07/24/2019
I ran across something by John Piper, a well known preacher. He says that every day God is doing perhaps 10,000 different things in our lives but you will only be dimly aware of perhaps three of those things. The number is arbitrary but the point is absolutely right. We barely get a glimmer of all that God is doing in us, through us and for us.
Did you know that the northeast side door into the sanctuary has a peephole? The purpose of placement for that peephole is to allow the pastor and groomsmen at the start of the wedding to be able to have a look inside the sanctuary to see where we are in the wedding order. We can take a peek to see how close the time is for us to enter. (Actually any one of the men may look in the peep hole because whoever placed the whole was taller than me! ) When we look into that peephole, at best we can see a sliver of what lies on the other side of the door. We often mistake that “sliver” for the whole spectrum of reality. God knows what He is doing and is NEVER clueless, even when we don’t have a clue.
As we continue to study the story of Joseph as found in the Old Testament, we certainly see a man who certainly had to trust that God was in control throughout many difficult circumstances.
Each day I am working to lean into that strength of God and learning to trust Him more and more. It’s a journey...life is a journey...faith is a journey!!
God is great all the time!!! Pastor Patti
Archived Posts
Gandhi and the Sugar
I wasn’t preaching Sunday, Reverend Jackie Chandler was. And she talked about the power of influence you get when you practice what you preach. This famous illustration came to mind. It fits Jackie’s points quite well. Enjoy!
Not Just for Parents
Our current sermon series is about How To Talk Parent, but it doesn’t require any of us to be parents to appreciate the bits of wisdom OUR parents shared with us growing up.
If Not Higher
Here’s a story I wanted to use when talking about ‘what you do when no one is looking’ yesterday. It’s a wonderful illustration of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:1-6—do what you do because of who you want to be, not so that others will take notice and praise you.
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...