Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is Friday now and Sunday is coming. Pray for our weekly TV out reach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Channel 4. One of our Ministry teams will prepare and serve a meal tomorrow at 12 noon at the First UMC Endicott and we will meet there again for Saturday Evening worship. I will be preaching and Laureen will be bringing special worship music.
This coming Sunday is Father's Day. Let us look at a dad who is briefly mentioned in the Gospels, a man named Jairus, who was deeply concerned about his daughter, a father with a sense of urgency.
Jairus was a prominent leader of the synagogue and a respected member of the community.. Jairus was a man of importance, yet he humbly knelt before Jesus. Jairus was a religious leader, but he was first and foremost a father. We don’t know his daughter’s name; we do know she was his only daughter. We don’t know what she thought about her father, but I think she came to know that faith was important to her dad. What we need today are fathers who bring Jesus to their home.
Though Jesus often at odds with the religious leaders, He was pleased to help this distraught father. Religious leaders often assaulted Jesus with theological arguments, but this leader came with a broken heart. Nothing is harder in life than seeing your child suffer. It was a risky thing for Jairus to approach Jesus, knowing how unpopular Jesus was with the Pharisees. In spite of this, Jairus put the welfare of his daughter in the hands of Jesus without reservation. He put his reputation on the line as well. He didn’t come at night, as Nicodemus had done, but in full view of the public. He could have sent a servant to find Jesus, but he came himself. Some things are too important to delegate.
Before Jairus could get Jesus to the child, Jesus was interrupted by a woman desperate for healing. Because of hemorrhaging, she was regarded as ceremonially unclean and unable to worship in the synagogue. She couldn’t even touch other people or they would become defiled. She was cut off from normal relations with others and apparently cut off from God. She was seen by many doctors and spent considerable money for treatments, but her condition was incurable. Even today we understand the limitations of medical science. In contrast to the physicians of the world we see here the capability of the Great Physician.
During this unscheduled healing Jairus was likely wishing Jesus would hurry up and share his sense of urgency. As they got closer to home, he was feeling a (short-lived) sense of relief. His optimism was dashed by blunt words from a messenger: “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” Jairus must have felt at that awful moment the death of his hopes and dreams, and perhaps some resentment toward the sick woman who briefly interrupted them. Perhaps Jairus blamed himself for not coming to Jesus sooner. It didn’t help having the mourners laugh at Jesus when He claimed the girl was asleep. These mourners likely were angry at Jesus because He was not weeping with them, which they misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the family. They had no idea that life was about to triumph over death. Jesus ignored the mourners; He encouraged Jairus to “fear not, only believe.” It is possible to overcome fear, even in the face of death. If faith can cast out fear in the worst-case scenario that we can face, then faith can eliminate fear for any situation.
Jesus was not suggesting that the girl wasn’t dead, but that her death wasn’t permanent; she would be awakened from death by His miraculous power. There’s no doubt that the girl was dead because mourners were present. Jesus alluded to what He intended to do, to raise the girl up, as if she were merely sleeping. “Sleep” was a common word, a euphemism, for death in Bible times. Paul used the word “sleep” to describe death in I Corinthians 15, the Resurrection Chapter of the Bible.
Speaking the girl’s native Aramaic language, with authority and tenderness Jesus took her by the hand and she returned to life. Touching a dead body was another means of becoming ritually unclean, but in both miracles, Jesus turned what is unclean into wholeness; He overcame death and defilement. According to Jewish Law, if someone clean touches something unclean, then the person who was clean becomes defiled. It was not so with Jesus. He restored the girl, alive and well, to her parents. Because of her fatal illness, she had been unable to eat for some time, and Jesus knew she was in need of food. The mourners were astonished. The funeral plans were canceled.
What do we take from these two miracles? The compassion of Jesus should reassure us that He is never too busy with the rest of the world to care for us individually. Sometimes God’s delay brings a greater demonstration of His power, so we should never give up. The answer to fear is faith. When we’re tempted to question why God is taking so long to answer our prayers, we should remember our Lord’s delayed visit to Jairus’ home.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/bDjwUzUnNpU
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-16-11
Praise the Lord for this good day, a gift from the Lord. He blessed us with a beautiful Wednesday gathering for fellowship and study and sharing. It is going to be another brilliant day. When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
"May Jesus Christ be praised! Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair: May Jesus Christ be praised!"
Philip Yancey, in his book What’s So Amazing About Grace?, told the following story: “A vagrant lives near the Fulton Fish Market on the lower east side of Manhattan. The slimy smell of fish carcasses and entrails nearly overpowers him, and he hates the trucks that noisily arrive before sunrise. But midtown gets crowded, and the cops harass him there. Down by the wharves nobody bothers with a grizzled man who keeps to himself and sleeps on a loading dock behind a Dumpster.
“Early one morning when the workers are slinging eel and halibut off the trucks, yelling to each other in Italian, the vagrant rouses himself and pokes through the Dumpsters behind the tourist restaurants. An early start guarantees good pickings: last night’s uneaten garlic bread and French fries, nibbled pizza, a wedge of cheesecake. He eats what he can stomach and stuffs the rest in a brown paper sack. The bottles and cans he stashes in plastic bags in his rusty shopping cart.
“The morning sun, pale through harbor fog, finally makes it over the buildings by the wharf. When he sees the ticket from last week’s lottery lying in a pile of wilted lettuce, he almost lets it go. But by force of habit he picks it up and jams it in his pocket. In the old days, when luck was better, he used to buy one ticket a week, never more. It’s past noon when he remembers the ticket stub and holds it up to the newspaper box to compare the numbers. Three numbers match, the fourth, the fifth_all seven! It can’t be true. Things like that don’t happen to him. Bums don’t win the New York Lottery.
“But it is true. Later that day he is squinting into the bright lights as television crews present the newest media darling, the unshaven, baggy pants vagrant who will receive $243,000 per year for the next twenty years. A chic-looking woman wearing a leather miniskirt shoves a microphone in his face and asks, “How do you feel?” He stares back dazed, and catches a whiff of her perfume. It has been a long time, a very long time, since anyone has asked him that question. “He feels like a man who has been to the edge of starvation and back, and is beginning to fathom that he’ll never feel hunger again.”
What did that beggar to do deserve receiving several million dollars? Absolutely nothing! He had not even bought the winning ticket. All he did was pick it up and cash it in to receive his prize. Someone else had thrown it away as though it was useless, but he saw its potential worth. He had not worked for a long time. He did not earn the money. The check was given to him as a free gift, without conditions. He did not have a job or an education. He did not have to do anything but accept the check.
Having a relationship with God does not depend on how well we do or how perfect we are. It is based solely on the mercy and grace of God. This is good news for us failures. We read in the book of Titus: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4=5). Here is the unique message of the Christian faith. As it says in 2 Corinthians: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This frees us from guilt and legalistic perfectionism. We understand that we can never be perfect and that our relationship with God is based solely on grace. T he Bible says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Phil Yancey wrote, “Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more.... And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.” The guilt and condemnation are gone and a settled peace comes upon our hearts as we realize we don’t have to do anything to gain God’s acceptance — we already have it. Our relationship with God is not based on how good we are, but on the character of a gracious and forgiving God who loves us more than we can ever understand.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/NoPlwPUYWaw
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
"May Jesus Christ be praised! Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair: May Jesus Christ be praised!"
Philip Yancey, in his book What’s So Amazing About Grace?, told the following story: “A vagrant lives near the Fulton Fish Market on the lower east side of Manhattan. The slimy smell of fish carcasses and entrails nearly overpowers him, and he hates the trucks that noisily arrive before sunrise. But midtown gets crowded, and the cops harass him there. Down by the wharves nobody bothers with a grizzled man who keeps to himself and sleeps on a loading dock behind a Dumpster.
“Early one morning when the workers are slinging eel and halibut off the trucks, yelling to each other in Italian, the vagrant rouses himself and pokes through the Dumpsters behind the tourist restaurants. An early start guarantees good pickings: last night’s uneaten garlic bread and French fries, nibbled pizza, a wedge of cheesecake. He eats what he can stomach and stuffs the rest in a brown paper sack. The bottles and cans he stashes in plastic bags in his rusty shopping cart.
“The morning sun, pale through harbor fog, finally makes it over the buildings by the wharf. When he sees the ticket from last week’s lottery lying in a pile of wilted lettuce, he almost lets it go. But by force of habit he picks it up and jams it in his pocket. In the old days, when luck was better, he used to buy one ticket a week, never more. It’s past noon when he remembers the ticket stub and holds it up to the newspaper box to compare the numbers. Three numbers match, the fourth, the fifth_all seven! It can’t be true. Things like that don’t happen to him. Bums don’t win the New York Lottery.
“But it is true. Later that day he is squinting into the bright lights as television crews present the newest media darling, the unshaven, baggy pants vagrant who will receive $243,000 per year for the next twenty years. A chic-looking woman wearing a leather miniskirt shoves a microphone in his face and asks, “How do you feel?” He stares back dazed, and catches a whiff of her perfume. It has been a long time, a very long time, since anyone has asked him that question. “He feels like a man who has been to the edge of starvation and back, and is beginning to fathom that he’ll never feel hunger again.”
What did that beggar to do deserve receiving several million dollars? Absolutely nothing! He had not even bought the winning ticket. All he did was pick it up and cash it in to receive his prize. Someone else had thrown it away as though it was useless, but he saw its potential worth. He had not worked for a long time. He did not earn the money. The check was given to him as a free gift, without conditions. He did not have a job or an education. He did not have to do anything but accept the check.
Having a relationship with God does not depend on how well we do or how perfect we are. It is based solely on the mercy and grace of God. This is good news for us failures. We read in the book of Titus: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4=5). Here is the unique message of the Christian faith. As it says in 2 Corinthians: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This frees us from guilt and legalistic perfectionism. We understand that we can never be perfect and that our relationship with God is based solely on grace. T he Bible says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
Phil Yancey wrote, “Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more.... And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.” The guilt and condemnation are gone and a settled peace comes upon our hearts as we realize we don’t have to do anything to gain God’s acceptance — we already have it. Our relationship with God is not based on how good we are, but on the character of a gracious and forgiving God who loves us more than we can ever understand.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/NoPlwPUYWaw
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
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-15-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be one of the brilliant days of spring. We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study, beginning at 6 PM.
Some time ago I read about Erik Weihenmayer. I saw his picture on a bill board. At the age of 33, Erik Weihenmayer is a phenomenal athlete who loves to skydive, snow ski and climb mountains. Mountain climbing is his specialty. As a matter of fact, he is on track to be one of the youngest to climb all of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the continents. In 1995 he scaled Mt. McKinley, in 1996 El Capitan, in 1998 Mt. Kilamanjaro. In 1999 he climbed Argentina’s Aconcauga. On May 25, 2001 he reached the summit of Mount Everest, a peak that 90% of those who begin to climb never finish. Since 1953, 165 people have died trying to climb Everest, but Erik made it. Now that is an extremely significant feat, but you don’t know the half of it. Weihenmayer suffers from a degenerative eye disease, and when he was 13 he became totally blind. All of his climbs have been without the benefit of his eyesight. Weihenmayer is a blind mountain-climber!
How is that possible? How can a guy who can’t see climb the highest peaks in the world? If you were to ask him, he would freely tell you that he has learned to listen well.
- He listens as a bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him shows him which way to go.
- He listens to his climbing partners who shout back to him, "Death fall two feet to your right!" so he knows what direction not to go.
- He listens to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he knows whether his footing will be secure or not.
For Erik Weihenmayer, being a good listener is a matter of life and death. (source: www.touchthetop.com)
According to the Word of God, as it is recorded in James 1 James, the same is true for every one of us too. Listening, I mean really paying attention, to God's Word is the only way any of us is able to follow the pathway that God has opened up for us. We are challenged to take faith in Christ seriously enough that it changes our behavior. James was addressing Christian people here, saying that we have to be willing to listen to what God says to us and then modify our behavior to conform our will to God’s will. In order to do that, we have to do 3 things, Hear God’s Word, Accept God’s Word, and then Do God’s Word.
We need to be listening for the Word of God in the same way that Erik Weihenmayer listens for those bells, the warnings from his fellow climbers, and the sound of that pick in the ice. We need to be listening as if our life depends on it, because it does! In Exodus there is an account of when Moses was able to enter into the presence of God. It says that his countenance was changed. You might say he glowed from experiencing the presence of God. When he came back among the people he wore a veil to hide the fact that the glow was growing dimmer.
In 2 Corinthians Paul reminds us of that occurrence and then He tells us that if we hear, accept and do the will of God, a supernatural transformation occurs in our lives. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul wrote, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/sv55FMjeMV0
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
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is going to be one of the brilliant days of spring. We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and Bible study, beginning at 6 PM.
Some time ago I read about Erik Weihenmayer. I saw his picture on a bill board. At the age of 33, Erik Weihenmayer is a phenomenal athlete who loves to skydive, snow ski and climb mountains. Mountain climbing is his specialty. As a matter of fact, he is on track to be one of the youngest to climb all of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the continents. In 1995 he scaled Mt. McKinley, in 1996 El Capitan, in 1998 Mt. Kilamanjaro. In 1999 he climbed Argentina’s Aconcauga. On May 25, 2001 he reached the summit of Mount Everest, a peak that 90% of those who begin to climb never finish. Since 1953, 165 people have died trying to climb Everest, but Erik made it. Now that is an extremely significant feat, but you don’t know the half of it. Weihenmayer suffers from a degenerative eye disease, and when he was 13 he became totally blind. All of his climbs have been without the benefit of his eyesight. Weihenmayer is a blind mountain-climber!
How is that possible? How can a guy who can’t see climb the highest peaks in the world? If you were to ask him, he would freely tell you that he has learned to listen well.
- He listens as a bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him shows him which way to go.
- He listens to his climbing partners who shout back to him, "Death fall two feet to your right!" so he knows what direction not to go.
- He listens to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he knows whether his footing will be secure or not.
For Erik Weihenmayer, being a good listener is a matter of life and death. (source: www.touchthetop.com)
According to the Word of God, as it is recorded in James 1 James, the same is true for every one of us too. Listening, I mean really paying attention, to God's Word is the only way any of us is able to follow the pathway that God has opened up for us. We are challenged to take faith in Christ seriously enough that it changes our behavior. James was addressing Christian people here, saying that we have to be willing to listen to what God says to us and then modify our behavior to conform our will to God’s will. In order to do that, we have to do 3 things, Hear God’s Word, Accept God’s Word, and then Do God’s Word.
We need to be listening for the Word of God in the same way that Erik Weihenmayer listens for those bells, the warnings from his fellow climbers, and the sound of that pick in the ice. We need to be listening as if our life depends on it, because it does! In Exodus there is an account of when Moses was able to enter into the presence of God. It says that his countenance was changed. You might say he glowed from experiencing the presence of God. When he came back among the people he wore a veil to hide the fact that the glow was growing dimmer.
In 2 Corinthians Paul reminds us of that occurrence and then He tells us that if we hear, accept and do the will of God, a supernatural transformation occurs in our lives. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul wrote, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/sv55FMjeMV0
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
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-14-11
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
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
Monday, June 13, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-13-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with a full and a very blessed weekend of witness, worship, and fellowship. The worship yesterday was led by the seniors, the " Keen Agers". It was a time of testimonies and telling of the story of a life in Jesus Christ.
Alice and I walked over three miles last evening before sunset in one of the beautiful parks of Broome County. We came across a large flock of Canadian Geese grazing by the pond and the riverside. We saw two sets of goslings learning to graze by their mothers,. They looked unhurried and unafraid. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Praise the Lord for the way He cares for the birds of the air and the fowl of the fields.
I attended the Annual Conference of our Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church that was held in Rochester this past week. The Upper New York Conference is comprised of 12 districts with 973 churches. The membership of the conference stands at 185,000. Dr. Marcus Mathews is our Bishop, who loves the Lord and who leads the conference with passion for Jesus and the passion for winning people for Jesus Christ. He has challenged the conference to win people for Jesus Christ, making Disciples For Christ. It was reported during the conference that 2,434 new believers were added to the churches across the conference since January of this year. Over 2000 delegates attended the conference.
Highlights of the conference were the times of worship and the Bible Study led by Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey, of South Carolina. Another high light of the conference was the music by Choir of the African University, a United Methodist University that is located in Zimbabwe. The music was anointed and powerful.
Yesterday was the Day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples, giving birth to the Church, which has been under the same management for last 2000 years.
John Wimber was a product of the Jesus movement in the 60’s. He met Christ in a dramatic way, and began reading the New Testament, beginning with the Gospels and then on to the book of Acts. He was excited about what he was reading, but when he went to a church he was disillusioned. The polite and tidy service was over exactly on time. Wimber looked at some of the people around him and said: “When are you gonna do the stuff?” “What stuff?” they wanted to know. He said, “You know. . . the stuff!” He had been reading about the conversions, healings, deliverance and other miracles that took place in the early church recorded the book of Acts. But, instead of signs and wonders, he saw no sign of anything that would make him wonder, except the deadness of the ritual he had just sat through.
The church today needs to discover once again that we have an unchanging Saviour and an unchanging kingdom. We need once again to discover the power of Pentecost. We need to become a Pentecostal church — and I am not talking about a denomination — I am talking about an Acts 2 church. We need to be filled with the Spirit. We need to be operating in the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see people’s lives turned around. We need to see people healed physically, emotionally, relationally, socially, and spiritually. We need to experience the unity of the Spirit as the early church did. We need to be living in genuine love for each other, and when we fail at that then we need to seek reconciliation. We need to have the fire fall and the people of God to rise up.
Rick Kirchoff has said, “When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens. Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna’ have church. So be ready, get ready. . . God is up to something. . . discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks ‘fess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up.”
Pentecostal power comes when we realize that the Christian life is not about keeping rules, but about knowing Christ. Being a Christian is not just doing the right thing or believing the right doctrines; it is knowing the right person. It is not about being a member of the church or reciting creeds. It is not about baptism or communion, although those are important parts of our life together. It is about surrendering my life, my body, my mind, and my heart to Jesus Christ and asking him to take up residence in me. It is about confessing my sin and turning from it. It is about banking everything I have and am on God and loving him with my whole heart.
The Christian faith is not a feeling. It is a reality. It is a real relationship with a real person — Jesus Christ. Christianity is about the most powerful and wonderful person in the universe who loves us intimately. This experience is not tame; it is wild and powerful. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).
The Christian life is not just about salvation, but transformation. Pentecostal power comes when we overcome apathy with zeal. If we are experiencing Pentecostal power then it is impossible to be apathetic toward the things of God and his kingdom. A true transformation results in a transformation of the heart that loves God and desires to know him better every day. When we are delivered from the bondage of sin and ushered into the kingdom of God, where there is true freedom, we delight in the things of the Lord.
The more we know the Rise Lord, the more we will love him, and the more excited we will be about the his kingdom. The more we love him, the more we will want others to know him. The more we experience his presence and power, the more of it we want. This is the way to live. We have been forgiven. We have inherited eternal life. We have experienced eternal love. We are holding nothing back because we have discovered life. We have found the pearl of great price, and it is worth more than everything else we have seen or possessed. Because of this we are excited about life and we are excited about the wonderful God we serve. The Bible says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, New Living). The apostle Paul did this, for he wrote, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/NMAjC7NaItA
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 , 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Brown Naik
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with a full and a very blessed weekend of witness, worship, and fellowship. The worship yesterday was led by the seniors, the " Keen Agers". It was a time of testimonies and telling of the story of a life in Jesus Christ.
Alice and I walked over three miles last evening before sunset in one of the beautiful parks of Broome County. We came across a large flock of Canadian Geese grazing by the pond and the riverside. We saw two sets of goslings learning to graze by their mothers,. They looked unhurried and unafraid. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Praise the Lord for the way He cares for the birds of the air and the fowl of the fields.
I attended the Annual Conference of our Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church that was held in Rochester this past week. The Upper New York Conference is comprised of 12 districts with 973 churches. The membership of the conference stands at 185,000. Dr. Marcus Mathews is our Bishop, who loves the Lord and who leads the conference with passion for Jesus and the passion for winning people for Jesus Christ. He has challenged the conference to win people for Jesus Christ, making Disciples For Christ. It was reported during the conference that 2,434 new believers were added to the churches across the conference since January of this year. Over 2000 delegates attended the conference.
Highlights of the conference were the times of worship and the Bible Study led by Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey, of South Carolina. Another high light of the conference was the music by Choir of the African University, a United Methodist University that is located in Zimbabwe. The music was anointed and powerful.
Yesterday was the Day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples, giving birth to the Church, which has been under the same management for last 2000 years.
John Wimber was a product of the Jesus movement in the 60’s. He met Christ in a dramatic way, and began reading the New Testament, beginning with the Gospels and then on to the book of Acts. He was excited about what he was reading, but when he went to a church he was disillusioned. The polite and tidy service was over exactly on time. Wimber looked at some of the people around him and said: “When are you gonna do the stuff?” “What stuff?” they wanted to know. He said, “You know. . . the stuff!” He had been reading about the conversions, healings, deliverance and other miracles that took place in the early church recorded the book of Acts. But, instead of signs and wonders, he saw no sign of anything that would make him wonder, except the deadness of the ritual he had just sat through.
The church today needs to discover once again that we have an unchanging Saviour and an unchanging kingdom. We need once again to discover the power of Pentecost. We need to become a Pentecostal church — and I am not talking about a denomination — I am talking about an Acts 2 church. We need to be filled with the Spirit. We need to be operating in the gifts of the Spirit. We need to see people’s lives turned around. We need to see people healed physically, emotionally, relationally, socially, and spiritually. We need to experience the unity of the Spirit as the early church did. We need to be living in genuine love for each other, and when we fail at that then we need to seek reconciliation. We need to have the fire fall and the people of God to rise up.
Rick Kirchoff has said, “When God sends forth the Spirit amazing things happen: barriers are broken, communities are formed, opposites are reconciled, unity is established, disease is cured, addiction is broken, cities are renewed, races are reconciled, hope is established, people are blessed, and church happens. Today the Spirit of God is present and we’re gonna’ have church. So be ready, get ready. . . God is up to something. . . discouraged folks cheer up, dishonest folks ‘fess up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, dry bones shake up, and pew potatoes stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior of all the world is lifted up.”
Pentecostal power comes when we realize that the Christian life is not about keeping rules, but about knowing Christ. Being a Christian is not just doing the right thing or believing the right doctrines; it is knowing the right person. It is not about being a member of the church or reciting creeds. It is not about baptism or communion, although those are important parts of our life together. It is about surrendering my life, my body, my mind, and my heart to Jesus Christ and asking him to take up residence in me. It is about confessing my sin and turning from it. It is about banking everything I have and am on God and loving him with my whole heart.
The Christian faith is not a feeling. It is a reality. It is a real relationship with a real person — Jesus Christ. Christianity is about the most powerful and wonderful person in the universe who loves us intimately. This experience is not tame; it is wild and powerful. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).
The Christian life is not just about salvation, but transformation. Pentecostal power comes when we overcome apathy with zeal. If we are experiencing Pentecostal power then it is impossible to be apathetic toward the things of God and his kingdom. A true transformation results in a transformation of the heart that loves God and desires to know him better every day. When we are delivered from the bondage of sin and ushered into the kingdom of God, where there is true freedom, we delight in the things of the Lord.
The more we know the Rise Lord, the more we will love him, and the more excited we will be about the his kingdom. The more we love him, the more we will want others to know him. The more we experience his presence and power, the more of it we want. This is the way to live. We have been forgiven. We have inherited eternal life. We have experienced eternal love. We are holding nothing back because we have discovered life. We have found the pearl of great price, and it is worth more than everything else we have seen or possessed. Because of this we are excited about life and we are excited about the wonderful God we serve. The Bible says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, New Living). The apostle Paul did this, for he wrote, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/NMAjC7NaItA
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 , 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Laureen Naik
Speaker: Brown Naik
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