Wasting Nothing

Isn’t it amazing how much God can show you in one month? To try and quantify how different my world has become in these last weeks would take too many words to fit here. What’s even more amazing is how God stays the same. He uses our turmoil and He wastes nothing.

Going through the book of Job will take you on a journey of the suffering and turmoil of one man, while letting you see his struggle with God. The counsel he receives from his friends and family are also on display and it gets very interesting. In Chapter 38, God himself delivers a response to Job. God lets us know who He is with this response:

v4- “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” 

God continues to ask Job these “questions that aren’t really questions” for awhile, and each of them is what the kids might call a “mic drop.” So far, my main takeaway from the events that have taken place over the past month is this: “Who am I and what do I think I really know in all of this?” 

Dear Church, who are we to question the One who laid the foundation of the earth? We have no understanding apart from the Creator. We can either approach this time as a time to be fearful because we don’t know what’s coming or we can be hopeful because we know the One who does. I am already impressed and encouraged by the faith and generosity of this body, and I pray we can continue on growing through our turmoil. God does not waste our hurting, He uses it according to His perfect plan. He can take this time of major transition and help us come out of this season stronger than we’ve ever been. Let’s look forward to Him doing that in us and let’s not get in the way of it. We have no idea what things will look like in the future, but I’m so eager to see where He’ll take us.

I love you all so much and I’m glad God has placed me here with you,

Andrew

 

Wisdom and Humility

1^st Corinthians was written by Paul in Ephesus during his third missionary journey (around 55 AD).

The church in Corinth was founded in Paul’s second journey.  He stayed there a little less than two years discipling this group. He expected maturity, but in this letter, he was addressing them in disappointment. They had developed many problems. Paul opens with a greeting and starts in on why he’s writing. He tells them he’s received news of their divisions, associating with sinful men and, not separating themselves from unholy actions. He calls for unity in the gospel.

Take a minute to read 1^st Corinthians 1:17-30. Here are some of my thoughts about the passage:

• Verse 17: We must not focus on saying all the right words, or sounding intelligent, but on letting the message of the cross use all of its power.
• Verses18-19: The lost see the cross as foolishness, but to whom God saves, it is wisdom. May God destroy our own wisdom and give us His.
• Verses 20-21:These verses humble us and remind us of our own lack of understanding. This drives the believer into the scriptures and prayer to gain true understanding.
• Verse 24:Those whom God saves receive the power of God and the wisdom of God.
• Verses 26-29:We consider how wise or powerful we were or would be without Christ; he uses the weak to shame the strong.
• Verse 30: Because of Him, we are in Christ who has become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So if we boast, it is only in the the Lord.

“The older I get in the Lord, the less I realize I know and the more I realize I’ve got to learn.” Keith Green

In love,

Andrew

 

A Spiritual Family Reunion

 The holidays are here, whether we are ready or feel like it’s time.  Holidays often make us think about family gatherings; and while Thanksgiving and Christmas aren’t really family reunions, they seem to function as such as the years progress.  As we get ready for Thanksgiving, I’d like to get you thinking about being thankful for the people God has placed in your life and more specifically, who would attend your “spiritual family reunion” if you had one.

This is from an article I found in a Homelife issue of July 2008.  Author Linda Anderson wrote,

“Hmmm, a spiritual family reunion?  I love thinking about whom I would invite.  I’d start with my parents…I would include a wonderful man who taught children’s church when I was in first grade and prayed with me when I wanted to receive Jesus into my heart.  And then there would be a heroic assortment of Sunday School and Christian schoolteachers…who patiently listened to my doubts and questions as a teenager. Oh, yes, I’d want to include the devotional writers who have impacted my thoughts and life.  And even though I’ve never had a formal mentor, I’d include the women whose laughter and loving spirits inspired me to follow their lead. 

Thinking about this makes me realize how blessed I am to have so many people pour into my life the love of Jesus.  But how about you? Whom would you invite? Think about this, and give thanks to God for the people who nudge you toward Him. How about dropping a note to one of more of your spiritual fathers, mothers or mentors–just to let them know about the impact they had on your life?  

And who might invite YOU to their spiritual family reunion?  Is anyone walking closer to God because of You?  An invitation to someone else’s spiritual family reunion is one party I don’t want to miss. What about you?”

There’s some food for thought to go with the turkey and pumpkin pie! Happy Thanksgiving, Church Family!

Becca Hungerford, Children’s Ministry Director

 

Church Family

We often refer to our church as a family. This is a great description of the relationships God intends for the church to have. God puts us on earth in a physical family, and through faith in Jesus, God puts us in a spiritual family. While we can say that all believers are our spiritual family, our church should be our immediate spiritual family. Our church should be the people with whom we are the closest as we worship and serve God together on a weekly and even a daily basis. In Acts 2:42 and the verses following, we learn about the devotion and togetherness of the believers in Jerusalem. They cared about one another, they prayed together, they cared for the needy, they cared about unbelievers, and they saw many, many people coming to faith in Jesus. All of this devotion and ministry and sharing of the Gospel came as a result of being family. They weren’t perfect. In Acts 6 we see dissention and complaints. In Acts 15 they had to have a church business meeting of sorts to decide on rules for new believers who weren’t Jewish. Paul and Barnabas had a falling out. Family is like that sometimes. But family should ultimately come together because we belong to each other. And church family should love one another, stick together, work together, lift up one another, serve one another, and pray for one another. In doing so we share a message with the world around us that points people to Jesus and invites people into the family of God.

Jesus teaches us about spiritual family. In Mark 3 Jesus was informed that his mother and brothers were calling for him outside the house where Jesus was teaching. As Jesus looked at those sitting around him, he responded to them, “Here are my mother and my brothers!” He wasn’t neglecting his physical family, but he was elevating the value of spiritual family. The people with whom we serve God are to become family to us.

In our church we have been talking about discipleship – a lot! I have been challenged with the thought that discipleship is born out of relationship. When a church is truly a family, all of the things of discipleship flow out of that relationship. I pray that as we love one and serve one another, as we learn God’s Word together and grow together, we can discover how to be the disciples Jesus calls us to be. I pray that through those relationships we will share Jesus and see many coming to faith in him! I am thankful that Marshfield First Baptist is my church family!

Pastor Durwin

 

I can feel that I’m getting older in a lot of new ways.  Example, I had two different people this week mention the gray hair that is becoming more and more prevalent on my head. Or when I wake up in the morning and my knees are sore. For some this may seem like no big deal, but for a 34-year-old they are sobering realities that life doesn’t stop and leave me in the dynamic years of my 20’s or even early 30’s. (Which I guess I can’t claim to be in my early 30s any more…Here’s to the mids…)

With those fairly trivial thoughts (also as I just enlarged the print on my computer) I have another that spends a lot of time in my mind.

Change… 

There was a time in my life when I was the one who was running for change and pushing for it in many different ways.  I would often think as my younger and arrogant self that the problem with those who resist change is that they are just stuck in the past and that they just couldn’t see all the good that can come from change.  While there are still elements of that in my heart, I’m beginning to understand the value of a great chapter in a good book.

I have been a fairly avid reader for the last 15 years of my life and in that time, I have been able to read some really great books. One thing that separates a good book from let’s say an OK blog post is the ability to put together not just one or two good thoughts but instead many chapters. The really good authors keep you wanting more and more chapter to chapter. How great the previous chapter was only adds to the dynamics and possibilities that lie in the coming chapters.

When it comes to life and the constant winds of change that we experience, it’s important to remember a few things.

The end of a great chapter doesn’t mean that the future chapters won’t have more and more of God’s grace and provision in ways that we would never even imagine. Remember God is a great author who crafts a work of art in our lives that will for sure be a best seller.

The end of a long chapter may feel harder than some of the shorter ones that we experience. That’s OK—long chapters have lots of good content and are often harder to turn the page on. But I want to remind us (that means me as well) again that we have a great Author who is crafting a literary masterpiece that will be unlike any book ever assembled. The end of a great chapter means just that. There is more to come.

Turning the page on a season or a chapter is hard especially because there’s no way that we can see all that’s next for our stories. How could the next chapter be better than the current? Or maybe it’s just I really liked this one and I don’t want to move on. What I find that I am telling myself more and more is to trust the Author. Be thankful for great seasons and be eager that the Writer has great pages ahead of us. We can’t stop reading this great novel—we have to keep going with expectation that there are really, really, really good pages ahead of us all.

So, let’s embrace a tremendous Author who has penned every page thus far and trust Him and look with excitement that the next chapter is going to be all that He wants it to be!

Happy reading!

Blessings,
Chris