Framily! 

This month, after several years, I'm restarting my blog. I've toyed with this many times. I started, stopped, and restarted more times than I wanted to admit. However, I'm more excited this time, mostly because I have a plan. The plan is this. Every month, I plan on posting about recent events, what is currently happening, and what we are planning. I must report for monthly board meetings, so with a little reworking. I should be able to keep up better. 

Let me start with a quick discussion of the goals posted at the head of every report I make to our board. Those goals are as follows.

 1. Become the most loving church in our community. As you know, the most important thing is loving God with our whole being and loving one another like family. All our religion is supposed to be built on this two-part commandment. I think the best way for me to say it is what is not of love is not of God. My hope and our goal are that we would simply be the most loving church we can be. I know this is hard to measure, but I also know that if we lose sight of the greatest commandment, none of what we might accomplish will matter.

2. Refurbish the Worship Center. We started working on the building shortly after I arrived at Generations Community. Fifteen years later, we are still working on refurbishing and updating the facility. The current project is the sprucing up of the Worship Center. We have purchased new stage lights, and Pastor Kraymer is working on getting them up. We are also in the process of finishing up choosing new carpet, chairs, and paint. I can't wait to see it when it is all done. 

3. Execute our Strategic Plan. The most important thing in the plan is that we become an inviting church. By that, we mean everything about us is inviting to our community. It is the desire to be inviting that drives our desire to refurbish our facility. However, inviting is much more than the physical plant. We also need to learn how to be welcoming when new folks visit. We need to know how to do attractive outreach and learn how to extend personal invitations to our friends and neighbors. You'll be hearing more about this soon. 

I hope you will continue to read this blog and that you will find it both informative and enjoyable. In addition to giving you a monthly update, I will also be writing on various topics in the life of our church or our relationship with God. I'm looking forward to the journey, and I hope you will come along!

 

#itrustgod even it if doesn't turn out the way I want. Feb 7, 2019

Wednesday was my final "post-chemo" check-in. I am now officially on observation! (Thanks be to God!) This means I am, for now, cancer-free! However, it also means that I will be scanned every three months searching for any new tumors. More importantly, this means I get to go back to doing what I love, being a husband, father, pastor and soon grandpa! (Aren’t those great titles, husband, father, pastor and grandpa!?!)

One of the interesting moments during the final check out was when they told me that I would need to be scanned every three months. I knew this was coming so I wasn’t surprised but for some reason, it really struck me emotionally. Truth is, while I will no longer have cancer treatment, I will always have a "cloud of possibility" hanging over my head. In an effort to change the subject and talk about something fun I asked how soon will my port (implant to administer chemo) come out? I have been eagerly looking forward to getting rid of this thing. Additionally, as the implanting of the port was the first medical procedure, I was thinking of its removal as the last! I was expecting some sort of ceremonial "closing the door" on the difficult events of this year and walking out port free into a glorious future...

Then the nurse crushed me when she said I really needed to wait before removing the port. She went on to say, remember you have a very aggressive disease. With that, the delusion about my future was finally and fully-stripped away. After all that God has done for me, this is going to sound very ungrateful, I came home discouraged and emotionally down. God's healing in my life has been nothing short of miraculous. Why can’t I take a victory lap? Why do I have to carry around in my body this constant reminder of the possibility that my life may yet be cut short? On the drive home, God and I started a pretty serious conversation.

You need to know, when God and I have serious conversations He seems to follow the best practices of any good counselor. He listens a lot more than He talks. Like anyone who has been in therapy knows, I tried to get ahead of what I thought He was going to say so I pulled out everything I learned in seminary and started ticking it off.

Yes, I know all healing is temporary. Even Lazarus who Jesus called from the grave eventually died again. (Don’t you think there were some folks hanging around the tomb for the next few days, just in case?)

Yes, I know there is no correlation between God’s healing in my life and the timing for removal of a stupid, no good, lousy tube.

Yes, I know that it was through this stupid, no good lousy tube that God delivered my healing in the first place and that He might not be done using that avenue of grace in my life.

Yes, I know I’ve been fighting cancer, …wait, …what? As those words passed through my head God seemed to remind me that during this year of cancer lots and lots of people have talked to me about “fighting” cancer. Every time the words created a certain unease in my spirit. I’ve never said anything because I know this is a common way of talking when confronted with cancer. However, I’ve not used the words fighting cancer myself, at least not until I started complaining to God.

Truth is, I’ve never thought of my cancer as something I fight. In fact, in many ways, I’ve thought just the opposite. When I was diagnosed with a very deadly form of cancer, God clearly called me to let go and lean into him. In my mind I went back to that day more than 50 years ago when I knelt at an altar and totally surrendered my life to Him. My life was/is His, no matter what and no matter how long. I remember the deep peace that flooded my being that day and I knew what I needed to do. I was to re-ground my life in total commitment to him. He would or would not heal me, but the battle was not mine so I could rest. Those many months ago when I reaffirmed by complete surrender and trust, God again flooded my being with Peace just as He had done that very first time, so many years ago. You may recall that it was during this time that I started tagging my posts with #itrustgod. I can honestly say from that moment until yesterday I have walked this path with a profound sense of God’s Peace that passes all understanding. Some have interpreted my attitude toward cancer as courage, but I don’t think it is. I have not felt fear so there is nothing to be courageous about. Instead, what people have seen is God’s peace that comes in the face of adversity when we surrender without reservation into His hand. It really has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him.

About the time I finished that thought God spoke again with the bruising words… what has changed? (Ever noticed how when God speaks, He asks extremely pointed and uncomfortable questions?) The embarrassing answer is I changed. I took my trust out of God’s hand and began thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Honestly, it was easier to trust God when I had nothing (looking death in the face) than when I had something (God has healed and restored life). I know, I know. REALLY stupid to stop trusting God after He has given you a miracle. But there you have it. With my eyes focused on scan schedules, stupid, no good, lousy tubes and a very aggressive disease, my Peace was gone, and I was fighting the battle rather than resting in the hands of the one whose battle this is. (The battle belongs to the Lord!)

That afternoon I joyfully placed my trust back in God’s hands where it belonged. I let go of the battle and embraced sweet surrender. In that moment God restored my Peace and brought to mind the words of an old Gospel song called Blessed Assurance.

This great old song of testimony says in the chorus,

Chorus: This is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long.

The testimony being referred to can be found in the verses. As I reflected on those words, I found my story was in there too.

Verse 1 - Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! (this is what heaven is going to be like!) Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. (Wow)

Verse 2 - Perfect submission, (this is what I had to do to find peace again) perfect delight, (This is what Peace looks like) Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; Angels descending, bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. (even if you are facing the end of your life)

Verses 3 Perfect submission, all is at rest, (because I’ve submitted) I in my Savior am happy and blest; (Yes I am) Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. (God’s love is so vast that we actually get lost!)

Chorus - This is MY story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story. - #istilltrustgod

LaRue Howard does a great job bringing out the words so crank up the volume and click on the link below and be blessed…. Perfect submission, all is at rest. Yes, yes it is.

This Thanksgiving is Different or Gratitude after a Bad Diagnosis.

This Thanksgiving is Different. Nov 28, 2019

This Thanksgiving is different. I’m always grateful at thanksgiving. Truth is I’ve been blessed beyond all reason and way beyond what I deserve. It is never far from my consciousness that I was born into a great family, have been blessed with creating my own great family, and I’m watching my children get a good start on creating their great families. When it comes to the things that really matter, I’m very rich. Even when I reflect on my material station in life, I am blessed to have a job I love, work with people I love, have everything I need and almost everything I could even imagine wanting. Compared to the rest of the world I’m enormously rich finically because I’m a middle-class American. I am deeply and profoundly grateful for all of this and glad to give thanks every Thanksgiving and every day. Still, this year is different.

Shortly after the first of the year, I went to see the doctor about a lump in my thigh. I wasn’t very worried about it and neither was the doctor. He ordered an ultrasound but there was no rush. Several weeks went by and I eventually found myself chit-chatting with a very nice but new ultrasound tech. She had graduated from school but was still in training, so I didn’t think much of it when she got quiet and then left the room telling me her work needed to be reviewed by her supervisor. I should have noticed when the supervisor basically redid the ultrasound herself. They politely finished up and I went home. That evening my phone rang and the caller ID showed my doctor's office. I knew then something was wrong. The call was brief, but I remember him saying I have a mass in my thigh that is almost certainly cancerous. He was sending me for an MRI to get more clarity and I was to make an appointment with an Orthopedic surgeon. He thought it would likely be removed surgically and that would be it. He thought the matter urgent but was not overly concerned. Things began to move faster.

I went in for the MRI and again a call from the Orthopedic surgeon’s office. That meeting was my first indication that this wasn’t going to be a simple thing. He told me that the lump in my thigh was a sarcoma. He went on to say that these are rare and extremely dangerous. He was very grim and said he needed to refer me to an Orthopedic Oncologist that worked with sarcomas. Turns out there are only two or three of these in the entire state of Washington. I am deeply thankful for this caring doctor who that day spent his evening personally calling and trying to get me in to see one of these doctors as soon as possible.

Eventually, I had an appointment at the best place possible for my cancer, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Not only do they have an Orthopedic Oncologist they have a whole section dedicated to Sarcomas. After more testing, the really bad news was shared with us. I have a sarcoma which is not only rare and very aggressive but after genetic testing, my specific sarcoma was very aggressive even among sarcomas. Additionally, this particular type was prone to metastasizing and resistant to treatment. That was a very hard day.

As we drove home in stunned silence it dawned on me that as hard as those words to were to hear, it would be even harder sharing them with my children and eventually my church. While there was some hope, the tumor was small and it hadn’t yet metastasized, it didn’t seem like there was much hope. That day, sitting in a Doctor’s office receiving a diagnosis that could end my life, forever changed me.

In the weeks that followed there were plenty of tears, great sadness and a lot of prayers. Nothing like a bad diagnosis to make you pray. It was in those times of prayer that God began a new work in my life. Almost immediately I had a deep sense of the Holy Spirit saying to me, I’ve got this. I need to be clear, I did not hear God say He was going to heal me. Instead, it was a deep assurance that no matter the outcome I could trust Him. It was then that God gave me what has become my new mantra in life, #itrustgod.

I shared this with my family and congregation. I reminded them that my faith was in God and that my trust in God was not that He would heal me, which is what I wanted Him to do. Instead, it was a deep clarity and assurance deep in my soul that even if I was coming to the end of my life, I could still trust God. It was and is a proclamation of my heart that God can be trusted even when disaster strikes. As simple and old a truth as this is, those words, I trust God, opened the door for a profound sense of God’s peace to pour into and over my life. I discovered for maybe the first time the true meaning of the Hebrew word for peace, Shalom. In the New Testament, we call this, the peace that goes beyond all understanding. (Romans 8:28) Yep, that pretty much describes it. I have been given a deep peace in my soul that makes no sense. I trust God, no matter what. As much as the bad diagnosis changed me, the profound assurance from God that I could trust Him even if my days were short, changed me even more. #itrustgod

I tell you all this so that it doesn’t sound completely crazy when I say, this thanksgiving I’m thankful for cancer. I know, still sounds crazy but God is teaching me that when he promises to bring good out of bad, He is giving us an amazing gift even if it is sometimes hard to see.

This year I am thankful for my cancer diagnosis because God has used it to change me in so many positive ways. Additionally, and completely unforeseen to me is that He has used it to reveal many blessings I am guilty of taking for granted. To open the eyes of the ungrateful that they might see God’s blessing in their life is a profound gift and huge blessing in itself.

I’m grateful for cancer because God used it to help me value and live in the present. My Strength Finders testing says one of my top five strengths is Future. This means that I love to think about, strategize for and live in the future. I’m the type of person that is energized by possibilities, believes in what could be and will give myself fully to creating a better future for everyone. Of course, the downside is that I can get so caught up in thinking about and working toward a better future that I completely miss the good things that are happening right now. It can make me neglectful of the people I love most and ungrateful for the blessings God is pouring into my life now.

One of the things that happened when I received my diagnosis was that I stopped thinking about the future. What was the point? It was looking like I didn’t have one. God used that enforced pause to my natural state to open my eyes to all the really great things He was doing in me right now. Don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t that I was unaware that I have a great family, a great church and a great job. It was just that I handled them to casually and didn’t give them the attention they deserved and God the credit He deserved. God brought very good out of very bad and I’m thankful. #itrustgod

In addition to being thankful for cancer itself, I’m also thankful for the many blessing God has brought out of my cancer diagnosis. Maybe the greatest of these is that it has brought our family closer. They say major trauma has a way of moving relationships either closer or apart. In our case, it has been closer. After the diagnosis, my kids started calling and visiting more often. Don’t miss understand, they always called and visited, and I’m blessed to have close relationships with my children and their spouses, but a life-threatening diagnosis has a way of creating a significant uptick in contact with the people you love and I’m always thankful for that. In addition to more contact with my children, I noticed that many other friends reached out in ways big and small. #itrustgod

This year I am especially thankful I am a part of a praying church and by church, I mean my local, district, denominational and the larger church of Jesus Christ. In these difficult months, I have been prayed for by thousands of people around the world and in lots of languages I don’t understand. I can not express in words how powerful this has been in my life. The truth is, I’m blessed with friends, colleagues and a large church family that spans the globe and they are praying people. This became crystal clear to me at District Assembly last year. I had just been diagnosed and many told me they would be praying. As the meetings were coming to an end Jerry Kester, my District Superintendent asked the assembly if they would lay hands on and pray for myself and another pastor who had cancer. We came to the front of the church and people began to gather around laying their hands on us. When no more could touch us, they laid hands on the people in front of them. We were completely engulfed in the body of Christ. The moment was powerful as Jerry, who is my pastor, prayed for healing and the Assembly joined in agreement. When it was done, I was vaguely aware that there were a lot of people at the front, but my emotions were too strong to really grasp what had happened. Later someone posted a picture and I was stunned to see 100’s had gathered to lay hands on myself and the other pastor as they prayed for our healing. In both that moment of prayer and seeing the picture a few days later God seemed to say again, I’ve got this. #itrustgod.

Another good out of bad thing that God has been doing is showing me again the beauty of His bride the church. A few minutes after we received my diagnosis, they began talking to us about a plan of treatment. Four rounds of chemo, each confining me to the hospital for five days in a row with a two-week recovery between. I was to expect to be very sick even after going home. This would be followed by five weeks of radiation, five days a week. Then major surgery to remove the tumor then two more in-patient chemo’s. I was to expect that this would take over my life for nine months. The next board meeting was going to be very hard.

I told the board the bad news and offered to resign. They would have none of it. Instead, over the following weeks they helped me pound out and put into place a plan that allowed me the time off to take care of my medical needs while keeping me engaged in the work of the church and continuing to receive a full paycheck. Additionally, the church body has gone over and above to support and love us during this difficult time. The nurses and doctors have been amazed at the level of support and love we enjoy as members of the Body of Christ. The churches love expressed in practical ways has not only blessed us, but it opened the door for many spiritual conversations with healthcare professionals. #itrustgod

There are many more things I’m thankful for this year that have come from the cancer diagnosis. The one that I find most amazing is that although I did not and do not believe I can force God to heal me He seems to be doing it in a blend of medicine and miracle. That day in the office when the doctors shared my diagnosis, they were very grim and kept saying, I’m sorry. However, over the course of my treatment, God has worked in such a way that they now greet me with big smiles. Less than one in four people with my cancer respond at all to chemo. Not only did my tumor respond but it shrunk dramatically. At the end of my first four rounds of Chemo one of the doctors sharing the results with me literally did a happy dance in the room! Additionally, my tumor responded so well to radiation treatment that when the result came back two of them fist-bumped and one of them calls me the poster child for their work! Last week the surgery to remove the tumor went extremely well both medically and in terms of my ability to recover. For all of this, I am deeply and profoundly thankful. I’m not out of the woods yet but God has truly done a miracle and I am looking forward to how He will continue work in the years ahead. #itrustgod

Today when my family gathers around the Thanksgiving Table I think the thing, I will be most thankful for is that God can be trusted, no matter what. #itrustgod

Happy Giving Thanks Day!

Don't Check Your Brain at the Door.

December 28th I started one of my pet peeves, stand on a soapbox, personal agenda sermon series.  I'm calling it "Don't check your brain at the door." Don't' worry, it's Biblical but it is one of my hot button issues because of my growing up and early adulthood years.   

Growing up I was always the kid that asked awkward questions that made people uncomfortable.  You know, the kid that eventually gets a lot of "because I said so" answers.  Eventually, people started hinting that I shouldn't be asking such questions because they were rude and when that didn't work some started to imply that there was something wrong with me spiritually.  They seemed to think that "just believe" or "you have to have more faith" or "you need to give your all to God" was an acceptable answer.    

I'm sure they didn't mean to communicate this but the message I received was "Check your brain at the door" when you come to church.  Turns out that is a horrible message and it is both unbiblical and unGodly.  

In fact, God made Loving him with our thinking an essential to relationship with him. When Jesus was asked to bottom line his teaching he said Love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, yes he said mind.  The day I discovered this great truth was a day of liberation for me.  

Turns out, even if good church folks were afraid of my questions, God was not.  In fact, He invited them. maybe even yearned to help me understand.  That day, so long ago, I decided in my mind (and heart) to never again check my brain at the door as I walked into a church, or talked about God or studied His Word.  

The journey hasn't always been easy.  Pat answer really don't work for me and I still make people uncomfortable.  I've had to learn who I can and who I can not process my questions with.  Some folks just can't go there.  Others, can't enjoy spiritual life unless they do go there.  I'm in the latter group, maybe you are too.  

I want to invite you on the same journey I took.   Turn on your brain, think hard about God, and ask irreverent questions.  You might be surprised by what you learn about God.  You might even rediscover the faith that was lost because it hadn't grown past your childhood understandings of God.  Whatever else happens I guarantee you will be better at loving God with all your mind.  

Check out the first sermon -- Being right is not enough.  This is the foundation for all the rest of the series.  

  


Next Sunday -- Is God Dead? 

Peace, Ice Cream and Chicken

www.MarysvilleNaz.org 

It seems like whenever someone is coaxing me to try some exotic food it always ends up with some version of, tastes like chicken.  It never does but chicken is a good common taste for all kinds of stuff. On the other hand Ice cream is one of those things that definitely does not taste like chicken!  

How would you explain ice cream to an alien from outer space?  Umm..  cold... smooth... um really really good.  Look you just have to try it.  There is no way to explain it until you taste it. 

There are some things in life that have no other adequate common denominator from which we can make an analogy or draw a comparison.  Ice cream is one of those things.  Words just can't cover the cold, smooth sweetness of high-quality ice cream on a hot day. You just have to taste, then the light of will shine and you will wonder how anyone could live without it. 

Real Peace is like that.  I never know how to explain to people what God's peace is like. The Apostle Paul called it the “peace that passes all understanding” and in the Old Testament, the word is Shalom.  Both of these speak about something much bigger more important and substantive than our normal understanding of peace.  

Usually, when we use the word peace, we think of things like peace and quiet. By this we mean the kids aren't screaming, the neighbor's music isn't too loud and we aren't fighting with our spouse.  This is not at all what God means when he offers us His Peace. 

God's Peace is not an emotional state of tranquility. God's Peace is a deep down in your soul confidence that God will have His way in the end.  That's why it's beyond understanding.  It comes from God not our circumstances and it cannot be taken away by the storms of life.  This was such a big deal for ancient Hebrews that greeted and departed from one another with the word Shalom (God's Peace) and still do today.  Early Christians said the same thing with the words, The Peace of Christ be with you and the other person would reply and also with you.  

Real Peace, God's Peace is a gift straight from our heavenly father.  It is the "secret sauce" of being a follower of Jesus.  It starts by having peace with God. Jesus Is our Peace.  He has, by his sacrifice, mended our relationship with God.  He offers us a right and good relationship with God who loves us so much that He would give His life for us in Jesus.  

That alone would be enough but God, being the overachiever that He is, did more.  God also restores our relationships (Peace) with creation.  He is the source of true healing in the broken relationships of this life. He wants to heal that broken relationship with your spouse, child, parent, friend, co-worker, neighbor, and on and on and on.  Truly this is Peace that passes all human understanding.  

Best news of all... although He paid a high price to make Peace, He offers it to you freely. All you have to do is ask. 

Here's how

Ask him to forgive your past. We all have a past

Ask him to clean you up and make you new

Ask him to help you follow him the rest of your life. 

Do that sincerely in your heart and His peace will be yours.  Not only that but in the "bundle" you get forgiveness, new life , and heaven.  Way better than the phone companies bundle. 

My greatest wish for you is that this Advent, The Peace of Christ be with you. 

For more information about who to have God's Peace feel free to e-mail me at PastorCraig@MarysvilleNaz.org

You can also watch or listen to the sermon about this at 

Catch the audio here.

http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermons/sermon/87-peace

  

Hope in the Darkness

www.MarysvilleNaz.org

Last Sunday we started a new Advent teaching series called Hope in the Darkness. Hope is one of those things that people are either really interested in or not at all.  The problem with hope is that until you need it, you don't need it, but when you need it, you really need it.  Is that clear?  Probably not. 

The reason we chose Hope in the Darkness is people most need hope in dark times. Have you ever heard someone say, he's in a dark place?  This isn't a comment on cave diving.  It means that life is closing in and they can't see the way out.  It is dark because the path forward has been lost. 

Hope is light that shows the way when nothing else does. Hope is the thing you hold onto when there is nothing else to grasp.  Hope is often represented by light because in darkness light shows the way and provides warmth in the cold. 

The four Sundays before Christmas or what we call Advent, is a joyous time for most, but not all.  For some it is dark time. All around us are folks for whom this time of year is oppressive.  As others rejoice they retreat.  Suicides and psycho-emotional crises go up.  The walls are closing in and life is dark.  It is to these people that Jesus offers a light in the darkness called Hope. 

Jesus came as a baby in a manger not because it makes a cute bedtime story for small children.  He came because the world had, by our sin, plunged itself into dark, dank, oppressive, cold blackness. We were without hope, lost with no way forward.  Into the darkness came a light, just a speck really, one baby to one peasant couple, a tiny, fragile fire giving off light and warmth.  Must say, if you don't know the end of the story, He sure doesn't look like the hope of the world. But then that is the nature of hope. 

Hope isn't a big blazing fire that turns night into day and drives you back by its heat.  Hope is small; you’ll miss it if you're not careful.  It doesn't give off nearly as much light or warmth as you want.  

Christmas Eve we will gather to celebrate the coming of the light in baby Jesus.  We will laugh and greet one another, introduce family and friends.  We will sing Christmas Carols and hear the Christmas story.  Just before we leave we will gather in family units and form a circle around the Worship Center.   We will blow out the four candles of Advent and light the singular white Christ Candle. Then we will do something seriously crazy.  

With hundreds of people present we will kill all the lights leaving that one tiny flame.  It will be completely inadequate. It doesn't put off enough light or warmth to help the person standing next to it.  The people in the back of the Worship Center won't be able to see anything at all...except the flame. The whole thing is ridiculous.  But in that moment of crazy darkness something Holy will happen.   

The leader will take a candle, press it to the Christ candle and there will be two flames.  Then he will turn and press his lit candle against his neighbor's unlit candle and utter the most important truth the world has ever know... the ultimate words of hope.  Jesus is the light of the world!   

As powerful as that moment is, it is not enough.  Even with three lights the place is utterly dark.  Then it starts.  The person who received the light passes it to the next person saying Jesus is the light of the world and then the next person, Jesus is the light of the world and then the next, Jesus is the light of the world and the next and the next and the next.   Jesus is the light of the world. 

If you listen you will hear deep male voices utter this great truth, Jesus is the light of the world.  Then you will hear the soft high voice of a child who has just received the flame from their father say to their mother.. Jesus is the light of the world.  From parent to child, to grandparent to friend to stranger the light is passed.  Faces start to brighten up, the occasional drop of hot wax hits a finger and we are reminded, sometimes humorously, that our flames are creating heat.  Then comes the ancient miracle. 

The flame began with one candle and has been traveling around the circle will meet the flame from the other direction and the circle will be complete.  The Worship Center will be light again.  I almost always wipe away tears during this time.  We have hope!  Jesus is the light of the World!  Jesus is the light of the World! Jesus is the Light of the World! 

To hear the sermons on Hope in the Darkness or catch up on past teaching go to our web page - It usually takes a couple days to get them up. 

Video - 

Audio/Podcast - http://www.marysvillenaz.org/index.php/resources/sermons

Oso, MP Shooting and Thanksgiving

www.MarysvilleNaz.org 

It almost seems cruel.  A few weeks after the shooting and days after the last funeral we find ourselves looking at Thanksgiving.  Normally this would mean thoughts of gratitude for all that God has done in the previous year.  Don't get me wrong, God as done a lot.  It's just that there have also been a couple of nearly incomprehensible tragedies in the Oso slide and the MP Shooting.  It just seems like we have had more than our fair share of late.  Honestly, the whole thing has left me a little emotionally flat when it comes to giving thanks.  

As I have pondered all this the Holy Spirit has been prodding me.  It's that poking God does when I've missed something significant and I need to catch on. Sometimes God and I wrestle about these things for a long time but sometimes the Lord clears things up more quickly.  The important revelation came last week while grappling with a Thanksgiving sermon that just wouldn't come together.  

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 the Apostle Paul writes "Give thanks in all things, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."   In light of the real disasters we have faced the verse seems cruel.  I get the giving thanks bit but in ALL things?  Really?  It took me awhile but God finally got the important truth through.  

The Verse says IN not FOR. 

In not For, is a hugely important difference.  Honestly it changes everything.  "In" is about geography.  You can be in a house, or in a cave.  "For" on the other hand is about causation.  For the crime of shoplifting I sentence you to...   "For" means because of.  In means during.  

Paul was not telling those early Christians to give thanks FOR their circumstances he was instructing them to give thanks IN the midst of their difficult circumstances.  I felt greatly revealed, and then the Holy Spirit sprung the trap.  

I'm an ungrateful person.  I don't like that about me but the truth is 99.99% of the time when I am grateful, I'm grateful "for" what I have.  House, car, job, vacation even family, friends and church are all things for which I am profoundly grateful. I should be grateful for all these things.  God has blessed those of us in the Western World with so much stuff that it's embarrassing when compared to the rest of the world.  Yes, please give thanks "for" stuff.  But really, thanksgiving for stuff is pretty shallow.  

The deeper, more substantive thanks-giving is the kind that is offered to God when there isn't much "for" which to be thankful.  This is the kind of thankfulness that is more important than stuff.  It bubbles up from the depths in the soul.  It is not dependent on the circumstances of the moment.  It cares not about prosperity or poverty.  It sees beyond grief and the struggles of pain.  This kind of thankfulness gives life to us because it forces us to stop looking at what we do or do not have and turn our attention toward who we have.  

Who we have is Jesus Christ who has conquered death and given us new life.  Who we have is the Holy Spirit who is the Comforter and cares for us when all else is stripped away.  Who we have is our Heavenly Father who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will one day put an end to all pain and suffering.  Who we have ... is God and nothing can take that away.  

This Thanksgiving is going to be different for us.  There will be a certain sadness that will hang over the day.  I will remember that there are many, many families in my community that are grieving loss, facing the first major holiday with an empty chair at the table.  We will pray for them, we will not give thanks for those circumstances for they were evil.  But then... then we will give thanks to God IN  our grief, for this is God's will for us. 

May the Peace of Christ be yours this Thanks-Giving season.