Sunday Service

Our church had baptism services yesterday - six young souls put a stake in the ground as a committment  and a testimony to their love for God. As always, I am moved to tears on this occasion. The potential that is represented here and the responsibility as a body of believers that is promised to walk along side of them...

Yesterday Mr D wasn't feeling well. It started on our way to church and it was a 'new' symptom. During the praise and worship '10,000 Reasons' by Matt Redman was sung. The words were comforting and sobering in a significant way to me.

10,000 Reasons

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning,

It's time to sing Your song again.

Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,

Let me be singing when the evening comes.

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger,

Your name is great and Your heart is kind. 

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing,

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

And on that day when my stregnth is failing,

The end draws near and my time has come,

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years and then forevermore!

{chorus}

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul,

Worship His holy name.

  Sing like never before, O my soul'

I'll worship Your holy name! 

Sunday Worship

Several months ago Pastor Mark spoke on taking the time to 'sit at the feet of Jesus.' Out of this message, he birthed the idea to come early and do just this in the sanctuary. The soft music and soft lighting is very conducive to prepare for worship, a time to pray, a time to look inside at self.

Yesterday, a friend and I did a prayer walk around the room, praying for ourselves, praying for the hurting, praying for loved ones who are going through a hard time. I don't know what it did for my friend but I do know what it did for me!

- Message from the pulpit -

Seeing the Glory of God

Exodus 33

- do I desire to reflect it?

- is my spiritual growth reflective on how I see the glory of God?

- do I nibble too much at the wrong things so that I am too 'stuffed' to see it?

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It rained! It rained in steady drumbeats all. day. long. Just the kind of rain we were needing! Today is more than chilly but not cold, cold...in Pennsylvania Dutch, we have a very fitting word for it - it's 'lepp-ish'' and that describes the weather today perfectly!

Today, I will be inside in recovery from several weeks of working outdoor in wonderful weather!

Lead Like Jesus

Our church hosted a Lead Like Jesus Encounter taught by Luke Kuepher over the week end - it was thought-provoking-out-of-my-comfort zone stuff, not so much of my daily walk with Jesus as it was in being 'missional' and intentional in missions church life. It was good, good stuff! A few points of interest...

Successful Leadership has...

- vision

- motivates

- is a servant

- leads change

- develops people

- thinks strategically

- has the wisdom of teams

Successful Level Five Leaders have...

- total humility

- resoluteness of will

Leaders will...

- often have a secret in their lives that hinders

- great leaders often self-destruct because of success

In times past, church (especially conservative church) has operated out of this expectation...

- behave

- believe

- belong.

Are we willing to create a place to...

- belong

- believe

- behave

- and to allow 'fail forward' in the Jesus way?

More good stuff...

Are we okay with new Christians 'journeying' to Jesus?

Shadow pastoring is a successful tool in church planting.

Always point questions to Scripture to help find the answer.

When church becomes institutional it begins to break down.

It is important to see people not as they are but for what they can become.

A small church gives a 'go and serve' mentality rather than 'come and hear.'

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Did you know...

- there are 1700 churches planted every week, world-wide?

All of us are leaders somewhere and these same principles can be used wherever we serve.

It was a challenging, challenging day!

Week End

Our church had Communion on Sunday evening. Soft music and Scripture together in the moments before the service began is a powerful way to begin commemorating the suffering and Death of our Lord. We look forward to celebrating His resurrection at our Easter Service on Easter Sunday!

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I, along with three friends saw the movie, October Baby, that premiered in the theaters on Friday - it's good and it's a tear-jerker!

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I'm working on a quick and easy project but can't decide whether to use French wallpaper or dictionary pages that will be placed on the back of book shelves...dear me, such a profound decision!

Just joking, people, just joking! :)

However, you may give your opinion!

Week End

I'm still shaking my head over this...two - ten inches of snow and we hadn't even had a frost yet! But no one can deny how beautiful it was! This morning is very frosty and there was a lot of snow melt yesterday. A lot of folks were or still are without electricity and/or Internet/phone service...we had both all the time.

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Our worship service was moving and powerful yesterday. Two young ladies in their early twenties had spent three months in the slums of Cambodia working with children in an orphanage. Yesterday they shared their story through power point and their own personal journey. Their passion to BE Jesus to these innocent children who often end up in child slavery was a call to the rest of us to BE Jesus wherever we are!

Several years ago, our church started a kid's club, which morphed into Life Club, using the Teen Challenge facility.Teen Challenge was impressed with the results and offered to work with them so the teens have a place to go to instead of the streets. There was special prayer for those who give their time to this work.

We surrounded a young married couple with a laying on of hands and prayer, who will be spending four months in Uganda in an orphanage of sixty children, ages birth to six years. Their heart cry is also to reach the community via the hospitals, where the good care is not given as it is here. I was blessed in listening to their passion for 'lost' children. 

I, too, want to BE Jesus wherever I am!

Week End Musings

We're doing a study of Genesis in our Sunday School class and being one of the teachers caused me to search the basics of the beginning of mankind again. I've grown up with this moving story but discovered that the bits and pieces tend to get a little foggy between truth and imagination. I want to share with you what I've learned.

The Misconceptions
No where in scripture do we find the fruit was an apple - it was merely a fruit.
Eve (life-giver) was given her name after God cast them out (Gen 3:20) - she was Woman (taken out of man).
The command to not eat of 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil' was given to Adam before Woman was created, giving the responsibility to Adam alone. Yet Adam, standing by Women (Eve), remained silent.

The Garden
It was a beautiful place with perfect harmony between God, Adam And Woman. The Garden had two important trees...the tree of life and the tree of  knowlege of good and evil. They could eat of every tree but the tree of knowlege of good and evil.

The Temptation

• this beautiful, crafty creature isolted and spoke to Eve, not Adam.
• they had no chance to strengthen each other to choose good.
• he cast doubt on God's motive.
• he contradicted God.
• he focused Eve's attention on desirable ends or 'situation ethics.'
• Satan proposed a mixed good as the end, 'You will become like gods, knowing good from evil.'
• he relied on the appeal of the senses.

Death Came

It's important to understand this death was more than an end to life.

• it's a terrible distortion of divine order.
• it involves a warping of human personality and a twisting of relationships.
• it alienates us from God.

Effects of Death

• the sudden flush of shame as they recognized their nakedness.
• their flight from God
• Adam's refusal to accept responsibilty
• judgement on the earth for man's sake
• most of all, we see death in the anger of Cain, whose bitterness led him to murder his own brother.

The Recovery of Hope

•  God seeks out the sinning pair
• He clothes the naked pair
• God promoses an Offspring of the woman who would destroy the serpent

Yes, Paradise is lost! How well we know, for you and I recognize the taste of that fruit in our mouth's every day. But - we will eat of the tree of life again...read Revelation 22:2!

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Though the rains are past, there are still many people who are in clean up from Tropical Lee. The weather predictions for the upcoming week promises lots of sunshine and cooler weather...yea!  

week end musings

we had a quiet week end and a wonderful spring day yesterday!

Different, Unique and Married

Blending to Form a Winning Team

Our Wounds

(session four)

Basic Human Needs- deep longings of the heart.

these are like a three-legged stool

 and if one is damaged it creates an off balance in all of our relationships.

A. Belongingness (intimacy)

• acceptance - cared for, wanted
• rejection - causes anger, no sense of belonging

B. Worth (important)

• value - i count, liked, important
• worthlessness - i'm a big mistake, feeling shame and guilt

C. Competence (i know i have what it takes)

• courage - i can do this
• hopelessness - fearful, withdrawn, we cover up

Destroyers of Our Basic Human Need

A. Abuse

• sexual and can be through touch or exposure to
• abuse can also be verbal, emotional, spiritual

B. Absent or Neglect

• physical
• emotional
• relational

3. Our Wounds

• past
• present

$. What it Takes

• empathy - understaning another's pain
• validation - to establish value
• patience

One moment of patience may ward of disaster.

One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.

- A Chinese Proverb

...blessedness!

week end musings

yesterday (monday) was gaw-gee-ous, hence a day late for this post.

i was busy doing this...

...trimming my New Dawn rose and it's a beast!

hubs helped clean up last evening - that was a tremendous help!

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Different, Unique and Married

Our Background

session three

1. Our Background

A. Physical

•  involved     vs     uninvolved
•  individual    vs     family
• elaborate   vs   simple

B. Spiritual

• structured   vs    sporadic
• focused   vs    inconsistent

2. What it Takes

• humility - to see each other's point of view  
• adaptability - able to modify; make fit

"In a successful marriage, there is no such thing as one's way.

There is only the way of both, only the bumpy, dusty, difficult, but always mutual path."

- Phyllis McGinley

...blessedness!

week end musings

it was COLD!

the Gap Fire Company sale was a success!

son W and family from WV came for the event and saturday was busy and fun!

our sunday nap was wonderful! :)

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An overview of our Sunday School Class on Marriage

- Different, Unique and Married -

Our Biology - Male vs Female

Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image;

in His own image created He them: male and female He created them."

A. Physical

Our brains are literally created differently.

B. Relational

• men think projects - women think relational
• men compartmentalize - women 'stream' their day
• men look at the big picture - women look at the details

C. Sexual make-up

1. View of sex. 

men are physical - women are relational

2. Motivation

men by sight - women by touch and feeling

3. Approach

men compartmentalize - women stream

The Curse

Genesis 3:14-19

man's is silence - woman's is control

When Woman (Eve) took and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge (of good and evil) and gave it to Adam, she took control away from Adam and Adam remained silent to the commandment God gave him.

 This is the curse of men and women that is carried down through the ages of time.

What it Takes

A. Fairness

- fair to each other's built in differences

B. Forgiveness

of man's silence and woman's control

"A happy marriage is the union of two forgivers." - Ruth Graham

Wrap Up

We have a choice:

We can allow the differences in our biology to create conflict or we can celebrate

 the differences and blend them into a winning team!

...blessedness!

week end musings

today is the first day of spring!
and though it's raining, i can look forward to this...

 and this...

 and this...

 and these!

ah yes...SPRING!

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the full moon was fabulous and unusual saturday evening...

it was the closest to the earth since 1993.

i know - the picture quality is poor,

 but then how can a simple camera do justice to God's awesome nightlight?

mine can't!



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due to prior plans and an emergency, we haven't had our no. 2 lesson on marriage -

God willing...next sunday!

a text was read today in our service,
based on the question that was asked after the global and personal tragedies...

'How big is your God?'

Psalms 61
(personalized for myself)

Hear my cry, O God: attend unto my prayer!
From the ends of the earth I cry to You, especially when I'm overwhelmed:
lead me to the Rock that is higher than me.
For You are a strong shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
I will abide in Your tabernacle for ever:
I will trust You in the covert of Your wings.
Selah.

Psalm 62

My soul, wait only on God - my expectation is from You.
YOU only are my Rock and my Salvation - YOU are my defense;
I shall not be moved!
My salvation and my glory is in YOU...
YOU are the rock of my strength and my refuge.
I trust in YOU all the time;
I pour my heart out before YOU!
God is my refuge.
Selah.

my Bible dictionary tells me Selah means...'a musical direction, pause.'
can i turn the pause in my life into a musical...
even the hard pauses?

quoted:
We don't need to understand the hard stuff of life -
what we need is a God bigger than anything else!


...blessedness!

week end musings

saturday was J's eighth birthday...we celebrated it sunday evening.

such excitement!

we took A and S along.

i used a turned-inside-out grocery bag for gift-wrap and they decorated it.

  a nice, comfortable evening!

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we joined an elective SS class taught by Pastor Mark and his wife on 'Different, Unique and Married.'

this class will run three months and i'll be sharing in a nutshell what is taught in class.

Stages of Marriage

• romance - wearing rose-tinted glasses
• transition - what was i thinking?!
• reality - when the ideal becomes an ordeal
• retaliation - when the ordeal becomes a new deal (changing the other person)
• resignation - accepting the truth that God has made he/she this way

B. Three Major Sources of Conflict

• money
• sex/intimacy
• in-law relationships

Our Dilemma

A. Reactions to Differences

• before marriage what we think is cute is no longer cute
• a strong desire to change the other person
• we challenge
• we criticize

B. Results of Differences

• loss of respect
• creates resentments
• no one takes responsibility
• wedges are created and walls go up

What it Takes

• acceptance - to endure without resentment
• right responses and attitude
• selflessness

Wrap Up

We have a choice: we can allow the dilemma to create conflict

 or we celebrate the differences and blend them together to form a winning team!

...blessedness!

GIVEAWAY closes at midnight tonite!

week end musings

today is my birthday!

i really don't mind being sixty-two...

i just find it hard to believe that i'm there!

one year ago,

it looked like this...

our first inches of many of the infamous snows of the winter of '09-'010!

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- from the pulpit -

The Five Songs in Luke

Elizabeth's song - joy

Mary's song - praise

Zechariah's song - thanksgiving

The angel's song - celebration

Simeon's song - faith and worship.

 Jesus' presence always demands a response!

God displayed His heart through sending Jesus to...

- preach the gospel to the poor

- to heal the broken heart

- to preach deliverance to the captive

- to recover sight to the blind

 - to give liberty to those who are bruised

- to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Luke 4:18,19

love this...

how I need this -

 all of these...

 at any given time!

...blessedness!

ox

week end musings

our church had a retreat in central Pa from friday evening until sunday noon.

 this was our view from the back deck.

the leaves were really lovely, though not at their peak.

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Encountering Jesus

In the realities of life,

and in the middle of hard things,

Jesus whispers...

'Sh-h-h, I'm here to deliver you.'

Giving up my alabaster box,

Am I willing to break the seal?

Give up my dreams?

To love genuinely is costly -

and to risk criticism and scorn...

to be misunderstood.

Worship

We are created to worship.

Worship is a connection to God.

To worship the Creator rather than the created.

This was our teaching in a nutshell -

a lot to think about and apply to my life!

...blessedness!

ox

weekend musings

Happy Mother's Day!

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- from the pulpit -

Looking Fear in the Face

- fear is not overcome by walking away from it

- fear is filled with lies

- fear cannot be where truth is

- daring to face our fear takes us beyond our boundaries

- fear keeps us with our 'stuff.'

We have two intercessors 24/7...

Jesus, who is on our side

Satan, who is against us.

When we live out of our five senses...

tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, smelling -

these are fear-based.

But God has given us a sixth sense...

His Spirit!

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

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there was a baby dedication,

and each mother was recognized and honored with a plant.

it was a wonderful service!

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we forgot to get saturday's mail,
so saturday's mail became sunday's mail...
in it was this -

a crafted mother's day card from DIL M...
they only live two miles away and she MAILED it to me!
an extra touch to bless me with her love...
THANK YOU, Martha!

...blessedness!

ox

WEEK END MUSINGS

our churh had a retreat this week end at penn valley, located in the mountains of central PA...

 a lovely, lovely place...

...games...

...those who play...

                                                

                                                                                              

                                                               ...several injuries...

...and those who watch...

...future player...

...campfire...

...eating...

...good cooks...

...praise and worship...

...and teaching...

...our speaker, Dan Beachy, is a veteran counselor/teacher...

...resourced from the book 'Connecting' by Larry Crabb...

...lots of stuff to think about...

...the book speaks of the 'Four Metaphors of Sin'...

...and how we attempt to bypass God's way in dealing with life issues...

...instead, we 'build a city,' or...

...'dig a well'...

...or go to 'fire lighting'...

....or 'whitewash' our walls...

...read it...good stuff!

gleanings from his teaching...

city-building is simply coming up with a strategy to live in case God checks out...

well diggers are thirsty...instead of pursing the Giver of Water, a cistern is dug...

firelighters attempt to light their own fire when they think God isn't coming through...

white wall washing is to simply cover up to look better than what the reality really is...

OUR MESSAGE OF CONNECTION CAN CHANGE!

...read the book!

...traditionally, we finish the worship service with the song...
- Our God is Alive -
...it's sung with belief and power!

...blessedness...

ox