09/25/2019
As I sit today on my back porch working on my upcoming sermon, I find myself thinking a bit differently about the back porch, which I love. This last year I was able to replace the screens with windows. I always loved my screened porch but the windows allow me to spend more time there. It is easily my favorite room in my house.
The thing about windows is I see the outdoors all around me and they keep the bugs away from me, but the glass seems to be more of a barrier than the screens were---if that makes sense. Although I see all around me, I have more of a feeling of being in a building than out-of-doors. So there are advantages and disadvantages either way.
And now, this series has me thinking more about how often I spend time out-of-doors in the front of my house which makes me feel a bit guilty about wanting to retreat to my back porch for times of solitude. If you have followed the current sermon series at all on neighboring, I wonder if you feel challenged as I do.
Very possibly I am thinking about this too much!!! Do you ever do that??? But I do believe that as we continue to strive to live faithful to God’s calling and to grow in the ways we live out that calling, we do enter into times of challenge in our lives.
I have decided that I need to establish a healthy balance. Yes, I need to make connections with my neighbors. Yes, I need to have times of quiet and solitude to rest my soul and my mind. ( I do--I am assuming most folks look for this time too!). I believe at this point in my life I need to shift the balance a bit more to front yard neighboring. As I pay attention to the culture of today and as I drive around and rarely see anyone in their front yards, this may be the case for many. I have said in one of my messages that we are living with too much isolation, fear and misunderstanding today. I know that one of the ways that each of us can become a part of the solution to resolve these issues is to be a better neighbor.
So hope to see you out front some time!!! Blessings, Patti
Archived Posts
Key Takeaway from Sunday
If I had to identify a specific take away from
Sunday’s sermon it would probably be this:
The Rest of the Story
I mentioned Russell Conwell in Sunday’s message. He was a famous preacher, educator, and lecturer. His sermon/lecture “Acres of Diamonds” was turned into a book and sold rather well. I used Conwell’s illustrations to talk about sharing the good news of Jesus with those closest to us first—family, friends, coworkers, and church family. The wider world is our ultimate aim, but until you invest in the people God has already put in your life, you are unlikely to have much success.
No One Said It Would be Easy
To love Jesus first is to learn to love all the other people in our lives with greater intensity and less selfishness
What’s Saved Is Often Lost
Here’s the benediction we didn’t have time for yesterday (Sunday, November 3). It’s one of my favorite quotations (portions of a newspaper column). I hope you find it as inspiring as I have
Leftovers Continued…
It’s not just the fact that God is un-impressed by our leftovers, it actually goes deeper than that. In a sense, Jesus is passionately and purposely opposed to anything leftover. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to work diligently to make sure that in the end nothing at all is left over.
Less Stuff and Fewer Wants
Here’s a point I left off Sunday’s sermon due to time and length. In dealing with an Entitled mindset it is very helpful if you can Reduce Materialism and Consumerism.
Entitlement Can Hit You in Ways You Might Never Suspect
The people of God (Israel) were chosen by God to fulfill a unique calling—to be a light to all the other nations of the nations of the world. God chose them because of their willingness to be used by Him for His purposes. But after a while the Israelites began to think that they were chosen--not because with God they could fulfill a special purpose--but because they were a special people, uniquely favored and loved for who they were.