Brown's Daily Word 3/18/11

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this Fabulous Friday. Sunday is coming very soon. Praise the Lord for the way He places before us an open door to come before Him in corporate worship, witness and fellowship. We get a thrill by worshipping the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
Those of you live in the area join us for weekly TV outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable 4. One of our ministry teams will be preparing a meal and serving the needy tomorrow at noon at the First UMC. We will gather for our Saturday Evening worship, starting with fellowship tomorrow at 6 PM at the First UMC, Endicott. We will gather for worship on Sunday morning at 8:30 and 11:00 at the Union center UMC and at 9.30 AM at Wesley UMC, Endicott.
Today I will be conducting a service of death and resurrection for Myrtle Shamp. Myrtle was born in 1919. She and her husband Walter had celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary this past Christmas day.
During this Lenten season we focus on our sin and the forgiveness that our Lord demonstrated at the cross. We become more like Christ when demonstrate a life of grace and forgiveness. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:43-45
Being a person of grace, mercy, and forgiveness is to take on the loving nature of Christ our Lord and Savior. Jesus made it very clear that God does not just bless those who are good; he does good even to those who are not. All people have the blessing of life and the good things available in this life. Amazing are the many people who do not seem to be affected by God’s goodness and do not understand it or recognize it. Nevertheless, God is good to them. If they treat him well, he blesses them. If they do not treat him well, he blesses them. And we are to model the character of Jesus if He indeed lives in us.
Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:46-48
Do not wait until you feel like you have love for someone. Love is not a feeling, it is an action. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”
There was an amazing story recently that took place among the rioting in Egypt. (As a backdrop remember that on New Year’s Day of this year there was a suicide bombing of a Christian church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, which killed 23 Christians, and wounded 97 others. And another incident took place days later when three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers, in the southern Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi, killing at least seven people as they left a midnight service.) In spite of these events something unexpected and dramatic took place during the Egyptian riots against the government. Government soldiers and police where everywhere, and many had been killed or beaten. The Muslim time for prayer came, and as these Muslims knelt for prayer, with their faces to the ground, they were vulnerable and susceptible to attack by government soldiers. Dramatically, Christians began to surround the praying Muslims. They held hands and faced outward in a large circle to protect these men, even though they may have been their enemies and may have inflicted a great deal of harm on themselves or their fellow Christians. The reporter covering the story posted a picture of the Christians holding hands in a circle on Twitter and stated, “Bear in mind that this picture was taken a month after the Alexandria bombing where many Christians died in vain.”
Perhaps there were those among the men praying who cheered the bombing of the church. Perhaps there were even collaborators, but the Christians there did not take justice into their own hands; they left justice to God. They were following the Scripture which says, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:19-21
In 1999, Australian missionary Dr Graham Stains and his two young sons were burned death by Hindu radicals in Orissa, India. After the the murder of her husband and sons Mrs Stains forgave those who had committed the crime and stayed in Orissa to serve the Lord. The Australian Government bestowed on Mrs Stains the highest honor that is offered by the State on one of their citizens.
During the persecution of Christians in Orissa in 2008, over 100 people were murdered, hacked or burned to death. The families of the martyrs have forgiven the Hindu radicals. They have not taken revenge, but left room for God to work, and by so doing may have done more to stop the cycle of violence than all the legislation and intervention of global powers. They did what Jesus had shown them by example. They were followers of the Lamb.

In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP4JSVMBdZg


Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church. Endicott
53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott.
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott


Saturday March 19, 2011
6PM Coffee Fellowship

6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Rev. Brown Naik