 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).
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 Dwight L. Moody, comparing temporary happiness to deep joy, says it well, “Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him.”
Joy is found in the Lord. Delight in him all day long. It is a gift. Receive it.  Good News ~ Bad News ~ The Best News
Ps. 15:1 is a simple enough question. READ. Behind the question: the feeling of worthiness. Am I good enough to be in the presence of the Lord? Am I acceptable? The question can be stated even more basic: do you love me God? I like the story of the boy sitting on the street corner with dog ~ a mutt ~ with a for sale sign next to the dog. “How much,” said a man on his way home from work. “$20,000,” said the boy! “$20,000, that is an outrageous amount,” the man exclaimed, “that dog can’t be worth more than $5.00.” And the man proceeded to give the boy a mini lesson on the finer points of business. The next day the man saw the same boy ~ without the dog. The man asked the boy if he’d sold the dog. “yes” said the boy. “And did you get the $20,000 you were asking?” inquired the man. “Oh yes,” said the boy to the man’s amazement, “I traded him for two $10,000 cats!” Here’s some news: you are the $20,000 mutt, and God would not have bothered with the cats ~ he would pay full price and more and consider that a bargain. No price is too high to secure your redemption ~ I am the $20,000 mutt. This Psalm is about the temptation to run away, the temptation to quit, the temptation to compromise your faith when the world is not working out as you imagine. “I trust in the Lord…” the Psalm begins, but then quickly comes an asterisk… “How then can you say to me…”
If you are an anxious person you are in good company. Most people are. It’s easy to imagine as an outsider looking at Christians you admire and think their life stops with the first line of Psalm 11: “In the Lord I take refuge…” Easy to imagine other people of faith who boldly go where no Christian has gone before, no wavering, no doubts, and to get mad at yourself because secretly you think you are all alone in your fears… “I trust you Lord, but I am tempted to run away…” Confusion, uncertainty, seem to take center stage of our lives! The foundation for peace and contentment is to adopt a healthy perspective on who you are in relationship to God Almighty. Be in awe of God. Be real about your character and the character of God.
How is it that two people can see the same thing so differently? Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a shoe manufacturer to a foreign nation to research the market potential. The first salesman reported back, "There is no potential here - nobody wears shoes." The second salesman reported back, "There is massive potential here - nobody wears shoes."  Emotions. Ups and downs. Out of control. Thinking you hit bottom only to spiral out of control again. Impatience. Frustration. And starting over again. Will it ever end.
I want to share with you an urban legend, some of you are probably familiar with it, what an injured brick layer wrote on his insurance form to explain how he had so many injuries after he tried to move 500 pounds of bricks from the top of a fourth story building to the ground below: It would have taken too long to carry the bricks down by hand, so I decided to put them in a barrel and lower them by a pulley which I had fastened to the top of the building. After tying the rope securely at the ground level, I then went up to the top of the building. I fastened the rope around the barrel, loaded it with the bricks and swung it out over the sidewalk and untied the rope, holding it securely to guide the barrel down slowly. But since I weigh only one hundred and forty pounds, the five hundred pound load jerked me from the ground so fast that I didn’t have time to think of letting go of the rope. And as I passed between the second and third floors, I met the barrel coming down. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body. I held tightly to the rope until I reached the top, where my hand became jammed in the pulley. This accounts for my broken thumb. At the same time however, the barrel hit the sidewalk with a bang and the bottom fell out. With the weight of the bricks gone, the barrel weighed only about forty pounds. Thus my 140 pound body began a swift descent, and I met the empty barrel coming up. This accounts for my broken ankle. Slowed only slightly, I continued the descent and landed on the pile of bricks. This accounts for my sprained back and broken collar-bone. At this point, I lost my presence of mind completely and let go of the rope and the empty barrel came crashing down on me. This accounts for my head injuries. I hope this information satisfactorily fulfills your request for further information. (NOTE: just for fun, at the end of this posted sermon is a video of a Mythbusters episode of a recreation of this story. Could it really happen? take a look...)  A man drives his van to the Louvre art museum in Paris, and robs it. This man is quite an accomplished thief. He easily gets past all the security and walks out with an armful of valuable paintings. But as he drives away with the police in hot pursuit, the man runs out of gas. The man gets caught, and while the police are locking him up one of them asks "You were a master at robbing the Louvre, you had it all going well for you, and you ran out of gas. What happened?" The thief says "I didn't have the Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."
Ever feel like you are just out of gas. You just don’t know how much is left in your tank, but there is more on your list, more to accomplish, more responsibilities. Listen to the cry of King David: Read Ps. 4:1. Distress, tension, trouble. Who cannot relate? As I was considering this scripture I got an e-mail with bad news [changed name] Jane is extremely sick. Her breast cancer has returned, it has metastasized, and she has lesions in her brain. She won’t be returning to work and she probably won’t be fighting it. Stress in the extreme.  Choices. You have a choice to make.
The story goes that a court jester went too far one day and insulted the king. The king became so infuriated that he sentenced the jester to death. The King’s court pleaded with the king to have mercy for this man who had served him well for many years. After a time, the king relented enough to give the jester his "choice" as to how he would like to die. The jester considered his choices and finally responded, "if it's all the same to you my Lord, I'd like to die of old age." Your choice is not how you are going to die, the choice God gives you is how are you going to live? That’s what the Psalms are all about! How are you going to live? What is the tone of your life? the mood? What direction to walk. The book of Psalms speaks to our hearts, our emotions. I affirm the basic truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ: there is only one way to salvation, Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive our sins… and our emotions are a major part of the equation that determines the quality and character of our lives. 1/21/2014 Challenge Yourself to Grow through Bible Study; Ps. 119:9-16; Carl Crouse ~ Jan. 19, 2014Read Now If I have a problem with my computer and I can’t figure it out, you know what I say? Sally! help! I see the Bible similar to a computer. Challenge yourself to change through studying the Bible… Many of you have so many questions, you don’t know where to begin, you are not familiar with the Bible. Ask (Sally! J). We actually have dozens of more than qualified people to answer questions…many in our church family are quite familiar with the Bible. Make yourself available. We need one on one teachers, mentors.
Knowing the Bible will change your life! The Bible will guide you. Meditate on its words. Learn about the background... Join a Bible Study. Set aside time each day to read a portion of the Bible. You don’t know where to start? Ask for Help! A lifechanging promise from God: a fresh beginning is yours. More than one young person looked forward to graduation in order to start over. A new beginning. A move can make a huge difference. When playing a video game, its easy to hit the reset button, things get so messed up, and God is saying you can do the same thing with your life. A new beginning.
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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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