Good morning,
Praise be to Jesus for this new day full of His promises full of His fresh grace. Those of you live in the area, please join us for our weekly Television outreach this evening on Time Warner Cable channel 4 at 7 PM. Plan to gather to worship the Living Lord where ever you might be this coming Lord's day. Satan trembles when the saints of Jesus gather with grateful hearts to declare that Salvation belongs to our God, who is upon the throne.
We will have a service of Death and Resurrection for Edward Hower who entered the Church Triumphant yesterday. This service will be held on Monday, November 7, 2011 at 11 AM at the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128 Maple Drive, Endicott. This is the church that Ed Hower loved and served the Lord from.
Ed Hower lived a life of humility, simplicity and deep joy. though he had some health concerns. He did not let his health concerns imprison him or confine him in any fashion. He was free to serve the Lord with selflessness, and self-forgetfulness. He had a heart of obedience to to Jesus.
As Paul wrote the book of Philippians he was imprisoned. Life wasn’t easy at that point in time, yet the book of Philippians is known as the “epistle of joy”. I am sure it was quite a temptation for Paul to sit in jail and make comparisons. He may have thought about his other preacher friends who were free still to go about and preach, or he may have looked at his guards and envied their freedom. However, Paul did not get bogged down with comparisons. Rather, he made clear that he was content with where he was in life. That is truly significant.
We love to compare ourselves with others. We look at their cars, their houses, their things, maybe even their talents or looks and then begin to compare ourselves to them. We convince ourselves that we are as deserving as they are. Contentment, however, comes from within and not from what happens around us, or our circumstances. The truth is that we cannot always choose the circumstances, but we can choose our attitude. I cannot always choose what will happen to me, but I can choose how I will respond.
During World War II, Dr. Victor Frankl was imprisoned at Auschwitz, where he was stripped of his identity as a medical doctor and forced to work as a common laborer. His father, mother, brother, and wife died in the concentration camps. All his notes, which represented his life, were destroyed. Yet, Frankl emerged from Auschwitz believing that "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances."
A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand."
When I hear stories like that I am humbled and feel guilty that my longings are for such trivial things, when some people long for that which I have and take for granted day in and day out.
We love to compare ourselves with others. We look at their cars, their houses, their things, maybe even their talents or looks and then begin to compare ourselves to them. We convince ourselves that we are as deserving as they are. Contentment, however, comes from within and not from what happens around us, or our circumstances. The truth is that we cannot always choose the circumstances, but we can choose our attitude. I cannot always choose what will happen to me, but I can choose how I will respond.
During World War II, Dr. Victor Frankl was imprisoned at Auschwitz, where he was stripped of his identity as a medical doctor and forced to work as a common laborer. His father, mother, brother, and wife died in the concentration camps. All his notes, which represented his life, were destroyed. Yet, Frankl emerged from Auschwitz believing that "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances."
A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand."
When I hear stories like that I am humbled and feel guilty that my longings are for such trivial things, when some people long for that which I have and take for granted day in and day out.
Thou who hast given so much to me, give me one more thing... a grateful heart! George Herbert ...
In Christ,
Brown
Saturday , November 5.2011
Praise and worship service:
First United Methodist Church , Endicott
Sponsored by Union Center UMC
6PM Gathering- Coffeee- Fellowship
6.30PM Worship
Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Rev William Turner
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