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A woman was driving home one night. Rain was coming down in buckets and visibility was poor. Seeing taillights ahead of her, she followed the car in front. All of a sudden the lead car came to a stop. “Perhaps a deer had been hit” the woman thought. She began to panic thinking it could be dangerous being stopped in the middle of the road in poor weather. The man in the first car got out, walked back to her in the pouring rain, and knocked on her window. She cracked the window open and asked the man what the problem was. “That’s my question to you” he said, “why did you follow me into my driveway?”
While the whole world urges us to rise up and be a leader, to be independent ~ be the one to machete your way through the jungle of life, be a man of strength, a strong woman, a confident path-setting teen, the entire response to the Bible can be summarized in two simple words. Jesus says, “Follow Me.” Leadership is an important topic, but the truth ~ the depth of life is defined more by what and who you choose to follow. Everyone follows something. The woman in the car on the rainy night was kept safe by following closely the car in front of her, but she was taken in the wrong direction. One of my dream books to write someday has the working title of “Followership.” Carefully hoosing who to follow and how to be a good follower.
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 The greatest gift you can give another is trust! The greatest gift you give yourself is trust. The promises we make and keep (or don’t keep) define our character. Trust is not easy because of the many broken promises, people who let you down, even the perception that God let’s us down! Trusting others is hard, trusting God is hard.
As I was writing this sermon I received a long note from a young woman that has gotten herself into a very difficult situation and she wants help getting on a good path. She said in her detailed note some advice from her grandfather she is going to try and start following, “Don’t allow yourself to grow up depending on other people.” I get the point. It makes sense in her extreme situation. But what makes more sense: “Don’t allow yourself to grow up depending on people who are untrustworthy…” Trust is not easy because the world is full of broken promises. Do you know what it’s like to make plans with a friend and then you are dumped when something better comes along? Some sad sayings:  What a wonderful model of the Bible as a collection of books, similar to a library. But there is also a unity between the books with one story. Annie Glass is the creative one who put this together. The Bible is a library of books [show the bookshelf from Sunday School rooms and go over some of the divisions, every book has it’s own story. Yet the Bible is also one book with a common thread, an internal consistency, inspired by the Holy Spirit, without mistakes “infallible”] the Scripture today is a classic caption on the impact of the Bible, Living, Active, Sharp….
 Mike Purych photo from 1985 Mike Purych was a watchmaker by trade, a gentle kind man with a broad smile, as a child growing up in this church several things stood out: he was bald…. He had a wonderful wife Doris, a “mail order bride” and the third… he could not read well. What most impressed me about Mike: because he could not read well, my father found a children’s bible, entirely cartoons, never again do I recall Mike NOT proudly carrying that Bible with him… I am told her read it, cherished it, his world was opened up. The Lord only expects for you to go forward with him from wherever you are, the level of your experiences and abilities… through-out most of Christian history, the Bible was kept out of the common person’s hands, only for the clergy, that was what the Reformation was about…. The wonderful discovery is that you have direct access to God through his word, prayer, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit….This book is a miracle…
We are blessed at this time in history to have so many translations, study bibles, audio…. (but it can also be confusing to have so many!) I have decided that for 2015 I am going to listen to the Bible in the NIV translation through BibleGateway website (www.biblegateway.com). |
 
Carl Crouse, Pastor
At SACC we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Every Sunday the worship service includes a message from the Bible. My words are an attempt to understand and apply the Bible to our daily living. I post weekly sermons and other biblical messages on this page. May you find meaning and hope as you read through each message and seek to hear God's voice. Leave a comment to ask questions or inspire others with your insights. Categories
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