“Are You Taking Your Medicine?”

When it comes to taking medicine, things are a little different today than they were a few years ago. With all the incredible new drugs which are being developed, most people can’t wait to pop a pill in the hope that it’s going to miraculously make all their health problems go away. But it wasn’t always like that. In the past, most had a certain distrust of medication and the common thinking was that as soon as a person started feeling better, they stopped taking their medicine because they thought they didn’t need it anymore. Of course, that wasn’t the case, but that was the mindset with the result being they would have a relapse and have to go back to the doctor. And, as you would guess, the first words out of the doc’s mouth were, “Are you taking your medicine?” To which people would respond after a forced cough and a sheepish look on their face with the admission, “No, doctor, I stopped when I started feeling better.”

Fortunately, most understand the importance of continuing to take medication until the health professional prescribes otherwise, but that is not the case when it comes to our Bible reading. In the midst of a dark time in life, we become regular Bible readers as we look for answers and strength to get through tough times. But when the sun comes out and the rain of problems dissipates, so does our Bible reading. As we might guess would happen, often the troubles come right back.

This weekend we’ll be studying the longest chapter in the entire Bible – Psalm 119. Check it out for yourself; it’s all of 176 verses! While we won’t need to read every verse of the Psalm to understand what it is saying, it is absolutely essential to get the main point, which is: the Bible is our greatest treasure through the journey of life. Have you stopped taking your “spiritual medicine” lately because you don’t really think it is necessary? Join us for one of our services. Now is the time to build up resistance to fight through the next temptation, test or trial.

Saturday night worship: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am

Movie Night – Tomorrow – Friday, August 19th “Risen”

The body is gone and no one is providing a convincing answer as to where it is. So Pontius Pilate orders his centurion to make an investigation and come up with the corpse of the crucified Galilean rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. But as the centurion vainly searches for the body, he comes to realize the mind boggling truth – there is no body to find – Jesus has risen from the dead.

Join us tomorrow night to watch the powerful film “Risen”. Dinner will be served at 6:00 pm. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided. If you can bring a side dish to pass, that would be fantastic. The movie will begin at 6:30 pm and runs about 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Check out the movie trailer here.

Spiritual Dementia

Dementia is becoming increasingly common as our population continues to live longer. For those who have personally experienced dementia, it can only be described as massively tragic. And yet, those who seem to be able to deal with this drastic change, often handle it humor. One wife described how she sent her husband to the store for eggs, sugar and coffee. By the time he got to the store he had already forgotten what he was supposed to buy. Since this happened in pre-cell phone days the well intentioned husband decided to redo his wife’s list – his way.

Being an avid outdoor cook the man went to the meat department and picked up various steaks. Then he headed to the other sections of the supermarket and proceeded to buy enough food to have a BBQ for ten people. Happy as could be, the good husband returned home, burst through the door and to his wife’s amazement said, “Honey, I got everything you told me to get.” Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, his wife smiled and said, “You got everything we need for our dinner with the kids tonight. Thank you dear.”

Everything worked out for this committed couple but when, as individuals, we suffer from spiritual dementia, things don’t turn out so well. Spiritual dementia is common to people of all ages and comes in many forms. But the common symptom of spiritual dementia is people forget that God is the reference point of their lives and begin to think and live as though the world revolves around them and what they like. In other words, they ignore the God who created them, the One who is responsible for their existence. Instead, people think they are in control of their lives and have the right to do whatever they feel is best.

Sometime during the next few days, take a quick look at Psalm 90. It’s an excellent antidote for spiritual dementia. Then join us for one of our weekend services as we explore the theme: God’s Take on What Matters and What Doesn’t.

Worship Services
Saturday night: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning: 10:00 am

When What You See Is Not What You Get

Sometimes we look at the lives of other people and we get a little (maybe even a lot) resentful. It seems like they have everything we want and yet all those things come to them so easily, while for us, every little good thing in life demands the greatest of efforts.

If that is the way you feel, you’re not alone. A man by the name of Asaph wrote a Psalm about 3000 years ago which starts out pretty much like this:

“God, all my life I’ve been taught that you are good to the people who believe in you, but I’m looking at my life right now and I got to be honest, things sure don’t appear that way!”

The good guys don’t always win. In fact, it seems that the bad guys tend to get ahead more than the good. So what is going on? Isn’t God supposed to be holy and just. If he can’t stand evil, why does he put up with it so much? If God never lets human beings get away with anything, why are so many people getting away with “murder”?

Those are honest questions we’ve all asked. This weekend we’re going to study the answers Asaph came up with in Psalm 73. If you’re dealing with some resentment against God for your life not being the way you think it should be, Psalm 73 is for you.

Worship Services
Saturday night: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning: 10:00 am