Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. One of my favorite verses is taken from II Timothy 1:7. The Bible is full of “fear-nots”, but I like this verse because it was written to a young man, Timothy, who was a young pastor at the church of Ephesus. The Apostle Paul was his mentor. Paul encouraged Timothy in the first letter to not let others intimidate him because of his young age. Timothy was afraid of being inadequate as a young pastor. He lacked self-confidence. In this second letter to Timothy, Paul reminded Timothy that any cowardice in his life did not come from God’s Spirit.
The Risen Lord did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. When we trusted Jesus as Savior the Holy Spirit of God took up residence in our life and now provides the continuous comfort that we need to eliminate our fears. With the Lord in control we can face our fears. He gives us the ability to do what life demands, to love when others hate, and to be under control when others throw restraint to the winds.
Max Lucado has said, “Fear doesn’t want you to make the journey to the mountain. If he can rattle you enough, fear will persuade you to take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in the flatlands.”
The book of Hebrews was written to Christians who were struggling in their faith. They were wavering in their devotion to Christ because they were going through some hard times. The writer encourages the saints to not give up, that others have been victorious and so can we. Hebrews 12:1-3 addresses them, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (Listen up! Hear their voices), we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, (Lighten up! Clear out the clutter) and run with endurance the race set out for us, (Following your faith is not a game. Some endurance is required.) keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, (Look up! If you’re going to run this race and win, this is your reference point!] the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Hebrew writer establishes that all runners need a reference point in running a race. People in a spiritual race or on this spiritual journey also need a reference point. On day six of the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction. If they failed, they might never return to Earth. To conserve power, they shut down the onboard computer that steered the craft. Yet the astronauts needed to conduct a thirty-nine-second burn of the main engines. How were they to steer? Astronaut Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in space in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination--Earth. As shown in 1995’s hit movie, Apollo 13, for thirty-nine agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. By not losing sight of that reference point, the three astronauts avoided disaster. Scripture reminds us that to finish your life mission successfully, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/7_A-faZXGjM
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday,June 18 7, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Brown Naik
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