Pastor's Corner – April 17, 2023
In my 40+ years of ministry, I’ve learned some simple yet powerful lessons about life and living.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share a few of those lessons with my Faith Church family.
I believe you’ll benefit from these simple messages; some of them, I learned the hard way. My hope is that by my sharing them, you might avoid some very painful and costly mistakes.
There’s no Place Like Home (There are times when want to get away from it all. We want to escape the rigid rules of home, the constant demands of work and the redundant routine of day-to-day life. Dorothy experienced these feelings in the Wizard of Oz. Perhaps you have these feelings right now and scripture tells us of a young man referred to as the Prodigal Son and he was blessed to learn that there’s no place like home.)
Just OK is not OK - (In order to truly please God, we must pursue perfection and His promise is that if we pursue perfection, we will achieve excellence – not perfection, but excellence. When you and I do the very best that we can do, we have achieved excellence. The problem arises when we fail to do our BEST and expect to achieve excellent results. Excellence is commanded by God and it is achievable by you when you are intentional about achieving it. As you receive this message, get a vision for your future, for your marriage, for you work, for your family, for your ministry – Saturate that vision with EXCELLENCE!)
A House is not a home (There are some things that money cannot buy. It can buy a house but not a home. Many of lower our expectations in order to avoid disappointment. We settle for a house when God is able to give you a home. The Gospel tells us the story about the healing of a man who had been lame from birth. “Lame” includes more than just people who have a hard time walking.
Waiting Makes it Better (The Disciples waited for the Holy Spirit, Noah waited for the flood, Cinderella waited for her prince to come. Can you wait on God…can you wait on sex after marriage…can you for God to deliver you?)
Let it Go - Our hope in this message is that people get released from not only unforgiveness but also guilt, shame, and pain. Forgiveness goes against human nature but it’s as necessary as the air we breathe, and it is a gift from you to you. We don’t throw away our pets when they do something wrong or our children when they have a dirty diaper, but we throw away adults every day because they don’t live up to our expectations. There is a trend among Christians to withhold forgiveness even though God gives abundant personal forgiveness. Forgiveness does not exonerate the one who hurt you nor does it trivialize the depth of your trauma. Unforgiveness is a leading cause of divorce (not adultery or economics). It divides families, undermines office teamwork and destroys churches. I invite you to LET IT GO!
“The best way out is always through.” - This quote comes from Robert Frost’s 1915 book North of Boston, in a poem titled “A Servant to Servants.” The poem’s speaker is an overworked woman who suffers from mental illness and reveals her thoughts to a stranger she meets. Through her words, Frost conveys the difficult but courageous urge to keep going, despite the often harsh, loneliness of life. If you’re going through a rough spot right now, the worst thing you can do is stay in that spot – go through it!
Blessings,
Pastor
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