven children of God, we can look at ourselves and others through the eyes of Jesus, our King.  When Jesus looks at each of us through His eyes of love, eyes stained by His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, He sees a sister or brother. He sees someone He loves dearly. He doesn't see cracks or flaws as a bad thing for they make us unique.  How special we must be if He died for us, forgave our sins, and now cares so much that He leads us to faithfully serve Him in our special way. Each of us who loves Him is a crackedpot that He loves and helps water flowers in our own unique way. Whatever abilities and strengths God has given are unique to you. Mel and Mike were away for a few days last week. Mel went to the Jersey shore, got some Sun, and ate pizza. Mike went to a wedding in Denver, saw a Rockies game, did some whitewater rafting, and a Coors tour. Though they were in different places doing different things, I talked with them regularly on the phone, prayed for them often, and couldn't wait to have them back home. God feels like that about you. As His child, His crackedpot, you are where He wants you, with abilities to be a witness for your Lord as only you can be. Through faith, He waits for you to come home to heaven.

When we realize that we are truly poor, miserable, crackedpots before God, we can see other crackedpots with eyes of love, not judgment, just as Jesus sees us. Before we judge that other person for being a crackedpot, first check and see if God's flowers are growing through them, while ours are drying up! Who is being blessed?  Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Let's pretend for a moment that there is a fire in your home. All the people and pets are safe. You have just a few moments, what do you take with you? I would probably grab for the wallet, and pictures on my desk, especially I would take two plastic coffee mugs from King's Island in Ohio. One has a picture of my family from 25 years ago, the second, the same picture from only a few years ago. The kids have grown, I look much older, Mrs. Matthews looks the same! Regardless of what's important now, when you die, you can't take it with you anyway. Hook a U-Haul on the hearse if you will, but you can't take it with you! The story is told of a man who pressured his wife to put all of their money in the casket with him when he died. She promised she would. When he passed away, and they were ready to close the lid, being a faithful, Christian wife,  she went up and wrote him a check for all they had and placed it in his hand. Smart lady! She kept her promise, but that check will never be cashed!

Though you can't take it with you, you can send it on ahead. Matthew 6 tells us that God wants us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Where your treasure is, that is where your heart will be. If your greatest treasure is in earthly things that will eventually be destroyed, then your heart will face eventual destruction. If your treasures are faith and love for the Lord, Who suffered, died, and rose for the forgiveness of your many sins, then your heart will be with Him eternally. It all begins with Who or what's in your heart.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul writes about the poverty-stricken churches in Macedonia, who had a heart for the Lord and still gave generously to the Lord's work and were blessed for it. There were distressed Christians in Jerusalem who were in great need. Though the Macedonians had very little themselves, they had giving hearts that loved Jesus and were so thankful for His forgiveness, they couldn't hold back from helping others. They thought of others before they thought of themselves. Knowing that you can never out give God, these people with giving hearts were blessed by God. Hearts filled with Jesus are grateful hearts, giving hearts.

Hearts filled with earthly things have a difficult time responding to the Lord. Like weeds choke out flowers, possessions choke out the Lord's love in our hearts. Instead of using our stuff, our stuff starts to use us.  When fun replaces forgiveness, when cash replaces the cross, when savings replace salvation, then greed will replace gratitude in our hearts and we don't see the need to give to our offerings to the Lord's work, give our time for people in need, or give our talents to bring hope and joy  to the world around us.

Gratitude to God for all He has done will lead to God-pleasing giving. Giving thanks for Jesus dying on the cross for me, taking my many sins away, opening up heaven for me fills me with thanksgiving that shows in many ways. That attitude of gratitude grows out of worship, attendance at Holy Communion, Bible study, prayer, Christian fellowship, and a willingness to serve as the Lord needs us.  Staying away leads to stinginess.

When your greatest treasures are faith in your Lord, and your family and friends who love Jesus too, you never have to worry about what stuff you might want to take with you when you die. God, Who has the biggest giving heart of all, will hold you and your treasures and keep you together in His Hand forever, safe from eternal fire. Amen. Pastor Matthews

[Juliet]

We all struggle with certain fears in life. The show "Monk" has a hero with many phobias. The story is told of a man who went to a Psychiatrist for many years, paying out thousands of dollars because he had the fear of monsters under his bed.  Session after session went on, with no results. Realizing that nothing was happening, he quit the Psychiatrist and went to see his Pastor. Later on, he ran into the Psychiatrist and told him he had been cured of his fear in one visit to the Pastor. The Psychiatrist couldn't believe it. "You were cured of fear of monsters under your bed in one visit?" "What did the Pastor say to you?" "He told me to cut the legs off my bed!"

That's one way to deal with a fear, but others might seem more difficult. We struggle with physical fears such as having enough money, enough food, enough medicine, etc. We struggle with relationship fears about our marriage, or if we will ever marry, dealing with our children, our friends, or the loss of a loved one.  We struggle with emotions, our hopes, dreams, pain, guilt, and depression. We can struggle with spiritual fears of being controlled by a favorite sin, wondering if I'm good enough to go to heaven, fearing God's punishment, concern for loved ones with no apparent faith at all.

These fears are real. Immediately after World War II, American soldiers gathered up the many homeless, starving children into tent cities. They fed them, gave medical care, but realized that the children were all afraid to go to sleep at night. One soldier tried an experiment. After dinner one night he gave each child a piece of bread to hold while they slept. Knowing that they now had the security of a meal tomorrow, they all slept like babies. The fear was gone.

Sad to say, because of our sinful nature, many are not interested in the comfort that holding God's Wonder Bread, Jesus can bring. Instead of holding Jesus, we would rather hold to earthly possessions. Though starving spiritually, we are happy with earthly junk food. Though death will bring only eternal pain and suffering, we like the fun and games of this life. Dried up bread a few days old might taste o.k. until you've had fresh bread, warm from the oven.

Jesus is God's Bread, warm from the heart of the Father. This Bread brings smiles to our faces, warmth to our hearts, joy to our family times, and the certainty of being fed forever. In John 6, Jesus reminds the people that God provided daily manna, bread, for the Israelites as they wandered in the desert. God now is providing Jesus, the Bread of Life. Knowing, loving, trusting in Jesus, God's Bread of Life means that we will never hunger or thirst again. Jesus provides for all we need, now and forever. He is indeed God's Wonder Bread for all who have faith in Him.

Like the soldier feeding the children, God has chosen each of us to make sure our families and friends are fed God's Wonder Bread, Jesus, warm and loving,  straight from the Word of God. Jesus, our Wonder Bread comes at Holy Communion with the forgiveness of our sins, won through His death on the cross and resurrection. This Wonder Bread comes when God's Word is shared with others in worship, a sermon, songs, in Bible Study, at Sunday School, attending Little Lambs, or friends sharing a word of support over the back fence, sitting over a coffee, or with tears at a funeral home. 

Our funeral at church tomorrow is for a little lady who not only loved God's Wonder Bread, Jesus, but shared that Bread of Life with family and friends. She quietly passed away in her bed, never fearing that the monster of death might be under her bed. She was at peace, knowing her bed was protected by angels, another blessing from the Bread of Life. Amen...pastor matthews

[Juliet]

As I'm sure you know, a mugwump is a bird that sits on a fence with its mug over one side and its wump over the other. There can be fence sitting when it comes to politics; liking one candidate or the other, having two favorite restaurants, maybe, though hard to believe, cheering for both the Cubs and Sox, but when it comes to your God, you can't be a mugwump. In Matthew 12 Jesus tells us that those who are not for Him are against Him. We are part of His sheepfold or not. We walk through the narrow door of faith or not. Our words and actions become more God pleasing or not! We die with a mustard seed of faith in Jesus and go to heaven or not. We are in His family or not!

In Ephesians 4, Paul writes that we live in the darkness or the light. We have hearts that are hardened to God and the needs of others, or hearts that are warm and sensitive to God and others. The old self gives itself over to sin willingly and the new self seeks to be more like Jesus in righteousness and holiness. No mugwumps here! 

Following the bird theme, I was reading that there are two birds that fly regularly over our deserts; the vulture and the hummingbird. Vultures search for rotting meat while hummingbirds ignore dead animals and look for colorful desert flowers. In other words, the vultures live on what was, the dead and gone, feeding on the past if you will. Hummingbirds look for new life, fresh, blossoming. Paul's teachings can be summed up that way too. There are those who are vulture-like, looking for those things that are indeed dead to God. They fill themselves with the rotting flesh of the sin and selfishness that this world brings. They live with guilt, hurts, and an unforgiving hardened heart that holds grudges about past hurts. What God wants are for us to be His hummingbirds, searching for the things that are alive in in the sight of God; love, hope, joy, and a willingness to forgive those who have hurt us and a heart ready to repent of our sins and find new life in Jesus. No mugwumps here! 

We might find ourselves sitting here as mugwumps this morning. On one hand, we want to be o.k. with God, hey, you never know what life may bring, but, we also like all the fun stuff life has for us with favorite sins that feel so good we don't want to give them up.  An hour on Sunday is enough! We don't need Bible Study, we know enough! We don't need to volunteer at Church, let someone else do it. In fact, it's more fun to judge and say hurtful things behind people's backs. Living as a Sunday morning mugwump might be easy until we realize that in God's sight, we're not mugwumps, we're really vultures. Either way, that life leads to eternal death. 

One of the great things about God is that He is a God of change. He doesn't change, but He can change us. He knocks us mugwumps off the fence by showing us how we have sinned and are in need of a Savior. He takes repentant vultures and turns them into hummingbirds. He takes poor, miserable sinners and turns them into faithful followers of Jesus.  How does He do that? He does that through Word and Sacrament and the work of the Holy Spirit. Knowing we have a Savior Who lived, died, and rose to open heaven, tells us that we have worth, great value before God. Trusting in Jesus means we have been washed by the blood of the Lamb. The water of Baptism washes away that sin and brings us into God's family.  His Body and Blood assure us of forgiveness.  Reading God's Word reinforces the Good News that His love is eternal. As we confess our sins and repent before Him, trusting in Jesus, our old vulture nature flies away.

I read of a man who wanted to change his life around. On his answering machine he put this recording; "I'm not available right now. Thanks for caring enough to call. The Lord is making lots of changes in my life, so please leave your message. If I don't call you back, you're one of the changes." That's not a mugwump's message. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Normally when you think of one of God's prophets or disciples you envision a person of strong faith, courage, a powerful witness for the Lord. However, as we look a little closer, we see that these heroes are a lot like us with human feelings and weaknesses. Moses made excuses not to be a leader. Noah got drunk-as-a-skunk after the episode with the Ark. Jonah pouted about his situation and ran from God. In First Kings, we read how the prophet Elijah became really afraid, stressed out, ready to quit and die after his encounter with the priests of Baal.

We read that Elijah had just shared in this wonderful miracle where God made Elijah's sacrifice burn, while the priests of a false and evil god, Baal, couldn't do a thing! Once these false prophets failed, Elijah had them killed. What a victory for God and for Elijah! The problem was, this made Queen Jezebel angry and as she went after Elijah. He had had enough, so he ran away and was ready to quit and die.

Elijah forgot about all God had done for him. He felt lost, confused, hopeless and helpless. We can all identify. Our sinful nature focuses on how we feel, what we're going through, how unfair the world is to us...maybe even how unfair God is to us? We forget that Jesus died for our salvation. We forget to pray. We stay away from Church.  Elijah had one of the first recorded pity parties, just like ours. As we picture Elijah sitting next to the tree, we can envision ourselves by his side.

Now God again steps in to help. In 1 Kings 19, we find Elijah the prophet, stressed out, tired, sad, lonely, depressed, ready to quit.Knowing of his pain, God reaches out to Elijah with some practical and spiritual advice to help him be restored and re-created. Through His angels, God offers Elijah, and each of us, the answers to dealing with a stressed out condition; R, R, R. 

First of all God said that Elijah needed REST. My Dad, the Funeral Director, always said that the two things people needed after the loss of a loved one were rest and food. Dad got this from God! As it has been said, when you can't sleep, don't count sheep, count on the Shepherd. In a very practical way, a good night's sleep really helps our perspective on life. Be still for a while. Put your feet up and the healing begins.

Secondly, the angels came and fed him. He was REFRESHED. When we're hungry and our stomach is growling, we're never at our best. Healthy food can really help. Dad would always suggest that people eat during the trying and tiring time of a funeral visitation. He got that from God too! I've always found White Castles to be a healing food. Many ladies I know say it's chocolate.

Thirdly for Elijah, it was time to RESPOND to God's will for him. Time to get up and get going and finish the work he was called by God to do. Get going and get busy helps.

These words of advice, REST, REFRESH, RESPOND, can also strengthen us in a Spiritual way too. I think they go hand in hand. We find REST as we trust in Jesus, and say our prayers, knowing that our Good Shepherd will see us through. We are REFRESHED as we worship, read God's Word, remember our Baptism, find forgiveness of sins in Holy Communion, and count our blessings. Finally, we can RESPOND to what the Lord wants us to do as His child. We need to get off our buts. "But God, I'm  too busy." "But God, I can't" "But God, You won't..."  "But God I don't trust You to help me." We get off these buts and maybe we are to pray for others, make visits, send notes, or make phone calls to those who are lonely. We might have a gift and can teach children, sing, hug somebody, attend a Bible Class.  These will please God a lot more than pouting and running away, making excuses, getting hammered, or giving up.  What a wonderful prophet you can become for your Lord. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

Some three years ago, as many of you know, I developed congestive heart failure. One part of my heart was normal, while the other side was beating like crazy. I spent a few days in the hospital while they put a small stint in my artery and then gave me the paddles twice to electro-shock my heart back in rhythm. So far, so good, and I've felt better, exercised a little more, drank more water, cut way back on alcohol, floss my teeth regularly, and even the asthma seems to be gone. Once the heart was good, everything else was better too.

This is also true when it comes to pleasing God. When the heart is right with God and He is happy with us, everything else sort of falls into place. The opposite is also true. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. A heart without Jesus, a heart without thanksgiving for God's blessings, a heart that only cares about itself is a heart filled with sin and has spiritual congestive heart failure. No matter how good and nice we try to act, no matter how much we smile in church, or even what we give in the offering,  if Jesus isn't in our hearts as Lord and Savior Who died and rose for our salvation, nothing we do pleases God. There's no praise, no good works with a heart congested with sin.  Thankfully, God doesn't want us to stay that way and be lost eternally.  Electro shock is needed!

When Jesus comes to us through His Word, we are spiritually electro shocked into seeing that we are poor, miserable sinners. This opens up the heart, leading us to repent before God, trust Jesus as Lord and Savior and want to live for Him. This is praise! Now we know that giving praise to God is not just a Sunday-morning-for-an-hour-thing, it's what the Christian's life is all about. When our hearts are right in faith, we want to thank and praise God in church, at home, at school, at work, at the ball game, even walking on the golf course. It begins with the heart.  Colossians 3:23 tells us "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to Jesus Himself. Heartily; from the heart, with joy and gusto we should do all things as if we're doing them for Jesus. The story is told of a man who had his shoes shined each week by a young boy. The young man always did a wonderful job. One day the man asked the lad why he did such a wonderful job of shining his shoes week in and week out. The young man replied. "Well, sir, I'm a Christian and I try to shine every pair of shoes as if Jesus were wearing them."  This was his way to praise the Lord.

What does this say to each of us?  If your heart is right, then praise is in sight! If your heart is right, then praise is a delight! If your heart is right, then sin gives flight! If your heart is right, then praise has great might! Regardless of what you face in life there is a reason to praise and give thanks. Crisis, consternation, or confusion can lead us to see God's hand, God's help, God's love somewhere, when the heart is right. A loved one dies, we can still praise God that they knew Jesus and are at home in heaven. Even if we don't have lots of money on earth, we praise God for the riches that await us in heaven. Personally, I praise God every day for the people near and dear to my heart.  What about you? We can thank and praise Him for sunshine, rain, a cold glass of water, laughter, pizza, hope, peace, etc. etc. etc. etc.

I can praise God for my congestive heart failure that was a warning of something worse that could have happened. Praise God that He shocked our hearts and forgave us our sins through Jesus our Savior, before something worse happened.  PRAISE GOD! Amen..pastor matthews       

[Juliet]

I had to get the brakes fixed on my car this past week. I could have chosen a discount place. I could have called for the cheapest price. I could have done it myself. I could have just let it go. What I did do was call Nationwide on Ogden. Why? Not just because I like the guys, they're Lutheran, they're part of the Schulz family, but especially because they are dependable. They've never cheated me and have always done a good job. I want to know that if I'm driving with my family and there's an emergency and I slam on the brakes, we're gonna stop! I like dependable people. They're worth it! When I needed a new heart Doctor, I called Linda Susmilch's sister Robin, a Nurse for many years, who without a hesitation gave me the name of Dr. Hines. He has been excellent. Today we install our Sunday School Staff. This is a group of dependable people who will be there week in and week out to teach the children about the love of the Lord. They know that Jesus is their Lord and want to pass that faith on to others.

Joshua is a wonderful Old Testament character, Moses' dependable right hand man who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. In the New Testament, the name Joshua, pronounced Ya-shoe-a, is the name for Jesus. As Joshua, trusted by his people, led the Old Testament people to the Promised Land, Jesus leads all who trust Him into the Promised Land of heaven through His death and resurrection.

In Joshua 24, Joshua is confirming his faith to his people. They can trust the old so-called "gods" from Egypt and elsewhere, or they can trust the True God Who has been faithful, dependable, loving, as He led them from slavery, through the wilderness, to the Promised Land. God has been 100% dependable, how can they not trust Him? Do what you will, Joshua told them, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. How can we not?

I'm definitely not a heroic Joshua-like person. But, the one thing I have in common with Joshua is that I stand before you today and tell you that as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. How can we not? God has always been dependable to us, even when we have not been dependable to Him.  He hears and answers our prayers. He forgives our sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He guides us day in and day out through His Word and the Sacraments. He's always there; 24/7. He takes bad situations and makes them good. Even when we try to be our own gods, fall for the discount gods of this world such has popularity, power, possessions, God is dependable and catches us before we crash and burn! He has a home for us in heaven. How can we not trust Him now and eternally? What about you?

Now if serving the True God seems undesirable to you then choose yourself as your god, choose a discount god of this world, maybe you choose not to believe in God at all.  The problem is, when you face an emergency, trial, or trouble without the brakes and protection that God provides, you simply slide to eternal pain and death. Lasting hope, joy, and protection comes through Christ Alone as Lord and Savior. If you and your house will serve the Lord, and how can you not, stand up right now and join with me in the words of Joshua, AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

I had dinner at a member's home recently. The Dad went into the kitchen and I asked their son, "Do you know what's for dinner?" "Sure," he answered, "We're having goat." "Goat? Are you sure?" I asked. "Yes, I heard my Dad say to my Mom, 'it's about time we had that old goat for dinner!'" Words can be like a knife to the heart, to the bone! 

"Your loved one has died." "It's cancer" "I don't love you anymore" All phrases that cut to the bone and hurt us deeply. "I love you." "It's a boy" "It's a girl" and for many of you, "Bingo!" are all words that cut to our hearts and make us feelgood. Words have great power to bring us sadness, bring us joy, inspire and encourage us, or bring us down and crush our spirit. They can lead to life or can lead someone to commit suicide.

Our Scripture reading from James 1 tells us that if consider ourselves to be religious yet cannot control the words we speak, our religion is worthless. True faith in our Lord and Savior Who died and rose for us that begins in the heart is reflected in our actions for others, our thoughts of joy and happiness, and here, our words of encouragement, healing, forgiveness, and love. On the other hand, a heart filled with anger, with ego, with everything but the love of God, shows itself too, in actions that are self-centered, the thoughts are evil, and the words are designed to hurt others to make us look good. These evil words hurt others to the bone, hurt our witness if we have told people we're Christians, and can keep those with little faith away from church.   

Reading the Bible, we see that the first back-stabbing words ever recorded were the words of Satan about God. In Genesis 3 we read that the Devil wanted to create doubt in the hearts of Adam and Eve, question what God said or meant, try the forbidden fruit, forget about God, He doesn't know what He's talking about, you can be gods yourselves! 

Controlling what we say is not always easy to do. Here are three things to remember using the letters D.I.E.. We need to D.I.E. to hurtful words. The D is for the Danger our words can cause. We can hurt another, hurt ourselves, and if people believe we're Christians, keep others from ever wanting to go to church or follow Jesus. Who wants a religion of back-stabbers!  The I reminds me that I am a poor, miserable sinner in need of Jesus' forgiveness. If I only sinned once a day..I'd have to be in a coma and would certainly sin more..once a day for 50 years, then Jesus would have died on the cross for my 18,000 sins. It's hard to judge others when I know that I've sinned so much. The E is to see other through the Eyes of Jesus. No matter what we might think, Jesus loves them and died for them too. At a recent Pastor's Conference, one man prayed that Fidel Castro would get well. I had to think about that, and then realized he was looking at Castro through the eyes of Jesus.

Satan is an old goat out to deceive you. D.I.E. to that old goat and through your words, live for the Lamb of God, Jesus. Amen..pastor matthews 

[Juliet]

I read a story recently that happened over 100 years ago. Apparently two natives in Australia happened to watch as their government built a huge lighthouse on the coast. Intrigued by the whole thing, they waited until it was done and came down for the tour and heard how wonderful this lighthouse would be. Everything was prepared to go on line at dusk; the light, the bells, and the horn. An hour before dusk, a thick, dark fog rolled in from the sea. At that point one native said to the other, "light shine, bell ring, horn blow, but the fog came in just the same."  The same is true in our lives.

Scripture tells us that Jesus is the True Light of the world. We also read that God has called us to be light to the world around us. Even with all of that, the dark fog rolls in on our lives, doesn't it? Fears, worries, trials, and troubles can all be that dark fog that leaves us feeling hopeless and helpless. What brings that dark fog into your life? What fog keeps rolling in on you? Regrets from past sins, poor decisions, and wasted time and can weigh us down. Worry about the present with its cancers, bills to pay, job insecurities, war, crime, and loneliness can weaken us. Fear of what the future might bring often scares us to death. We all have the fog of our favorite phobias to struggle with. 40% of people have topophobia (fear of speaking in public) Maybe thanatophobia (fear of death) Monophobia is the fear of being alone. Though children of God, we are poor, miserable sinners and we can easily be overcome by the fog of fear.  Without Jesus as our Lord and Light, the darkness defeats us.

A little boy heard his Sunday School teacher say that "Jesus is the Light of the world."  "If that's true," the boy responded, "I wish He'd hang out in the alley behind my house. It's really dark there." Is your alley dark? Jesus will come and hang out there with you.

The Lighthouse doesn't stop the fog or the storm, it offers guidance through it. The Light of truth doesn't stop our phobias, it guides us through them. The flashlight doesn't stop the dark alleys, it guides you through them. Not only is Jesus our Light to forgive us in the darkness of sin, but  our Guide as in John 14 Jesus calls Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.  He is the eternal Light. He lights the way on earth and guides us to heaven. Jesus lived, died on the cross, and rose from the dead to defeat the powers of darkness for us.  Our worship, Bible Study, prayers, Communion attendance, and Baptism all strengthen our faith in Jesus Who will see us through. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, why?? Because He is with me to comfort me and guide me through those shadows to the peace of eternal life. 

No fog is too thick for the Light of His love. No phobia is too powerful for The Light of His Word. No alley is too dark that the Light of His eyes can't see a way out. The fog is still going to come in, but as we trust in our Lord Jesus He will light the way and guide us into the Sonshine. Amen..pastor matthews

[Juliet]

A young man was driving down a mountain road when his new, expensive car slid off the road and fell down the mountain. He was able to jump out, but the car rolled over and was a total wreck. A truck driver happened by and stopped to help. Getting to the young man, he heard him saying, "My BMW. My new BMW. My BMW" The trucker driver told him there was a bigger problem. In jumping out, his arm had caught and was ripped off. He needed to find it for a surgeon to reattach it. "My arm is gone?" the young man replied. "My Rolex. My Rolex."  When our possessions become like gods to us, then our pride, vanity, and egos are definitely in control of our lives. God wants it a different way.

In James 3, we read that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humility is a quality that's pleasing to God. A wonderful definition of humility is "DOING WHAT LOVE REQUIRES."  In the Beatitudes of our Lord, Jesus tells us that blessed are the meek. Who are the meek? The meek are those, according to Psalm 37, who have committed themselves to the Lord in faith. In the Hebrew, the word for commit is the same word for roll. Those who love the Lord, trust Him, and know that they can roll their hurts, their problems, frustrations, and fears to the cross of Jesus.  The meek, the humble, know that they can't deal with all the problems, pressures, and perplexities of life themselves and they need their Lord to carry them through. The Psalm reassures us that we can roll our hurts on the Lord and wait patiently for His help without showing anger or revenge to those who have hurt us. Our Lord strengthens us to "DO WHAT LOVE REQUIRES."   

Recently there was a terrible shooting at an Amish school in Pennsylvania. Articles in the paper tell of how the families who lost children, LOST CHILDREN, have rolled their hurts on the Lord, and are able to forgive the killer and are even gathering money to help his family. These folks are "DOING WHAT LOVE REQUIRES." We can only admire their faith and love. 

Our sinful nature, at least mine, would lead us to take revenge against the killer's family, wouldn't it? We would be led to hurt his children like he hurt mine, burn down their home, take them to court, do something for revenge! The sinful nature cares less about 'DOING WHAT LOVE REQUIRES" and is more interested in doing what anger, pride, or ego demands. We feel we have to get back at people for any hurts. Who are you angry at today?

Thankfully, Jesus doesn't do that. If He would have let any sin control His life like it does ours, there would have been no suffering, no death, no cross, no forgiveness. Jesus would have healed the rich who could reward Him, not the poor. He would have forgiven those who were nice to Him, not the poor, miserable sinners. Those who praised Him would be rewarded. Those who had doubts or fears would be lost. He would have blessed those who are like Him and rejected those who were different. Thankfully, the Son of God was humble before God and in all He did, He "DID WHAT LOVE REQUIRED" all the way to the cross for you and for me.

Jesus is our example in 'DOING WHAT LOVE REQUIRES."  Humbly, He rolled His concerns to His heavenly Father and was strengthened, and blessed. The Amish families in Pennsylvania rolled their hurts on the Lord to be able to forgive. As children of God, trusting in Him, we need to roll our fears and hurts on the Lord. As we do, we will be less concerned about pride, ego, revenge, BMWs, and Rolexes, and be more concerned about being like Jesus and  "DOING WHAT LOVE REQUIRES." This brings joy eternal. Amen..pastor matthews