Good morning,
Praise be Jesus our Lord and Savior, who is the Lord of the Sabbath. He blessed us with a soul full weekend. He blessed us with a beautiful Saturday Evening worship at the First UMC, Endicott. Our friend Pastor Bill Puckey brought the message for the evening in music and Word. He spoke on "Following Christ, denying self, and taking up the Cross."
Sunday was a summer-like day. It reached the record breaking temperature, 76 degrees. People were gathering for ice cream, outdoors. Our youth served a barbequed chicken dinner after the second service. We gathered for an Evening of meal and a hymn sing at Wesley UMC. One of the hymns that was sung was "Amazing Grace".
Laureen spent part of the weekend at home with her 6 cousins. It was a treat. Alice and I walked for almost 4 miles late last Evening. I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt. It was a glorious star-studded evening. Praise the Lord the way He displays His majesty and glory by day and by night.
One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Ephesians 2, which addresses being "Saved by grace". St. Augustine once wrapped a powerful thought in vivid imagery when he said, “God always pours His grace into empty hands.” No one's hands could have been emptier than John Newton’s, the one who composed the hymn, "Amazing Grace".
Newton's father commanded a merchant ship and was always at sea. His mother raised him as best she could, teaching him the Scriptures and sacred songs. Sadly, his mother died just before his seventeenth birthday, so John naturally followed in his father's footsteps. By the time he was seventeen, John Newton’s world was the open sea. The world of the Spirit, as lovingly taught by his mother, had vanished over the horizon and was lost as sea—much like Newton’s own soul.
In his own words, John’s “delight and habitual practice was wickedness,” and he “neither feared God nor regarded men.” In short, he was “a slave to doing wickedness and delighted in sinfulness.” Then, in March, 1748, somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic, grace arrived. The hand of God rescued a shipwrecked soul. A violent storm had engulfed the small slave ship. All hands were awake. Voices were shouting with urgency. Water was beginning to flood the hold. Newton wondered if this was how it was all going to end—entombed on the ocean floor. Then something remarkable happened — John Newton began praying. Later, he would surrender his life to Jesus and eventually become a pastor. He preached the Gospel until the venerable age of eighty-one.
Someone once said that grace is a five letter word often spelled J-E-S-U-S. If Newton’s hymn is the melody that embodies the concept of grace, then Jesus is without a doubt the Man who embodies it. Jesus was and is the once-for-all, perfect human image of grace, love and truth. The Bible says that Christ “became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.... For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14-17 NIV).
Newton's father commanded a merchant ship and was always at sea. His mother raised him as best she could, teaching him the Scriptures and sacred songs. Sadly, his mother died just before his seventeenth birthday, so John naturally followed in his father's footsteps. By the time he was seventeen, John Newton’s world was the open sea. The world of the Spirit, as lovingly taught by his mother, had vanished over the horizon and was lost as sea—much like Newton’s own soul.
In his own words, John’s “delight and habitual practice was wickedness,” and he “neither feared God nor regarded men.” In short, he was “a slave to doing wickedness and delighted in sinfulness.” Then, in March, 1748, somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic, grace arrived. The hand of God rescued a shipwrecked soul. A violent storm had engulfed the small slave ship. All hands were awake. Voices were shouting with urgency. Water was beginning to flood the hold. Newton wondered if this was how it was all going to end—entombed on the ocean floor. Then something remarkable happened — John Newton began praying. Later, he would surrender his life to Jesus and eventually become a pastor. He preached the Gospel until the venerable age of eighty-one.
Someone once said that grace is a five letter word often spelled J-E-S-U-S. If Newton’s hymn is the melody that embodies the concept of grace, then Jesus is without a doubt the Man who embodies it. Jesus was and is the once-for-all, perfect human image of grace, love and truth. The Bible says that Christ “became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.... For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:14-17 NIV).
Jesus constantly demonstrated grace to the people around him. He showed grace to a thirsty woman at the Samaritan well. He lavished grace upon a woman at the Temple courtyard who had been caught in adultery. He showered grace upon Peter, who had abandoned him in his hour of need. Only when you come face to face with the darkness within your soul, does God’s grace become truly amazing. The compassionate purpose of grace is to save all wretches, including us. Paul stated clearly and concisely, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 ESV).
Several years ago, a very peculiar sight could be seen at a large downtown church in England. On the first Sunday of the New Year, an ex-convict knelt to receive communion beside the judge who had sentenced him to seven years in prison. After being sentenced, the young convict was lead to Christ through the church’s prison ministry. After his release he became an active member of the church. After church, the judge was walking home with the pastor and said to him, “What a miracle of grace.”
“You mean the former thief who knelt beside you today?” the pastor asked.
“No. I was thinking of myself,” the judge said. “That young man had nothing but a history of crime behind him, and when he saw Jesus as his Savior he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help. But look at me. I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman; that my word was to be my bond; that I was to say my prayers, go to church, take communion and so on. I went to Oxford, earned my degrees, was called to the bar and eventually became a judge. Pastor, nothing but the grace of God could have caused me to admit that I was a sinner in need of a Savior.”
The Bible confirms this judge's observation, “For all have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift” (Romans 3:23 NCV). The story of that young convict points us to the changing power of grace.
It’s no wonder that "Amazing Grace" has been more enduring and inspiring than any other hymn. At the heart of Newton’s hymn is the heart of the gospel, God’s amazing grace. It tells us of the captivating presence of grace, the compassionate purpose of grace, and the changing power of grace. God’s grace is available to each of us every day all the way, with no exceptions. No matter who we are, where we come from, or what we have done, God’s grace is still amazing!
Several years ago, a very peculiar sight could be seen at a large downtown church in England. On the first Sunday of the New Year, an ex-convict knelt to receive communion beside the judge who had sentenced him to seven years in prison. After being sentenced, the young convict was lead to Christ through the church’s prison ministry. After his release he became an active member of the church. After church, the judge was walking home with the pastor and said to him, “What a miracle of grace.”
“You mean the former thief who knelt beside you today?” the pastor asked.
“No. I was thinking of myself,” the judge said. “That young man had nothing but a history of crime behind him, and when he saw Jesus as his Savior he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help. But look at me. I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman; that my word was to be my bond; that I was to say my prayers, go to church, take communion and so on. I went to Oxford, earned my degrees, was called to the bar and eventually became a judge. Pastor, nothing but the grace of God could have caused me to admit that I was a sinner in need of a Savior.”
The Bible confirms this judge's observation, “For all have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift” (Romans 3:23 NCV). The story of that young convict points us to the changing power of grace.
It’s no wonder that "Amazing Grace" has been more enduring and inspiring than any other hymn. At the heart of Newton’s hymn is the heart of the gospel, God’s amazing grace. It tells us of the captivating presence of grace, the compassionate purpose of grace, and the changing power of grace. God’s grace is available to each of us every day all the way, with no exceptions. No matter who we are, where we come from, or what we have done, God’s grace is still amazing!
In Christ,
Brown
Friday March 23, 2012
Television Outreach
Time Warner Cable Channel 4
Time 7:00 PM
Saturday Evening Worship Service:
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott, NY
Sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist Church
Time: 6:00 PM gathering for Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Date: Saturday, March 24, 2012
Speaker: Rev. Brown Naik,
Special Music by Laureen Naik
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