Flawed but Worthy

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  Ephesians 4:1-3 Our scripture reading this morning begins with an interesting command, one that I believe gives even the most confident among us pause. It begins with a plea from Paul that believers should lead a life worthy of the calling to which they have been called. How many of you feel worthy?  It feels like a trick…

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Being a Living Blessing to Others

The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man. Micah 5:7 The prophet Micah foresaw a time when the remnant of Israel would be a blessing to the whole world just as dew brings blessings to the grass of the fields.  Of course, this was always God’s intention for Israel when God told Abraham, “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Gen. 12:3b).” As Christians, we believe that this promise was fulfilled when Jesus came into the world and made it possible for “Everyone who calls…

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Not Alone

J.K. Rowling had just gotten a divorce, was on government aid, and could barely afford to feed her baby in 1994, just three years before the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, was published. When she was shopping it out, she was so poor she couldn’t afford a computer or even the cost of photocopying the 90,000-word novel, so she manually typed out each version to send to publishers. It was rejected dozens of times until finally Bloomsbury, a small London publisher, gave it a second chance after the CEO’s eight year-old daughter fell in love with it.   No matter who we are…

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A Mother’s Influence

“Jesus’ mother was there, …” – John 2:1b This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Some people ridicule Mother’s Day as a lot of sentimental drivel. They say it’s nothing more than the creation of the greeting card companies and the florists. And, to be perfectly candid, there are a lot of ministers who shun this day because, they say, it’s not a religious holiday. Furthermore, they preach from the lectionary, which has an assigned scripture reading each week, and so Mother’s Day is left out. While there is a great deal of sentiment associated with this day, what’s wrong with that? Seems to me that a little bit of sentiment…

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Living By Faith

Going through an old photo book the other day I came across a picture of my daughter Samantha shortly after she lost her first baby tooth.  She was 8 years old, much older than her other friends when they began losing their teeth.  So it was a pretty big day in our house when finally that first one came loose.  She proudly showed off the new hole in her mouth.  After her victory romp through the house she quickly put the tooth in a bag and shoved it under her pillow in anticipation of the long awaited tooth fairy.   A couple of hours went by and she…

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Practicing Forgiveness

“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.”  Matthew 6:14-15 (The Message) One of the continuing lessons that God teaches me is that my need for forgiveness is connected with my need to forgive others. Forgiveness is at the heart and center of the Christian message. Show me a person who refuses to forgive, and I will show you a truly bitter and miserable human being. Unfortunately, religion can sometimes actually become a reinforcement for resentment.…

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Pressing On

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one that I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:12-14 My whole life I have been highly competitive. I played sports, loved watching sports, and being on teams. But I have found that sometimes that competitive drive…

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Life Principles: Our Internal Guidance System

Stephen Covey once observed, “The solutions to our problems are and always will be based upon universal, timeless, self-evident principles common to every enduring, prospering society throughout history.” Mission statements and life principles provide us with a compass for direction in our decision making. Again, Covey suggests, “If you have a family mission statement that clarifies what your purpose is, then you use that as the criterion by which you make the decisions.” A few years ago, I decided to write down my guiding principles or mission statements for living. I have been following these guiding principles, based on the Scriptures and Bowen Family Systems Theory, for several years now but…

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The Threads in My Hand

Some days call for creative writing and some days call for us to grab hold of the beautiful things written by those from generations gone by.  Today I commend to you a poem written by Pastor Howard Thurman some 70 years ago and found in his book called Meditations of the Heart.  I have spent many a moment reflecting upon this poem.  Each time I read it I find myself falling in love with it all over again.  May it bless your soul as it has blessed mine.   The Threads in My Hand Only one end of the threads, I hold in my hand.The threads go many…

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Christianity and Civility

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32  Last Sunday, I preached a sermon on civility and kindness.  Before I leave this topic I want to add a liitle more based on the text from Ephesians 4:32.  Webster’s dictionary defines “civility” as “civilized conduct, especially: courtesy, politeness; a polite act or expression.”  Increasingly, we are living in a less and less civil world.  It seems like everywhere we turn, we witness acts of incivility and rude behavior: at the grocery store, the bank, the airport, even driving on the road.   We find rude behavior from the intrusive cell-phone user who holds loud conversations in public…

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