Ryan Boon shared during the worship service on Aug. 27 about his upcoming 3 month mission trip to Lebanon with the organization, Kids Alive. Enjoy the interview.   SACC is pleased to make a contribution to help support him as he serves God across the world.  

We serve a crazy God, a God that makes the weak strong, a God that tells those who are small and overwhelmed to get ready for victory! Al Carlson told me a story this week.  (I told him I might use this story and he did not object.) I’m titling the story, “When a nickel is worth more than a dime.”  Al’s story is a great example of how something of less value can be made to be more valuable, God’s way.  God never gives up on us! 

Al said when he was about 4 years old, a couple of adult relatives were visiting for a time and they used to put a dime and a nickel on the table and tell Al he could choose either one to keep.  At four years old, to him, the nickel made the most sense because it was the biggest.  The guys laughed at him for being such a dummy not knowing a dime is actually worth more than a nickel.  This happened a couple of times, and the old guys laughed and laughed.  It was at that time Al’s older brother, with all the wisdom of a six year old, took Al aside and said to him, “Just keep taking the nickel.  As soon as you take the dime, they’ll quit playing the game.”  Al says he made about 40¢ off of his uncles.  God uses what is less and makes it more.  God uses the weak to accomplish his purposes. God uses the broken to create wholeness.  It’s the way of God.  In God’s world, a nickel may be more valuable than a dime.  The weak may have more strength than you realize.  God promises peace to those that are overwhelmed.  

I want to begin today by going back… Back to the setting of the book Micah. What do I mean by setting? Whenever we are trying to understand the Bible we must begin with the setting or context of the book. To begin that we must ask the who, when, where, why questions. Who wrote micah? When did they write it? Where is it taking place? Why was it written? All of these questions help us to better understand what is going on in the book. To begin today I want to try and answer the question… what was life like for the average Judean during the time of Micah, not the wealthy or powerful, but the average person living in Judea at the time.

Micah gives us the historical setting. In chapter 1 we are told that “the word of the Lord came to Micah in the days of Judah’s Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezakiah… That is, we are to understand the words recorded in the book of Micah as being said by the prophet sometime during the reigns of 3 kings of Judah, that is the Southern half of the kingdom of Israel, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah…

God needs leaders with integrity, people filled with the Spirit, people with confidence who speak truth in His name, people who believe in Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, people who seek to influence others with the message of hope and love of our Lord.  God is calling you to live for Him and be available to impact others in His name!  True prophets and leaders of God will be used to turn the world upside down! 

In the old Advent Christian Church in Seattle there used to hang an abstract painting donated by one of the members.  After it was hung up on the wall, the artist saw his painting and was surprised because it was upside down.  He was even more surprised because he liked it better. 

In today’s Bible lesson, the people of God are shocked when Micah turns the world upside down.  Everything they thought important, the life they have come to love and cherish, is turn around (READ Mic. 3:12).  When God upends life, it may be hard at the moment, but the truth leads to the fullness of life.  

When your world is dark, the promise of God enables you to confidently look forward with a fresh revelation from God that he will restore you to new life.  AMEN

Phil Dufrene is a missionary we support as a church based in Sumas, a chaplaincy ministry to the crews of Cargo ships...  I read a devotional from Phil this week ~ he structured his thoughts around an intriguing google entry he stumbled across: “Sad Quotes.”  I share only a few sad quotes because they are so sad… people are living in darkness.  I wish I could skip the sadness and jump to God’s promises, but because of the ugly reality of the darkness, God’s promises shine brightly.  This week we’ve been transfixed by the blood red sun/moon caused by the smoke from the BC wildfires,.  It is hazy, but the sun is still shining!  Hundreds and hundreds of sad quotes:

• “Smiling has always been easier than explaining why you’re sad.” 
• “Sick of crying, tired of trying, yes I’m smiling, but inside I’m dying.”
• “I am the type of person that sits in the bathroom crying, then walk out like nothing happened.” 
• “My heart finally said, ‘enough is enough’”

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On and on it goes…In his devotional Phil said he spent an afternoon listening for the sad quotes of the crew on the ship.  The first greeting to the crew, “how are you?” with the typical response, “I’m fine” but as the afternoon went on, he heard the discouragement of being away from their families, the loneliness, justifications for decisions but sadness of the reality of life on the seas… He was listening for sad quotes.  I scrolled through my FB feed, so many sad quotes: “Nobody gives a _____ about me so why do I even ______ing try.”  Sadness.  Darkness.  Depression.  Hopelessness.  “The walls we build around ourselves to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.”