Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Let’s Focus on What We can Do, and Leave the Rest to Jesus

Pastor Sherry’s message for November 16, 2025

Scriptures: Isa 65:17-25; Isa 12; 2 Thess 3:6-13; Lk 21:5-19

The story is told of a city pastor driving his son to school at 7:15 one morning. He was stuck in rush hour traffic and entertained himself by reading the bumper stickers of the cars just ahead of him. He read several, including the following: 

My driving scares me too! 

I had a life, but my job ate it. 

Don’t even think of dating my daughter! 

Wife and dog still missing…reward for dog. 

 I don’t know how to act my age…I’ve never been this old before. 

And my personal favorite, a picture of Jesus peeking around a wall, and saying, “I saw that!” 

The pastor was amused until he read, Forget world peace; visualize using your turn signal. “There you go,” he said to himself. “Forget the big stuff, like world peace. That’s too much, and too hard, and too unlikely to contemplate. But I can visualize (and actualize) using my turn signal; just do the little things that make life a little easier for everybody. Who knows, maybe if everybody [in Wellborn; Suwannee County, and Florida] and in the South and in the USA, etc., would use their turn signals properly, it might be a start toward world peace.”

(J. Fairless & D.Chilton, The Lectionary Lab, Year C, 2015, p.338.)

It kinda makes sense, doesn’t it? Do what it is possible for you to do, then leave the big, seemingly impossible things to Jesus. If we could live this way, we could avoid so much stress and worry, so much disappointment, and even some despair.

Our first two readings today provide us with reassurance and the final two, some practical advice about how to respond to the big things of life:

A. Our Old Testament lesson is from the prophet Isaiah (65:17-25). It’s the next to the last chapter of Isaiah’s prophesies. The Lord wants us to be encouraged, because Great Days are coming! (Verse 17) : The Lord is going to create a new heaven and a new earth at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ. Satan and all the forces of evil will have been destroyed in the Lake of Fire. Scholars say the old earth (this present one) will have also been destroyed by fire (nuclear holocaust? The sun coming too near?). But Jesus will present a new Jerusalem which will be a place of joy (v.18)! There will be no weeping or crying there. There will be (v.) no need for assisted living facilities or nursing homes or Hospice care, as everyone will enjoy long life (like the patriarchs) and great health. In that time, we will all also enjoy prosperity, permanence, and stability (vv.21-23). The Law of the Jungle will have been replaced by the peaceful Rule of God’s Kingdom. Yippee ki-yi-yea! It’ll be great to be there!

B. Isaiah 12 has been termed a praise psalm for the worship of the Lord during Christ’s reign. We will be thrilled and fulfilled because God’s Kingdom will be established on earth and the Lord Jesus will be King over all. The suffering of the Great Tribulation will have ended. J. Vernon McGee writes, “The night of sin will be over and the day of salvation will have come.” (McGee, Through the Bible Commentary of Isaiah, Thomas Nelson, 1991, p.114.) All who believe in and love Jesus will be saved. And instead of crying at the Wailing Wall, Israel will be rejoicing at the feet of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We will be engaged in joy-filled worship, praising God for His creation and re-creation, and for our redemption and salvation. This is all very reassuring for us.

C. In our Gospel passage (Luke 21:5-19), Jesus is operating in His prophetic role: The disciples are in Jerusalem and have commented on the beauty and majesty of the Temple. They seem to be implying that such a grand structure would last forever. Herod the Great had begun rebuilding and refurbishing the one rebuilt in the time of Nehemiah, Ezra, and Haggai, in 20BC. This project continued until 63 or 64 AD (80 years). It was considered one of the most notable structures around the Roman Empire. Not quite as grand as Solomon’s Temple, it was nevertheless ornamented with gifts of gold and jewels from a number of nations. The ancient historian, Josephus, described it as a “snow clad mountain looming over the city.”

But Jesus prophesies its coming destruction : (v.6) : Not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down : the devastation will be complete. In 70 AD, the Roman General Titus laid siege to the city. First, he starved the city into submission. It is reported that people inside the walls ate their children. Josephus claimed that 1 million Jews were killed and their bodies were thrown over the city walls.  Another 100,000 were captured as slaves. Then Titus tore down the Temple: He burned the marble and he had his troops plow up the Temple grounds.

Jesus adds in V.24 : Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This is exactly what has happened. Currently, the Moslem Mosque of Omar sits on the former Temple site. All of this entails God’s judgment on the city for be returned as a place to honor God until the Gentiles have had an opportunity rejecting His Christ. Jesus then prophesied that the Temple mount will not to come to know Christ and until Jesus comes again.

Jesus next warns them they will be persecuted because they love Him: First by the Jews–they killed the deacon, Stephen, then beheaded the Apostle James– then by the Gentiles (The crazed emperor Nero began a persecution in Rome in 54AD). Despite this bad news, He then encourages them not to be afraid when/if they are arrested and tried: (vv.14-15) : But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. He tells them they will be betrayed to the authorities by family members, neighbors, and acquaintances. They will be hated because of Him, but no one can take eternal life away from them!

D. Paul essentially supports and expounds upon what Jesus says by writing in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, in 51 or 52 AD from Corinth. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, he stated : For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up [rapturo : raptured], together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so will be with the Lord forever. 1st those who have died loving Jesus will be called home. We who remain on earth will then rise up to meet with them. Thus, it appears that the Church will be removed from the earth prior to Jesus’ Second Coming. The Great Tribulation will follow, consisting of 7 years of intense, worldwide suffering. The restraining hand of the Holy Spirit will have been removed, so Satan will be free to do his worst. He will encourage sin and depravity. He will compel people to worship his henchman, the Antichrist (also known as the man of sin, the son of perdition, or the lawless one). This will be a time for the Jews to come to Christ. The Antichrist will present himself first as a man of peace, uniting warring nations. Next, he will secure the peace of Jerusalem : He will appear to solve the problems of the Middle East (his Peace Treaty will mark the beginning of the 7 years). He will begin to rebuild the Temple. Three and a half years later, he will break the peace, demanding that he be worshipped in the Temple (He will set himself up as God). This is what Jesus called, the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15; also noted by the Old Testament prophet, Daniel in 9:27). He will perform signs and wonders, using Satan’s power. Then he will begin a program of persecution.  He will attempt to destroy Israel through genocide. He will require the “Mark of the beast” (on wrists or foreheads, or on our phones?) for people to obtain jobs or exchange money for all goods and services. Nevertheless, despite all this persecution, 144,000 Jews will come to Christ, as well as additional Gentiles from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Finally, at end of 7 years, King Jesus will come again! He will defeat the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon. And He will judge Satan, the antichrist, and his false prophet/fake religious leader, and throw them all into the lake of fire.

Both Jesus and Paul provide reassurance and practical advice in these passages. Jesus does not want us to put our trust in buildings, or even in human leaders. We are to put our full trust in Him and in what He predicts. We need not be afraid! We know how it all turns out! The forces of evil are ultimately overcome by the forces of good! So what are we to do until this occurs? Paul says we are to live each day, believing and practicing the Truth we have in Christ! We are not to just sit around waiting, expecting the Church—or the government–to care for us. Additionally, Paul would have us make use of every opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ.

In light of all of this, let us consider a new bumper sticker: Relax, God’s Got This!

©️2025 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Look Up!

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 1, 2024

Scriptures: Jer 33:14-16; Ps 25:1-10; 1 Thess 3:9-13; Lk 21:25-36

Remember when you were a little kid, waiting on Christmas morning?  You knew Santa Claus would have come and that there were other surprises for you under that tree.  The time had finally arrived for you to unwrap those gifts you had spotted—with your name on the tags–that you had snuck around to shake, trying to figure out what was inside the box or bag.  That waiting was excruciating, wasn’t it?  Five more wake ups til Christmas…two more wake ups, etc.

Besides having to wait on Christmas, we wait on the arrival of a baby (especially when 8-9 months pregnant).  I think the last month of pregnancy is deliberately so uncomfortable that we are willing to go through the pains of labor just to be at ease in our bodies again.  How about the wait we undergo during the surgery of someone we love?  This time of year, we wait in lines in Publix, the Post Office, and the car wash.  Several days ago, I was waiting at the Customer Service counter at the grocery store. I only wanted a book of stamps, but I found myself in line behind a guy buying what looked like dozens of bouquets of flowers.  The cashier laboriously searched out the bar codes on each bunch.  Then the guy used a card to pay for his haul of flowers that did not work.  He had to search for another card that would.  As he fumbled in his wallet, I was becoming so impatient!  All I wanted were stamps, for heaven’s sake!  How ashamed was I to then be presented by the guy with one of his bouquets.  I was stunned!  Maybe it was his way of apologizing for keeping me waiting, but the store personnel told me he comes in weekly and buys up bunches of bouquets to give away.  How amazingly generous of him!  His gift reminded me that I needed to be more patient.

I also heard this week of a guy in NYC who was a professional line-waiter.  People paid him to wait in line to purchase tickets for them to a game, a concert, or a show.  He said his toughest wait was for tickets to “Hamilton” because his tent froze on the inside!  YIKES! He has also been paid to wait for a new IPhone model or for some other new tech gizmo to be released, or to purchase the latest limited edition hoodie, etc.  It is said that he made $86,000 a year!  Kind of an amazing service, isn’t it?

(as shared by www.sermoncentral.com, 11/29/2024)

With the possible exception of the professional line waiter, most of us hate to wait.  Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent, a time of waiting on Jesus.   We prepare for His 1st Coming, at Christmas, as a helpless infant, from a small, Hebrew, backwater town.  His mission then was to save a sin-sick and lost world.  We also await His Second Coming when He will return as a triumphant, all powerful king, with the mission to judge the world and create a heavenly, peaceful order on earth.  Our Scriptures today speak to both Advents or Comings:

A. In Jeremiah 33:14-16, the prophet reminds us that the promised Messianic King (Jesus) will be coming.  He will come from a righteous branch of King David’s family tree (a promise God had made to David that we spoke of last week).  This Messiah would save His people (Jesus’ name actually means God saves).

Jumping ahead to the end times, He will be called, “The Lord Our Righteousness.”   At His second coming, Jerusalem will Live in safety. 

It doesn’t now, by any stretch of the imagination, but it will then, praise God!

B. Our Psalm 25:1-10 is a plea from King David for God’s protection and love.  It suggests that God has a purpose as He makes us wait:  Waiting provides time/opportunity to learn (a) His ways more clearly: (v.4): Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; (b) to trust in Him more deeply; (c) to ask for His mercy, love, and forgiveness; and (d) to cling to hope due to His great faithfulness.  We can do these things by reading Scripture; praying/talking with God as we wait; remembering when God has shown up in our lives before; and by learning how others have experienced God’s intervention in their life. 

C. Our 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 passage teaches us two other benefits of waiting: (1) God uses the time to strengthen a heart of holiness in each of us.  Waiting has been called “the crucible of the saints.”

One of my seminary professors used to say that as we wait, God is molding and shaping our character.  (2) He is also teaching us to abound in love–to love Him and to love others better. 

D.  In our Gospel lesson, Luke 21:25-36, Jesus gives us a few more clues as to what we can expect before His 2nd Coming:  Just as buds on trees broadcast the coming of Spring, we will know the end is near when…according to Peterson’s paraphrase of Scripture, The Message (p.1904): It will seem like all hell has broken loose—sun, moon, stars, earth, sea, in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers that be quaking.  Heavenly bodies: stars, planets, our moon, will be shaken, doing never-before-seen things.  Worldwide, people will fear the roaring and tossing of the sea.  Does this mean an increase in the frequency and severity of hurricanes, typhoons, sunamis?  Perhaps.  What about a frightening incursion of water into previously dry land (like mountainous Western North Carolina during Hurricane Helena)?  Could be.  Whatever the case, everyone–especially non-believers–will be freaked.

Then, the Son of Man (Jesus’ favorite name for Himself) will come on a cloud.  He will arrive with power and with great glory.  Believers can and should rejoice.  We have every reason to Hope in Christ and in His return!

Today we lit the candle of hope on our Advent wreath.  “But,” you might say, “we hate to wait!”  Yes, but isn’t it also true that “good things come to those who wait” (consider my surprise bouquet of flowers)?  We believers in Christ Jesus celebrate His 1st Coming and dare to hope in His 2nd.  Remember, Hebrews 11:1 (New Living Translation, p.1572) tells us: Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

One of my favorite stories about hope concerns Fiorello La Guardia, the Italian mayor of New York City from 1934-1946 (during the Great Depression and much of WWII).  It is said that he was…

“…quite a character. He would ride the city fire trucks, take entire orphanages to baseball games and whenever the city newspapers went on strike, he would get on the radio and read the Sunday “funnies” to the children.

“At any rate, one bitter cold winter’s night in 1935, Mayor LaGuardia turned up in a night court that served the poorest ward in the city, dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself [He was an attorney, but I doubt a mayor could substitute for a judge today]. After he heard a few cases, a tattered old woman was brought before him, accused of stealing a loaf of bread.

“She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick and her grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, insisted on pressing charges. “My store is in a very bad neighborhood, your honor,” he said. “She’s got to be punished in order to teach other people a lesson.”

“The mayor sighed. He turned to the old woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you,” he said. “The law makes no exception – ten dollars or ten days in jail” [Remember, $10.00 meant a lot more in 1935 than it does now.]

“But even as he spoke, LaGuardia was reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ten dollar bill.  “Here is the woman’s fine,” he said, “and furthermore, I’m going to fine everyone in this court room fifty cents for living in a city where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat [There were no welfare services in 1935]. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”

“The following day, the New York Times reported that $47.50 was turned over to the bewildered old woman. It was given by the red-faced store owner, some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations and city policemen – and they all [75 people] gave their mayor a standing ovation as they handed over their money.”

(Erskine White, Together in Christ, CSS Publishing Company, as shared by www.Sermon Central.com, 11/28/2024)  

Mayor LaGuardia set such a great example of how things will operate when Jesus comes back to earth.  You might logically expect the worst in a given situation; but Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, will set things exactly right.  Tattered old grandmothers with poor, starving grandchildren will find mercy and provision.  The meek and the hungry will experience goodness and mercy.  Similarly, those who–like the baker—have been robbed, will be justly compensated for their labors.  Everyone wins!

Our Advent hope is that Jesus will come again, in His unlimited power and awe-inspiring glory, to restore us all to a true state of shalom: total well-being, physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual.  We can hope for this with confidence!

I don’t know how many of you have watched the 4 seasons thus far of “The Chosen.”  I think it is a beautifully dramatization of Jesus’ time with His disciples.  In an episode in which Jesus heals the woman who had been internally bleeding for 12 years, the series creators portray her huddled on her knees, head down in the roadway.  The crowd is clustered around her and Jesus wants to know who touched His garment.  A person who bled in those days was considered “unclean.”  Since her malady was chronic, she could not attend synagogue and had probably been shunned by her family and her community.  For 12 years she had been alone and alienated from all society.  Jesus tells her first to “Look up.”  He then goes on to reinstate her into Jewish community by calling her, “Daughter,” a relational term.  I was so stunned by His direction to her to “Lookup” that I bought a Chosen coffee cup that says exactly that: Look up!  Isn’t that precisely what we need to do when worried, troubled, or even joy-filled?  Because of Jesus Christ, we can all be brave and bold enough to Look up!  Amen!  May it be so this Advent and always!

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Setting Us Right With God

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 25, 2024

Scriptures: Gen 17:1-7, 15-16; Ps 22:23-31; Ro 4:13-25; Mk 8:31-35

I read a humorous story this week.  Again, it has to do with a child’s perception of how things “ought to be”:

“A Sunday School teacher held up a portrait of Christ. She explained to the class that it was not an actual photograph of Christ but only an artist’s conception of what Christ might have looked like.

‘’But,’ said one little girl, ‘you’ve got to admit it looks a lot like him.’’’

(Borrowed from a sermon entitled, “A Pair of Ducks and Abundant Life,” www.sermons.com, 2/23/2024).

Isn’t that just the cutest thing?  I love how literal children tend to be and the humor that often results.  Little kids are trying to figure out how things in life work.  I remember when my 49 year old son was about 2 or two and a half and was trying to figure out animal categories. We had a dog with 4 legs, two ears, and a tail. In his child-logic, he looked at cows and told me (since they had 4 legs, 2 ears, and a tail), “Moo-tows are Biggggg doggies!”

It would be interesting to hear a child’s perspective on the elderly Abraham—at a great-great grandparent age—having a baby and his faith that God’s promise to him could still come true.  This constitutes the focus of several of our readings this morning:

A. In our Old Testament reading, Genesis 171-7, 15-16), God appears to Abraham for the 5th time, and reiterates His Covenant Promises:

God is giving him lots of land (the Promised Land, Canaan, or present day Israel; and even a baby from him and his elderly wife, Sarah.  Notice, the passage emphasized Abraham’s age, 99 (Sarah’s is 89).  God the Father wants Abraham—and us– to know that neither Abe’s biological age, nor his body’s elderly condition, could prevent God’s from fulfilling His promises.

Our God is capable of making awesome promises, with spectacular fulfillments.  The Israelites later did occupy God’s Land Grant.  And, at age 100 for Abraham (and 90 for Sarah), Isaac was born to them.  The Jewish people came from Abe via Isaac, and later Jacob.  The Arab people came from Abe via Ishmael, and Jacob’s twin, Esau.  By now, those two people groups constitute, in fact, millions upon millions of Abraham’s descendants.

B.  Paul is very taken by this fact, as evident in today’s epistle reading from Romans 4:13-25.  He is arguing for Abraham’s faith, and the need for our faith!  He is saying God fulfilled His promises to Abraham not based on anything Abe had done for God (except for trusting in Him).  God fulfilled His promises to Abraham due to Abe’s faith in the Lord to fulfill His promises.  This is so important for us to understand!  We are to trust in God, as Abraham did.  We are not looking for a promised baby in our old age, or a promised land.  We are looking for salvation.  Perhaps we are looking for healing or for peace.  We are anticipating living with God forever in Heaven—our happy ending.  But none of these gifts are due to any of our actions or our works.  Our salvation comes from the actions, the completed work of Jesus Christ and Him alone. 

Who would have thought His death on the Cross and His resurrection would be the means by which God would redeem us?  Who would have thought a 100 year olf man would birth a man who would then go on to have…first 2, then 12, then dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, then millions of descendants?  Clearly Isaiah the Prophet was correct when he quotes God as saying (Isaiah 55:8-9, as per Peterson’s The Message, p.1317)”I don’t think the way you think.  The way you work isn’t the way I work.”  God’s decree.  “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.“

Our God makes awesome promises.  He provides spectacular fulfillments.  In deed, He set us right with Himself.

C.  This is why Jesus gets so upset with Peter in today’s Gospel (Mark 8:31-38).  This interaction takes place just after Peter tells Jesus, “You are the Christ,” meaning the Messiah or the Anointed One.  It is also just before Jesus reveals Himself as God on the Mount of Transfiguration—during which Peter is present.  Jesus is trying to tell them all what His mission entails:  To redeem human kind, He must (v.31)— …suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed, and after three days rise again.  Peter was so outraged after hearing this that he probably stopped listening when he heard Jesus say He would be executed.  We can imagine this, can’t we?  It’s just so human.  We don’t want someone we value or love or admire to die early.  Neither do we want them to die a horrible, gruesome death.  No, we want them to continue to live so we can enjoy their presence.  In speaking up so, poor Peter doesn’t realize he has just voiced to Jesus Satan’s short cut—take the crown but reject the cross.  Poor Peter doesn’t realize until he’s said it that Satan has used him to again tempt Jesus.  Jesus’ response is swift, isn’t it? (V.31)—Get behind Me, Satan!  Then He admonishes Peter—You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.  Or, as Peterson paraphrases it, Peter, get out of My way.  You have no idea how God works.”

It’s true, isn’t it?  Peter doesn’t want Jesus to suffer and die.  He wants Him to keep on teaching, interpreting Scripture, healing, and casting out demons…being his friend.  Obviously, these are the desires of men and women, but in this case, not of God.  Having total faith in the Father, Jesus is committed to doing God’s will God’s way.  Nothing will deter Him from it.

He knows His mission is a huge undertaking. It is nothing less than setting us right with God! 

D.  Additionally, Jesus is familiar with Psalm 22.  We will note on Good Friday that the first portion of the psalm predicts Jesus’ thoughts from the Cross.  In the portion assigned to us today, verses 23-31, King David (and later Jesus) assert that they will praise God the Father amidst the congregation of all the people.  Even from the cross, Christ will trust that God still loves Him.  The hours on the cross, when Jesus becomes sin for us, the Father will turn His face from Him.  Nevertheless, He knows His Father is waiting to welcome Him back, to resurrect Him.  Too exhausted to speak, He praises God in His heart, crying out only (v.31) Tetelestai/it is finished.

Jesus’ final words from the cross are that He has completed the work of redemption the Father gave Him to do.  He has set us right with God again.

Thank you, Jesus, for Your courage and bravery!  Thank you for Your great agapeo (New Testament)/hesed (Old Testament) love for us.  Your loyal, everlasting, long-suffering love for us.  Thank You that You love us enough to have done for us what we could not do for ourselves.  Thank you for setting us right with God.

None of us knows what You look like, but I’ll bet Your face in Your resurrected body is beautiful.  (Isaiah said that His face would be unremarkable in His first Coming, so as to not attract the kind of fame a rock star gathers about himself; see Isaiah 53:2.)  Keith Greene, a Christian musician who died at 28 years old–way too young–in a 1982 plane crash, wrote and sang a song about the face of Christ.  The words go like this: 

Oh Lord, You’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when Your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

I want to take Your word and shine it all around

But first help me just to live it, Lord

And when I’m doing well help me to never seek a crown

For my reward is giving glory to You.

Oh Lord, please light the fire

That once burned bright and clean

Replace the lamp of my first love 

That burns with holy fear.

Oh Lord, You’re beautiful,

Your face is all I see,

For when Your eyes are on this child,

Your grace abounds to me.

Listen here.

May it be so for each of us.  Amen and Amen.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Heavenly Surprises!

Pastor Sherry’s message for February 11, 2024 

Scriptures: 2 Kings 2:1-12; Ps 50:1-6; 2 Cor 4:3-6; Mk 9:2-9

Last Sunday, my kids, grandkids, and I all drove up to Valdosta, GA, to see the first three episodes of season 4 of “The Chosen.”  If you have not tuned in to watch it, I highly recommend it.  It very closely follows Scripture.  And the actor who plays Jesus does a phenomenal job!  You can purchase the first three seasons’ worth on video now.

I won’t spoil the suspense, but let me just say that season 4 begins with Jesus’ frustration over the fact that His disciples do not really understand His mission.  We saw last week, in Mark 1:29-39, that they assumed He would remain in Capernaum, healing all that needed Him there.

He assertively redirected them.  He told them in v. 38 Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.  His mission was greater than serving just Capernaum.  They kept trying to guide Him here and there–or to protect Him from this Roman soldier or that Pharisee–according to their ideas of what the Messiah should be doing.  But He kept gently resisting their need to control or to shape His ministry.

Imagine, then, how unsettling it must have been for Peter, James and John to have witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration!  Isn’t it true that we form these ideas of how God should act, and then are so surprised or even shocked when He behaves in ways we never imagined?  Let’s look at what our Scriptures today have to say about this phenomenon:

A. The Gospel (Mark 9: 2-9) is Peter’s (via John Mark) account of the Transfiguration.  Peter had earlier proclaimed to Jesus (in Mark 8:29)—You are the Christ (Lk 9:20—the Christ of God).  The word, Christ, remember, is a title—the Greek word for anointed one, or Messiah, in the Hebrew.  Peter gets that Jesus is indeed the long awaited Messiah.

Luke tells us it was about 8 days after this (Mark tell us it was 6) that Jesus took the three with Him (9:28)—…onto a mountain to pray.  Imagine their thoughts when they observed Him in all of His heavenly glory!

Luke describes His face changing, and His clothes…(v.29)—…became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Mark (v.3) describes the same thing this way—His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.  Matthew writes (17:2)—His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  They used the words they had to describe the incredible brightness of how Jesus shone.  These three disciples were being treated to a mind-blowing sight!  (I have seen something similar as I work with clients who are in a residential treatment center for addictions and mental health issues.  Their pictures are taken when they first arrive; but as they learn, grow, and heal, their visages change so as to be almost unrecognizable from those original photographs.  There is a transformation that takes place that is seemingly miraculous.)

In addition, the three disciples see the long dead but clearly resurrected Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.  If that were not all, then they are treated to hearing the actual voice of God the Father speaking from out of a cloud (v.7)—This is My Son Whom I love.  Listen to Him!  (not to your ideas of what He should do, but to My ideas….) 

If you had been there to witness this Heavenly Surprise, wouldn’t you have been shaken up? Jesus is not just the long-awaited for Messiah, the Christ, the anointed One.  He is God incarnate!  How would that realization shape your responses to Him?  How would that new, earth-shaking knowledge shift your ideas of what he can and cannot, should or should not do?  I believe any of us would immediately move to “Who are we to try to direct Him to do what we want?”  Or, “Who are we to try to protect Him from anyone?”

B.  Our Psalm (50:1-6) fits this set of insights so nicely.  Asaph, the choir director, tells us that when God speaks (v.1)—He…summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.  Our most powerful God has created the sun and set the earth into an orbit such that it appears the sun rises and sets over planet earth.  Additionally, God manifests in fire and tempests, when He appears in judgment.  He is so powerful that when He summons the heavens or the earth, these great celestial creations do His will.  Asaph wants us to realize (v.6) our God is all powerful and totally righteous…and so too is Jesus!

Scripture talks about Mary, Jesus’ Mother, who (Luke 3:51)— treasured all these things in her heart.  Can’t you just picture Peter, James, and John all doing the same?  Pondering this great heavenly surprise; trying to process it, to figure out what this meant for and to them.

C.  This is what Paul is referring to in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6.  He directly follows this up in verse 7—We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

What is the treasure to which Paul is referring?  It is the knowledge that Jesus Christ is God Himself, come to live among us and to die to redeem us.  What are the jars of clay?  Those are us!  We are fragile repositories of this great and precious knowledge.

Paul describes Jesus among us as a light (v.6)—like the light of His transfiguration—which shine[s] out of the darkness.  It illuminates this dark world.  It guides us and gives us comfort.  Best of all, this light of Christ, this heavenly surprise— shine[s] in our heats to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  Jesus draws us into His redeeming light.  Knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, ensures we will dwell with Him in His light eternally.

D. Then we have this unusual passage from 2 Kings 2:1-12.

What a send-off for a mighty prophet!  Elisha, his loyal side-kick, goes with Elijah on his farewell tour.  Directed by the Lord, they say goodbye to prophets at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho.  Elisha remains with his mentor as they cross the Jordan River, moving outside the Promised Land.

Then Elijah asks Elisha what he wants (v.9)—”Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.  It may sound greedy to us, but what it meant was that Elisha saw himself as Elijah’s spiritual son and wanted what a firstborn son would inherit from his father, a double-portion (all the rest got divided among any other children).  He was essentially asking to be equipped to carry on his spiritual father’s ministry.

This was a difficult request for Elijah to honor as the prerogative to instill Elisha with Elijah’s power belonged to God alone.  God must have quickly told the older prophet that the heir would know his request had been granted if he saw Elijah jet off to heaven.  This is exactly what happens!

What a heavenly surprise, what a dramatic exit!  Elijah is carried away by a chariot and horses of fire.  Elisha witnesses this and knows his request has been granted.  He grieves the loss of his mentor, but he is allowed to see that Elijah is…taken up to heaven, bodily, without dying—like Enoch (see Genesis 5:24); and taken away outside the promised land without leaving a grave, like Moses.  This is a bigger deal than the funeral of a king.  The Lord is saying Elijah, and now Elisha–and not an apostate king–is the true representative of God on earth.

Once again, in a spectacular fashion, our Lord demonstrates the truth of Isaiah 55:8-9—”For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  Who would think that the Lord would carry off His prophet in a fiery chariot?  Who would think Jesus would appear to His 3 favorites as His pre-Incarnate, heavenly self?  How terrific of God to frame these events in bright lights and pyrotechnics we might never even think of!  If we had seen them, our faith would never waver, would it?

Not only that, but do you see that our Lord is capable of spectacular surprises?  Peter, James, and John must have been blown away by what they saw and heard on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus.  Elisha, too, must have pondered what he had seen at length.  Such events expand exponentially our concept of what God is capable of.

Additionally, as the disciples eventually discovered, we don’t want to be found thinking we can direct God or dictate to Jesus what He will do.  If we do, we will find ourselves highly disappointed.  We hear people express anger because God did not do what they prayed for.  The truth is we can ask, but we cannot demand.  He will answer, but He may tell us “Yes,” “No,” or “Not yet.”  We need to remember that God is God and we are not.

©️2024 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

God Wants to Talk About You

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 6, 2023

Scriptures: Gen 32:1-31; Ps 17:1-9; Ro 9:1-5; Matt 14:13-21

In August of 2001, country singer Toby Keith released a song titled, “I Wanna Talk about Me.” It’s kind of a country rap showcasing a man’s desire to have some equal “air time” with his significant other. Here are a few of the lyrics:

We talk about your work, how your boss is a jerk,

We talk about your church and your head when it hurts.

We talk about the troubles you’ve been havin’ with your brother,

Bout your daddy and your mother and your crazy ex-lover. We talk about your friends and the places that you been,

We talk about your skin and the devils on your chin,

The polish on your toes, and the run in your hose, And Lord knows we’re gonna talk about your clothes!

You know talking about you makes me smile. But every once in a while, I want talk about me…

Wanna talk about I,

Wanna talk about #1, oh my, me, my…

What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.

I like talking about you, you, you, you usually…

But occasionally, I want to talk about me!

I can’t think about this song without smiling. It sounds like his girlfriend is very self-focused, since it’s hard for him to get a word in edgewise. But if and when he gets the floor, what does he want to talk about? Himself! He wants to “talk about me!”

The song has become a metaphor in my family for thinking only of self. Someone cuts us off in traffic. One of us will smile and say to the others, “I want to talk about me.” Someone cuts in line in front of us at the grocery store, or at the post office, etc., and we’ll be thinking, “I wanna talk about me.” Have you noticed that, even when you politely let someone go ahead of you, often they don’t say thank you or even give you eye contact because…”I wanna talk about me.”

Let’s take a look at what the Lord has to say about this all too prevalent attitude in today’s world.

A. Psalm 17:1-9 was written by King David. Biblical scholars believe it dates from the time before he ascended the throne. God had lost confidence in King Saul and had had His prophet Samuel anoint David as the next King. The jealous and mentally unstable King Saul accurately viewed David as a rival to his throne and set out to kill him. In this psalm, David pleads with God for protection against Saul and any other adversaries.

Yes, David is worried about saving his own skin; but he also tells God (Peterson’s The Message, p.962)I’m not trying to get my way in the world’s way. I’m trying to get Your way; Your Word’s way; I’m staying on Your trail; I’m putting one foot in front of the other. I’m not giving up. David views the Lord as his (and our) protector. David trusts in God to provide him a divine rescue.

David knows we need to take our focus off ourselves and put it on God, first, and then on others. This is the shape of the Cross. The vertical reminds us to love God. The horizontal reminds us to love others. God would have us put our focus on loving Him and then on loving others. A healthy self-love comes third.

B. Our Old Testament lesson, Genesis 32:1-31, provides us with an object lesson in where our love/focus should be directed. Jacob is re- entering the Promised Land after having been an immigrant to Syria for 20 years. In that time, his Uncle Laban had cheated him at his wedding, substituting the less desirable Leah in the dark wedding tent for Jacob’s beloved Rachel. Uncle Laban also changed Jacob’s wages 10 times, always shifting things to Laban’s advantage.

Nevertheless, despite these numerous setbacks, the Lord has prospered Jacob: He leaves Syria with great wealth:

1.) 2 wives and 2 concubines (remember, this is before Moses’ time when the Law was given);

2.) 11 sons and 1 daughter;

3.) A large retinue of servants;

4.) and huge numbers of livestock.

Due to God’s blessings, Jacob returns to the Promised Land as rich as an Arabian prince or an oil sheik.

Focused on his fears that his brother might still want revenge (and is coming to greet him with 400 troops), Jacob sends Esau multiple, generous gifts to sweeten the deal:

1.) 200 female goats & 20 males (220 goats); 2.) 200 ewes & 20 rams (220 sheep);

3.) 30 female camels with young (30+ camels); 4.) 40 cows, 10 bulls (50 cattle);

5.) 20 female donkeys, 10 males (30 donkeys).

This represents approximately 600 livestock! And he still has other flocks with which to sustain his people. He divides his clan into two groups and directs them to separate encampments for protection

Then he prays. At this point, I want to shout out, “Good job, Jacob!” He reminds God of His promises to his grandfather, Abraham, to Isaac, his father, and to him. He admits he doesn’t deserve God’s love and mercy. But he does plead for God’s protection—like David will later—(Peterson’s The message, p.70) Save me, please, from the violence of my brother, my angry brother! I’m afraid he’ll come and attack us all, me, the mothers and the children. When he ran for his life 20 years earlier, his focus had been on himself—>“I wanna talk about me.” Now, after 20 years of trials, he has matured: His focus is still on self, but has enlarged to include family and the Lord.

God recognizes Jacob’s maturing faith, but then intervenes to strengthen it. In verse 24, Jacob finds himself engaged in a wrestling match with the pre-incarnate Christ. It’s like Jesus is saying to him, “Jacob, you are less self-focused than you were 20 years ago. But your faith still needs to deepen. In your life, you have wrestled with your twin, Esau…you have wrestled with your Uncle Laban for 20 years. But your first priority must be Me, God!” This then becomes a major turning point in Jacob’s faith: This is why we celebrate the “heal-grabber” as a respected patriarch. He persists. He does not let go of God. He has finally learned it’s not about struggling with God or others. It’s about yielding to God and holding on to Him. Once he comprehends this, Jesus blesses him and changes his name to IsraelGod-wrestlerHe who struggles with God and with men and has come through. (Some translations substitute the word overcome or prevail for come through, but actually none of us can overcome God.)

Our God wants to talk with each of us about us, and He does get the last word. He wants our focus to move from self to Him. He wants us to be generous toward other people, putting their needs above our own.

C. Look at Jesus’ example of this in our Gospel lesson, Matthew 14:13-21. Verse 1 tells us the Lord had just gotten word that King Herod had beheaded His cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus wanted or needed time by Himself to pray and to grieve His cousin’s murder. He tried to sail off to gain some alone-time with His Father. But He was accompanied by His disciples and, when the crowds saw Him depart, they raced around the lake to meet Him where He landed. I hope He was able to take a time- out to regroup and recharge emotionally and spiritually, but He seems hard- pressed for time and opportunity.

Notice He doesn’t act frustrated. Instead, (v.14) He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Additionally, after having taught them all afternoon, He tells His disciples to (v.16)…give them something to eat. They can’t feed this crowd, but Jesus can. He is saying to them, “Trust Me. I can make something from almost nothing [actually, He can make something from nothing]. I can take the little you bring Me and make of it much!”

D. And let’s not forget He does not break His promises. As our Romans 9:1-5 passage demonstrates, even though the Jews of His time rejected Him as their Messiah, He has not rejected them. Many Christians have taken it upon themselves to persecute the Jews because their religious leaders murdered Jesus. But God makes it clear through Paul that He has not forgotten that they are His chosen people. There is no place in the Christian life for us to disdain Jews. Through them, God has worked out His plan of salvation. Through them, God has brought forth the lineage leading up to Jesus. As we read last Sunday in Romans 8:31If God is for us, who can be against us?

God doesn’t want us to just “talk about me,” or be self-focused.

He wants us to focus on Him and on the needs of others. All through Scripture, He urges us to turn away from a concentration on self or selfishness. We are to follow Jesus’ and Jacob’s examples. He wants us to grab ahold of Him and hang on—no matter what. We are to surrender our wills to His, or as AA says, “let go and let God.” And then watch for His often surprising blessings.

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

He’s a Good, Good Father

Pastor Sherry’s message for June 18, 2023

Scriptures: Gem 18:1-15; Ps 116:1-2, 12-19; Ro 5:1-8; Matt 9:35-38, 10:1-8

Happy Father’s Day to our fathers present here and to those who have gone on, we hope, to glory. Remember Paul Harvey? He wrote the following about fathers:

“A father is a creature that is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic. A father growls when he feels good and laughs when scared half to death.

“A father never feels worthy of the worship in a child’s eyes. He’s never quite the hero his daughter thinks; never quite the man his son believes him to be, and this worries him—sometimes. So he works too hard to try to smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

“A father gets very angry when the school grades aren’t as good as he thinks they should be. So he scolds his son—though he knows it’s the teacher’s fault. A father gives his daughter away to another man who is not nearly good enough—so that he can have grandchildren who are smarter than anybody’s. A father makes bets with insurance companies about who will live the longest. One day, he loses—and the bet is paid off to those he leaves behind. “ (Paul Harvey, quoted by Chuck Swindoll in The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.204.)

It’s a touching tribute, isn’t it? I hope that is what your father was/is like. If not, we can all look to our Father God, to understand what a good father—what a really good, good Father is like! Our Scripture passages today make that point clearly.

A. Let’s begin with what Paul tells us in Romans 5:1-8. Paul is instructing us in the great progression of the generous gifts and blessings we obtain—like the one baptized as well as those we receive into our church fellowship today–when we believe in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ:

First, we are reconciled to God through Jesus. This is a huge blessing! Paul teaches, in Romans 1, that we pull ourselves away from God by our sinful behaviors (carnal nature), our rebellious and idolatrous thinking, and by allowing our feelings to dictate our behaviors and our beliefs. Feelings provide us with important data, but we do not want them to direct or compel our behaviors. We live now in an American culture where many people appear to believe it is okay to be driven by their feelings. This kind of behavior is out of control and leads to harm and to chaos. So, often because we do not sense God’s presence, we assume it’s hard to have a relationship with Him! This is just not true! Our Lord is only a prayer away! And He desires a deep connection with each one of us—which Jesus has made possible through His death on the Cross for our behalf.

A second concern, however, is what happens to us as we are drawing closer to God, and engaging in Kingdom work (spreading the gospel, sharing our testimonies regarding our own faith journeys). We encounter trouble! You see Satan leaves us alone if we are not pursuing God or are neutral about the Lord. But when we draw near to God, the evil one comes after us, “tooth and nail,’ trying to turn us against Him. The world and our flesh, inspired by the devil, try to discourage us. These forces work hard to pull us away from Jesus.

If we can hold on to our faith—in the face of trouble—we will emerge victorious. We will have become one who perseveres; one who learns patience; one who develops grit or persistence. This ability to persevere strengthens our character. We become more resilient. Psychology calls resilience the bounce-back factor. Resilient folks recover more quickly from the slings and arrows the enemy throws at us than do people who are not. Resilient people learn that even if we don’t feel God’s presence, we can trust He is with us in our suffering. All of this—suffering, perseverance, and a resilient character–helps us to have hope. We worship the God of all hope. And because our God keeps His promises, this hope does not ultimately disappoint us.

Finally, in verse 8, Paul pens this famous line But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We love and serve a God who has pursued us for relationship, even when we didn’t deserve His attention. This is the height of romance, isn’t it? John Eldredge, a contemporary Christian author, wrote a book called, The Sacred Romance, in 1997. His premise was that we each want to feel so cherished by another that that person would court us/pursue us, and want to live out their life with us. He contends and I agree that our God has done just that. The woman we baptize this morning has said “yes” to God. Each of us who has been baptized has said “yes” to God. Praise God and Halleluiah!

B. We see the miraculous hand of God in today’s story of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15). Abraham is now 99 years old, and Sarah, 89. They are way past child bearing possibilities! But two angels and the pre-incarnate Jesus visit them to say “the Child of Promise,” Isaac, will finally appear within the year. Sarah laughs at the idea of conception at their ages. (I think I would cry! Of course, they were wealthy and had a lot of servants, so she would have had sufficient help, bless her!) But they are both told (v.14) Is anything too hard for the Lord? It’s a rhetorical question. The answer is, “of course not!” We love and serve an all-powerful God of miracles.

C. Our Psalm (116:1-2, 12-19) reminds us that we appreciate and thank God because He hears and responds to us when we are in distress or trouble. He is our Rescuer, our Redeemer.

D. And our Gospel (Matthew 9:35-38, 10:1-8) demonstrates how He trusts us and empowers us to do Kingdom ministry. He sends out 12 ordinary men and tasks them with preaching the Gospel; warning folks that the Kingdom of God is near [that’s Jesus; Jesus is coming to visit them soon]; healing the sick; casting out demons; and even raising the dead. YIKES! How extraordinary! And He has empowered His followers today do the same.

Chris Tomlin wrote a sang a contemporary worship song called, “He’s a good, good Father.” We do worship a good, good Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. What wonderful blessings we enjoy when we ally or bind ourselves to Jesus Christ:

(1) We experience peace with God and the peace that passes all understanding.

(2) We experience being deeply loved.

(3) We come to enjoy hope, despite our earthly circumstances.

(4) Our characters are developed and strengthened.

(5) We trust that our Redeemer hears and responds to us.

(6) We realize He trusts us enough to give us Kingdom building work to do.

(7) And we align ourselves with the God who works unheard of miracles for those He loves.

Thank you, Lord, for the good fathers you have given us and for modeling what it is to be a good, good father. Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Happy Father’s Day.
Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The Antidote to Isolation and Alienation

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 22, 2023

Scriptures: Isa 9:1-4; Ps 27:1-9; 1 Cor 1:10-18; Matt 4:12-23

John Fairless and Delmer Chilton, of “Two Bubba’s and a Bible” fame share the following story:

“Back in the 1980’s there was a man named Larry Trapp living in Lincoln, Nebraska. His name was doubly ironic: He was a man trapped in his own hatred and trapped in his own body. Larry Trapp was suffering from a fatal disease and was confined to a wheel chair; he was nearly blind; he was also the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska. He truly was a man trapped in darkness.

“Larry Trapp became obsessed with driving Michael Weisser out of town. Weiser was Jewish and the cantor of the Lincoln Synagogue. Trapp barraged Weisser with hate mail, at home and on the job [Remember, this was in the days before cell phones and internet]. He made incessant threatening phone calls, he organized demonstrations; he did everything he could to make life a living hell for Michael Weisser and his family.

“Cantor Weisser was truly intimidated and scared. He had a wife and children he wanted to protect. But Michael Weisser was also a man who was unwilling to let another person’s hate prevent him from showing love. So he started calling Larry Trapp’s home, always getting the answering machine. So, he always left a message. He said, ‘This is Michael Weisser. I’d like to talk to you. I want to know why you are doing this to me.’ Finally, one day, Larry Trapp answered the phone, screaming and cursing and threatening, ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT? YOU’RE HARASSING ME!’

“And Michael Weisser said, ‘I know you have a hard time getting around and can’t drive, and I was wondering if you might need a ride to the grocery store or something?’ After a very long stunned silence, Larry Trapp quietly replied, ‘Uh, no, I’ve got that covered, but thanks for asking.’

“Larry and Michael kept talking by phone. After a while, Larry Trapp started going over to the Jewish Cantor’s house for dinner, they became friends, and when it became apparent he had nowhere else to go the Weisser family invited Larry to move in with them and he did, dying there in Michael’s arms some months later.

“Somewhere along the way, Larry Trapp left the KKK. He spent his last time on earth spreading a message of love in a world of hate; Larry Trapp became an apostle to Klansmen and other hate groups, trying to let them see the great light of love and forgiveness he has seen and experienced.”

(Originally reported in Time Magazine, February 17, 1992)

I wish I could tell you that Michael Weisser was a Christian. He was not a Christian, and yet he offered Christ-like love, compassion, and mercy to someone who had been thoroughly hateful to him. Obviously he lived by God’s admonition in Leviticus 19:18: Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. What a great example for us! We overcome hate not by repaying it in kind. We overcome hate not by exacting revenge—as the culture advises us. We overcome hate with a calm manner and a loving heart.

The plain truth is that disconnectedness — isolation and alienation (way too common in our nation today) is at the root of most human problems. We are disconnected from God, from each other, and even from our true selves. Think about those who instigate mass shootings—or even those who suicide. They tend to be loners, people who feel like outsiders. They lack genuine, open, trusting, and loving relationships. They don’t feel a sense of community and envy those who do. Over time, they become angry, disappointed, without hope and, I believe, then fall prey to acting on Satan-inspired thoughts like killing or destroying.

Now think about how we are to function as a church: We are to gather together to (1) Worship God; (2) Learn more about Him so we can love Him; (3) And to form a community that demonstrates His love for us to others. The church should be the antidote to the poison of disconnectedness, isolation, and alienation.

This is the clear message of three of our passages today.

A. Our Gospel is from Matthew 4:12-23, and describes how Jesus began His public ministry: Matthew 1st tells us Jesus’ motivation for moving His base of operations from Nazareth to Capernaum. We know from the prophesies of Isaiah in 9:1-2 and 42:6-7, that Jesus was/is meant to be a light for the Gentiles (a corrective for what the Israelites had failed to do). Additionally, Luke 4:14-30 tells us that Jesus was rejected by His friends and neighbors in Nazareth when He essentially claimed He was the Messiah. So, He moved His base of operations NE to a larger town, Capernaum. It was a fishing town on the banks of Sea of Galilee. Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew all came from there. It was also a busy border town with a customs house meant to regulate trade from two major trade routes: One running East and West; a second, “The Way of the Sea,” joined Arabia and Egypt with nations north of Israel. It was a region which contained a large number of Roman citizens (there for vacations, retirement, and “peace-keeping” purposes) and other folks from all over. As a result, Jesus could teach and interact with many, but without the scrutiny He would have received in Jerusalem.

There He enlisted His first disciples…out walking on the shoreline. First, He calls brothers Andrew and Peter (Remember, Andrew had been JtB’s disciple, an probably heard John call Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Then He calls brothers James and John. All four guys fish for a living, but He promises to make them fishers of men. Apparently they drop everything and follow Him. Jesus is picking the original leaders of His as yet to be formed Church.

The Church was/is His strategy for reaching us, the Gentiles. We know He lived and traveled with these guys for 3 years. They learned from His teachings; their observations of Him; and the practice opportunities He gave them. Jesus could have established His church any number of ways, but He gathered together a small group of committed followers. He developed deep, personal relationships with them. He then sent them out to transform the world–to carry His light to Jews, and to rescue Gentiles from the darkness of paganism or unbelief.

B. St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 1:10-18) emphasizes 2 points: He wants us to be as unified as we can be…Not to argue the merits/strengths of different pastors; not to hold a special allegiance to the ones who baptized us, married us, or buried our mothers, etc.; not even to come to church to make ourselves feel better. Rather, we must remember we are in the church in order to learn to know and to love Jesus, and to offer love to those who don’t yet know Him.

Paul wants us to follow Jesus—just like James, John, Andrew, and Peter. Rather than competing with each other, we need to keep our focus on Christ. Our loyalty is not to this church building—though we may love it–or even to our denomination. Our loyalty is to Jesus.

I reviewed my old sermons and realized I preached what I am about to say three years ago. We are at a cross-road in our denomination: Those who favor ordaining active gay persons and allowing same sex marriage are once again bringing that issue up for a vote. I said then and I think it is still true: I believe the United Methodist Church as we know it, will soon split, with those who hold to Scripture separating from those who appear to be following the dictates of the culture. We will be holding a parish meeting this Wednesday, January 25th, to discuss what we feel called to do. If we want to remain true to Biblical teachings, we may opt to leave the UMC and either join another denomination or remain independent. I urge you to pray about this, and to remember that Paul is urging us to remain faithful to Christ above all things. If the denomination is bowing to pressure from the culture—and chooses to depart from the teachings of Scripture–we may want to disassociate ourselves from the denomination. I was ordained an Episcopal “priest,” and left that demonination when the same split arose in favor of the Anglican Church. Please note I don’t take such a move lightly. In fact, I find it heart-breaking.

Meanwhile, it may seem like a big disconnect to consider a denominational split while also speaking of building relationships. When we pursue the Truth, sometimes we have to walk apart from the culture, from the denomination that nurtured our faith, and even sometimes from our families, or members of our families. Nevertheless, we strive to build relationships when we focus our spiritual energies on loving God and loving our neighbors.

May God give us His wisdom in this hour. Amen!

©️2023 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Turn Around!

Pastor Sherry’s message for December 4, 2022

Scriptures: Isa 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-7,18-19; Ro15:4-13; Matt 3:1-12

Someone asked me recently if I preached sermons I find online. I told the person that I do not. I write my own—hopefully with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit–but do locate online illustrations that are relevant to what I hope to convey. In that light, I have borrowed the following story from a Pastor online named Chuck Lawless (Jan 29, 2019):

He recalled that some years back he and his wife lived next door to a little boy named Charlie. One day there was a knock at their door, and Charlie stood there asking if the Pastor could please come out and play. Pastor Chuck figured “Sure, why not? The kid was a nice little guy.”

He discovered that Charlie had just received a new whiffle ball and bat. The child proceeded to tell the pastor, “Here’s what we do, Mr. Chuck. I’ll stand back here,” he said, “you throw the ball, and I’ll hit it.” Chuck threw his first pitch, only to see Charlie swing and miss the ball by several feet. He encouraged the little guy, adjusted his hands on the bat, then threw a 2nd time, only to have the kid miss again. The next pitch was no better – Charlie missed it again.

By now the child was exasperated – at the Pastor! He hefted the ball back to Chuck and yelled out to him, “Mr. Chuck, you’re doin’ it wrong!”

“What do you mean that I’m doing it wrong, Charlie?”

The boy answered: “Mr. Chuck, you’re supposed to be throwing the ball where I’m swinging the bat!”

At the time, he laughed over the boy’s logic…until it occurred to him later that we often treat God the same way. He says, “We’re willing to follow God as long as His plans meet ours, as long as what He demands fits inside our own box – as long as He’s pitching the ball where we’re swinging the bat. That’s not the way it works, however. The Almighty God, the Creator of the world, the Ruler of the universe does not adjust His pitching to where we’re swinging the bat. We’re the ones who must make the adjustments; we follow God and do whatever He demands, even if His plans stretch us.”

Our Advent preparation focus today is on peace; we lit the second or peace candle. Our Gospel lesson describes the work of John the Baptist. So, you might be wondering what does doing things God’s way, or even John the Baptist (JtB), have to do with peace? John, for instance, seems bent on shaking up, maybe even destroying folks’ peace. His message was essentially, Repent! In the original Greek, the word is metanoia. It means to turn, to change, to reverse oneself. It was not a particularly religious word back then. Instead, it was an ordinary, everyday word for turning around (execute a u-turn) and commence immediately to go the other way. But the sense of the word as JtB uses it is not just changing your mind, but totally re-orienting your will. He is saying, If you want true peace, you need to go the direction God is going; If you want true peace, you need to do things the way God wants them.

So, if God’s way is not the way we have been doing things, what are we to do? Here are some possibilities:

1. Consider Giving God a blank check. Don’t put any restrictions or limitations on what you want Him to do. I once counseled a guy who was frustrated about finding a wife. As we processed his dilemma, I discovered he had a whole check list of qualities and characteristics he wanted God to match: pretty, good figure, brunette, green eyes, etc. His list contained all physical attributes—nothing about her character or her personality. Now could God have located a woman who matched his list? Of course. But the Lord had not. Like Charlie, the fellow wanted God to throw the ball where his bat was.

Certainly we can make suggestions to the Lord, but we also need to let God be God. We need to swing our bat where He is pitching the ball.

2. Ask God to show you if there are areas of your life where you are waiting for God to adjust, rather than the other way around. Let’s say God tells you you are too stubborn, too proud, or too rigid? Are you willing to accept His assessment and turn around or turn away from that behavior? Recently a friend told me God had used a pastor to tell him he lacked a heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus. At first this fellow was insulted; but as he thought and prayed about it, he realized the man had been right. He had a head-knowledge of our Lord, but no true relationship with Him. Thankfully, he agreed to change this.

3. Finally—and this is a big one–try hard not to get frustrated with God’s plans for you. I thought God had called me into ordained ministry, after getting my doctorate in Psychology, so that I could do therapy with the clergy. That really never worked out! Instead, here I serving Him and you as a pastor in this church, and happy to do so. I have learned from this that the path to peace is following God’s will. Also, God’s path to peace often involves waiting. Have you ever noticed that many of the Old Testament saints had to wait for years to obtain their promised rewards? I think of waiting as the crucible of the saints. God uses the time to wear off our rough and sharp edges, to mold and shaped our character.

But, to get back to Chuck Lawless’ story, I have had to make adjustments to my swing, instead of expecting God to fulfill my plans—and perhaps you have too.

Let’s turn to our Gospel lesson again–John the Baptist’s words to the Pharisees and Sadducees were straight and true! They had joined the crowds that were coming to JtB, ostensibly to ask to receive the baptism of repentance. So why did John blast them, calling them “you brood of vipers”? He called them out because, as a prophet, he knew they had joined the crowd only out of curiosity. They were not there to humbly ask God’s forgiveness because they realized they needed to change. They did, in fact, need to change their hearts toward God and toward God’s people, but they were clearly unwilling to change.

So he thundered at them, Bear fruit worthy of repentance! What he meant was “Let me see some evidence of a changed direction in your life. You guys seem to believe because you are leaders of God’s Chosen People, you don’t have to examine your consciences, or to consider whether following the rules often means you are missing out on understanding the heart of God. You seem to have overlooked the truth that God is heading in one direction, and you insist you are following Him, even though you are wrong-headedly going the other way.”

If the Kingdom of God is at hand—and if we want the Advent peace God promises–what must we do to get ready? We want to look at the direction God is going, get ourselves turned around, and follow Him. It’s not up to us to debate the quality or direction of God’s pitches. We can insist on our own way and lose out. Or we can surrender our wills to His and join Him.

That’s where we will ultimately find the peace that Isaiah describes in his Chapter 11:6-9 passage this morning:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid [young goat], the calf and lion and the yearling [young deer] will eat from the same trough, and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent. Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on My holy mountain, for the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Oh Lord, may it be so and soon! Amen and Amen!

©️2022 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Gentle Correction

Pastor Sherry’s message for August 28, 2022

Scriptures: Jer 2:4-13; Ps 81:1, 10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1-14

This week the Wednesday Afternoon Bible Study examined and meditated upon the passage from Philippians 4:4-9 where Paul exhorts us to Rejoice in the Lord always! Upon further musings that evening, what struck me anew, was his additional recommendation to (v.5) Let your gentleness be evident to all. Gentleness is the opposite of harsh or rough. To be gentle involves being kind, tender, calm, mellow, tranquil. The Bible Dictionary defines gentleness as sensitivity of disposition and kindness of behavior, founded on strength and prompted by love. How many of us can say we exhibit this kind of gentleness?

Essentially, Paul was describing a key quality of Jesus. Except for times when He became irritated with the hardheadedness and uncompassionate behavior of the Jewish religious leaders—who should have known better–Jesus was unfailingly gentle to the people He encountered.

Scripture teaches us to demonstrate this kind of gentleness:

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. As a teacher, counselor, and pastor, I have seen that when I can control myself and not get mad in response to someone who is angry with me, my calm, gentle manner has the effect of letting air out of a balloon.

Being gentle can deescalate intense feelings. I learned this from a master teacher when I was teaching high school back in 1982. She and I came upon a big, burly, mentally handicapped child who was threatening to punch a substitute (This behavior was relatively rare in the early 80’s). My friend simply and calmly said to the guy, “You must really be angry; what’s made you feel this way?” He dropped his fists, and shared with her all of his frustrations of the day, culminating in what he perceived as the sub’s disrespectful, unfair treatment of him. My friend’s gentle response to him calmed him right down.

Proverbs 25:15 Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

Jesus, Himself, said (Matthew 11:29) “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” He characterized Himself as gentle. So it occurs to me that we should read the accounts of Christ in the Gospels through the lens of His gentleness.

Thinking back, I believe I always understood that Jesus was castigating the Pharisees in today’s Gospel passage (Luke 14:1-14). I believe I have misperceived Him. I thought of Him as taking a stand against them (they would have been seated around the banquet table); using a loud and disapproving tone of voice; and perhaps shaking His index finger at them. I really always believed He was letting them have it for their bad manners and their pride and self-centeredness.

But what if that were not the case? What if, instead, he had been correcting them gently? Jesus masterfully sets the stage with a Sabbath healing. Remember last week I said this was the 5th and final recorded Sabbath healing, which He did in full view of the scribes and Pharisees. The man, perhaps a plant, has dropsy. Dropsy, a fluid build-up in his legs, especially, probably resulted from circulatory troubles. They did not have Lasik in those days. Jesus had been invited to a meal at a Pharisee’s house. The man was there and Jesus saw him and had compassion on him. But before healing him, He asks the assembled diners if it is lawful to heal such a person on the Sabbath. They would have defined healing as work and would have said, resoundingly, “no.” However, by this point, they know Jesus does not agree. So, they remain silent, watchful, and condemning.

We know Jesus then heals the guy, despite their disapproval. He reminds them that they would not hesitate to rescue a child or an animal of theirs who might have fallen into a well on the Sabbath—this too is work! He is once again trying to teach them that compassion trumps their 506 rules for Sabbath-keeping. But sin can and does blind us to the truth. Additionally, even for Jesus, it is difficult to break through hard-heartedness.

But, instead of rebuking them for misunderstanding the nature of God and of His command for us to love one another, He begins a brief teaching on humility. (They were all puffed up with their knowledge of the 506 rules.) Notice, Jesus has witnessed the men invited to the dinner rush for the seats of honor. Typically, the host would be seated at the bottom of a U-shaped seating arrangement; honored guests would be seated to his left and right. Our Lord should have been offered one of those prime chairs (or couches). In fact, perhaps He watched the host have to ask a guest to move so Jesus could take the place of honor. At any rate, He then proceeds to tell them, gently, how to avoid such embarrassment in the future. If you are an honored guest, take the least prestigious seat. The host will then exclaim over the mistake and invite you to move higher. Never assume you are the one to be honored, as that’s prideful. In a shame/honor based culture like that of the Ancient (and even modern)Near East, you will be humiliated if you are asked to move.

Chuck Swindoll reported he had heard about a pastor who…”was voted the most humble pastor in America. And the congregation gave him a medal that said, ‘To the most humble pastor in America.’ Then they took it away from him on Sunday because he wore it.” Similarly, a comedian once said, “If you’re humble, you don’t write a book on how humble you are, with twelve life-sized pictures in it.”

(Chuck Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, pp.279-280.)

But even more importantly, Jesus reiterates for them the Father’s view of human pride (v.11) For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Considering who God is, and our standing before Him, none of us should be puffed up with pride. It is up to God to exalt or honor us, either for services we rendered to Him or for attitudes we have of which He approves. Given Jesus’ gentleness, I think He was remarkably kind to them. Being harsh or angry would have just generated further hostility and defiance in them. I believe Jesus was sufficiently calm, loving, and authoritative to issue a gentle correction. But He is also telling all of them that the way they (and we) treat others impacts how God treats them (and us).

Interestingly, He then goes on to address His host, a Pharisee, regarding who he/we should invite to dine with him (and with us). He is calling the man to humble himself and serve those who cannot repay him.

In Victorian England and in 19th century, upper class America, if someone visited you, you owed them a return call. This was the custom and it could be seen as an outworking of Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But Jesus is not just talking about etiquette but is actually going deeper into the meaning of humility. Social paybacks increase social cache/ego. Jesus is urging them all to change their approach to the people among whom God has placed them. They and we are not to lord it over them, but rather to serve them. Jesus is gently telling them that true righteousness comes as a result of giving freely to others—without expectation of reward. Furthermore, the reward is issued to us by God, not by humankind.

Jesus’ gentle approach to the issues of pride and humility really provide an extreme contrast to the current values of our culture. The prideful exalt themselves, today, even above the law. They are self-focused and arrogant. They take care of themselves and appear not to care about the rest of us. This is not a Biblical way to live. It does not please God. And it does not ultimately result in happiness.

Instead we want to humble ourselves before the Lord (James 4:10), because He will lift us up. Let us stand gently corrected. Let’s follow Jesus’ teaching, and also the example of Dan Crenshaw, a junior Congressman from Texas: “In 2018, the comedian Pete Davidson appeared on the ‘Weekend Update’ segment of Saturday Night Live (SNL). Davidson made a crude joke about a former Navy Seal turned Congressman-elect Dan Crenshaw. Crenshaw had lost an eye in the line of duty, which became the butt of Davidson’s vulgar joke. The combination of mocking a person’s disability (especially a disability that came from serving his country in war) alongside a clear disapproval of Crenshaw’s political beliefs led to a burst of public outrage. While Davidson was making the joke, it became clear many found it in poor taste, and the vitriol aimed at the young comedian would ultimately lead him down a spiral of depression and self-loathing.

Davidson then took his anguish public, posting on the social media platform Instagram: “I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore. I’m doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last. All I’ve ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.”

When Crenshaw heard about Davidson’s condition, he didn’t do what many do when embroiled in a public tiff: tell the offender the public scorn served him right, or make some other cutting comment at Davidson’s expense. Instead, Crenshaw decided to extend an olive branch, befriending the comedian, and even offering words of life to a person who clearly felt lost amidst being stuck in the cross-hairs of the American public. Davidson recounts that Crenshaw reached out and comforted him: “God put you here for a reason. It’s your job to find that purpose. And you should live that way.”

Humor, it has often been said, is a coping mechanism to deal with the pain that life throws at us. But in the midst of the deep, unsettling pain of being publicly shamed, what Davidson needed was not a good joke, but forgiveness, and perhaps, even a friend who could share the good news of the Gospel with him. In some ways it is ironic that a man trained to kill and destroy his enemies could be so moved by compassion that he reached out to someone who publicly mocked him and his deeply held political beliefs. But that is the beauty of the Gospel, it enables us to look beyond our own reputation, our own pride, to care for others.”

(Stuart Strachan Jr. Source Material from Dino-Ray Ramos, “Texas Congressman-Elect Dan Crenshaw Reaches Out to SNL’s Pete Davidson After Troubling Instagram Post,” Deadline, December 18, 2018.)

That’s gentleness in action. Lord, help us to be gentle. Help us not to push or to compel, or to be arrogant in asserting our rights, but rather to be like Jesus, gentle, and always speaking the truth in love. Amen.

©️2022 Rev Dr Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Worn Out and Done In

Pastor Sherry’s message for 6/19/2022

Scriptures: 1 Kings 19:1-18; Ps 42; Gal 3:23-29; Lk 8:26-39

What do we do when we are worn out and done in? Tired of carrying on? “On our last nerve”? Ready to “throw in the towel”? Frustrated and defeated? Out of our minds with anguish, or fear?

Our Old Testament lesson this morning, 1 Kings 19:1-18, presents us with just such a situation, and God’s rather surprising response.

The prophet, Elijah, has just enjoyed a miraculous victory over the false prophets of Baal. But then word comes to him that Queen Jezebel, a Baal-worshiper, has sworn to kill him for showing up her pagan priests.

Someone once said, Yesterday’s victories will not help you in tomorrow’s battles. (quoted by Delmer Chilton and John Fairless, The Lectionary Lab: Year C, 2015, p.217). Realizing she is a nasty, powerful, and vindictive woman, Elijah temporarily loses his religion and runs for his life. Without consulting the God he serves, he flees, then spends some time in the wilderness thinking over his situation, and decides he has had it with being a prophet. The life of a prophet is a difficult one. If you have ever been the truth speaker in a corrupt system, a badly run enterprise, or a vindictive clique, you know that truth-tellers (today we call them “whistle-blowers,” and they are protected by law) suffer. Later on, Jesus will famously say of the religious leaders of Jerusalem (Matt 23:37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you….

So Elijah is burnt out, depressed, and done in, afraid for his life, and hopes to turn in his prophet’s credentials. When he finally talks to the Lord, he tells Him he would just as soon die as continue on. Notice what God does: God does not engage him in a “pity party,” reviewing and recounting with him his troubles. Instead, He sends him supernatural sustenance and deep, recuperative sleep. The divine menu is so nutritious, and the rest so restorative, that Elijah is able to travel to a mountain, on foot, 40 days’ distant. He locates a cave in Mt. Horeb and settles in to wait on God.

God meets him there and curiously—since God knows everything—asks him (v.9) What are you doing here, Elijah? This is similar to when God asked Adam and Eve, after they sinned, Where are you? Had God really lost Adam and Eve in the garden? No. He wanted to see if they would admit their sin to Him. God knows what Elijah is doing there, so He must be waiting to see if Elijah can figure it out for himself. Elijah asserts he has been zealous in doing God’s work, but has encountered a bunch of serious trouble as a result. God then reveals Himself to him, not in the great things (ferocious wind, earthquake, and fire, usually signs of God’s judgment) but in a still, small whisper. After revealing Himself, God asks the same question again, (v.13) What are you doing here, Elijah? Notice again that the Lord really doesn’t respond to Elijah’s litany of troubles.

Instead, He wants Elijah to refocus on his calling. He reconfirms his calling, and sends Elijah back to do the work of a prophet: (1) He is to anoint two kings, Hazael (over Syria, a non-believing nation), and Jehu (in Ahab’s place, over Israel)—just as the prophet Samuel anointed King Saul and later, King David. A time will come when the Lord will tell Jehu to destroy Ahab’s dynasty (2 Kings 9:1-16), though Elijah will not be there to see it take place. And he is (2) to anoint his prophet successor, Elisha. Surprisingly, God appears to accept Elijah’s resignation. He reminds the prophet that He has reserved in Israel a remnant of 7,000 who love and worship Him.

What are the lessons we might take from this passage? First, God knows our struggles, our disappointments, our discouragement, our despair. Initially He may seem absent, but then He goes on to minister to our physical and psychological needs, restoring us, strengthening us. He often then reaffirms that to which He has called us.

As a single woman for over 40 years now, I have found the Lord always comes to my rescue economically, when I am down to my last few dollars. When I first hung out my shingle as a psychologist in 1991, I quickly found that if I needed $175 to pay my light bill, that amount is exactly what I made that day. He was teaching me to depend upon Him and He hasn’t failed me yet. Second, we may have come to the end of our rope, but God’s resources are vast and sufficient for our needs.

The journey God has us on is too great for us.

Elijah and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and uphold us. We are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Third, even if we think we are outnumbered by evil-doers and are the only ones we know who still love Jesus, we can trust that there are many others as yet unknown to us—and that God’s got us!.

Psalm 42 contains the heart cry of someone who feels alone and abandoned by God. Now we know we worship the “with us” God, Emmanuel. He never leaves or forsakes us. He has promised to be with us until the end of the age. So, like Elijah, even though we might fear the Lord has abandoned us, He has not. In verse 5, the psalmist asks himself why he is so bereft Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Then he provides his own antidote: Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

If we ever feel like God has abandoned us, we have only to think deeply about the times in our past when He has been there for us. God does not change. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. We can also remember that Jesus has said (Matthew 16:18 on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.

Galatians 3:23-29 reminds us that we will never be abandoned by God because we are sons [and daughters] of His. Because we are “in Christ” by believing in Him, we are clothed with His righteousness. There are no “woke” divisions, no outcasts due to wrong political leanings, and no racial differences. In verse 28, Paul so famously states There is neither Jew nor Greek [no exclusions due to race or ethnicity], slave nor free [no exclusions due economic status], male nor female [no exclusions due to biological gender], for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The only criterion for inclusion is our love of and belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Our Gospel (Luke 8:26-39) today cites another particular case of a man who cannot claim membership in Christ’s Church because he is completely taken over by demons. Jesus, like God the Father with Elijah, is very calm and accommodating to the Demoniac. The poor man lacks any control over his life. He lives in isolation—never a good idea. Like lions who go after the sick and the lame, lagging behind the herd, the evil one picks us off when we are out of Christian fellowship. Even though the townspeople had tried to restrain him with chains, he uses superhuman strength to break them. I have witnessed this in the seriously mentally ill. They are often strong enough to break the holds of husky hospital attendants. This guy is so out of it that he cannot even tell Jesus his name. The strongest demon in him says his name is “Legion” (there were 6,000 soldiers in a Roman legion), meaning he is plagued by multitudes of demonic spirits. But Jesus, Who has power even over hordes of violent demons, casts them all out of him into a nearby herd of pigs. The pigs then flee into the lake and drown. The demons are destroyed. The man is restored to his right mind. He wants to follow Jesus, but the Lord tells him (v.39) Return home and tell how much God has done for you. Jesus wants him to become an evangelist, and we can assume—in his gratitude—that he does.

We worship the God who sees us and who hears us. He knows when we have reached the end of our rope and are ready to let go.

Chuck Swindoll relates the following commentary: Perhaps you recall the book by Rabbi Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People? R. C. Sproul [a famous Presbyterian preacher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1900’s] had a great answer for that. Someone asked him on one occasion, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” His answer was classic. He said, “I haven’t met any good people yet, so I don’t know.” (Quoted in Swindoll’s The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Word Publishing, 1998, p.578). Or as Paul has written, Is any one without sin? No not one (Romans 3:10) and (Romans 3:23)…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

I think our tough times are tests, and no one escapes having them.

They may be sent by the evil one to discourage us and turn us away from God, but it seems that God allows them as a means of deepening our faith and of molding and shaping our character.

Nevertheless, our God is also the divine rescuer. He rescues a war-weary prophet. He restores a man totally overrun with demons.

Because we are His sons and daughters, He hears the cries of our hearts and responds.

The next time we find ourselves in a place of suffering, let’s try to have the attitude of today’s psalmist, as paraphrased in modern English by Eugene Peterson in The Message, p.965 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God—soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.

©️2022 Rev Dr Sherry Adams