This week, I want to offer you some comfort and encouragement if I can. We’re all facing trials. Some, if not most, are simply the results of living in a fallen world. Accidents happen. We age. We get sick. Eventually, we die. All of us to one degree or another have made our own trouble at times, and may suffer the consequences. Or, it may be that we suffer because we did something right. Whatever the cause, it is easy to become discouraged unless we work to maintain the proper perspective.

Consider the apostle Paul. Once a persecutor of the church, he became one of the most effective evangelists the world has ever known. As one of the Lord’s star witnesses, some might think his life should be pretty good. People were healed and even raised from the dead. He preached the Word everywhere he went. No one would question his faith. Actually some may have done that, as he writes in part to address false teachers coming against him at Corinth.

But Paul’s life was full of trouble. Almost everywhere he went, he encountered opposition. Sometimes that opposition was violent. He was slandered, beaten nearly to death, and put in prison on multiple occasions. He is believed to have been martyred in Rome. But Paul does not express anger or disappointment at these things. Instead, he writes in Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the church…”

In the second of his letters to the Corinthian church that have been preserved for us, Paul writes of the difficulties faced by himself and fellow missionaries. He defends the truth of the Gospel message, and points out that it is through the humanity of his messengers that God’s glory becomes evident. Twice he says in Chapter 4, “We do not lose heart.” The truth of the message, the certainty of the eternal promise, and the knowledge that the truth continues to spread through their efforts sustains them through every hardship.

They knew that a glory awaited them far beyond any trouble this life may bring. They could endure any hardship, secure in the knowledge that nothing in the world they could see could compare to the promises yet to be fulfilled. They might have remembered the words that David wrote, “In God, whose word I praise, In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” (Psalm 56:4)

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

These men had the boldness to preach the gospel in the face of any opposition, knowing that not even death would stand in their way. They would eventually be taken from this world, but only to enter their rightful realm in Heaven. When we become that convinced that God is with us, we, too can step out in boldness into the mission that He has given us. We may also take comfort in the knowledge that every trial that we endure can be turned to our good and His glory. Yes, if you love the Lord, even your mistakes and their consequences will be redeemed. Do not lose heart.

Hello, friends. I wanted to let you know that we will be having our service at the usual time today, but it will be a little shorter than normal due to key people being unavailable. If you can, join us at 2:30 as we pray together. We will begin the life feed for the message at 3:00.

It has been a tough week for our little congregation. Leann had her surgery, and Don spent some unplanned time in the hospital. Everyone’s going to be ok, but we’re all praying for a stretch of peace. Still, we choose to trust in God, knowing that this is all preparation for an eternity beyond our imagination. We worship the giver of all good things.

What is worship? That may seem like a childish question, but many of us may answer it differently depending on the traditions that are familiar to us. When we come to church, many people call that a worship service. So it should be. Whatever happens within the walls of our buildings should reflect reverence and service to our Lord. But worship is more than the songs we sing. It is more than the traditions we observe wherever they came from. Worship is a lifestyle. Worship comes from the heart. Worship flows out of the doors and into the streets, touching lives and offering hope.

Jesus said that “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (John 4:23) Why should a God who created everything and lacks nothing desire worship? He doesn’t need His ego stroked. He seeks it because he desires that we know Him. To know Him is to recognize who He is. As we come to know Him, we will worship Him because He is the only one worthy of worship. We offer it freely. We love him because He first loved us.

That worship will take the form of open expressions of praise and adoration. It will also take the form of service. We desire to please Him, so we treasure His word and obey His commandments, which are always for our own good.

I look forward to worshiping with you tomorrow. It is extra special when we do it together. Please join us.

We serve a good God. In fact, He is the very definition of good. I am so thankful that He loved us so much that He made a way for us to be part of his family. As His children, we can come right to the throne of almighty God! ! Do you ever stop to think how amazing that is? For us still living here, that’s metaphorical, made possible by Holy Spirit, but some day it will be actual! Lord, may that day soon come!

We could save ourselves so much disappointment and heartache if we could grasp this one thing. Prayer is not a tool to get what we want from God. If Jesus’s instruction through what we call the Lord’s prayer is taken as example, the first priority of prayer is to recognize the holiness of God, and the second is to align ourselves with His will. Only then do we come to the petition part. We tend to make prayer more complicated than it is. Just open your heart and talk to Him. He already knows what you need and everything about you, and He still loves you! This Sunday, we’ll take a closer look at the “Lord’s prayer” and the other things Jesus said as He gave it to us. I’m praying that you will be blessed by the message.

I have some cool news for you today. Our AC is fixed, and there was no cost to the church. I’m here behind this keyboard trying to come up with just the right churchified language, but I think a simple “thank you” will do, Yes, to God who is the ultimate source of all good things, but also to Mr. Javier Ramirez of Sunnyvale FBC who provided the labor and the part.

Now, we’re ready for Homecoming, which is just a week from tomorrow on September 8. It will be a less extravagant celebration than we have had in years past, but a celebration just the same. Whether you’re looking for a blast from your past or a new home to come to, I hope you’ll join us. But why wait? Come on in this week and let’s worship together.

A few years ago, I was praying, writing it down as I sometimes do, looking for inspiration for my next message. I started thinking about what I would do if things changed in the future.  There was a good chance I could be laid off. How would I care for Linda? What about the church?
I sat there for a minute, then the story of Martha and Mary from Luke 10:38-42 came into my head.  I started to write down my thanks for the idea for a message, but that it didn’t have much to do with what I was just praying about.  Then it hit me.  It had everything to do with it.  The circumstances are different, but the message is the same.  In that moment He might have said to me, “Larry, Larry, ‘you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary.”
Our lives are full of distractions.  It’s not that they aren’t important.  Jesus didn’t say that what Martha was doing didn’t need doing, though I wonder if she felt that way at the moment.  The truth is, we wouldn’t function very well without the Marthas among us making sure everything gets done and practical needs are met.  Martha was a faithful servant, and Jesus loved her as much as He did her sister Mary and brother Lazarus, whom he would later raise from the dead.
The question that came into my mind as i read this story was, “why did Luke, lead by the Holy Spirit, feel it important that we read about this incident.  We have so little recorded of what Jesus said and did. Every detail has been given to us for at least one reason.  I think there are several here, but to put it in a few words, it might be that we know more about who Jesus is and know that there is no better think than to be His disciple.  Only one thing is necessary.  Let us choose the good part.

I did lose that job, and the one after that, but we were provided for and now I have an even better one. The time off was put to good use. I didn’t need to worry about anything. I just needed to listen to Jesus.

Can you hear Him calling you? Come join us! We meet at 2:30, so you don’t even have to get up early.