Good morning,
Praise the Lord it is Friday. Sunday is coming.
Pray for our weekly Television outreach this evening on Time Warner Cable Channel 4 at 7 PM. In tonight's broadcast I am sharing about the Biblical Witness to Marriage as between one man and one woman. God ordained marriage. God made Adam and Eve (not Adam and Steve) and joined them in the bond of marriage. It is the Lord God who gave the bride away for the first time. Adam said, "This at last is the bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman". When Adam and Eve sinned and disobeyed the Lord God, he did not condemn them, but He made the provision for their redemption in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus who came that we might have life performed His first miracle at a wedding reception in Cana of Galilee. In our Marriege covenant we declare, "Which Holy estate Christ adorned and beautified by His presence in Cana of Galilee.
God, revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ does not condone the practice of Homosexuality. He does not condone marriage beteen man and man or between two women. Jesus loves all the sinners alike, including me, but He never blesses sin. The official position of the our United Methodist Churchon the homosexual marriage is: the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching. There is a great pressure on State law makers to legalize gay marriage. The States might legalize gay marriage, but it is never moral and righteous before eyes of the Lord who is Holy and Righteous. He is mighty and merciful. May the Lord save us from blatant sinful practices and blatant rebellion against the ways and the purposes of the Lord.
I just read the an account (Reuters) that New York lawmakers on Wednesday ( 06.22.2011) gave final approval to a bid by daredevil Nik Wallenda to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope. On June 30, 1859, a man by the name of Charles Blondin (1824-1897) crossed Niagara Falls on a 3" rope that was stretched 1,100 feet (1/4 of a mile) across the falls at a height of 160 feet. Not only that but in the ensuing days he also accomplished some amazing feats while crossing the falls: he executed a backwards somersault, crossed while blindfolded, while pushing a wheelbarrow, on stilts, in the dark with Roman candles flaring from the ends of his balancing pole, on a bicycle and on one occasion he even stopped half way across and cooked an omelette on a portable stove and lowered it to a boat below him. As a finale to his great achievement he asked if anyone would be prepared to get into the wheelbarrow and be pushed across the falls. No one was prepared to put that much trust in him. Then, again over Niagara Falls, on September 15, 1860, he accomplished his most amazing feat of all. Before crossing the rope on that particular day Blondin turned to the crowd and said, "Do you believe I can carry someone across the rope on my back?" The crowd roared its approval, "Yes, we believe you can!"
Then Blondin asked for a volunteer, "Who will volunteer to climb onto my back and cross the falls?" Again the crowd remained silent, just as they did the previous year when he had asked for a volunteer to sit in the wheel barrow. He then pointed out one man standing nearby, "How about you sir?" The man said, "Hardly, you don't think I am going to risk my life like that, do you?" and he turned and walked away.
Next Blondin pointed out another man and asked the same question, "And what about you?" The man replied, "I believe. In fact, I have no doubt at all." Blondin said, "Will you trust me?" The man replied, "I will!"
The man then climbed onto the back of Charles Blondin and they headed out across the falls on their 1,100 ft walk. The crowd waited with baited breath, as they crossed the wire, and once they reached the other side they roared their approval with excited shouts of jubilation. What they didn't know was that the man who crossed on Blondin's back was Harry Colcord, his manager. You see Harry Colcord knew how good Charles Blondin was and fully trusted him. His faith was secure, as the object of his faith, Charles Blondin, was trustworthy as he had proven himself so often over the many years he had known him.
Jesus Christ in God is the object of our faith. He has proven Himself trustworthy time and time again. God created the world we live in. His son came and lived a blameless life without sin amongst us. He served and sacrificed himself, to the point of dying on the cross for our sins. Then He overcame death and arose from the dead because He was the Son of God who came in the flesh. He has power over death and power over life. He is worthy of our trust.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/g0tPs5f3lXc
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 25, 2011
6 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music: Jane Hettinger
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6/23/11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord. He is the Lord in every season and He is the Lord of every season. The High School seniors will be graduating this coming Saturday. It is a great time of excitement and challenge. The children of some young couples I married are graduating this year. Some of the children I baptized are graduating this year. May Jesus bless them all with zeal and wisdom. I graduated from high school in 1964. All my High School classmates have retired back in India. They ask me when I will be retiring, but it is my earnest desire to keep on serving the Lord as long as He gives me the strength and favor.
Whenever I read about the life and the witness of Caleb, I get excited. Caleb had been promised a piece of property forty five years earlier. Since that promise, he spent forty years wandering in the wilderness with a bunch of dissatisfied, unfaithful, whining people. Then, under Joshua’s leadership, Caleb, at 85 years old, had spent the past five years fighting as a soldier against the Canaanite kingdoms. Even after 45 years, he still held onto God’s promise. He said, “I remember God’s promise to me, now give me this hill country!” He never let go of that promise – that’s what the Bible calls persistence; the spirit of expectancy.
Caleb teaches us to never give up on God or His promises.
Both Joshua and Caleb were old, but God reminded them that He wasn’t through with them. In Joshua 13:1 we read, “When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the Lord said to him, "You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” God needed a couple of octogenarians to seal the deal. You’d expect Him to say, “You’ve done a good job; take a rest for a while, I’ll use some of these younger guys now.” But no, God not only preserved the promise for the man, God preserved the man for the promise. Caleb was 85 years old before he ever moved into his home place. That’s an age when most people are feeling like it’s time to slow down and step aside. When you follow God wholeheartedly–you’ll never retire from serving Him!
Six times in the Old Testament we read these words describing Caleb, “He wholeheartedly followed the Lord.” In fact, Caleb’s name literally means, “Follows God like a dog.” If you aren’t following God with your whole heart, you’re only a half-hearted Christian–and half-hearted Christians are faint-hearted Christians. And often the half hearted Christians are miserable Christians.
God has called every Christian to serve Him, and if you are following God with all your heart, you’ll never retire from spiritual service. Serving the Lord is not a job; it’s a life-calling. The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare” which means “to call.” God has called all of His children to serve Him– it’s your real vocation–and you can’t take a vacation from your vocation.
Another lesson we can learn from Caleb is the lesson of courage. He had been a brave soldier at age 40, and we see he was just as courageous when he was 85. He was still ready to go out to battle. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to face your fears and to keep on moving forward. Every soldier who stormed onto the beaches of Normandy on D-Day was terrified. They weren’t fearless–but they were courageous. When you are afraid, courage keeps you moving forward. I found a good definition of courage recently: Courage is being the only one who knows how afraid you are! When you fight in God’s strength–you’ll never retreat from the enemy!
Caleb was still ready to go charging into battle when he was 85 years old. The promise was still real; it was tangible. It was not just a fantasy or a weird dream. He knew it was a God given, God birthed promise that would be hard to see come to pass. But….. it was going to be worth it! Caleb knew God wasn’t a liar so he would finish what He started!
When you follow the Lord with your whole heart, you will never back up, shut up, or give up until you are caught up to heaven!
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/c-Jkktpp9QI
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 PMDinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Praise the Lord. He is the Lord in every season and He is the Lord of every season. The High School seniors will be graduating this coming Saturday. It is a great time of excitement and challenge. The children of some young couples I married are graduating this year. Some of the children I baptized are graduating this year. May Jesus bless them all with zeal and wisdom. I graduated from high school in 1964. All my High School classmates have retired back in India. They ask me when I will be retiring, but it is my earnest desire to keep on serving the Lord as long as He gives me the strength and favor.
Whenever I read about the life and the witness of Caleb, I get excited. Caleb had been promised a piece of property forty five years earlier. Since that promise, he spent forty years wandering in the wilderness with a bunch of dissatisfied, unfaithful, whining people. Then, under Joshua’s leadership, Caleb, at 85 years old, had spent the past five years fighting as a soldier against the Canaanite kingdoms. Even after 45 years, he still held onto God’s promise. He said, “I remember God’s promise to me, now give me this hill country!” He never let go of that promise – that’s what the Bible calls persistence; the spirit of expectancy.
Caleb teaches us to never give up on God or His promises.
Both Joshua and Caleb were old, but God reminded them that He wasn’t through with them. In Joshua 13:1 we read, “When Joshua was old and well advanced in years, the Lord said to him, "You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” God needed a couple of octogenarians to seal the deal. You’d expect Him to say, “You’ve done a good job; take a rest for a while, I’ll use some of these younger guys now.” But no, God not only preserved the promise for the man, God preserved the man for the promise. Caleb was 85 years old before he ever moved into his home place. That’s an age when most people are feeling like it’s time to slow down and step aside. When you follow God wholeheartedly–you’ll never retire from serving Him!
Six times in the Old Testament we read these words describing Caleb, “He wholeheartedly followed the Lord.” In fact, Caleb’s name literally means, “Follows God like a dog.” If you aren’t following God with your whole heart, you’re only a half-hearted Christian–and half-hearted Christians are faint-hearted Christians. And often the half hearted Christians are miserable Christians.
God has called every Christian to serve Him, and if you are following God with all your heart, you’ll never retire from spiritual service. Serving the Lord is not a job; it’s a life-calling. The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare” which means “to call.” God has called all of His children to serve Him– it’s your real vocation–and you can’t take a vacation from your vocation.
Another lesson we can learn from Caleb is the lesson of courage. He had been a brave soldier at age 40, and we see he was just as courageous when he was 85. He was still ready to go out to battle. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to face your fears and to keep on moving forward. Every soldier who stormed onto the beaches of Normandy on D-Day was terrified. They weren’t fearless–but they were courageous. When you are afraid, courage keeps you moving forward. I found a good definition of courage recently: Courage is being the only one who knows how afraid you are! When you fight in God’s strength–you’ll never retreat from the enemy!
Caleb was still ready to go charging into battle when he was 85 years old. The promise was still real; it was tangible. It was not just a fantasy or a weird dream. He knew it was a God given, God birthed promise that would be hard to see come to pass. But….. it was going to be worth it! Caleb knew God wasn’t a liar so he would finish what He started!
When you follow the Lord with your whole heart, you will never back up, shut up, or give up until you are caught up to heaven!
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/c-Jkktpp9QI
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 PMDinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-22-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Praise the Lord for sweet summer. I love the great outdoors. Alice and I walked for almost 5 miles last evening in one of the local parks, portions of which resemble the great Arboretums of Boston and Washington, DC. Sunita and Andy are flying to Turkey today on Sunita'a work They will be visiting some of the Balkan States for two weeks and will proceed to Orissa , India for a visit with the family. Their friends Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC , will be joining them in India. Laureen and I, together with Tom and Jessica, will be joining them in Orissa , in mid- July.
For my summer readings I browse through some of the great works by Shakespeare, John Milton, Charles Dickens, and other British writers. Some of the best literature, the best art, and the best music of the world deal with Biblical Themes. I have a book in my library that contains the paintings and sketches of Rembrandt.
We will be meeting for midweek study and fellowship this evening at 6 PM. We are looking at the video resonation by Tim Keller on "The Prodigal God". Henry Nouwen wrote, “Rembrandt portrays the father as the man who has transcended the ways of his children. His own loneliness and anger may have been there, but they have been transformed … This is who I have to become. I see it as clearly as I see the immense beauty of the father’s … compassion. Can I let the younger and the elder son grow in me to the maturity of the compassionate father?”
It is interesting that the father described his lost son’s condition as having been lost but now found, dead but now alive. Those are the spiritual conditions of every sinner who comes to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ (John 5:24; Ephesians 2:1–10). The prodigal son was lost , but Jesus says in the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6, “I am the way”; the prodigal son was ignorant (verse 17), but Jesus says, “I am the truth”; and in verse 24 the son was dead, but Jesus says, “I am the life.”
There’s a parallel between the prodigal son coming to the father and our coming to the father through Christ. There is only one way to come to the Father, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/8BsBbtp4gW4
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 25 , 2011
6 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Praise the Lord. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Praise the Lord for sweet summer. I love the great outdoors. Alice and I walked for almost 5 miles last evening in one of the local parks, portions of which resemble the great Arboretums of Boston and Washington, DC. Sunita and Andy are flying to Turkey today on Sunita'a work They will be visiting some of the Balkan States for two weeks and will proceed to Orissa , India for a visit with the family. Their friends Rob and Jenn from Washington, DC , will be joining them in India. Laureen and I, together with Tom and Jessica, will be joining them in Orissa , in mid- July.
For my summer readings I browse through some of the great works by Shakespeare, John Milton, Charles Dickens, and other British writers. Some of the best literature, the best art, and the best music of the world deal with Biblical Themes. I have a book in my library that contains the paintings and sketches of Rembrandt.
We will be meeting for midweek study and fellowship this evening at 6 PM. We are looking at the video resonation by Tim Keller on "The Prodigal God". Henry Nouwen wrote, “Rembrandt portrays the father as the man who has transcended the ways of his children. His own loneliness and anger may have been there, but they have been transformed … This is who I have to become. I see it as clearly as I see the immense beauty of the father’s … compassion. Can I let the younger and the elder son grow in me to the maturity of the compassionate father?”
It is interesting that the father described his lost son’s condition as having been lost but now found, dead but now alive. Those are the spiritual conditions of every sinner who comes to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ (John 5:24; Ephesians 2:1–10). The prodigal son was lost , but Jesus says in the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6, “I am the way”; the prodigal son was ignorant (verse 17), but Jesus says, “I am the truth”; and in verse 24 the son was dead, but Jesus says, “I am the life.”
There’s a parallel between the prodigal son coming to the father and our coming to the father through Christ. There is only one way to come to the Father, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/8BsBbtp4gW4
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 25 , 2011
6 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-21-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this day. It will be one of the longest days of the year. I love summer. I love the daylight that lasts through 9 PM. I get up with the birds as they begin to sing praises to Jesus around 4 AM. The Lord of Heaven and earth ushers in the brand new day for us to live and serve. Praise the Lord for His generosity. Praise the Lord for His prodigality. Praise the Lord for His extravagant love and grace. He loves and delights in welcoming the prodigal daughters and sons home, who make a U- turn by repentance and come home.
Our youth made a video of the Parable of the prodigal son which they presented at the Sunday morning services. The youth acted out the characters of the parable. It was powerful and anointed. Jesus originally told this story to show there is hope for everyone, and that it is not a question of whether we deserve to be in the Father’s house, because the truth is that none of us do. He was contrasting the faithful religious people of that day to the sinners who were turning to God. The point was that neither of them had a relationship with the Father — in spite of all the religion in some of their lives. Yet, one group had “come to their senses” and returned home to establish a relationship with the Father from whom they had been estranged. The religious folk, instead of rejoicing, were incensed. They were angry and bitter. In their minds they deserved God’s favor, but they had never really experienced the Father’s love.
it dawned on me what the most likely ending to the story was: the older brother became increasingly bitter against the father and left his house, and the younger brother inherited everything. This is exactly what happened historically. Those who wanted to deserve God’s favor by their obedience have rejected God’s grace, and a relationship with him built on grace. They became bitter against the Father and accused him of wrong. They rejected Jesus, the incarnation of God’s grace. They hated Jesus for loving sinners and attending parties in their homes and, in their hatred, they killed him, thinking they would inherit everything. But in so doing, they lost everything, and the kingdom belongs to Christ and those who have followed him into the Father’s house where there is feasting, singing and dancing.
Fredrick Buechner, in his book The Alphabet of Grace, tells about Mark Twain at the end of his days, as he describes him, “riddled with guilt and fame.” Late in life Twain wrote, “There is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream — a grotesque, foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought — a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities.” The Christian message is the opposite of Twain’s message of despair. It tells us that life is real, we are real, God is real, and that we are not homeless, wandering vagrants, but people with a home — the Father’s home where we are welcomed, embraced and, yes, celebrated. The Father’s house has become our house — our eternal home.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/MVlzwEsYezw
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 25 , 2011
6 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Praise the Lord for this day. It will be one of the longest days of the year. I love summer. I love the daylight that lasts through 9 PM. I get up with the birds as they begin to sing praises to Jesus around 4 AM. The Lord of Heaven and earth ushers in the brand new day for us to live and serve. Praise the Lord for His generosity. Praise the Lord for His prodigality. Praise the Lord for His extravagant love and grace. He loves and delights in welcoming the prodigal daughters and sons home, who make a U- turn by repentance and come home.
Our youth made a video of the Parable of the prodigal son which they presented at the Sunday morning services. The youth acted out the characters of the parable. It was powerful and anointed. Jesus originally told this story to show there is hope for everyone, and that it is not a question of whether we deserve to be in the Father’s house, because the truth is that none of us do. He was contrasting the faithful religious people of that day to the sinners who were turning to God. The point was that neither of them had a relationship with the Father — in spite of all the religion in some of their lives. Yet, one group had “come to their senses” and returned home to establish a relationship with the Father from whom they had been estranged. The religious folk, instead of rejoicing, were incensed. They were angry and bitter. In their minds they deserved God’s favor, but they had never really experienced the Father’s love.
it dawned on me what the most likely ending to the story was: the older brother became increasingly bitter against the father and left his house, and the younger brother inherited everything. This is exactly what happened historically. Those who wanted to deserve God’s favor by their obedience have rejected God’s grace, and a relationship with him built on grace. They became bitter against the Father and accused him of wrong. They rejected Jesus, the incarnation of God’s grace. They hated Jesus for loving sinners and attending parties in their homes and, in their hatred, they killed him, thinking they would inherit everything. But in so doing, they lost everything, and the kingdom belongs to Christ and those who have followed him into the Father’s house where there is feasting, singing and dancing.
Fredrick Buechner, in his book The Alphabet of Grace, tells about Mark Twain at the end of his days, as he describes him, “riddled with guilt and fame.” Late in life Twain wrote, “There is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream — a grotesque, foolish dream. Nothing exists but you. And you are but a thought — a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities.” The Christian message is the opposite of Twain’s message of despair. It tells us that life is real, we are real, God is real, and that we are not homeless, wandering vagrants, but people with a home — the Father’s home where we are welcomed, embraced and, yes, celebrated. The Father’s house has become our house — our eternal home.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/MVlzwEsYezw
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 25 , 2011
6 PM Dinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Monday, June 20, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 6-20-11
Good morning,
Blessed be the Name of our Lord the Maker of Heaven and earth. I trust you had a blessed and a beautiful weekend. Once again the Lord of the Sabbath blessed us with a full and joyful weekend. One of our ministry teams prepared and served a meal Saturday noon at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott. The Lord also blessed our Saturday Evening worship. One Christian clown danced to the song, "Thank You (for giving to the Lord)". It was anointed. The youth led the worship service yesterday, using the Parable of the prodigal son as recorded in Luke 15, as their theme. It was done with "Holy Imagination". We had two young children dedicated during morning worship.
Alice and I walked in one of the parks last evening. We met some people (one friend now lives in Florida) and talked for some time. We saw another big flock of geese, along with a set of three small goslings, safely grazing. It was a beautiful evening with a brilliant sunset. We were walking while it was past 9 PM and it was still daylight. Blessed be His Name.
One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Psalm 8. King David, who loved being outdoors, begins and ends this psalm with praise of God, who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Even though the majority of the psalm is taken up with a discussion of humanity, it’s clearly God who’s central. It’s God who has made us what we are. It’s God whose image we reflect in the glory we show forth in our lives.
You can imagine David sitting out on the hills at night, under a clear sky, looking up at the heavens and being overwhelmed, blown away by the wonder of the heavens, and then as so often happens in that sort of situation, beginning to think about his own mortality. He looks up and bursts out in praise: "O Lord, our king, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" In Psalm 19 we find a similar idea: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge." It’s as though the inanimate world has a voice that continually sings God’s praises. Jesus said a similar thing to the Pharisees on the first Palm Sunday, "I tell you, if [my disciples] were silent, the stones would shout out." God is so great that even the inanimate stars and planets proclaim God’s glory.
At the other extreme, "Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark [that is, a defense] because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger." If the universe declares the glory of God, so too do babes and infants.
Do you remember feeling intense awe and wonder as you looked up at the Milky Way. Do you remember being amazed at their brightness, a brightness you never see in the city, at their number, beyond counting, at the vast expanse of them, covering the sky. Young children in their innocence can often sense what we sophisticated adults are blind to. It might be possible for an adult to look up at the stars in a blasé way as though there were nothing new there. But a young child will be blown away by the same sense of wonder as David expresses here. It is that innocent acknowledgement of God’s glory that defeats the hardness of the sophisticated. In fact the weakness and gentleness of infants is often the chosen defense of God against the powerful and violent.
Jesus took the words of this psalm in Matthew 21:15-16, to answer the Pharisees’ objections: "When the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became angry and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, ’Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself’?"
Yet, as David looked at the stars and meditated on what he saw, he was driven beyond praise to humility and then through humility to wonder at God’s amazing goodness to and trust of us human beings. He said a fascinating thing: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers." (It’s not "the work of your hands", but your fingers.) This huge expanse, mind boggling in its breadth, is the result of God’s fine motor skills, tiny by comparison with him. The universe is beyond our comprehension! Yet that which is overwhelmingly immense to us is finger work for God. God is that big, so what does that make us? We fade into insignificance by comparison. It puts humanity into perspective. How can we be so proud of our ability to control technology when we compare it to what God has done?
And so he cries out, "what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?" His wonder at God’s creation now spills over into wonder at God’s care of us insignificant mortals. Wonder of wonders, God has made us just a little lower than God. Despite our seeming insignificance, we’re made in the image of God. We are doubly blessed. First when He made us in His image. Secondly, He redeemed us with His own blood. Blessed be His Name.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/c-Jkktpp9QI
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 PMDinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Blessed be the Name of our Lord the Maker of Heaven and earth. I trust you had a blessed and a beautiful weekend. Once again the Lord of the Sabbath blessed us with a full and joyful weekend. One of our ministry teams prepared and served a meal Saturday noon at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott. The Lord also blessed our Saturday Evening worship. One Christian clown danced to the song, "Thank You (for giving to the Lord)". It was anointed. The youth led the worship service yesterday, using the Parable of the prodigal son as recorded in Luke 15, as their theme. It was done with "Holy Imagination". We had two young children dedicated during morning worship.
Alice and I walked in one of the parks last evening. We met some people (one friend now lives in Florida) and talked for some time. We saw another big flock of geese, along with a set of three small goslings, safely grazing. It was a beautiful evening with a brilliant sunset. We were walking while it was past 9 PM and it was still daylight. Blessed be His Name.
One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Psalm 8. King David, who loved being outdoors, begins and ends this psalm with praise of God, who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Even though the majority of the psalm is taken up with a discussion of humanity, it’s clearly God who’s central. It’s God who has made us what we are. It’s God whose image we reflect in the glory we show forth in our lives.
You can imagine David sitting out on the hills at night, under a clear sky, looking up at the heavens and being overwhelmed, blown away by the wonder of the heavens, and then as so often happens in that sort of situation, beginning to think about his own mortality. He looks up and bursts out in praise: "O Lord, our king, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" In Psalm 19 we find a similar idea: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge." It’s as though the inanimate world has a voice that continually sings God’s praises. Jesus said a similar thing to the Pharisees on the first Palm Sunday, "I tell you, if [my disciples] were silent, the stones would shout out." God is so great that even the inanimate stars and planets proclaim God’s glory.
At the other extreme, "Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark [that is, a defense] because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger." If the universe declares the glory of God, so too do babes and infants.
Do you remember feeling intense awe and wonder as you looked up at the Milky Way. Do you remember being amazed at their brightness, a brightness you never see in the city, at their number, beyond counting, at the vast expanse of them, covering the sky. Young children in their innocence can often sense what we sophisticated adults are blind to. It might be possible for an adult to look up at the stars in a blasé way as though there were nothing new there. But a young child will be blown away by the same sense of wonder as David expresses here. It is that innocent acknowledgement of God’s glory that defeats the hardness of the sophisticated. In fact the weakness and gentleness of infants is often the chosen defense of God against the powerful and violent.
Jesus took the words of this psalm in Matthew 21:15-16, to answer the Pharisees’ objections: "When the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became angry and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, ’Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself’?"
Yet, as David looked at the stars and meditated on what he saw, he was driven beyond praise to humility and then through humility to wonder at God’s amazing goodness to and trust of us human beings. He said a fascinating thing: "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers." (It’s not "the work of your hands", but your fingers.) This huge expanse, mind boggling in its breadth, is the result of God’s fine motor skills, tiny by comparison with him. The universe is beyond our comprehension! Yet that which is overwhelmingly immense to us is finger work for God. God is that big, so what does that make us? We fade into insignificance by comparison. It puts humanity into perspective. How can we be so proud of our ability to control technology when we compare it to what God has done?
And so he cries out, "what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?" His wonder at God’s creation now spills over into wonder at God’s care of us insignificant mortals. Wonder of wonders, God has made us just a little lower than God. Despite our seeming insignificance, we’re made in the image of God. We are doubly blessed. First when He made us in His image. Secondly, He redeemed us with His own blood. Blessed be His Name.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/c-Jkktpp9QI
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 PMDinner
6:30 PM Worship Service
Worship Music:
Speaker:Dave Hettinger
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
