​Whenever you make a decision to do something new, there is often a romantic excitement as you begin your new adventure ~ go back to school, a marriage, a move, a new job, a new hobby ~ it’s so exciting to tell people about your dreams as you imagine what it will be like.  Then as you begin your journey reality sets in.  You were looking forward to a fresh start, then you discover going to school means homework, money, time, sleepless nights… How you respond when reality hits determines your success in going forward.  It’s fun to officiate at a young couples wedding and watch the faces of the witnesses… a joy to see young love, but seasoned couples that have been through a lifetime of ups and downs know what deep relationships take.

Today we sit in prison beside the prophet Jeremiah as he wrestles with trying to understand what God is up to.  Jeremiah serves the Lord at a time when Jerusalem is being attacked by the Babylonians.  He is in prison because he told the King and leader of the day exactly what was going to happen, they would be handed over to their attackers; they did not like the message, so they put the messenger in jail. 

It’s not always easy being God’s messenger…yet that is Jeremiah’s calling.  He’s thrown in jail.  I like the little story about a messenger in a movie.  The production company was filming an English language movie, but in order to add authenticity, they wanted a few lines in the Swahili language ~~ a messenger is scripted to dash in, collapse, and gasp out a vital message to the plotline.  They found a man who knew Swahili… the director was so pleased with the scene, that is, until it was shown in an African town where Swahili was well-known. A moment of high drama nose-dived into comedy as the panting messenger gasped out: "I don't think I am being paid enough for this part!"

Live as if the future is now.  When you celebrate God’s watchful care, when you figure out his promises are always GOOD, as soon as you fully believe God is loving and able, then you can Live as if the future is now! 

Today’s scripture, Ps. 130, is a prison gem… the Psalmist may not literally be in prison, but the opening line could easily be spoken by a prisoner: “Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord.”  This Psalm speaks to many situations from those literally in prison to those who are feeling lost.  I found an old Frank and Ernest cartoon I clipped out years ago:
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Frank is in a hospital bed looking miserable and the nurse is explaining to Ernest: “Yes, he’s on the critical list – critical of the food, critical of the nurses, critical of the service….”   

(NOTE: the video is the full service.  Skip to somewhere in middle to view sermon only) 
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I have sold thousands of items on Ebay.  I often wonder why people buy this or that ~ every now and then I hear the story.  Years ago Sally and I needed extra money; I looked through our old unused CDs on Ebay to see if any were selling well.  I found an old out of print Christmas CD by Evie going for $40-$60!  Woo hoo.  Obviously it was being snatched up by baby boomers with too much money! A small gold mind! I asked Sally if she minded if I sold it because she had it before we were married.  I played the CD to test it, and to my disappointment, it had tons of scratches and skips…  I decided to list it anyway…

I started the listing at $1.  I said I did not listen to the whole thing, maybe there is a way to get the scratches out, I have no idea.  One woman wrote and asked me if I would be willing to try one particular song.  I played the CD and listened to the single song.  It was perfect...  The woman bid.  Another person bid against her.  The woman raised the price.  Over the course of the next 2-3 people kept bidding ~ to my amazement (and entertainment), the Evie CD closed for a price of $18.00.  Who, in their right mind, would buy an old scratched up CD for $18?  Then the woman wrote me the story.  “My father has alzheimers” she said.  “The way it has affected him is that he sits blankly all day with no connection to this world. A few months ago I had the radio on, when this song was played.  My father smiled.  I could not find the song anywhere, until I found your auction.  I would have paid a whole lot more to see my father smile again.”  

I’ve asked many people facing the death of somebody they love: What would the person who has died want for you?  A. A wonderful next chapter of your life…

​Life is full of transitions.  A career ends and retirement begins.  Somebody dies and the world is never the same.  Friendships are broken and each side must go on… a divorce, a health crisis, a move, a child moves out.  After the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, what will it be like?  This week I was forwarded a list of 24 questions for churches to ask as we begin to hold public services again… many not fitting our situation but good questions, all having to do with how patterns/practices might be different… an obvious one is that likely we’ll no longer have a greet one another time… other’s I hadn’t thought of like considering a secure donation box in the lobby instead of passing the plate… Every transition is a crisis, even good transitions, because it is a change… 

I’ve been struggling trying to figure out what to do in response to the Corona Virus.  I’m told to shelter in place… I agree…  So what do I do?  I’m a bit lost like so much of the world.  I can find things to do here and there. I make phone calls.  I write a bit.  I work on the sermon.  But I don’t have the Thursday Bible Study…. No meetings… even if we have Zoom meetings nobody is in a mood to make plans other than a few practical questions… so what do I do?  I can get more yard work done, and that’s good, but it’s not the same as my patterns in the church and community.  I suffer from misplaced guilt…. 

My best day this week was Thursday.  Yay, the Food Bank (I wore a mask)… I joke about feeling good about being classified as an essential worker, but it’s only half a joke.  On Thursday I worked in the office at home till 9, then off to Sumas and didn’t get home till almost 5. I helped pack boxes, move boxes, I delivered ten boxes of food to the B & B, four boxes to the RV Park, 5 other misc. boxes, want to be needed.  Along the way I think I encouraged 15-20 people… helped tie down a tarp on a trailer even though I was an hour late Denny!  I need to do something….it’s part of the God given DNA, it’s a huge part of our faith, to be the hands and feet of Jesus!... doing good does not earn us salvation, but it is a response and a privilege to be servants of Christ….

Emotions.  There are some amazing facts in today’s scripture, chief among them: Jesus dies.  But the raw emotions are powerful too. 
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As we face a growing threat to the coronavirus pandemic, in my tiny role as a pastor, I mostly hear from people about the emotions…how do we respond…people looking for peace, sense of it all… it is scary!   as we watch the spread of the virus it’s hitting closer and closer to home…Two families in our little church have relatives that have been diagnosed with coronavirus...  

For sermon only skip to middle of video 

Sometimes I joke I am the definition of “normal” so I can determine other peoples normalcy according to how much they deviate from the way I think or act…. In some ways, we all do that to some degree…Our normalcy as the standard should be questioned, but there is one who is the absolute standard by which we can measure our behavior and way of thinking.  His name is Jesus.  Jesus is perfect.  He is the standard. What he does, the way he thinks, his responses in certain situations is the model of goodness and rightness.

The last few weeks the sermons have been titled, perfect confidence and perfect forgiveness, looking to Jesus as the absolute standard.  Today I could not go with the same sort of title because it is about how to overcome loneliness.  I don’t believe Jesus was ever lonely in the negative sense, but he was alone and he was lonely in the sense of craving others to understand him, to know him… are there degrees of loneliness?  Jesus worked to confront and overcome the loneliness! This message is about the aloneness Jesus faced,  how he overcame loneliness thereby showing us how we overcome loneliness.

The entire service is recorded ~ fast forward through first part if elect to listen to sermon only.  It was an extraordinary day with many staying home because of the Corona Virus threat as well as high cold wind from the northeast.  

On our sign are three powerful words: love, acceptance and Forgiveness.  When we are living with God in eternity, 2/3 of those truths will be in heaven.  Love is the primary treasure on this earth that will be presnet in perfection in heaven… Acceptance will be everyone’s experience… But no need for forgiveness because no sin ~ on this side of eternity, forgiveness is like a bridge allowing us to live with the Lord Jesus Christ in a suffering and sinful world.  Forgiveness must be a way of life in order to see the Lord with more clarity and let go of the struggles of this old world.  

How confident are you?  Are you comfortable in your own skin?  Do you often question your decisions?  Do you second guess a lot? Do you wait for others to say what they think before you commit?  Are you swayed by the crowd?   it depends on the situation, but we each have a  measure in our head of our tendencies…
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The deeper questions: How confident are you… in your salvation?  …in Christ to guide you daily?  … that Jesus loves you no matter what?  … to stand firm in your faith when tempted?  If this message helps even one of you move the needle of living with confidence in Christ it is more than worthwhile… On this side of eternity, confidence is on a scale.  Balanced confidence has a measure of humility & assurance!

(Note that the video of the sermon got broken up into two parts)  

A statement that ought to cause everyone of us to be astounded every time we hear it:
Jesus/ Christ/ is/ God/ in/ the/ flesh! 

The more we embrace the truth of the divine nature of Jesus the greater the depth of our faith.  Today we begin the walk to Jerusalem and the journey of Jesus towards the cross and resurrection on Easter Sunday, (this year celebrated on April 12).  We’re jumping into the journey with the arrest of Jesus…. The main focus will be Judas.  

[Show two pictures of me in H.S. about the same year…one in track uniform and one mountain climbing.  Compare/contrast...] your plans for the day dictate what you wear…

Paul/Ephesians, as a Christian, when you get up in the morning, what are you going to wear?  If your desire is to be strong in the Lord, this message is about what you put on….

The Sunday of Feb. 2 had flooding in the community.  The north end of Sumas was quite bad with water entering people's homes and businesses.  Our property is on higher ground.  We continued the worship service for the few that could make it.  The guest speaker also cancelled.  This message is more like an interactive Bible Study from Isaiah.  the notes below are not a transcript but literally notes in preparation for the Bible Study.  

Is, 35 is the reversal of Is. 34…. Listen to the great contrast in 35:1….
 
I think of Denny’s description of the young pregnant girl, “All she needs is the love of Jesus.”  She needs a great reversal of how she sees the world, how she lives her life, to find peace and rest, to no longer fear…. We were all there.  The promise of everything new, of the desert flowers blossoming… if we could only find a way for that message to be heard….

30 years ago there was a wonderful couple in the church.... The wife often complained to me about her husband: he wasn’t stepping up to his role as leader, disappointed in him for not being more spiritual… I did not get it… I was not in the middle of their house and so can’t say exactly what the daily family dynamics were like, but to me he was a wonderful Christian man that loved the Lord Jesus Christ.   What was the problem?  If I knew then what I know now, I’m thinking I could perhaps help her come to a greater understanding of what it means to be married.  She was a strong personality; he was passive by nature.  I cannot believe when two people are married before God he expects them to change their personalities and become something that is not in them….People grow.  People can change.  But they also have a personality; their minds are wired a certain way; they have skills and interests.  

​I am continuing the same theme as last week… a roadmap of Christian living.  When you commit your life to Jesus, you are saying you desire your life to be different.  A scripture like this is intended to ponder.  E.g. one value is to not be greedy.  We don’t need to be convinced that’s a noble pursuit … the question is HOW do we find contentment with what we have? 

The character of your life should look different when you become a Christian.  When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, their your will never be the same.  We are to conduct ourselves with the values of Christ… Eph. 4:22-24 explains the contrast.  READ. 

How we relate to others is an important part of our Christian walk. The 2nd half of Ephesians is like a Road Map of Christian living.  Choose to build others up.  Choose to take the high road.  Choose to demonstrate the love of Christ as you have been loved.
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This old world is hard.  Christian communities don’t always get it right.  This week a sad FB posting appeared on my wall.  I won’t tell you the name, but it was posted for the public so I feel it’s fair game: 

Jesus lies at the center of the nativity scene, surrounded by Mary and Joseph, shepherds, wisemen, angels.  Off in the distant hills you can see great men such as Isaiah who shouted hundreds of years before Christ was born: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Is. 7:14).  Standing beside Isaiah is Micah who saw clearly the coming savior: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."  There are others who screamed from the mountain top that one chosen by God will come to save the world. 

​Then there is Ethan.  He’s a man of unreasonable faith. You’ve probably never heard of him.  If Isaiah and Micah are standing on the distant hill overlooking the stable, Ethan is out of sight beyond the horizon.  Ethan points to the Christmas story; he speaks for many who have great faith, but they see problems that seems impossible to solve.  Ethan has no idea how God will fulfill his promises, yet he believes.