Category: - Sumas A.C. Church

A Front Row Seat: Encouragement. Philemon. Carl Crouse; SACC; 5-19-13

5/20/2013

Paul writes Philemon from Prison

There is a joke about an Irish Tourist who asks for directions to Dublin. The Local replied, “If I were you, I wouldn’t start from here.” Such helpful advice! The sad thing is we can relate. We are overwhelmed and don’t know how to start so rather than do something we do nothing because this is the wrong place, the wrong situation, to get started! It seems everything is a mess and our feeble efforts make so little difference. Where do we start? The problem is that we only have here….now…today….the situation in which we find ourselves…

Here is better advice from Edward Hale: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."

The Gift of Music: Colossians 3:15-16; Ps. 150; Pastor Carl Crouse

12/31/2012

Music has power to communicate, to inspire, to change.

I love this true story… “The Women’s League” wanted to announce a new project for the church. The President announced the project on a Sunday morning to the congregation. After a brief description, she asked all of the ladies of the league to "march up to the front of the sanctuary" ~ a group was mostly 55 year olds plus…The pianist for the church took it upon himself to give the ladies a marching tune to encourage them as they came down the aisle. He started playing the children’s chorus, ’The Lord’s Army,’ In his mind he was singing the words, ’I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery...’ Unfortunately, everyone else was hearing the words of the original tune, ’The old gray mare, she ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she used to be, ain’t what she used to be...’" The pianist said "When the surprised Women’s League President asked why I was playing that tune, I got so flustered, I couldn’t answer, so I just left through the side door."

A Front Row Seat: Administration; SACC, Carl Crouse, Nov. 4, 2012; 1 Cor. 12:27-28; Ex. 18:10-27

11/5/2012

Administration: such a boring word….To some nothing could sound more dull. Young children love their teachers at school, the teacher is the center of the school universe. Then you hear about the principle, not having a clue as to what the principle is for other than to be sent to and get a swat ~ or in the old days you did (raise your hand if you ever got a swat) eventually you hear about the school administration…stuffy mysterious people somewhere in the dark recesses of the school halls…

Administration. I chose the Exodus scripture because it is a wonderful example of Administration: Jethro helping Moses be organized. For the first time in 400 years the nation of Israel is independent, in fact, when they went to Egypt they were only a large family... God intended us to be together… as the Kendall Seeds of Hope Campus is launched, a team is being formed… I am not certain what God has in mind in the Foothills, but this flatlander is excited! I am excited about Sumas, I am excited about the Foothills, we are on the Front Row seat. Sometime, ask Jeff about Kendall ~ he is so excited to have a Front Row seat.

A Front Row Seat: Encouragement, Carl Crouse, Eph. 3:14-21, June 3, '12

6/5/2012

Two old Texas cowboys were riding across the range one day when they came upon a herd of buffalo. They paused for a moment to look at those great animals. Then one cowboy said to the other, "Have you ever seen an uglier varmint than that?" The other replied: "Naw, I haven’t. Look at that big ugly head and that mangy hair." Then the two cowboys rode off. At that point one buffalo turned and said to another, "I think I just heard a discouraging word!" [“where never is heard, a discouraging word…”]

There is a great need for encouragement. / affirmation. We question ourselves, question our self worth, search for meaning and purpose, compare ourselves to others… Why is it that we can have 100 people compliment us, but then one word of criticism, and that’s what we dwell on? …we spend our lives feeling bad, trying to please others, discouraged, feeling of apathy… what’s the point? why bother? Lot’s of coping methods… stoic, depression…

1 Peter 4.7-10, A Front Row Seat -- Hospitality, Pastor Carl, April 22, '12

4/24/2012

Growing up in Sumas, my father was the pastor of this church, we lived in a house owned by the church on Vancouver Street (empty house directly east of Edaleen Dairy). Looking back, one of the amazing things is that when people would get stopped at the Border trying to get into Canada, if they had any needs at all, the Canadian customs gave them the name and address of our house! In those days, it was a trickle of people, every few months I’d answer the door to find somebody that needed help. How often my father, on behalf of this church, would put them in the hotel for the night and he’d call Bromley’s to let them know somebody was coming to buy food, and put it on the church’s tab….

Mercy, Discernment, Giving, 1 Peter 4.9-11

2/28/2012

The quotation in the bulletin is a great summary: “You have talents and gifts that no one else can offer. There are things you can do that no one else is capable of doing quite the way you can do them. Dont rob this earth of your purpose by taking it to the grave with you. You see, we all have a purpose, a reason for living, breathing and existing. We all have unique talents and gifts that were created and given to us to be shared. Our task is to understand this and figure out what is our purpose.” ~Mark Victor Hansen

Spiritual gifts are God’s way of giving us a front row seat of His Kingdom Work. From 1 Peter 4:10-11, two things stand out: 1) Spiritual gifts are given for the sake of others. The way to grow spiritually is to serve others, get outside of our own issues, our own lives. I am convinced that in our society we are so self absorbed trying to figure out the answers to our lives.

Prophecy, Service, Teaching. Rom. 12:3-8. Pastor Carl Crouse

2/21/2012

The Story is told of pastor Carter Jones. Carter had a small room in the attic that he used as a place of prayer. When he was especially burdened, he would make his way up the winding staircase to that room to spend quiet moments with God. The members of his family knew that when he went to the attic room, they were not to bother him. One day he climbed the stairs and knelt beside the chair to pray. He hardly started when the door swung open; there stood his little girl. The moment his eyes met hers, she knew she had done wrong. She said, "Daddy, you've been so busy lately I haven't seen you much. And I just wanted to tell you that I love you." And with that she threw her arms around her father's neck, gave him a big hug, wheeled around, and was gone as quickly as she had come. "Father, I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time for you. I just want to tell you again that I love you."

Wisdom, Knowledge and Faith; 1 Cor. 2.6-10, 14-16; Rom. 4.18-21

2/13/2012

Getting in shape. It may be consuming. Some of us could use a little help. Here are some tips from Wikihow, an online website with contributions from average people. “How to get in shape.” It’s not intended to be funny, but to me it is…
“Downsize your kitchenware… using smaller bowls, plates, and containers can subconsciously influence how much you serve yourself.”
“Put down the fork. By putting down whatever utensils you're using between every bite, you can slow down your eating time, leaving your stomach a chance to feel full... Another technique is to take a sip of water between each bite. … a device you can get from a dentist that you wear to make your oral cavity smaller, and "diet forks" that are awkward to use that you'll get less food per bite!
“Trade weight for cash. A 2007 study showed that the more you pay people to lose weight, the more pounds they drop over a three-month period. If there's someone who keeps nagging you to lose weight, ask that person about paying you for every pound you lose.”

A Front Row Seat, 1 Cor. 12.4-20, Feb. 5, '12, Carl Crouse

2/7/2012

An amazing story at a graveside service a few years ago at Bayside. I arrived a half hour early. What was unusual is that perhaps 75 people were already there. I noticed as I walked towards the grave one of the grown daughters was energetically going from small group to small group telling them her bad news. I soon found out, she was making sure everyone knew the story: the staff forgot to set up for the service. A mistake had been made, the grave was not dug, the canopy was not in place, and nothing was ready. Then I saw the staff frantically getting everything together, the gravedigger arrived with a wheelbarrow and shovel to dig the grave for the urn, another staff had hitched onto the canopy and was pulling it over, even though it had a flat tire. With two minutes to spare, everything was ready. Even the head of Bayview came and paid her respects at the service. I found out later that the gravedigger, during the service, walked over the hill, out of sight from the grave, got in the truck, /// and cried like a baby.