Consider this

Two weeks ago, our congregation started a Bible reading program. Each day, people are given a scripture to read and then they are asked to answer the question, “What jumped out at you from this reading?” Too many times, we approach the Bible as something to be dissected, outlined and figured out. The goal of this activity, however, is simply to get us to listen to the word of God. With that background, here are some of the things that I have “heard” in my readings over the past two weeks. Maybe you too will find some big ideas and phrases think about as you read them. “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you… teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:5 and 11). After his resurrection, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord” (Joh...

"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” (Matthew 6:9-13) This passage, which we call “The Lord’s Prayer”, is maybe one of the most well known passages of scripture in the whole Bible. Throughout this year, at various times, we are going to spend some time looking at each part of this prayer. Today I want to concentrate on just the first two words; “Our Father”. If we only had those first two words, we would have a lot. The word that is translated “Father” comes from a Greek word whose meaning is closer to “Daddy” than it is to “Sir”. In other words, when Jesus teaches us to pray, he teaches us to address God with a closeness and a recognition of love and relationship. God is not “...

“It will take him three seconds.” That was the most common guess on Sunday morning when I asked, “How long do you think it will take James to run from here to the back of the auditorium?” I had asked one of the kids from the congregation to join me at the front during my sermon. James is an athletic little boy and the hall down which he was to run is not that long. “Maybe it will take him five seconds, at the most”, someone else said. How long did it actually take? Would you believe that more than 30 seconds later he still had not reached the end of the aisle? How can that be? Why would it take more than 10 times as long as anyone guessed it would? The answer is simple: I kept calling him back! When I said, “Go!” James took off like a shot. When he got about half way down the aisle, I yelled, “Whoa! Stop! Come back!” A little confused, James started running back towards me. Then I told him to stop, turn around and run back the other way again. Then I told him to st...

“Eighty percent of success in life is just showing up” – Woody Allen. This past weekend was Homecoming at my Bible college and it was also my twenty year class reunion (Yes, I am that old!). At first I thought, “I don’t want to go. I do not keep in touch with any of those people. Why would I give up a whole weekend to travel up there to see people that I have nothing to do with anymore. Oh sure, I may have received a few nasty emails from people who were expecting me to be there, but so what? I am an adult and I can decide what I want to do, or, in this case, not do, right?” Then I began to wonder, “What if it is important for me to go? What if I would really enjoy catching up with all those people again? Maybe it would be fun after all! Maybe I would find that it was worth the effort to show up.” Guess what happened: I went and I had a good time! In 2004, country singer Keith Urban released an album called “Be Here”. The chorus of the first song on the CD, “Days go b...