My daughter turns 9 this week, what that makes this dad think about

It was in the fall of 2014 that I put Nicole's first sonogram into our Sunday worship PowerPoint and told the congregation that I had a picture to share with them.  There were gasps right away from the ladies who knew what they were looking at, everyone else needed an explanation.  Clara Marie was born in 2015, changing my wife Nicole's and my own life for good, and changing it for the good.

I spent a lot of time dealing with unpleasant ideas and people, that isn't an indictment of my congregation or this town, as they have been stupendous in their support of myself and my family, but a reality that reflects the human condition.  I research, write, and speak about racism, nationalism, sexism, corruption, abuses of power, heresy, greed, lust, and all the rest.  I also get to talk about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (the Fruit of the Spirit), but my own nature as a communicator and my personality often draw me toward those people and causes who need to be defended against evil.  What does any of that have to do with Clara?  Clara is a ray of sunshine and a breath of fresh air.  She hugs her dad with clinging arms and gives far too moist kisses.  She laughs with gusto, believes the best is possible, and doesn't know yet that life and people can really kick you when you're down.  I know that some day Clara will change, somebody will disappoint her, break her heart, but I'll appreciate every day that she has remaining with her youthful optimism, and pray that they continue.

That Clara is about to be 9 already also reminds me of our need to make the most of the time we have in this life, to borrow from Dead Poets Society, we need to "seize the day."  Clara being 9 reminds me that I came to Franklin more than 12 years ago, that now more than half of our married life has been spent here in PA.  Until 2023, the longest tenure of my career had been teaching at Portland Adult and Community Education, now it is being here at First Baptist of Franklin.  Unless God has plans for me that I don't know about, this will be the longest and most impactful chapter of my life; that it also happens to coincide with the years that I have been blessed to be called "Daddy" by my little girl only amplifies that thought.  

I also think at times of reflection like this about the men and women who haven't been blessed with the role of parenthood, and those who have become estranged from, or have mourned their lost children.  It was at a funeral a few years ago when a church member about my own age asked me to read a poem about her dad that I realized that being a dad had changed my emotional make-up.  Funerals can be hard for me, other peoples' grief can hit me hard (that's inherited from my mom) but this wasn't that, it was the thought that popped into my head of Clara having to grieve me some day that choked me up so thoroughly that day.  That being said about a child mourning his/her parent, I can't imagine what those of you who have carried the scars of a child who was only in your hopes, or who was with you for far too short a time, have been through.  May God grant you peace, that you still function each day with that pain is a testament to the strength you must have.

Lastly, being Clara's dad is one of the top three things I've ever had a hand in.  I say top 3 because I'm not counting being a child of God who was redeemed by Jesus as something I had a hand in, that was 100% God's grace, the Spirit's calling, and my parents' faithfulness; I don't take any credit on that one.  Those three things are, then, being the pastor of a congregation, Nicole's husband, and Clara's dad.  God has been good to me, I'm blessed with all three of those right now, and the knowledge that the one that was all grace (my salvation) will remain even if/when the others have come to a close.

If you read this someday, Clara, know that your dad is amazed by his Silly Pants* and loves you more than the words he's typing can ever express.

*The nickname Nicole gave her, appropriately she has embraced this accurate description and refuses to have any other nickname.

Sermon Video: Sharing spiritual and material blessings, Romans 15:25-33

To the church at Rome the Apostle Paul explains why he is on his way to Jerusalem with a gift designed to help relieve the poverty of the Jewish Christian in Judea that he had collected from the Gentile Christians of the churches he had founded.  Why did this matter so much to him?  Paul had hopes that he could keep the Church united around its shared Lord and squelch the divisions of ethnicity and culture.  Why were they willing to give?  Gratitude.  They knew how great the spiritual blessings they have received from God, given through the Jewish Christian community, really was, and these first generation Gentile Christians were glad to be able to give a material blessing in return.

Sermon Video: By the grace of God I am what I am - 1 Corinthians 15:8-11

Having already detailed the many witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul offers his own experience last of all.  Paul does this for a very important reason, he was 'one abnormally born' in the Holy Spirit because he was called by God's grace when he was in the midst of persecution the Church.  God's grace reached out to Paul in a dramatic way, turning his life of violence into a life of self-sacrifice and dedication to the Gospel.  The thing is, everyone alive today is a recipient of God's grace, every breath we take is an example of God's grace falling upon the righteous and unrighteous alike {Jesus makes this point in the Gospels when referring to the beneficial rain falling for the both the just and unjust}.  We are all what we are because of God's grace.  As John Bradford said, "There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford."  None of us deserve God's grace, both our sinful human nature and our broken human civilization (nurture) would doom us all to lives that are 'violent, brutish, and short' if not for the grace of God.  Like Paul, we too are dependent upon God's grace, and we too must respond to that grace with self-sacrificial service on behalf of the cause of the Gospel...The next time you see a Lost sinner, let this phrase be in your heart, "There but for the grace of God, go I", and then show God's love to that person.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Everything in the name of the Lord Jesus - Colossians 3:15-17

Culminating a section where he described what it means to be alive with Christ as a people of God whose hearts are set upon things above, Paul calls for the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts, for the message (Word) of Christ to dwell among us richly, emphasizing the role of music in both teaching and worship, and finishes with a rousing reminder that everything we do needs to be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus", all of it done with gratitude in our hearts toward God.  What an amazing call, what a challenge!

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: In Him we have redemption - Colossians 1:12-14

The 4th of Paul's examples of what it means to "live a life worthy of the Lord" (The first three were: bearing fruit through good works, growing in the knowledge of God, and being strengthened by his power) is the one that he chooses to expound upon: giving joyful thanks to the Father.  We have, as followers of Jesus Christ, ample reasons for ongoing gratitude toward God, here Paul chooses to focus upon how we became disciples of Jesus in the first place: God rescued us from darkness and brought us into the light.  All of the verbs that Paul uses to describe our redemption are passive and past tense.  In other words, it is something which God, and he alone, accomplished, and it is something that has already happened.  In addition, Paul reminds us that the mechanism by which God rescued us was the payment of our sins (redemption) by the Son, which made the forgiveness of our sins possible.  In the end, we have every reason to continue in joyful thanks to the Father.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Sacrifices Worthy of God - Malachi 1:6-14

Following up on his explanation as to how God has loved his people, Malachi examines the way in which God's people have shown love, devotion, and honor to God in return, and the results are not good.  The priests in Israel had been offering animals for sacrifices with significant defects, in violation of the Law of Moses.  The implications of this violation are very serious, not only is it a sign of great disrespect for God, it will also result in sacrifices which are not accepted by God, causing a rift to develop between God and his people.
Now that Christ has fulfilled the sacrificial system, the equivalent of Malachi's warning for the Church age is the ongoing need for God's people to show respect and gratitude to God by giving God acceptable offerings of love, worship, prayer, and service, offerings that reflect our best not our leftovers.

To watch the video, click on the link below: