Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this last Friday of September. It is going to be summer-like today, expected to reach almost 90 degrees. Join us those live in the area this evening for weekly TV outreach at 7 PM on Time Warner Channel 4. We will gather for our weekly Saturday Evening worship at the First United Methodist Church 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott. "A Touch of Christ" will be leading in worship. Jane Hettinger will be leading at the piano. I will be preaching from Mark 2:1-12. Please pray for us the Lord would grant us His grace and favor. We will gather for worship Sunday at 8:30 and 11:00 at Union Center and at 9:.30 at Wesley. It is great thrill to serve Christ with those love Him and it is a great blessing to offer Christ and His Good News to those who are around the corner and around the globe. As I was writing these reflections we got a call from India telling us that my aunt, my mom's older sister, went to be with Jesus 10 AM last yesterday Indian time. She was 85 years old. I went to live with this aunt and her husband when I was four years old to go to school,and stayed there through high school. I grew up with her children, my four cousins, who became like brothers and sisters. My uncle was my elementary school teacher and the school principal. He was also a very good Sunday school teacher and lay preacher. He is 95 years old and still alive and well. My aunt never went to school and never learned how to read or write. Yet she loved the Lord and loved me. She loved my family, my wife and children. She lived a life of simplicity and deep faith. Many of the short-term missionaries I have taken to India have met her and were blessed by her. I praise the Lord for her life and for her witness.
Mike Huckabee will be speaking at Davis College next Friday, October 1, at a banquet. Those who live in the area can get the tickets for the event by calling Davis College at 607-729-1581. The proceeds from the banquet will go to the Scholaship Fund of the college.
Psalm 90 was written by Moses. In light of the brevity of life, Moses and the community of Israel asked for wisdom, for the restoration of God’s favor, for a fresh revelation of his power, and for his blessing upon their labors.
C.S. Lewis gave us the timely reminder, "Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."
When frail human existence is measured beside God’s sovereign eternality, a one word picture came to Moses’ mind – dust. We have been compared to dust, a watch in the night, a flash-flood, and a blade of grass. These are pictures of brevity, underscoring our need to make the most of the present moment. “When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept. When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked. When I became a full-grown man, time ran. And later as I older grew, time flew. Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone.” The words of the Psalmist remind us that the eternal God has existed from everlasting to everlasting, from the vanishing point to the vanishing point. In light of the fact that we have three score and 10 (70) or if we are lucky four score (80) years and in light of the fact that those are filled with labor and sorrow and will pass as the morning mist we need to learn to number our days and give ourselves to wisdom. I think that the words of Moses tell us that life is short and that its brevity is due to our own sinfulness many times.
These verses can be terrifying, especially to those who do not have God as a point of reference. The beauty found in all of this for the believer is that God’s wrath does not fall on those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 5:1). Moses said, "So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely." Let us not waste time needlessly like the children of Israel in their wanderings. Let us be aware of how few our days really are and how we must live in the present moment. Maybe that’s what Jim Elliot meant when he wrote: “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." (Swindoll, Growing Strong… 318)
Chuck Swindoll gives us the testimony of an anonymous friar in a Nebraska monastery, written in a letter in his latter years. He said some surprising things, admitting the need for being in the present moment. (Remember, he lived an entire life of rigorous self-discipline in such a way that he felt he’d been cheated out of his present moments. “If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax, I would limber up, and I would be sillier than I have been this trip… I would be crazier. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. I would do more walking and looking. I would eat more ice cream and less beans… You see, I’m one of those people who lives…sensibly hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day. I’ve been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute. If I had to do it over again I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have. If I had my life to live over I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. (Swindoll, …).
Life is beautiful, even more beautiful for its brevity, because Jesus Christ came that we might life and have it abundantly. He makes this life, and beyond, very beautiful beyond compare.
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8LP-sZZWxU
Weekly: Saturday Evening Worship Service
To be held at: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinney Avenue
Endicott, New York
The Worship service is sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist Church
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, NY
An evening worship services will be held on Saturday September 25, 2010 at 6:30 PM. Rev. Brown Naik will preaching. "A Touch of Christ" will lead in praise and worship. Ministry for the youth and children will be provided. We will gather for coffee and fellowship at 6 PM. The public is invited to join us. For information call: (607)-748-6329 or (607)-427-9098.
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