August 2008

Date: August 10, 2008
Speaker: Pastor Jan Drayer
Subject: Brokenness
Summary: Brokenness is the believer joyfully submitting to the will of God knowing full well that He loves us and has our best interests at heart.

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On Sunday, August 17 we’ll be hosting our annual church picnic at Downs Park. Along with all the normal festivities (such as the Whippersnapper vs. Gray Hairs softball match - obviously, the name derived by gray hairs!), great barbecue, frisbees and footballs there are two very important changes to the event this year.

Church in the Park

For the first time, we will not be going over to the Park after service. Instead, we will meet over at the park and have a service over there. Bring a friend! Parking is free!

Church at 11am!

Instead of our normal meeting time, please plan to show up for 11am worship at Tanglewood pavilion.

For a map of Downs park, please visit the Anne Arundel County Parks website.

Wow! Whoa! Wow! That was our basic vocabulary on our first full day in Egypt. Along with, “How did they do it?” There are several theories, but nobody really knows for sure. How?  

Five thousand years ago, without bull-dozers, cranes, heavy equipment and modern technology, the great pyramids rose up out of the sand. (No, I don’t think they were built by aliens from outer space…) For sure, this building project - these enormous monuments, tombs actually - involved huge quantities of raw materials, food & lodging for the work force, untold expense, and several decades to complete.

And multitudes of slaves. That’s what got me thinking as we circled the site on the backs of camels and horses. These colossal monuments were built on the backs of slaves (who knows how many thousands) - human beings made in the image of God, but all forced to lay down their lives to satisfy the egos of a few kings who wanted impressive tombs. Their energies, abilities, time - their very lives and limbs - used up. Whatever else they might have done with their lives was preempted by pyramid building.

Many, forced to lay down their lives for one who was considered powerful and important. The Gospel is the exact opposite: One - who is all powerful and all important - laying down His life for the many. The King who is the Servant of all - that’s Jesus.

He did it so we wouldn’t be enslaved to things that use up our lives and leave us empty-handed. He did it so we would be free to live for Him, to live for something that really matters - something that will bring blessing to our world here and now, and glory to our God into eternity. Something better than pyramid-building. 

And this brings me to the question: what am I spending my life on? Am I slaving away at something that, in the end, won’t matter? Are my energies, finances, abilities, my time, being hi-jacked and used up for something that God never intended? Something that leaves me with nothing left over for what does matter? Pyramids come in many shapes these days: from maxed-out credit cards to maxed-out calendars; there’s the ‘keep-everybody-happy’ pyramid, or the ‘live-for leisure’ pyramid. I could go on.

Pyramids can look pretty impressive, but remember, they’re just tombs for the dead -and they use up a lot of stuff in the making,  a lot of life that was meant to be lived for something better. We descended a tunnel into one of these tombs. Interesting for sure. It was also really uncomfortable; suffocating, actually, and I couldn’t wait to get into the open again. So remember, you’re not a slave, and you have a God-given life to live. Let’s live free, and live for the Lord. 

Paul

“But I have stilled and quieted my soul..” (Psalm 131:2)

I’m in love. Infatuated, if you want to know the truth. It’s all new, exciting, and I just can’t seem to stop gazing into that face. Each day I discover something new and wonderful as we get to know each other… Don’t worry, I’m talking about my new ipod touch (but then maybe you should be worried). Hopefully, the infatuation will wear off, and it will just become a useful tool that I’ll be able to put down after I’ve checked mail, looked up a Bible passage, or enjoyed some good music.

Trouble is, opportunities to become addicted abound in our world. I haven’t checked out statistics, but I would hazard a guess that addictions of all kinds are at an all-time high. We’ve all heard of people addicted to video gaming, addicted to the internet, addicted to fast food, addicted to dieting & exercise, addicted to bad relationships, or even to just plain old busyness! You name it, we humans have an amazing ability to latch on to something that feeds a need, that makes us feel strong, or secure, or affirmed or comforted or in control or important or whatever, and before you know it – we just can’t stop.

God, on the other hand, wants us to be free – to be able to stop, to put it down, to be still – to be at peace in His presence, without being driven by feverish demands and desperate needs. For a child to mature, at some point he must be weaned from the breast or the bottle. He must learn to function without the thing that fed, comforted, filled his tummy and helped him fall asleep at night. He doesn’t like the process at all. He will probably fight it – scream, cry, plead or beg. But eventually he gives in, and he realizes that not only is everything OK and his needs are still met, but now he has a new level of freedom he didn’t have before. Hmmm…

In the spiritual growth process, God has an agenda – to wean us from all the ways we try to meet our needs without Him, all the substitutes for His presence and peace that leave us unfulfilled. So here are some questions to help you consider what I’m talking about and to translate it into real life:

• What do you really want, and how do you react when you don’t get it?
• What is it, or where is it in your life that you can’t stop and be still, be at peace?

Answer those questions, and you’re on the way to more freedom, peace and godly contentment. Now, how can we cooperate with God in the process? The answer is here in Psalm 131:2 – King David says, ‘I have stilled and quieted my soul.’ Do yourself a favor this week: turn off the TV, the radio, the computer, the music, find a quiet place, and sit still for 15 minutes. Read Psalm 131 (it’s only 3 verses). Ask God to make His presence real to you, to meet the deep needs of your heart. And wait. Do it the next day. And the next. Sound scary? See if you can stop, just for that long. As for me, someone might need to hide my ipod ;-)

Grace & Peace
Pastor Paul