November 15, 2009

Fun

Fun is something that lightens our spirits, makes time go by quickly, takes our mind off of our troubles or worries, makes us want to come back for more…fun can cause our hearts to race, and fun can even make our heart-rate slow down.  Fun is experienced through a variety of circumstances or venues that offer something that people enjoy.

That said, do we have fun at church?  It seems to me that part of the problem many of us have is that we don’t look for the fun at church.  And fun is all around us on any given Sunday.

Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and he asked them, “What has happened to all your joy?”  (Galatians 4:15 NIV)  The people had stopped having fun and it caught Paul’s attention, and Paul wrote to clear up some things with hopes that their fun would return.

Have fun at church.  Laugh together, cry together, praise and worship together.  Jesus set us free to have fun without worry about our eternal soul.  That’s something to have fun about.

Peace

Jim

November 13, 2009

Sometimes I think the reason we lose joy is that we forget what it is that gives us our joy.  The hymn Joy To The World is not just a Christmas song.  Joy to the world the Lord is come let earth receive her king…

The earth received her king at Christmas time, and we the church, spend a lot of time and effort to show the world what that King looks like.  That sounds like a life in general song to me…

Peace

Jim

November 12, 2009

Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and asked them a question:

“What has happened to all your joy?”

The people were being deceived by those who tried to tell them that there was more to accepting God’s favor than what Jesus did for them on the cross.  The result was that people were losing their joy.  They allowed something to come between them and Jesus.

What make us lose our joy in living a Christian life?  It sort of seems to me that when I allow something to come between me and Jesus my joy slips ever so softly and quietly away.  I hate it when that happens.

Keep a check on your joy.  If it’s not what it used to be look to Jesus to rediscover it.

Peace

Jim

November 11, 2009

As I was rushing around this morning trying to focus on some tasks at hand I was reminded once again that in all of our (my) rushing don’t forget to look for Jesus.

I met Jesus in three different people this morning before 9:00 a.m.  And luckily I noticed.  Sometimes I don’t notice until after the fact when there is nothing I can do about it but ask God’s forgiveness for not noticing.  It feels much better to be able to offer thanks instead of repentance.

So as I think about being thankful I am reminded to thank God for allowing us opportunities to be his hands and feet in our world.

Peace

Jim

November 10, 2009

Do you have fun at church?

It just occurred to me that since I have fun at church, everybody might not.  We don’t always think about church being fun.  We think about worshipping.  We think about communing together.  We think about praising God.  We think about offering thanksgiving to God for his blessings.  We think about giving as a means of supporting the work of the church (church being the work of us that call ourselves Christian).  We think about singing and choirs and children’s time…the list goes on and on.

But do we think about church being fun?  We seem to learn a lot more when we’re having fun.

It seems to me that if the church is going to go on being the church, and if people are going to come to understand Jesus, his love and what Jesus can do for us…church ought to be fun.

Now that doesn’t mean that we have to change our way of worship, but it does mean that we might have to change our attitude about worship.  What that means is that we come with an attitude that we are going to learn something that helps us to grow in our faith.  We learn a lot more when we can focus on the moment and enjoy the moment as a time being together with friends bound to a common cause…the cause of Christ.

Peace

Jim

November 9, 2009

 

“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.  He freed me from all my fears.”  Psalm 34:4 NLT

Why is it so difficult to trust God?  I think the answer is that trusting in something we can’t see is hard.  But that trusting becomes easier once we take a stand by faith and experience God doing something that we have no control over.  In other words once we see God work we tend to trust him more and more until we can say with the Psalmist…

Psalm 34:8… “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  (Tasting is trusting) “Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!“

Verse 18: “The Lord is close to the broken hearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”

Think about our biggest fears, the thing that causes us the most anxiety…and then take those things to Jesus and ask him to intervene.  Don’t tell him what to do just let him do as he will.

Peace

Jim

November 8, 2009

When I think about God doing a new thing, all sorts of things come to mind.  I think about going places, big events that are life changing, creation and so forth.  But most of the time the new that God shows me are things that I comprehend.  Like slowing down and noticing things.  Like feelings of love and compassion.  Like watching other people grow in their faith.  We would more recognize the excitement in the new if we could only focus more on God.

That doesn’t mean that we don’t trust God or worship him, or thank him, it just means that most of us don’t always focus on him throughout the day.  We pray for God to guide us but then we don’t always watch for signs of that guidance.

Watch for God today…

Peace

Jim

November 7, 2009

Oops, I missed yesterday.  So much going on I got sidetracked I suppose.

New things are sometimes old things that we finally notice.  Pay attention to what is around us.

Enjoy the day, its supposed to be in the 70’s today.

Peace

Jim

November 5, 2009

“When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives each day that the sun rises.”

I read that this morning as I watched the sun rise above the trees and wondered what today might hold.

God, help me recognize the good things that happen to me, large or small, each and every day the sun comes up no matter if its sunny or cloudy.  Amen.

Peace

Jim

November 4, 2009

I’m thinking about God doing a “New thing”. 

What kind of new thing I don’ t know but thats the word that came to me this morning.  So as I think about that, what a new thing might mean for us individually or as a church, spend some time thinking what sort of “new thing” God might have in mind for each of us.

Peace

Jim