My first Ministers' meeting in Franklin...

I was at the monthly meeting of ministers and lay leaders in Franklin this morning.  We had a fairly large turnout of local pastors and lay ministers who attend the group, but even this is a paltry amount compared to the 52!! churches within a few miles of Franklin.  Who knew there were so many?  How can so many churches hope to cooperate and work together to serve the poor and advance the cause of Christ?
One of the things that this group has decided is that we will move forward with various projects and events in the hopes that our activity will prove to be the catalyst that brings more churches, and their leadership, into the fold of cooperation in Franklin (and Venango County as well).
I have to say that this is exciting stuff, I certainly didn't have so many church neighbors back in Palo, MI.  When we had a town wide church leadership meeting I only needed to call the Methodist minister and that was all of us.  Now, I have 2 Methodist churches, 1 Episcopal, 1 Catholic, and more within the blocks next to my own!  This is an amazing opportunity to serve this town from many different directions with the same Gospel of Jesus Christ, but also a warning to us all that we need to grow OUTSIDE of our normal church circles if all of us are to maintain vibrant churches in the future.
Needless to say, the future here in Franklin holds much promise, much work, and much need of prayer support.  May God continue to bless us for seeking to bridge the gaps that our forefathers created between our churches.  Christ only has one bride, HIS Church.

Sermon Video: "a baptism of repentance" - Luke 3:2-6

How do you go about preparing the world for the coming of the Messiah?  If you were John the Baptist, charged with this very mission, what would you do?  John's answer is to preach "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins".  In other words, John knew that God's people needed to repent of their sins, turn their lives around, and start following God once more.  If they did that, Jesus' message would be heard.  The same hold true for us today, when we humble ourselves, confess our sins, and begin serving the Lord we open our eyes to see God's salvation and our ears to hear his Word.  When we do that, God can work mighty deeds through his people.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Sermon Video - "In my Father's house" Luke 2:38-50

For a parent, few things are more frightening than to have a child go missing.  In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph lose track of Jesus (12 years old) after the Passover festival in Jerusalem.  Following three days of frantic searching, they find Jesus in the Temple courts where he is amazing the teachers of the Law with the wisdom of his answers.  When asked by Mary, Jesus seems surprised that they would not have known that he had to be "in my Father's house".  Where would people expect you to be?  In church?  Helping the poor?  If they'd never think to look for you there, why not?

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

"In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD." I Samuel 1:10

If you're like me, you love verses like this.  That the Bible contains such revealing texts makes it all the more of a blessing.  It is obvious that the Bible wasn't written by people who were trying to put God in a positive light because it contains so many hard truths and candid moments.
What was the reason for Hannah's bitter weeping?  The LORD had closed her womb and prevented her from having children (a serious shame in her society).  Our Bible study group was studying James this past week and talking about the difference between a test that comes from the Lord and a temptation that does not (it comes from ourselves; see James 1:2 and 1:13-14).  This is clearly an instance where God put Hannah to the test and she passes with flying colors.
Wait a minute, Hannah was bitter when she prayed to God, doesn't that show that she failed to trust in him??  Not at all, Hannah is a great example to us all because she earnestly prayed to the LORD despite her prior disappointments and bitterness.  Even though her prayers had gone seemingly unanswered for "year after year" (1:3), she simply continued to pray to the Lord.
Does that mean that our prayers will always be answered the way we want them to be if we keep on nagging God with prayer?  Of course not, but our willingness to continue to pray even when things are not going our way is how our faith develops and becomes perseverance and wisdom.  We may never receive the answer to prayer that we want, but God will certainly hear us when our hearts honestly pour out to him, as Hannah told Eli, "I was pouring out my soul to the LORD." (1:15).
Why did God put Hannah to the test?  Not to try to uncover the mind of God, but two reasons seem be clear enough.  #1, God knew that Hannah was capable of passing the test and #2 God knew how important the child she would dedicate to serve the LORD, Samuel, would later become.  By the way, God blessed Hannah over and above the maturity that she received through her patience and persistence (2:21); that's just the way God is, he loves giving gifts to those who serve him.

Sermon Video: Why are you here? - John 3:16

Do you know why people go to church?  Who is God anyway?  Who are we, and what is our purpose?  What about life after death?  These questions may seem like they'd take pages and pages to answer, but Jesus offers to us the truth of the Gospel in one simple sentence.  God is the one who created and loves this world, his Son came to reconcile and save us, and our response to God's love is simply to believe in Jesus.  It doesn't get any easier than that, and we shouldn't ever make it any more complicated.  Do you believe in Jesus Christ?  Don't let today go by without choosing for yourself to accept God's gift of love.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video