SEPTEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER

FROM PASTOR MIKE’S DESK:

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

       This may seem like a strange question to ask, but I’m going to ask it anyway.  What kind of relationship do you have with your alarm clock?  Strange, I know.  I would imagine that for a good majority of us, we would say that we have more of a hate-love relationship rather than a love-hate relationship.  With my past crazy summer schedule … mine is a hate-love kind of relationship.  When we are tired and are enjoying our precious sleep, we hate it when the alarm clock goes off … but yet at the same time we have an appreciation for it.  Without our alarm clock, or alarm clocks (you know who you are), we would be late for work, church, school, or some other planned activity.

       I read somewhere where someone said, “An alarm clock is a contraption designed to scare the daylight into us.”  I would have to agree.  When we are in that deep deep sleep or that dreamy REM sleep, when the alarm clock goes off … it scares the daylight into us as we are startled awake.  Some of us try to fight this by hitting the snooze button a few times (again, you know who you are).  But even then, we know that at some point in the next five to nine minutes the alarm clock will be going off again and we will have to get up.

       I can’t help but look around at what is going on in the world and think that God’s alarm clock for us has been going off and we Christians are trying to ignore everything by pushing the snooze button.  We Christians like the bubble in which we live.  We like these bubbles because it is a wonderful little happy place where everything is all hunky dory.  Within these bubbles … child abuse, cyber bullying, the destruction of one’s self-worth, the ever growing identity crisis among many other things don’t exist.  But sadly, very sadly … these things do exist in the world.

       Instead of hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock of the world and trying to stay in our happy little bubbles, the time is here and now for you and me to get up.  St. Paul in Romans 13:11 writes, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.”  When Paul says it is time to wake from sleep, he is referring to our spiritual inattentiveness.  There are so many people around us, both young and old, who are in desperate need of hearing about Jesus and the salvation He has won for them through his life, death, and resurrection.  There are so many people who need the comfort of knowing that they have a God who cares about them and loves them no matter what the world may say or think about them. 

       The thing is … this isn’t done through the development of more and more grand and wonderful programs.  Leading people to a life with Jesus is something which is done through relationships.   It requires us in our own little way to be the hands, feet, and mouth of Jesus.  You don’t need to take some special class or have a doctorate degree in something to do this.  You simply need to be you.  Be you, the precious child of God that you are and allow the love of Christ which is in you to flow freely.

       Most people know how much I like to talk to people, no one better than my wife and kids though.  My wife says I make friends easily because within the first few minutes of our conversation, I basically consider the person I’m talking to to be my friend.  (She actually thought this was a bad thing when I was applying for jobs years ago.)  Over the last years, I’ve lightened up

and I have tried to enjoy life a little more.  Some people think that I’m a little crazy, especially when they see my socks … but you know what, through crazy moments or crazy socks, I’m able to start a conversation and start developing a relationship with that person.

       I share this with you because the time for us to wake up is now.  Each day which goes by means that we are one more day closer to the day in which Jesus will return.  When Jesus returns, there are no more second chances.  There are no more snooze buttons to push and there are no more opportunities for others to hear about the amazing love of Christ. 

       We all need to hear about Jesus and what it is He has done for us.  We all need the re-assurance that God is with us.  Be the hands, the feet, and the mouth of Jesus to those who surround you.  Help them to plug into the source of life so that they may live this life and the life to come to the fullest … always awake and always ready for the awesome return of our Savior Jesus Christ.

God’s Blessings,

Pastor Mike