Brown's Daily Word 7/10/15

Praise the Lord for this Friday.  We drove down to Abington, PA, near Philadelphia to visit our newest granddaughter Rosalind.  She is the daughter of of our youngest daughter, Jessica, and her husband,Tom.  She was born exactly on her due date.  Our grandson Simeon was also born on the 8th of July, but 8 years ago.  Jessica was born on the first of July.  There is so much to celebrate.  Rosalind is beautiful and precious.  We praise the Lord for this tiny child, a most precious one.  Both mommy and Rosalind are fine.  They will be going home today.  Tom, the young daddy, is excited and beyond thrilled. Tom's parents and his grandparents, who live close to Jess and Tom, are celebrating and praising the Lord. 
    We drove back to Marathon yesterday evening.  We drove across the majestic mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The highway runs through the  mountains, valleys, and a tunnel, all the time surrounded by enormous beauty.   As we were driving I came into some Monsoon-like rains.  I was contemplating on the vastness of our Lord's creation, the way He surrounds us with so much beauty.  The enormity and the beauty of God’s creation is one of the ways that he displays his glory. 

    Francis Collins is a scientist who headed up the Human Genome project and has all kinds of credentials.  He’s a world famous scientist, but he was also an atheist.  After a long period of searching, which included grilling a pastor and reading CS Lewis, Collins finally came to Christ after watching the beauty of creation.  This is Collin's description of that life-changing encounter:

I had to make a choice. A full year had passed since I decided to believe in some sort of God, and now I was being called to account. On a beautiful fall day, as I was hiking in the Cascade Mountains during my first trip west of the Mississippi, the majesty and beauty of God's creation overwhelmed my resistance. As I rounded a corner and saw a beautiful and unexpected frozen waterfall, hundreds of feet high, I knew the search was over. The next morning, I knelt in the dewy grass as the sun rose and surrendered to Jesus Christ. (The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief)

    King David, who spent much of his younger days in the glorious outdoors of Israel, composed Psalm 8.  During these summer days let us take a walk outside in some remote place, look up, and worship the God who created all of this.  Let us look at the beauty of what He has created all around us, and then bow down and surrender our lives  to Him.   Then may we realize that the praise of the weakest person is stronger than the most powerful of God’s enemies.  Let us Praise him for the staggering enormity of creation.  According to David, despite our size in the universe there is something utterly unique about us.  If we created a continuum of every creature that’s ever been created, from bacteria all the way up to angels, we would be right next to angels.  We are not even far below them, the psalmist says.  Out of all that God has created, it is men and women alone who have been made in His image and crowned with glory and honor.  We have a unique role within the universe.  We have been given dominion over all that He has made.

    When we consider all of this together, it leads us to worship.  When we realize that the praise of the weakest Christian is more powerful than the strength of God's most powerful enemies, it leads us to worship.  When we see the vastness of what God has created - the beauty of the Milky Way, the knowledge of the vastness of the universe - it makes us want to worship.  When we think that out of all that God has made, that He has zeroed in on us, it makes us want to worship.

    Moreover, hundreds of years after David wrote this psalm, God Himself became a man and lived on this speck of dust which we call planet Earth. Not only was He mindful of us, not only did He care for us, but He became one of us.  In His infinite love for us He offered up his life for us so that we could be made right with God.  Psalm 8 is often quoted in reference to Jesus.  Verse 6 says that God has put all things under our feet.  When Jesus became one of us, He became our forerunner, and everything is already at His feet.  He has already been crowned with glory and honor.  Hebrews 2 quotes Psalm 8 when it says:

"But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2:9)

    We have not fulfilled God’s plan to put everything under our feet, but there is one who is single-handedly fulfilling God’s plan on our behalf, and that is Jesus.  I love how Dale Ralph Davis puts it:

"That is the point of Hebrews 2.  It says: Psalm 8 is not a pipe dream.  We don’t yet see it full-blown.  But we see Jesus — one man is already reigning!  And that is the assurance that redeemed man, his brothers and sisters, will one day rule as well.  “He has made them a kingdom, priests, to our God, and they shall reign on earth” (Rev. 5:10).  How can you doubt your royal future when the Man Jesus has already begun enjoying it?  The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life: Psalms 1-12

    When we have surrendered our lives to our great God and put our trust in Jesus who has done this for us, then we will be able to say with David:

"O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
In Jesus our Lord.
  Pastor Brown N
https://youtu.be/oC6-F4v18BU

Brown's Daily Word 7/7/15

Joyful and beautiful summer day, 2015.  This is the first blog I am posting since we moved from 131 Maple Drive, Endicott, New York, where we had resided and made our home for the last 25 years.  it was a quarter century.  It does not seem possible that we lived in one place for these many years, where our four daughters grew up, graduated from the same High School, went to their proms. (and 3 got married from the same house)  The Lord of the Church and the Lord of History  allowed us to live there.  He gave us His favor with the people of the Union Center and Wesley United Methodist Churches through all these years.  We were sad to leave the people that loved us and lavished on us so much love and grace  and with whom we served the Lord together all these years. 

    The celebration on Saturday the 27th of June was amazing.  Praise the Lord every one who was part of preparing the banquet, serving, and caring for the all details.  Praise the Lord for every one who came in such great numbers to share your love and affection with us.  The place was overwhelmed with so many people.  People traveled from Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and Ohio.  We were overjoyed and humbled.  There were so many who had to leave because there was no space.  This we regret and offer our sincere apology.  There  were so many who stayed to share in the fellowship and worship.  Thank you for lavishly blessing us with your love and kindness, including gifts and cards of love for us.  We just finished opening the cards.  We were in tears for your deep generosity and abounding love.  We are ever so grateful.   We will not be able to respond to you all in witting personally.  Please accept this note as our heart felt gratitude and love to you all.  May Jesus continue to bless you and fill your cup to the brim. 

    The last worship service on Sunday the 28th of June was amazing.  The Lord visited us.  So many of you came.  We were deeply loved and blessed.  The Lord gave us His favor to finish our ministry at Union Center and Wesley well, with much joy and thanksgiving.  Once again the Lord of the Church and the Lord our lives lavished us with his grace and kindness in and through you all.  We are ever so grateful.

    We moved from Maple Drive to Marathon, NY, some 24 miles in driving distance.   For our friends overseas, Marathon is located between Binghamton and Syracuse NY along Interstate 81.  Marathon is an exotic and beautiful town.  A tranquil river flows through the town. We are close to the Lake district and the Finger Lakes.  We can see some of the rolling hills through the picture window of the living room.   The train tracks run not far from the house where we are living.  Trains run twice a day.  The town is very close to the famous Greek Peak ski resort.  The town is blessed with 5 churches.  It looks much like an English town with many Victorian homes.  I will serving at the Marathon united Methodist Church, which is located straight across from the High School where Alice has been teaching over the last 15 years.  She will be walking to her school from now on, weather permitting.  We had our first worship service this past Sunday  in our new church.  The Lord blessed us with His refreshing spirit and presence.  Friends from the church we served from 1982 -1990 surprised by visiting and joining us for the service and taking us for Sunday dinner after the worship service.  In the afternoon we walked some of the streets of the town, exploring the beauty and the blessings of the town. 
    We moved to our new residence last Wednesday and drove to Boston in the early morning  Thursday, visiting our grandchildren in Boston.  We spent an afternoon at the beach.
    I love summer time in New York.  It is grand and glorious.  Every where you see and everywhere you gaze you are surrounded by the never ending beauty and the blessing of the Lord. 
    When I announced that I would be retiring from full time ministry, many of my friends oversees admonished that I could not retire.  The Lord has still work yet to be done.  I am beginning to serve post retirement.  The Lord gives me wellness and grace to live and serve.  Praise the Lord for His provisions, His promises, his presence and for His power.  "God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen."  Philippians 4:19 (19-20).
    Verse 19 contains a famous promise.  James Montgomery Boice says that this may be the greatest promise in all the Bible because it contains within it every other promise.  There are three parts to this promise.
    First, there is the source of the promise. “And my God.”  This is an unusual expression because Paul could easily have said, “And God will meet all your needs.”  But when he says “my God” he is making it exceedingly personal.  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is “my God.”  The God who raised up Moses is “my God.”  The God who led Joshua around the walls of Jericho is “my God.”  The God who enabled David to defeat Goliath is “my God.”  The God of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and all of the prophets is “my God.”  The God of the Virgin Birth is “my God.”  The God who raised Jesus from the dead is “my God.” The God of the apostles is “my God.”  In short, when Paul says “my God,” he wants us to remember that the same God who worked all the mighty miracles in the Bible is the same God who makes this amazing promise.
    Second, there is the statement of the promise.  “Will meet all your needs.”  The most important word is the little word “all.”  Whatever you truly need, God has promised to supply.  Do you need forgiveness?  He will abundantly pardon.  Do you need more grace?  His grace is sufficient for you.  Do you need hope?  He is the God of hope.  Are you tired and about to give up?  He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  Are you confused about the future?  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Do you need a miracle?  Nothing is impossible with God.  Are you worried about what may happen?  Fear not, says the Lord, for I am with you always.  Do you need salvation?  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.  This promise is as comprehensive as the needs of your life.  And you may claim it at any time.
    Third, there is the sufficiency of the promise.  “According to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  This is God’s way of saying, “You can always come back for a second helping.  There’s plenty more where that came from.”  Do you ever worry that you might be asking too much from the Lord?  It is not possible to do that.  We are like children with a plastic pail trying to drain the Atlantic Ocean.  After we have done our best, the ocean is still there, untouched by our efforts.  So it is with God. He will supply what we need not according to our resources—which are limited and finite—but according to his riches in Christ—which are unlimited and infinite. In this promise we come to an ocean without a bottom or shore.
In Christ our Lord,
  Pastor Brown N
https://youtu.be/xhkoUQ7HdIQ