Brown's Daily Word 9-8-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for the sizzling days of summer. I was able to barbeque lots of chicken for Labor Day. Somebody built me a very rudimentary barbeque pit made with concrete blocks. Someone else provided me with lots of firewood. I no longer use charcoal or gas for barbeque. I used very seasoned wood for cooking the chicken. It was great. It was also wonderful spending time with friends and family. As the summer comes to close people are returning home with their boats and campers.
I love to go to the beach. When I was in 10th grade a classmate of mine and I rode one bike 90 miles one way to got to the beach. When I saw the ocean for the first time I was blown away. The waves, coming one upon another, are an amazing spectacle. Our Lord Jesus spent much of His time by the Sea of Galilee. The Gospels record the miracle of of Jesus walking on the water - Mathew 14.. Life is often a storm, and Jesus asks us to get out of the relative safety of the boat and to join him in doing what he is doing even though there’s a storm raging on! There are a few quiet moments in life, but quite often life is one crisis after another, and it is within the crises of life that Jesus that calls us to join him.
Peter joined Jesus on the sea and, though he saw that Jesus was in the midst of the storm, Peter began to walk toward Him. Then Peter made a major mistake. He “looked around at the high waves” and fixed his eyes on them. Henry Blackaby, the author of Experiencing God, says that even when Jesus does call us to join him where he is and to do what he is doing we will experience a crisis of faith. A crisis of faith is the feeling that the obstacles and problems of life are more powerful than the One who told us to join him in the water. Peter had such a crisis of faith.
The tragedy of the crisis of faith is that we take our eyes of Jesus, and when we take our eyes off Jesus all that we can see are the waves, and there are waves all around us. Neither you nor I are a match for the storm waves of life if our eyes are not fixed on Jesus. We cannot fix our sight on more than one thing at a time, and we cannot focus on Jesus if we are focused on the tidal wave! But Jesus is the lifeline, the one who gave Peter the ability to walk on the water. He is the one who gives us the strength and courage to join him in what he is doing. When we take our eyes off Jesus we will begin to sink; our problems and crises will overwhelm us and keep us from joining Jesus where he is and in doing what Jesus wants us to do.
Even though Peter took his eyes off Jesus, Jesus never took his eyes off Peter so, when Peter began to sink and drown, Jesus immediately grabbed Peter’s hand and pull him into the safety of the boat. At one time or another, we are going to take our eyes off of Jesus. There is no doubt that we too will go through some crisis of faith that causes us to take our eyes off Jesus, but Jesus will not take his eyes off us! If Jesus calls us to join him, Jesus will not let the wind and waves of crisis get the better of us! Jesus is quick to save us even if we have a lapse in our faith in him!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP4GFr0Idwk

Saturday Evening Worship Services.

Every Saturday at 6:30 PM
Beginning Saturday, September 18, 2010
Location: First United Methodist Church,
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott, New York.
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church.
Pastor: Rev. Brown Naik

The first of our Saturday evening worship services will be held on Saturday September 18, 2010 at 6:30 PM, with Rev. Earle Cowden will preaching. The Worship and Praise Band from Davis College will be leading in worship. Ministry for the youth and the children will be provided. The public is invited to join us. For information call: 607-748-6329. 607-427-9098
Saturday , September 25, 2010
6 PM Gathering for Coffee and Refreshments
6.30 PM Worship Service
Special Music by " A Touch of Christ"
Message by Brown Naik