Beautiful Things

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Beautiful Savior, I give you praise for continually making me new in you.

Nurtured and Nurturing

 Jesus Christ, Son of God, although our families are not perfect, they're who we've got. Help us to see past the imperfections and view one another through the lense of Grace that you see us in.

The Gathered

Holy Spirit, you are beauty personified. Any good or precious thing in our lives comes right from you.  Help us  to be the hands among your children who work to make things and lives beautiful all around us. Amen

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Beautiful Things

All this pain

I wonder if I'll ever find my way?

I wonder if my life could really change at all?

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found?

Could a garden come up from this ground at all?

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make me new, You are making me new

You make me new, You are making me new

Making me new

-Lyrics by Michael Gungor

We have been working on the song "Beautiful Things" by Michael Gungor with the praise band for a few weeks now.   The lyrics of this song really resonate with me on many levels. It makes me reflect on how God changes, renews, forms, reforms, corrects and delights in our lives all the time.  I know that we all can think of ways in which God has brought us out of despair and into dancing.

I think of my summer ministry partner at Kure Beach, Amy, whom God sent to me after half a summer with an mentally and emotionally unstable partner who eventually had to be asked to leave. Amy was called to help me and she and I just clicked. We kicked back off the ministry together and had a wonderful summer.  I never will forget the look on the pastor's face when he walked into his office to discover a beach on a tarp that Amy and I created there.  He stood there in shock and then just took his shoes off and sat in a beach chair.  God took pain that summer and turned it into a beautiful experience and a beautiful friendship.

I think of Amy now, almost eleven years later, with a beautiful four year old son and one year old daughter.  I think of how she and her husband moved to Wake Forest for him to go to seminary, and when she was a new mom with a nine month old, he abandoned his faith and his family. He just walked out and away from them. She and the baby moved in with her parents and tried to start life over.  All this pain, could a garden come up from this ground at all?  

Five years later, Amy is an amazing stay at home mom, master baker, and remarried to a Christian man whom God truly sent just for her.  He thinks of her son, Jackson, as one hundred percent his son and just adores both of them.  They have a beautiful baby girl together and their life is a testimony to God turning life's pains into something beautiful.

As I look out onto the community garden growing next to the church, I give God praise for bringing beauty and food out of the dust.  I thank him for the lives that have been blessed by the outreach that the garden has had.  I thank God for the hands that lovingly turned the soil and planted the seedlings that have grown into cabbage and turnips and collards. I praise God for the people in our church who see the garden, our children, and this community as their mission field. I give praise to the God who is constantly taking the dust and ugliness in our lives and makes beautiful things out of it. 

You make me new. You make us new. You, oh Lord, are beautiful.

It Is Well...

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Father in Heaven, may I always remember to wake each day ready to declare your praise.  Thank you for your grace and your love that are never ending.

 

Nurtured and Nurturing

 Jesus Christ, Son of God, lead our families and our daily interactions with your world to be beacons of your light, glorifying you in all we do.

The Gathered

Holy Spirit, God-head three in one, only you are worthy of the praise of your people.  Lead us to your altar so that together, our community of faith my bear witness to your goodness.

Horatio Spafford was an aspiring businessman in the late 1800's.  He was a gifted young lawyer and budding real estate guru.  He was on the quick path to greatness until the unthinkable happened.  In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire which decimated much of the city claimed much of Horatio's real estate leaving him in financial ruin.

In the midst of this crisis and the financial crisis of 1873, he, his wife, and their four daughters had plans to visit Europe.  Because of the economic hardships and his need to attempt to salvage his business, Horatio sent his daughters and wife on ahead with plans to join them a few weeks later.

The ship carrying his family never reached Europe.  It stuck another sea vessel on the way over and sank.  His wife would be the only one to survive.  All four of his daughters went down with the ship.

You could only begin to imagine his heartache.  He eventually got on an ocean liner and made his way to Europe later that summer.  As he was passing the place where his daughters lost their lives in that tragic accident, Horatio sat down to write...

"When peace like a river, attendeth my ways,

when sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with me soul."

Unspeakable words of joy in the midst of unbearable heartache.  How could a man who just lost his daughters in a horrific accident begin to pen such meaningful words through which many of us draw great comfort today?

These words could only come from one who understands our ultimate hope comes from God.  Through this hope we can always find a reason to give God praise.  This does not mean we understand pain any more than the next person.  It does not mean we can now explain away tragedy and heartbreak.

It simply means that no matter what we encounter in life, God is there.  And because of his presence in our lives, we have something worth giving thanks for.  As we reach the conclusion to this season of giving of ourselves, may we find reason to give God glory and honor and praise for the grace and hope we have in him because of his Son.

 

Praise Swings

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy God, help me to truly recognize the thrill of your blessings today and may I not take them for granted.

Nurtured and Nurturing

Father and Creator, you have made us all different, yet you created us for community and family.  May we take delight in our differences and celebrated your goodness in our families.

The Gathered

Gathering God, may we delight in one another.  May another's joy be cause for joy ourselves.  May we be brave enough to trust you fully and jump into the ministry to which you are calling us all and take joy in the journey together.

Psalm 30:11-12 (NAS) "Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness; That [my] soul may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to Thee forever." 

Praise Swings

The State Fair with a three year old can be a little piece of heaven and a little piece of horror. There are attractions and dangers all around.  A parent has the challenge of wanting to be cautious but also wanting the experience to be magical for their child. When you couple that with the games and stuffed animals and toys all around, fighting the "I wants" can be quite difficult.  

When you arrive at gate 8 at the fair, you are pretty much on the far end of nowhere, but you also have the advantage that if you start there, you can basically see everything on your way to Kiddie Land which is on the opposite side of the fair. I had visions of taking Jozie to see the flowers, and the forestry exhibits, the kids FFA barnyard and the animal exhibits before hitting the rides.  That was a dream that quickly floated away as soon as she saw the ferris wheel. She started pointing to the giant wheel, brightly lit and ready just for Jozie to ride as soon as we walked through the gate. We tried the kids barnyard and she literally would not look at a single animal. She just kept asking, "will we be at the rides soon?". 

When we finally got to the Ferris wheel, I saw that she was too short to ride, even with an adult. This was a fact that I was thankful for as thoughts of Jozie on that ride, even with me beside her, brought images of a giant wheel of doom to mind as I filed through all the potential hazards that could await at that elevation.  I thought Jozie would be disappointed but as soon as she saw the pink and green dragon coaster, her attention was completely diverted. She rode with a bit of apprehension, clutching tightly to the safety bars.  Every now and then I would hear a "woo hoo" coming from her as she circled by me, but it wasn't the "electric" experience that she and I were both hoping she would have. 

The next ride was the swings. These were kids swings, so they were much shorter than the huge ones that the teenagers typically ride on, but exciting just the same.  She needed an adult to accompany her on this one, so I hopped in beside her. As the ride began, her eyes became wide with anticipation and then, as we swung upward and then dipped down the first time, the most delighted squeal came from her mouth and then the giggles just tumbled out.  We looked at each other and then squealed together! I showed her the thrill of lifting your hands as you rode, and as she took her hands off the bars and we lifted our hands together, my heart was just full.  Full of praise to God for allowing me this moment of sheer delight with my child. Praise for innocence and praise for her existence. In those few short moments, her hands were lifted in enjoyment and mine were lifted in a sort of private praise to a God who allows us to thrill in the wind on our faces and the blessings of our lives.

Week 7 Fasting Guide...The Last One!!!

Week 7

For thine is the power, the glory, and the honor forever and ever!

Congratulations!!!  You made it.  Seven weeks of giving up parts of your life in the great hope that in their place you have found Christ in new ways.  My hope and prayer is that even as this season of fasting ends, the season of finding Christ in your life, the season of you learning to die to yourself in the hopes of gaining Christ, will never end!

As we conclude our weeks of fasting, we now turn our attention to praising the very one who has called us into this life of grace and hope.  This is how Christ concluded the prayer he taught his disciples.  He told them to always find time to give God the glory he deserves.  So that’s exactly what we are going to do this week!

·      Week 7 Fast:  This week is going to be different than all the previous weeks.  We don’t have anything specific for you to fast from.  Maybe there was a week along the way that was particularly challenging for you or particularly meaningful for you.  Maybe this week, what you need is to go back and spend more time fasting from one of those weeks (TV/Social media, hurriedness, isolation, division, food, gossip).  It’s up to you.  Maybe it’s something we’ve not fasted from but something you have heard God asking you to give up for some time.  Choose that.  This week it’s up to you to challenge yourself and to listen to God.   Good luck!!!

·      Fast Challenge: The challenge this week is simple.  Praise God for something every day.  Have you ever noticed how it’s very difficult to stay mad or frustrated or stressed for very long when you are trying to praise God?  That’s the whole point to this last part of the Lord’s Prayer.  Praise and adoration of God help us to keep things in perspective in our lives.  Challenge yourself this week to find reason to praise your Father who is in heaven.

·      Prayer Focus: Each day of our fast you will be challenged to pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).  Each week there will be a different emphasis of prayer.  This week as you go to God with your needs and your requests, make sure you also take time to thank God for something as well.  Maybe praying the Lord’s Prayer often throughout your day will be a helpful reminder of this.

Broken and Beautiful

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy God, may life's tumbles lead to something beautiful.

Nurtured and Nurturing

Father and Creator, you make all things new. Renew the love and respect within our families and when we gather may you always be our welcomed guest.

The Gathered

Gathering God, we are your children, rough and worn, broken and beautiful.  Use us to bring about your kingdom here on earth. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:17 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Broken and Beautiful

The smoother the shell, the rougher and longer the tumble.  I am a sucker for a broken shell.  I love those pieces of shells on the beach that most people would pass by but, if you take the time to turn them over, there are beautiful purples and pinks underneath. On one side is what looks like a broken piece of nothing and on the other are the colors of a beautiful sunset. Had the shell never been broken or abandoned by the animal that it once housed, the beautiful colors could never have been seen. 

Or what about those rocks  and shell pieces that are covered with holes. At first glance they are distorted and unattractive, but at closer look, they are a intricate web of tunnels and holes. There is a beautiful fragility about them.  I have a collection of them in a bag and one day I'll have a creative epiphany about how to display them.

The holes tell a story. The more holes, the longer it has been tossed, tumbled and even burrowed through by tiny organisms.  Their beauty is a result of their journey. Rough and tumbled leads to broken and beautiful. 

Isn't it interesting how the same is true for us.  The longer we are on life's journey, the greater the chance of hurt, betrayal, gossip and malice affecting our very being.  Our tumbles will be many. We have a choice to make as we travel, we can either become bitter and broken, or broken, transformed and beautiful.  Harboring anger and resentment will make our lives painful and unattractive to others, but when we seek God's refuge during trials, when we allow our savior to use our hurts and let downs as opportunities for growth and forgiveness, we are transformed bit by bit into a beautiful testimony of God's grace.

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin. - Julia Johnston, 1911

I'm Waiting for a Please

Guiding Prayer For Our Season of Fasting: 

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom,the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Myself in Truth

Holy God, let me not in my worry or fatigue, allow my tongue to go unguarded.  May I be vigilant in my respect and kindness towards others.

Nurtured and Nurturing

May our homes be a refuge of kindness and respect and a refuge from the hurts of the world.

The Gathered

Redeemer God, may we, as your church, seek to be a place where every man, woman and child can find respect and dignity. Amen

1 Peter 2:17

¹⁷ Show respect for all people. Love your brothers and sisters in God’s family. Respect God, and honor the king.

Matthew 5:43-45

Love Your Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly. ⁴⁵ If you do this, you will be children who are truly like your Father in heaven. He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong.

If you are an adult in America you have probably, at some point, waited on a “please” before granting a child their request.  Jozie knows good and well that she should never come to me with any request starting with “Get me a…” or “Get me some”.  I don’t always correct her, I just stare at her expectantly until she says please.

On Monday, Jozie and I were in my parked car about to head into Wal-Mart for some grocery shopping.  I was getting my keys and was about to get out of the car when I looked in the back seat and Jozie was just sitting there with her seat belt still on.  She can get out of her seat herself, so I just looked at her and said “Jozie are you coming?” to which she replied “I’m waiting for your manners, say please.”  I did say please, but this little response made me think about the model of respect that I am for her.  I make her say please, but do I always say please?  Do I show her the same respect that I demand from her?

Granted, as an adult it is perfectly normal to expect mannerly requests and respect from a child, but I also have to recognize that it is innate in human nature to want to be respected.  We want to know that our feelings, contributions and opinions are valued. Gossip is the opposite of respect.  In fact, it can obliterate any chance of productive collaboration if people within any group feel disrespected through gossip.

Gossip, unfortunately, is pretty much a given in today’s society and the chance of being disrespected several times in your life is a given.  How we respond to this is very telling to everyone around us. Jesus even tells us “don’t fight back against someone who wants to do harm to you. If they hit you on the right cheek, let them hit the other cheek too.” (Matt 5:39)  Jesus says this because it is unnatural.  When others hurt us or don’t show us the respect we have earned, our natural tendency is to lash out.  But Jesus shows us in this passage that love is the correct response.  Love your enemy. Go the extra mile for those who would do you harm. Give what you have to the undeserving and in doing so, love itself is the greatest defense and rebuke.

When we act out of love, it creates an obvious distinction between good and evil in any situation and the model that we provide for those whom we witness to, both old and young, will not go unnoticed.  The best way to receive respect is not to demand it.  Earn it through patience, respect for others, and a tamed tongue, especially when we think no one is looking.