The Best News Ever!

 

With the gut-wrenching news of the new Omicron variant, we need some good news! And good news it is. In fact, some would say it is the best news ever: Jesus is coming back! Don’t roll your eyes, it is the best news. Think about it, if Jesus doesn’t come back, what do we have as an alternative? An endless cycle of facing weird sounding Covid variant names with the prospect of continual lockdowns, social distancing, personal isolation, and more vaccinations. 

People yearn for things to go back to “normal” which in most cases means to the lifestyle we had in February of 2020. But being honest, if you can remember back to that moment in history, does it bring back images of people jumping up and down in perpetual joy? Probably not. People were just as irritable, defensive, and hard to get along with as they are today. It’s just that we didn’t know how good we had it back then. But that’s the story of humanity. We never realize how many blessings we do enjoy. At the same time there is never a shortage of things that can go terribly wrong. 

Regardless of what historians might claim, there has never been a “golden” era of human history. It may well be that happiness and contentment levels have remained flat since people tried to boot God out of his creation. Thankfully he did not let that happen. As we come to the end of the year, maybe the healthiest thing we can do is admit we’re making the best of life and then we die. Sounds depressing but it is liberating. That honesty frees us to be open to God’s rescue plan in Jesus Christ which culminates in his coming back to establish life as only he can. 

He's coming back, yes, he is! And that is the best news! 

Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 10:00 am.

Square Peg in a Round Hole

 

With a knife, hammer and some time, it would be possible to force the square peg into the round hole pictured above, but it certainly wouldn’t come close to being like the round pegs in the round holes surrounding it. But that’s the way life is sometimes. We’re confronted with situations in which people and things weren’t made for each other and we somehow, someway need to make them all work together. The results are rarely great and often disastrous. Nowhere is this principle truer than when human beings try to live their lives apart from the God who made us. 

From the first chapter of the Bible to the last, we consistently read of a God who made people for himself, to live with him in his creation, loving him and being loved by him. This is what it means to give glory to God – to live life on his terms. But we’re all glory robbers. We take the glory God deserves and keep it for ourselves. Our glory robbing shows itself every day in words like, “I deserve…. I want…. It has to be this way. Why don’t you appreciate me?” Instead of our lives revolving around God, we try to enforce on everyone around us the idea that the world revolves around us. It really is trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. 

This weekend we’re going to study the biblical truth: “To the glory of God alone.” The phrase sounds theological, but it simply means that we live life on God’s terms and not ours. Instead of trying to steal God’s glory by pretending we’re in charge, we submit to his rule because we’ve experienced his 100% faithful love through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Join us for one of our services. Life on this earth is too short and eternity is too long to try and force something that can never be. 

Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 10:00 am.

The Lynchpin

 

The dictionary defines the word lynchpin as “the person or thing that serves as the essential element in a complicated or delicate structure – the one thing that holds everything together”. You’ve probably had “lynchpin” experiences in your life. It might have been a project at work which was full of potential but because you lacked one key element, it fell apart. The same can happen with people. There are situations in which one person does make all the difference. Remove that individual from the scene, and the group effort grinds to a halt. 

When it comes to Christianity, without a doubt, the lynchpin is Jesus Christ. He literally holds everything together. Apart from him, even the Bible writers concede, there’s no reason to believe a good and loving God exists. But Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Who he is and what he has done for human beings will never change or diminish in importance. He is the cornerstone of God revealing himself to humans and humans knowing God on a personal basis. Take away Jesus, and there is little real hope for humanity. 

What’s the lynchpin in your life? What’s holding everything together? Is it working? If you’re looking for an alternative, join us for one of our weekend services. Jesus is the lynchpin, the cornerstone of your life you can depend on today and forever! 

Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 10:00 am.

Of all the dangers a lifeguard must face in carrying out a rescue, the greatest is the very person they are trying to save. Drowning people fight to live. They even fight the person who is trying to rescue them. If you are in trouble while in the water and a lifeguard arrives on the scene, the best thing you can do is stop fighting and let them do what they came to do – save your life! 

We like to think we are fighters. We tell ourselves we can do anything as long as we never give up. In many areas of life, that is very true. In a few, like that of being rescued by a lifeguard, it is not. 

William Ernest Henley wrote the poem “Invictus” in which he celebrated the indomitable human spirit. Even in death, Henley penned, his head would remain unbowed. He would not give up. 

It is a bold, inspiring sentiment, but tragically it is not true. Regardless of how much grit and determination a person has, they will bow their head in death, never to raise it again. 

There are some things, no matter how hard we try, we are simply not going to change. The most notable being death. But there are also the inconvenient problems of injustice, conflict, unhappiness, disease and evil. It is neither weak nor cowardly to say that certain battles in life will be at some point, unwinnable. 

Christians talk a lot about grace. We call it “getting what you don’t deserve”. Many non-Christian people call grace a crutch for folks who don’t want to fight anymore. Christians, on the other hand, say, “Look, you can’t do anything to keep yourself from dying. You have no clue of what is going to happen when you die and no ability to affect the outcome. So why not stop fighting and let God do what he does best – give us what we don’t deserve. 

This weekend we’re going to talk about grace. It’s the ultimate answer when a person comes to the realization that there are situations in which the best thing we can do is stop fighting and let God do the saving.

                Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 10:00 am.