 Dear Friends,
May is Mother’s Day Month, and Mother’s Day makes us think of the most essential job of moms (and dads) - the raising of our children. When asked what we want for our children, parents often say they want their children to be happy. They want their children to be successful, to live a balanced life, to contribute to society and to build loving relationships with their own spouse and children. The question is, How do parents help their kids reach these goals? The only sure anchor for a full, abundant and eternal life is a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. A faith relationship with Christ lays out the way we are to live daily life. That’s true for children and adults. If we want our kids to reach the dream, WE NEED TO PASS TO THEM A PASSION FOR JESUS CHRIST. Parents, that task is primarily yours. The church can help but your responsibility for your kids extends to developing their adult faith. I’m not talking about simply passing along good morals: things like being generous, having compassion, serving others, or reserving sex until marriage. These are important results of a relationship with Christ, but they aren’t the relationship itself. I’m talking about passing along a love for Christ and his kingdom. Without that love for Christ, even our good morals miss the mark. We can’t be “good” as God would have us be “good” and ignore the God who made us to be “good” or the Savior who transforms us. Joshua 24:15 reads “...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Is that the tone of your household? Is that the cry of your heart for your children? You see, if you don’t live your faith your kids will learn that faith is just for kids. After all, if the most important adults in their lives don’t live it, they will learn from you not to live it too. So I’m asking moms (and dads) to examine what you do. Do your children see you attend worship, and Sunday School, or is that just a kid drop-off? Do your children hear you pray, or is that something only they do before bedtime? Do your children see your love and passion for Jesus Christ or do they see you ignoring the things of faith in your own daily behavior? Mothers (and fathers) have a great commission from God; to go into their home and live and teach the good news so their children will love Christ and do all he taught us. My prayer this May is that our passion for Christ will ignite a great fire that the next generation will see and embrace. ~ Pastor Byron Dear Friends,
What if the New Normal ... was Better? “The New Normal” has become a common phrase during Covid-19. We all wondered how Covid would change our lives. I remember, early in the pandemic hearing a commentator speculate that Covid would end the hand-shake forever. Nothing is permanent: there’s always something new, normal or not. The disciples accompanied Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and were caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowd. People stripped off their coats and laid them on the road for the donkey to walk over. That could leave a nasty stain on your new Go-to-Passover clothes. Don’t think those people were unaware of that possibility. They were so filled with hopeful expectations they did not want to restrain themselves. They shouted hosanna, and recognized Jesus as the awaited one. Through the week, Jesus, taught in the Temple every day, and returned to the Mount of Olives each night. Hisenemiestriedtotriphimwithtrickquestions,butheansweredeveryonewith truth and wisdom. The disciples had to be ecstatic. Jesus was passing every test he faced. Something huge, life changing, was just around the corner. And then Thursday night. Jesus said, “One of you will betray me,” “All of you will deny me.” He was arrested, and crucified. He died on a Roman cross. Stout hearted women followed his body to the borrowed tomb and watched as the stone was rolled into place in front of the door. That was life changing, but not at all what they expected... Three dark days passed. Those same strong women went to the tomb. Again, it was not what they expected. Their question, “Who would move the stone” became “Where did you put my Jesus.” The stone was gone and the tomb was empty. On that first resurrection Sunday, Jesus appeared to the women, Peter, Cleopas and his companion, all eleven remaining disciples, and others with the disciples whose names we don’t have. The Crucified was ALIVE! Jesus IS alive! That is an entirely NEW Normal. Sin and death have been destroyed, the new birth is available, the Kingdom is wide open. Forgiveness is granted to all who believe in the name of Jesus. And all the forgiven receive the opportunity and power to live new lives, free of hatred, envy, lust, and greed, and free to love and serve, and embrace the peace and joy of Christ. What if the New Normal was BETTER? It is in Jesus Christ! He is risen, indeed! ~ Pastor Byron Sue Monk Kidd tells this story of her childhood. “I still remember the day in the third grade when I got back that terrible arithmetic paper. I had missed every single problem. I was so ashamed and angry with myself that I wadded up my paper and slumped down in my seat. The teacher noticed my discouragement. She came over, put her arm around me and whispered, ‘It’s not the mistakes you make that are important, but how much you learn because of them.’ Then she smoothed out my crumpled paper. ‘Now, try again,’ she said. I did. And that time my teacher wrote across the bottom of my paper, ‘IMPROVED.’ That experience is one I hope I never forget. I still make mistakes. Some cause me to feel ashamed and angry with myself. Sometimes, when I am berating myself - I can hear God whisper in my ear: ‘It’s not the mistakes that are so important, but how much you grow because of them.’”
Lent is the season of “Now, try again,” a season when we stretch, grow and improve. It’s a time to examine our shortcomings. But the important part is what we learn form them and how we grow. Christ calls us to press on and he gives us his own Spirit to guide and strengthen us. Lent begins February 17, Ash Wednesday. Plans for the Lent Season worship services are going to be flexible because of Covid, so keep on eye on ChurchPost e-mailings. On Ash Wednesday we hope to hold an evening worship service at 7:00. We will offer imposition of ashes and celebrate the Lord’s Supper at that service. The ashes remind us of our sin, and call us to examine our lives carefully, and to cultivate repentance. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that repentance is not grievous. It is filled with hope. For God has shown his love for us in this, while we were sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). The Lord’s Supper tells us that we are continually connected with God’s grace through Jesus Christ and faith in his finished work on the cross. In repentance, even though we acknowledge and grieve for our sin, we are not taking the weight of our sin on our own shoulders. Rather, we uncover it so we can lay it at the foot of the cross. There Christ has provided for our full redemption. And if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sin, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). So I hope you will join me in the season of preparation for Easter known as Lent, (Easter Sunday is April 4) and discover God’s encouragement for your soul. Yours in Christ, ~ Pastor Byron By the time you read this 2020 will be over, and good riddance!
What a difficult year! None of us have faced in our lifetime anything like the Covid pandemic. And we are all ready for this year, that included so much hardship, to end, and grateful to turn a corner and start something new. As hopeful as I am for improved circumstances, I am more concerned for you ongoing spiritualhealththanIhaveeverbeenforanycongregation. ThisisnotbecauseIthinkwe’ve done something wrong. It’s because hardship wears down a person’s faith, and the improvement of external circumstances will not by themselves restore it. Perhaps you remember Elijah’s despair in 1 Kings 19. A great victory only increased the danger he faced and ran for his life. Finally, exhausted he fell down under a broom tree and moaned, “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life;” (1 Kings 19:4). Hardship can wear down anyone’s faith. But there is a more subtle danger of which I am more concerned. That is the effect of a spiritually inactive life. Faith that is not nurtured and used will grow weak. And like the debilitated person who doesn’t get rehab, a spiritually inactive Christian can grow accustomed to their lack of vitality. Therootofthisdangeristheabsenceofpublicworship,Sundayschool,fellowship. Werely on these opportunities to restore us every week and we have been deprived of them for weeks. To face this loss of public spiritual life we need to exert private spiritual practice. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, taught his followers to stay in love with God through spiritual disciplines. Among them are essential practices you can and must do privately, personally: 1) Private prayer, including worship and thanksgiving as well as petition; 2) The Word of God, read, studied and applied to life; 3) Fasting or abstinence (we do not live by bread alone) Of course, they are familiar. They are so fundament that any discussion of spiritual life MUST include these practices. They are as fundament to Christian life as tackling, blocking, and ball carrying are to football. Get sloppy in the fundamentals and your game unravels. Get sloppy in fundamental spiritual practices and your spiritual life will unravel, as well. So let me encourage you to read from the Bible. I don’t mean one short verse, I mean over several days returned to and read extended passages from the Bible. Let me encourage you to pray, spending an extended time in which you deliberately seek God’s presence for worship and adoration as well as petition? Let us turn this corner to renewed faith and vitality. Then 2021 will truly be a New Year. ~ Pastor Byron Christmas is going to be very different this year. We aren’t sure what it will look like, but it will be different.
Family traditions of the season are very important. For many years Focus on the Family has encouraged families to develop traditions around Advent and Christmas. Before James Dobson retired from Focus he often talked about his family’s tradition of eating Chinese food on Christmas day. That’s not my tradition. I go for the turkey. It’s easier. But hey, they ate Chinese in the movie A Christmas Story, so why not? This year, however, traditions will be changed. And some of us may feel the absence of those traditions very sharply. So let me make a simple but I think important suggestion. Develop something new. Make it a practice, throughout the seasons of Advent and Christmas, to deliberately and repeatedly focus on what Christmas is all about. That suggestion is no surprise to you, so may I give you some specifics. First, a few seasonal details. Advent begins Sunday Nov. 29 this year and ends on Christmas Eve. It includes 4 Sundays. Christmas day begins the “twelve days of Christmas” season. That’s right, its not just a song, it’s a season, from Christmas Day to January 6, Epiphany. The visit of the Wise Men is celebrated on Epiphany. Each week will focus on a scripture that is connected to worship at this time of year. Nov. 29 and throughout that week read and reread, Isaiah 11:1-9. Advent means the King is Coming. What GREAT HOPE! The shoot of Jesse is Jesus. Notice how Jesus is described and what he will do when he comes. Make a list of both things, adding something each day. Dec. 6. The king is COME. What GREAT JOY! Read Isaiah 9:1-7. Notice that light shines because a Son is born. Write down who the Son is. Dec. 13 Jesus is God in flesh, What GREAT REDEMPTION! Read Isaiah 53:1-12. How is Jesus’ sacrifice described and what does it do? Dec. 20 Jesus is with me. What GREAT STRENGTH. Read Isaiah 7:13, 14 and Matt 1:18-18. What does Emanuel mean... to you? Dec 25 Jesus Christ is born! Read Luke 2:1-20. If you have kids, get them together AFTER the gift frenzy and read it together. Remind everyone on Christmas Day that Jesus’ birth is what we are celebrating. You may miss seeing the relatives, but you may your sense of joy strengthen, as you focus on Christ at his birth. God bless you, ~Pastor Byron  Dear Friends,
Its November, 2020, and what a year we have had! With a worldwide pandemic, fears of illness and death, political power struggles, racial tensions, it seems there’s no peace to be found in our fallen world. I’ve been thinking about Thanksgiving in light of the fires, hurricanes, natural disasters and human brutality of this summer and fall. Do we still have things for which to be thankful? Yes! As Christians we have the Prince of Peace to lean on! We have the steady hand of God ordaining our future. I don’t know what tomorrow holds but “I know WHO holds tomorrow and I know WHO holds my hand.” I don’t write that casually, because our Lord has never promised nothing bad can happen. Jesus said he would never abandon us (Jn 14:18), but he also said “In this world you will have trouble” (Jn 16:33). So you might be asking, “If Jesus didn’t promise safety what should I understand trusting Jesus to mean?” FIRST, our God does deliver his people from danger. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 1:10 “(God) has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.” Paul personally testified that God had rescued him and his friends from overwhelming danger. SECOND, remember the promise of rescue from danger is not a promise of the absence of danger. Again Paul wrote, “We do not want you to be uninformed, ... about the hardships we suffered... We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). Paul, the great apostle of faith, despaired. Paul’s faith was exhausted, and his suffering was beyond his ability to endure. Still God was present and God was faithful. “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). The presence of trouble is not the absence of God. Current sorrow is not a hindrance to future comfort. Continuing danger is not an obstacle to ultimate deliverance. Here is our guarantee: “Nothing in all creation... is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ro. 8;39).” Since we are inseparably in his love we much for which to be thankful! Your Pastor, ~ Byron Myers |
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