Oct 31
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AND…
To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary. You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates:
(If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.)
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Who Said It…Mark Roberts
Mark has been senior pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California for 14 years. Before that he was education pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Dr. Roberts’s degrees are from Harvard University.
Mark is an active blogger (www.markdroberts.com). He enjoys hanging out with his wife Linda and their two children, biking, and playing “home improvement” around the house.
What He Said…Here’s the Pitch
As a major league pitcher puts spin on a curve ball to confuse a batter, so the verbal spinner twists the truth to keep the listener off balance.
Spin, said former CNN Crossfire host Bill Press, is hard to define. “It’s not the truth. Neither is it a lie. Spin lies somewhere in between: almost telling the truth, but not quite; bending the truth to make things look as good—or as bad—as possible; painting things in the best—or worst—possible light.”
We can’t escape spin. Politicians spin their positions. Advertisers spin their products. Coaches spin their losses. Students spin their low grades. Spouses spin their marital messes. Corporate executives spin their bottom lines. Employees spin their mistakes.
Most of us can spin with the best of them, saying things that are true in some sense, but not speaking the full truth that ought to be spoken. And we excuse our lack of truthfulness or even congratulate ourselves on our cleverness.
Adapted from Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003)
Prayer for the Week: I realize, Lord, that You desire honesty from the heart. But I kid myself and fudge the truth to impress others. Help me to change.
Few people will argue that attendance in many churches in America is declining. Whether it is due to shifting cultural standards, apathy among Christians, or a younger generation that is suspicious about joining any kind of large organization, the church is working hard to adapt and attract new members.
Have you ever wondered about the positive benefits of attending a church service? Shelby Systems recently did some research on that subject and came up with some surprising and encouraging answers. Please feel free to share these documented study results with your pastor, fellow church members, and friends who don’t attend church regularly.
In addition to worship, fellowship, and finding a higher purpose in life, the admonition in Hebrews 10: 25 includes with it a long list of amazing benefits.
Don’t miss out on all these wonderful blessings. We hope to see you at church this Sunday.
Central United Methodist Church in Beaver Falls, PA
Who Said It…Joey O’Connor
As he sat at the keyboard, Joey, a writer, felt like “someone was pushing pins in my wrists, dousing them with gasoline, and then whoosh, lighting the whole mess into a finger-burning wrist flambé.”
He searched for a cure for years, then turned to voice-activated software. “After talking like a robot into a computer for a year, I wore out my vocal cords.”
Depression followed for Joey, now a pastor at Coast Hills Community Church in San Clemente, California, who also directs the Grove Center of the Arts.
What He Said…Ask for Help? Me?
“Don’t worry, God won’t give you more than you can handle.” How often do you hear that when you’re going through a rough time? Really? Show me where that verse appears in the Bible.
In this fallen world, God allows far more than we can handle to show us our true need for Him. Brokenness brings us to the end of ourselves. It brings us to our knees. It’s the very thing we need to lead us to the wholeness found in Christ.
God isn’t an almighty Advil for pain and affliction. He offers us more than relief, rest, and restoration in the midst of our pain. He offers us His presence.
As long as we’re strong, independent, self-reliant, and self-sufficient, we’ll continue to depend on our own devices, ingenuity, skill, resourcefulness, and spiritual entrepreneurship to work out our salvation. We’d rather save ourselves than appear weak and needy by depending on God. We give help. We don’t ask for it.
Adapted from The Longing (Revell, 2004)
Prayer for the Week: Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me … so I can thank you.
David was in despair, pleading for help, when he wrote this psalm. Throughout history, men going through times of struggle and distress have been drawn to this and other psalms of David in which he poured out his feelings to God with tell-it-like-it-is honesty.
David modeled a dynamic, powerful, life-changing friendship with God as he confessed his sins, expressed his doubts and fears, and praised and worshiped. Let his honesty guide you into your own deep, genuine relationship with God.
Interact with God’s Word
Spend Time in Prayer: Commit to God the issues you are currently struggling with, thanking Him for past rescues and expressing your trust as you wait for His answers.
1 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? 2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God! Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die. 4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 6 I will sing to the LORD because he has been so good to me.
Key Bible Verse: Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come … not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough. – Luke 5:31-32
Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
My clinical depression came to light during my first year away from home at Bible school. I came home confused, frightened, and deeply in need of help. But not appearing normal scared off the people who’d been around me before. “What happened to the old Dave?” they asked.
It’s not easy living with the reality that something’s fundamentally out of kilter with you. After a seven-year search, I found a doctor I could communicate with. He prescribed a medication that made a serious difference. The two pills I take each day quiet the waves of emotion that once crippled me. I’m now able to face the challenges of my life head on.
One Sunday as I sat and took communion, I was reminded that my dependence on God parallels my dependence on my medication to live a full life. It’s the symbol that I’m a broken and sinful man—and the symbol of the cure.
The hardest thing to do sometimes is stand up and say, “I’m broken. I need help.” But if I ever want to get well, it’s what I have to do. And if there’s anything I’ve learned in reading the Bible, it’s that God is a god of broken, imperfect people.
—David Shepherd in Alberta
My Response: I’ll tell God where I’m hurting right now—and ask for His healing.
Thought to Apply: Do not free the camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel. —G. K. Chesterton (British jounalist, writer)
Key Bible Verse: You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. – Jeremiah 20:7
Bonus Reading: Jeremiah 15:10-21; 20:7-18
I vacationed on a South Carolina barrier island when the 300-pound loggerhead turtles were coming ashore. One night I watched one drag herself onto the beach to lay her eggs. Afraid of disturbing her, I left but returned next morning to see if I could find where her eggs lay hidden.
Alarmingly, I found her tracks headed in the wrong direction. She’d lost her bearings and wandered into the hot dunes and certain death. Following the tracks, I found her, exhausted. I poured water on her, covering her with seaweed, and ran to notify a park ranger.
He returned in a jeep, flipped the turtle on her back, wrapped tire chains around her front legs, and hooked the chains to his trailer hitch. Then he sped off, dragging her through the sand so fast her mouth filled with sand and her head bent back as if it would break.
I followed the path that the prow of her shell cut in the sand. At the edge of the ocean, he unhooked her and flipped her right side up again. At first she didn’t move. But after a large wave broke over her, she slowly moved, pushed off, and disappeared.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’re being killed or saved by the hands that turn your life upside down.
—Barbara Taylor in Leadership
My Response: Am I confused about what God’s doing in my life now? Can I trust Him anyway?
Thought to Apply: We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.—Henry Ward Beecher (New York preacher)
Adapted from Leadership (Spring 1992)
Prayer for the Week: Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me … so I can thank you.
Key Bible Verse: You have engulfed us with your anger … You have hidden yourself in a cloud. – Lamentations 3:43-44
Bonus Reading: Lamentations 3:1-26
On my office walls are several colorful mosaic crosses made of broken tiles, dinner plates, and stained glass. It was about four years ago, during my slow crawl out of depression that I began making mosaics.
After seven years of chronic pain, I’d hit a physical and emotional wall. I felt like the broken mosaic of a shattered windshield, my life splintered into a zillion tiny pieces. Every day was a strange, surreal experience, as I begged God for help and strength.
When I could see absolutely no purpose in my brokenness, God used it to bring me to a new place of wholeness. My identity had been tightly wrapped around my writing career. Hitting my lowest forced me to discover that God loved me for who I was.
So I took a year and a half off from writing. I now write my books with a pen in each hand, hunting and pecking because it eases the strain on my wrists. For someone who knows how to type fast, this is a very slow way to write a book.
The pain in my life pushed me to utter dependence on God. It taught me more than all the blessing I’ve ever received: a whole new understanding of who I am as God’s child. He began to shape the brokenness into something beautiful He wanted to use for His purpose.
—Joey O’Connor in The Longing
My Response: What lesson has God used pain to teach me?
Thought to Apply: When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.—Charles A. Beard (historian)
Adapted from The Longing (Revell, 2004)
Prayer for the Week: Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me … so I can thank you.
Who Said It…Joey O’Connor
As he sat at the keyboard, Joey, a writer, felt like “someone was pushing pins in my wrists, dousing them with gasoline, and then whoosh, lighting the whole mess into a finger-burning wrist flambé.”
He searched for a cure for years, then turned to voice-activated software. “After talking like a robot into a computer for a year, I wore out my vocal cords.”
Depression followed for Joey, now a pastor at Coast Hills Community Church in San Clemente, California, who also directs the Grove Center of the Arts.
What He Said…Ask for Help? Me?
“Don’t worry, God won’t give you more than you can handle.” How often do you hear that when you’re going through a rough time? Really? Show me where that verse appears in the Bible.
In this fallen world, God allows far more than we can handle to show us our true need for Him. Brokenness brings us to the end of ourselves. It brings us to our knees. It’s the very thing we need to lead us to the wholeness found in Christ.
God isn’t an almighty Advil for pain and affliction. He offers us more than relief, rest, and restoration in the midst of our pain. He offers us His presence.
As long as we’re strong, independent, self-reliant, and self-sufficient, we’ll continue to depend on our own devices, ingenuity, skill, resourcefulness, and spiritual entrepreneurship to work out our salvation. We’d rather save ourselves than appear weak and needy by depending on God. We give help. We don’t ask for it.
Adapted from The Longing (Revell, 2004)
Prayer for the Week: Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me … so I can thank you.
Key Bible Verse: Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again show me favor? – Psalm 77:7
Bonus Reading: Psalm 77:1-10
Our view of the victorious Christian is a bulletproof Superman who never doubts, always smiles, never struggles, and leaps tall churches in a single bound.
We want strong Christians who are always strong—not puny, weak ones who get sand kicked in their faces. In our society and even in the church, we’ve erected elaborate defenses against vulnerability, weakness, and suffering.
You and I need permission to be broken. To have seasons in our life when we don’t have it all together, just like in winter when the trees are barren of leaves. To have periods in which it’s okay to struggle.
To search for the wholeness that can come out of brokenness. To know it’s okay to have a bad day. Or week. Or month. Or year. To not have all the right answers or be able to explain why God is doing what He’s doing. To be broken simply because brokenness is part of the human condition.
But people get uneasy if your brokenness hangs around longer than a bad day. They still know the old you, the “you” before you were broken. They don’t know the new broken you and neither do you, because you’re numb just looking at all the broken shards of your life scattered at your feet.
—Joey O’Connor in The Longing
My Response: Have I equated brokenness with failure?
Adapted from The Longing (Revell, 2004)
When you hear the word “choice”, what is the first thing you think about?
Do you think about the gift of choice that Jesus has given to you and me?
How do you share this gift – a relationship with God – with someone you barely know?
In the Great Commission, Jesus urges us to “make disciples of all nations”; but when and where would be the right time to do just that? Leonard Buhler, President of Power to Change, shares how ordinary circumstances can be transformed into wonderful opportunities to share the hope of Christ that is in you.
Take the next step:
Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of October 21, 2021, starting to show indications that the latest wave may be reaching its peak at a very high level.
(Allegheny County’s figures moved slightly during the past week from 167.6 and 7.8% to 142.7 and 7.3%.)
(If both metrics are Moderate, the PA Dept. of Health’s recommended school instructional model is Hybrid Learning.)
On April 5, the CDC issued a “Science Brief” outlining that, in addition to people becoming infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, the principal mode by which people are infected with COVID-19 is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus.
The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.
For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:
As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:
Key Bible Verse: “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today” – Luke 19:5
Bonus Reading: Luke 19:1-9
A man in black, covered with tattoos, and reeking of cigarette smoke entered our rental store. While I checked his movie back in, he asked me an unusual question: “What kind of Zippo do you have?” (Zippo is a popular brand of cigarette lighter that comes with different designs.)
I told him I didn’t have one but was eager to see his. His had a family of four seated around a table—all skeletons. “That’s how I see things,” he said; “we’re all just waiting to die.”
“My take on it,” I responded, “is that God has more for us in this life.”
Instead of darting for the door, he opened up: “I just got out of prison after 16 years for attempted murder. ‘Doing my own thing’ is all I’ve ever known. I let my son do ‘his own thing,’ and he just dropped out of school.”
“I might have ended like that,” I replied, “if someone hadn’t come alongside to help me through some tough times. That’s one reason I’m a Christian, to help others find more in this life.”
“I never had that in my life,” he said. “Can you help my son? Could he come to your church sometime?” I said I’d be glad to hook up with him and give him a ride to church.
—Chris from Ohio, cited in a.k.a. “Lost”
My Response: Who do I know that might open up in response to a sympathetic listening ear?
Thought to Apply: The world is far more ready to receive the gospel than Christians are to hand it out.—George W. Peters (missions professor)
Adapted from a.k.a. “Lost” (WaterBrook, 2005)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to come across to others not as religious so much as real. Help me make being Your disciple look inviting.
Key Bible Verse: “Heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” – Luke 15:7
Bonus Reading: Luke 15:1-7
I wanted the people in my church to want to be with “lost” people, not out of a sense of duty, but of adventure and partnership with God. I wanted them to love people who didn’t know Jesus, not to be mad at them for not wanting to come to church. I wanted to change our perception of those we typically treat as outsiders. I hoped that people in the congregation would experiment with finding new ways of connecting with them. I wanted Christians to blur the lines between “us” and “them” the same way Jesus did.
I had a problem more of perception than of motivation. I needed to help Christians reimagine who they were trying to connect with. We needed to overhaul how Christians perceive non-Christians. So my congregation and I decided to rename those we wanted to connect with. We tried out all sorts of new terms to substitute for the lost. The one that proved the “stickiest” was missing persons.
When you change their name, you change how you feel about them. Since in reality we do what we feel, not what we think, this small change proves to be very helpful in getting all of us back into the game of nudging people across the starting line toward Jesus.
—Jim Henderson in a.k.a. “Lost”
My Response: I’ll ask God to forgive me for assuming that I’m superior to “the lost.”
Thought to Apply: Missing people aren’t bad; they’re just not where they’re supposed to be.—Brian McLaren (pastor)
Adapted from a.k.a. “Lost” (WaterBrook, 2005)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to come across to others not as religious so much as real. Help me make being Your disciple look inviting.
Key Bible Verse: As Jesus was going down the road, he saw Matthew sitting at his tax-collection booth. “Come, be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. – Matthew 9:9
Bonus Reading: Matthew 9:9-13
My wife and I went shopping on a Saturday night. While Barb was trying on dresses, I struck up a conversation with the salesclerk. I noticed she was from Latin America, so I began asking questions about her home country. One question led to another, and I found out this was a second job for her. Her real job was as a sales manager for a large hotel. It turned out that she was divorced and her son spent the weekends with his dad, so she found this department store job to keep her occupied weekends.
She’s working a second job to kill her loneliness, I thought. I should invite her to church. When I did, I found out that several of her friends had already invited her to our church. She said, “There’s something there for me!” I gave her my business card, and later my wife and I stopped by the store to see her again.
Connecting with this woman was as simple as asking questions, listening to her answers, and sensing a need. Finding the people Jesus misses most involves doing the most ordinary thing you can do: Just be your authentic, spiritual self.
—Jim Henderson in a.k.a. “Lost”
My Response: Could I naturally invite a person I’ve come to know to visit my church—or to know Jesus?
Thought to Apply: Most people are brought to faith in Christ not by argument for it but by exposure to it.—Sam Shoemaker (minister & cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous)
Adapted from a.k.a. “Lost” (WaterBrook, 2005)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to come across to others not as religious so much as real. Help me make being Your disciple look inviting.
Key Bible Verse: A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” … The woman was surprised. – John 4:7,9
Bonus Reading: John 4:3-14
I was in the checkout line at the grocery store, and the clerk was a fast worker. I realized that I’d hardly have time to ask her how she was doing. Then I noticed she was wearing a button that said, “We want to adopt.” This isn’t something most people would readily advertise to hundreds of complete strangers.
As the other customers were dropping their items on the conveyor belt, I looked at the checker and said, “I have some friends who’ve adopted. I’ll pray for you.” She seemed genuinely touched that I noticed her. That was it. I wanted to let her know that God cared about her and was proud of her courage, vulnerability, and selflessness.
I didn’t “share the gospel” with her, but I did share Jesus, the gospel creator. I wasn’t brave, bold, or smooth. I simply handed God the five loaves and two fish of my life and trusted Him to turn it into something significant for that young woman.
God only asks us to give Him what we already have. It might take a little work to identify what that is, but we already have what we need to help move others closer to Him. The problem is we don’t think that what we have is enough.
—Jim Henderson in a.k.a “Lost”
My Response: Do I agree that Jim shared Jesus? Why or why not?
Thought to Apply: Christianity isn’t, and never has been, about finding the right combination of words! It is about encountering the living, loving God.—Alistar McGrath (British theologian)
Adapted from a.k.a. “Lost” (WaterBrook, 2005)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to come across to others not as religious so much as real. Help me make being Your disciple look inviting.
Key Bible Verse: “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” – John 6:9
Bonus Reading: John 6:1-13
You don’t need special skills or experience to make an Ordinary Attempt. You just have to be aware and available. It’s an attempt, not an accomplishment, so no extra credit is awarded for succeeding, no demerits given for failing. Ordinary Attempts are nothing more than free attention giveaways.
People crave attention. When we pay attention to people because we want to nudge them toward Jesus, it becomes their connecting bridge to God. Best of all, instead of asking them for their time, attention, and interest—we give them our time, attention, and interest. We give them a small taste of Jesus’ desire to attend to them.
Christians are the freest people on earth. Our past, present, and future are completely secure through the love of Jesus. We’ve nothing to lose. We can risk, attempt, fail—and still go to heaven.
When it comes to evangelism, we can be our ordinary selves, and it turns out to be good enough. All Jesus needs are the five loaves and two fish of our lives—something we already have. Rather than trying to escape the ordinary, we should exploit it and attempt something small for God, something ordinary.
—Jim Henderson in a.k.a. “Lost”
My Response: What “small attempt” could I make to nudge someone toward Jesus?
Adapted from a.k.a. “Lost” (WaterBrook, 2005)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to come across to others not as religious so much as real. Help me make being Your disciple look inviting.
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AND…
To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary. You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates:
(If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.)
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Who Said It…Jim Henderson
Jim Henderson has been a Christian for more than three decades. One of his earliest Christian memories was being taken out to “go witnessing.” He says that he’s been trying to recover ever since.
Jim is passionately committed to normalizing evangelism for ordinary Christians. In 2000, Jim co-founded Off the Map to help move that idea forward. Before that he led the Servant Evangelism movement at the Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
What He Said…A Fresh Approach
I resigned from witnessing in 1996. Traditional evangelism isn’t normal. It’s a formalized program, a structured presentation, a memorized script. It works for extroverts, those with the gift of evangelism, and the few born to be salespeople. But that leaves us ordinary types out of the game. We have to work up a lot of nerve just to do it. So most Christians only do evangelism about once a year.
Along with many people in the church I was leading, we decided to do something doable and less threatening. We wouldn’t memorize anything, follow a script, or write down a carefully prepared speech. Instead, we decided to count all the small attempts we made to connect with people in our community. We could still be ourselves, but just live with a more intentional focus on others. We’d try everyday things, such as asking questions, listening, giving away our attention, and praying behind people’s backs. We called these everyday efforts Ordinary Attempts.
Adapted from a.k.a. “Lost” (WaterBrook, 2005)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to come across to others not as religious so much as real. Help me make being Your disciple look inviting.
Key Bible Verse: He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. – Ephesians 2:14
Bonus Reading: Acts 6:1-6
Long-haired, bearded Gilles and clean-shaven Doug were polar opposites. Doug, a Republican from a semi-rural California town, was the son of a worker in a nuclear defense lab. Gilles, the son of a pastor who’d been a radical activist, grew up in Africa and felt anything but patriotic toward the U.S.
When they began working together, Gilles and Doug didn’t trust each other or respect the other’s convictions. But we agreed together that God had put them on the same ministry team and just might be at work in their relationship. After four years of much work, forgiveness, and growing love, at Gilles’s wedding, Doug stood with him as best man.
Jesus called people with very different backgrounds into relationship with Him and each other. Matthew collected taxes for the Romans; Simon the Zealot was committed to overthrowing the Romans. Jesus called both into His group of twelve, demonstrating that what bound them together was much greater than the differences that otherwise would have kept them apart. As the gospel takes root in people’s lives, ethnic, social, political, and gender-based walls begin to come down.
—Richard Lamb in The Pursuit of God in the Company of Friends
My Response: How is our shared faith helping me relate to a “polar opposite” brother?
Thought to Apply: If we don’t show love to one another, the world has a right to question whether Christianity is true.—Francis Schaeffer (scholar, founder of L’Abri)
Adapted from The Pursuit of God in the Company of Friends (InterVarsity, 2003)
Prayer for the Week: Give me the love it takes, Lord Jesus, to live in harmony with the people You died for.
Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of October 14, 2021, starting to show indications that the latest wave may be reaching its peak at a very high level.
(Allegheny County’s figures moved slightly during the past week from 174.5 and 7.0% to 167.6 and 7.8%.)
(If both metrics are Moderate, the PA Dept. of Health’s recommended school instructional model is Hybrid Learning.)
On April 5, the CDC issued a “Science Brief” outlining that, in addition to people becoming infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, the principal mode by which people are infected with COVID-19 is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus.
The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.
For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:
As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:Ulterior motives cause us to honor our bosses so they’ll reward us, our employees so they’ll work harder, the wealthy so they’ll contribute to our cause, and the powerful so they’ll use their power for and not against us.
In this passage, Paul urges us to honor people on a different basis—because they’re created in God’s image, because they’re our brothers and sisters in Christ, and because they have a unique contribution to make to His church.
Interact with God’s Word: Romans 12:9-18
Spend Time in Prayer: Ask God for genuine love that will motivate you to make the concentrated effort that real personal involvement demands.
9 Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.
13 When God’s children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.
14 If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.
15 When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible.
Key Bible Verse: Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. – Romans 12:10
Bonus Reading: Romans 12:9-18
Junior high coach Steve Heck made certain all of his boys saw action each game. Still, one became discouraged and was close to quitting because he felt he was getting shorted on playing time.
Coach Heck took the problem to the rest of the squad. “What do you think about Travis?” he asked the other players. “Am I being unfair to him?”
Various players spoke up that they thought Travis was a good kid, that he really tried hard, and deserved more floor time. “Okay, guys, you’ve got to help me out here,” said Heck. “Who wants to give up some of your playing time”
After a few moments, Brian spoke up, “Coach, I wouldn’t mind sitting the bench for a minute or so.”
“Yeah, me too,” chimed in another player. Even some players who saw limited action themselves were willing to pledge 30 seconds of their time. The unselfish actions of these young men made them a stronger team.
Imagine you were Travis. How would it make you feel to know your teammates thought enough of you to give up some of their own playing time? How much harder must he have cheered for them when he was on the bench—and vice versa!
—R. McKenzie Fisher in Lessons from the Coaches
My Response: I’ll figure out a way to give a Christian brother a lift in the week ahead.
Thought to Apply: Together we discover that we’re a single body, that we belong to each other, and that God has called us to be a source of life for each other.—Jean Vanier
Adapted from Lessons from the Coaches (New Leaf, 1997)
Prayer for the Week: Give me the love it takes, Lord Jesus, to live in harmony with the people You died for.
Key Bible Verse: Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. – Romans 12:18
Bonus Reading: Philemon 1-25
First-century businessman Philemon may have treated his servant Onesimus in ways that fractured their relationship. Or maybe Onesimus simply longed to run his own life. Whatever the case, Paul urged Philemon in Philemon 1-25 to restore their broken relationship.
Some people do things that break the peace. If we’ve seen our peacemaking efforts collapse, we may wonder, Why should I expend a lot of effort trying to make peace between people who aren’t interested?
Two reasons:
God has made peace with those who are His children, and deeply desires that they shouldn’t be known as contentious people, but as peacemakers. This is reason enough to expend the energy.
Romans 12:18 recognizes that some won’t respond to our peacemaking overtures. Even Jesus didn’t succeed with those totally opposed to Him; but that didn’t deter Him. His responsibility was to reach out. They were responsible for their own failure to respond.
—Stuart Briscoe in The One Year Book of Devotions for Men
My Response: What overture do I need to make to breach a strained relationship?
Thought to Apply: I have never known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord’s people are divided. —Dwight L. Moody (evangelist)
Adapted from The One Year Book of Devotions for Men (Tyndale, 2000)
Prayer for the Week: Give me the love it takes, Lord Jesus, to live in harmony with the people You died for.
Key Bible Verse: How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony! – Psalm 133:1
Bonus Reading: Philippians 1:30-2:4
We can’t live without other people. A study of 7,000 people in Alameda, California, revealed that people with few close contacts tended to die sooner than those who saw their friends regularly—a finding that held up even after adjustments for smoking and poor health histories.
We need others. But we can’t live easily with other people. Herein lies much of the difficulty in being human.
Whereas most trees have a root structure that corresponds roughly in size and shape to the pattern of their branches, redwoods have extremely shallow roots. They are able to stay standing, even in severe storms, because their roots intertwine; the trees hold each other and create a secure foundation. This is a nice image of how we should support and strengthen one another.
But people are more complicated than redwoods. Sometimes the roots of others are too fragile or rotted to help us; sometimes our own roots are too short to reach those of the nearest tree. Sometimes other trees fall on top of us. We’re caught in a paradox: we need other people to keep upright, but those very people make it difficult.
—Donald McCullough in The Consolations of Imperfection
My Response: What up or down side of interdependence am I experiencing just now?
Thought to Apply: Only as we join with others different from us who share a common commitment to Jesus, can we know the completeness of His body.—Bob Snyder
Adapted from The Consolations of Imperfection (Brazos, 2004)
Prayer for the Week: Give me the love it takes, Lord Jesus, to live in harmony with the people You died for.
Key Bible Verse: Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother. – Mark 3:35
Bonus Reading: John 20:17-18
I went to a football game in my hometown of Houston, Texas, back before the Houston Oilers defected to Tennessee as the Titans. They were playing the Oakland Raiders in the Astrodome. That day I was seated in the middle of the biggest bunch of loud-mouth drunks I’d ever seen at a sports event. It practically made me ashamed to be an American.
Three weeks before I’d been on a mission trip to Russia—just one month after the Soviet Union ceased to exist. I was with so many Baptists who wanted to worship in this little church building that they were holding six services on Sunday. And people were still standing outside in the snow with the windows open so they could hear the sermon. (We all had communion with a common cup. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such hygienic intimacy with so many people!)
I was acutely aware that I’d been more at home with my Russian brothers and sisters in Christ in the nation of our former sworn enemy than I was sitting in a football stadium about 15 blocks from the house where I grew up with people who didn’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Christians are blood brothers and sisters with a common Father.
—Richard Land in Real Homeland Security
My Response: Who do I feel most at home with, and why?
Adapted from Real Homeland Security (Broadman & Holman, 2004)
Prayer for the Week: Give me the love it takes, Lord Jesus, to live in harmony with the people You died for.
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AND…
To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary. You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates:
(If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.)
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Who Said It…Steven Fry
Steven Fry has recorded four Christian worship albums, including the Dove Award-nominated We Are Called. He authored the key prayer song for the Promise Keepers “Stand in the Gap” assembly in Washington, D.C.
Steve is also a conference speaker and author. He’s the president of Messenger Fellowship, a network of churches and leaders seeking to model ministry that is spiritually fresh while maintaining biblical integrity.
He lives in Brentwood, Tennessee, with his wife, Nancy, and their three children.
What He Said…Dissonance Resolved
The linkage between unity (practically expressed in forgiving, encouraging, and being patient with each other) and the Lord’s presence is critical. At a conference for pastors, I witnessed how unity prepares the way for worship. For a couple of days, I’d sensed an undercurrent of tension. I eventually realized that rifts had surfaced between the planning team and the two worship leaders.
On the second night, one worship leader deferred to the other—in the middle of the set—by inviting her to lead worship for the rest of the evening. The atmosphere of the gathering promptly changed. I sensed a dramatic easing of tension. The rest of the conference was marked by a sense of holy exhilaration—the stuff that defines the kind of life God desires to give. Worshiping God had tenderized that worship leader to his need for humility. By humbling himself, he created a context in which the Holy Spirit could unify hearts and impart life.
Adapted from Discipleship Journal (11-12/02)
Prayer for the Week: Give me the love it takes, Lord Jesus, to live in harmony with the people You died for.
Psalm 90 would be Psalm 1 if Israel’s hymnbook were arranged chronologically.
It may strike us as strange that its author, Moses, who lived to be 120, should write about the shortness of human life. But even a long life is limited when contrasted with God’s eternal nature.
Here is a perspective on time that has stood up to its test.
Interact with God’s Word
Spend Time in Prayer: Ask God to help you focus your discretionary energies on pursuits that reflect His permanence and your eternal home.
10 Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone. 11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve. 12 Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us see your miracles again; let our children see your glory at work. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of October 7, 2021, starting to show indications that the latest wave may be reaching its peak at a very high level.
(Allegheny County’s figures moved up during the past week from 123.6 and 6.2% to 174.5 and 7.0%.)
(If both metrics are Moderate, the PA Dept. of Health’s recommended school instructional model is Hybrid Learning.)
On April 5, the CDC issued a “Science Brief” outlining that, in addition to people becoming infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, the principal mode by which people are infected with COVID-19 is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus.
The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.
For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:
As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:Key Bible Verse: So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. … Let us do our best to enter that place of rest. – Hebrews 4:9, 11
Bonus Reading: Hebrews 4:1-11
Not long after moving to Chicago, I called a wise friend to ask for some spiritual direction. I described the pace of life in the church I then served, which tended to move at a fast clip. I also told him about our rhythms of family life: we were in the van-driving, soccer-league, piano-lesson, school-orientation-night years. I told him about the condition of my heart, as best I could discern it. What did I need to do, I asked him, to be spiritually healthy.
Long pause.
“You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life,” he said at last.
Another long pause.
“Okay, I’ve written that one down,” I told him, a little impatiently. “That’s a good one. Now, what else is there?” I had so many things to do, and this was a long-distance call, so I was anxious to cram as many units of spiritual wisdom into the least amount of time possible.
Another long pause.
“There is nothing else,” he said. “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
I’ve concluded that my well-being depends on following his prescription, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry destroys souls.
—John Ortberg in LeadershipJournal.net
My Response: What might a breathless lifestyle be robbing me of?
Thought to Apply: Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.—Fred Mitchell (British missionary leader)
– Adapted from LeadershipJournal.net
Key Bible Verse: It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night … God gives rest to his loved ones. – Psalm 127:2
Bonus Reading: Psalm 90:10-17
About five years ago I stopped wearing a watch for the simple reason that my preoccupation with it was turning me into a time legalist. Everything I did—like meeting with someone for lunch—took on significance based on how much time I spent doing it. I began breaking up the day not by blocks of hours, but by minutes and sometimes even seconds (I could brush my teeth in 22!).
Time—not God—was the fixation of my life. Sure, I was never late for appointments, but I wasn’t much fun attending them either, as they all seemed like unforgiving deadlines to me. Megan was glad when we got time together, but I was always thinking about the rest of my schedule and had trouble really enjoying those moments. None of this was healthy, and I finally recognized that I needed to stop the cycle.
I still don’t wear a watch, but I do check periodically on the handheld iPAQ I carry around. Since I took a break from always and easily glancing at my watch to see how late, early, or right on time I was, my perspective has changed. Now I try to consciously decide to use time as the gift it is rather than the curse I’d made it to be.
—Craig Dunham in TwentySomeone
My Response: I’ll recall a slice of time that has become a treasured gift.
Thought to Apply: There is more to life than increasing its speed. —Mohandas Gandhi (Indian nationalist &spiritual leader)
Adapted from TwentySomeone (WaterBrook, 2003)
Key Bible Verse: The man won’t rest until he has followed through on this. He will settle it today. – Ruth 3:18
Bonus Reading: Matthew 21:28-31a
All of us want to be liked. But saying “yes” to everyone who asks for your help is dangerous. If you make a commitment to do something, your integrity and reputation are on the line. You should work diligently to fulfill your promise, finishing the project on time, and doing a quality job. That won’t happen if you’ve made so many other promises and commitments that your “to do” list exceeds the memory capacity in your handheld computer.
If you’re overcommitted, you probably lack the ability to say “no.” Perhaps you don’t want to disappoint each friend who makes a request of you. But you aren’t doing your friend any favor if your busy schedule forces you to miss the deadline or do a slipshod job. If that’s likely to happen, you’ll do your friend a favor if you decline the request.
Overcommitting yourself isn’t fair to the members of your immediate family, and your closest friends, either. You’re in crisis mode all of the time. Everything is an emergency. You’re always running behind schedule. You have no leisure time, and everything you do is rushed. That’s no way to live.
So don’t take on more than you can handle. Learn when to say “no.”
—Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz in Simple Matters
My Response: When have I said no to protect a vital yes?
Thought to Apply: The really idle man gets nowhere. The perpetually busy man does not get much further.—William Heneage Ogilvie (British surgeon)
Adapted from Simple Matters (Promise Press, 2001)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to use the time you’ve given me in ways that yield long-term significance.
Key Bible Verse: Oh, how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! – Psalm 55:6
Bonus Reading: Mark 3:20-21; 6:31-32
My good friend Ken once got pneumonia from staying up too late, getting up too early, teaching all day, writing and directing a musical all evening, and generally forgetting that he was human. Ken told me later that his sickness was the best thing that could have happened to him because he needed and wanted a break but didn’t know how to schedule one for himself. God did it for him, with a week-long stay in the hospital, complete with hospital food. Now he’s better at slowing down every now and then, but he still has a way to go. So do the rest of us.
Because so many things seem more urgent than they really are, it’s difficult to make the choice to read, write, and reflect—three keys to slowing down the pace of our lives. Our culture promotes the idea of working like crazy and then taking a short but intense vacation (which calls for another vacation we seldom get to take).
If those of us in our twenties do manage to slow down, work hard but less, pace ourselves, and make time for other things, we may not be received too well by those above us who “paid their dues” to the same exhausting system.
—Craig Dunham in TwentySomeone
My Response: When in my life am I overloaded?
Adapted from TwentySomeone (WaterBrook, 2003)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to use the time you’ve given me in ways that yield long-term significance.
Key Bible Verse: Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. – Psalm 90:12
Bonus Reading: 1 Timothy 4:7-10
Kids will wait forever to practice, start their homework, or clean their rooms. We adults are much the same. Calls and letters go unanswered, repairs go unmade. We intend to do them “when I feel like it” or “when I have to.” Since those times come erratically, today’s molehill quietly grows into tomorrow’s stressful mountain.
Our responsibilities cease flowing uncontrollably when we grab a calendar and assign them a time. Set a time to assign time blocks for the coming week. Remember, the anchor of your schedule is your quiet centers: your Lord, your wife, your family. In the spaces left around those centers, courageously assign time blocks to your other known commitments. Deciding in advance eliminates the stress of those predictable tasks chasing you until they catch you.
I found it frustrating at first to commit to a regular dinnertime at home. I preferred an open-ended day, unaware of the uncertainty I was causing my family. Finally realizing that there’ll always be one more thing to do, I set a boundary on my office day. The family makes its plans around my commitment now. And I’m starting to enjoy the predictability.
—Ron Hutchcraft in Living Peacefully in a Stressful World
My Response: How am I taking charge of the predictable sector of my time?
Thought to Apply: Procrastination is the thief of time.—Mr. Micawber (in Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield)
Adapted from Living Peacefully in a Stressful World (Discovery, 1985, 2000)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to use the time you’ve given me in ways that yield long-term significance.
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AND…
To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary. You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates: (If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.)
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Key Bible Verse: Fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. – Hebrews 12:2
Bonus Reading: Mark 3:20-21, 6:31-32
My brain has a muffin top. It’s not visible to the naked eye, but I’m sure high-tech medical equipment could reveal my brain is spilling over with too much information: facts, ideas, concepts, future books, trivia, minutiae, and useless thoughts. And moments with Jesus.
The less crowded my brain, the more those moments with Him stand out. Did I just write that? Did I just admit it to myself? Should I take a more minimalist approach to what’s stored in my brain so the Jesus moments have room to shine? That was rhetorical.
What does the Bible say is the secret to successfully maneuvering the labyrinth called life? “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.”
Like a woman–not that I would know–who can’t see her feet for the excess around her middle, it’s hard to fix my eyes on Jesus with excess in the way. So, I’ll discard this thought, and that one, and that whole file full over there, so I can maintain better eye contact with Jesus.
I’ll purge my overloaded brain circuits of the broken bits of information that don’t connect to anything else or that block my view like fog which prevents me from seeing more than the street below, even though I paid for an oceanfront room.
It’s the Jesus moments that keep me going, that infuse meaning into what I’m muddling through. Time to do some brain purging.
—Cynthia Ruchti, in Mornings with Jesus
My Response: Dumping information isn’t as easy as pushing a Delete button on a computer. What works for you? Time alone in a retreat setting? A hike through the woods or along a beach? A virtual “ceremony” surrendering unnecessary though ts to Him? Try one of those brain and stress purges today.
Adapted from Mornings with Jesus (Guideposts, 2014)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, I want to use the time you’ve given me in ways that yield long-term significance.
Trained as a rabbi, Paul was taught to think about God and life through a style of debate still used today in Jewish training schools called “yeshivas.”
This “pulpil” method responds to questions with other questions. Acts 17 is the chapter that most fully describes how Paul engaged in the give-and-take of “rabbinic evangelism” in synagogues, and then exported it to Gentile communities.
Interact with God’s Word
Spend Time in Prayer: Ask God for a growing confidence in the gospel that will allow you to casually engage in give and take about it.
1 Now Paul and Silas traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he interpreted the Scriptures to the people. 3 He was explaining and proving the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah and his rising from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.”4 Some who listened were persuaded and became converts, including a large number of godly Greek men and also many important women of the city. 5 But the Jewish leaders were jealous, so they gathered some worthless fellows from the streets to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there. 18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “This babbler has picked up some strange ideas.” Others said, “He’s pushing some foreign religion.” 19 Then they took him to the Council of Philosophers.[a] “Come and tell us more about this new religion,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather startling things, and we want to know what it’s all about.”
32 When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.”33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them,34 but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Council, a woman named Damaris, and others.
Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of September 30, 2021, starting to show indications that this wave may be reaching its peak at a very high level.
Note: Starting 8-12-2021, we have shifted from using the PA Dept. of Health statistics to using the CDC statistics for Beaver County.
The primary differences are that the CDC divides the middle category into two categories, and some of the category labels have changed. Here’s the comparison:
(Allegheny County’s figures moved up during the past week from 123.6 and 6.2% to 174.5 and 7.0%.)
(If both metrics are Moderate, the PA Dept. of Health’s recommended school instructional model is Hybrid Learning.)
The Delta COVID-19 variant first identified in India is more contagious and can cause more severe illness than other known variants. The variant can produce 10 times the amount of virus in people’s airways as the one first identified in the UK. In other words, it’s more contagious than the viruses behind MERS, SARS, Ebola, the 1918 flu, and smallpox.
On April 5, the CDC issued a “Science Brief” outlining that, in addition to people becoming infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects, the principal mode by which people are infected with COVID-19 is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus.
The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.
For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:
As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:Key Bible Verse: He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame. – Proverbs 18:13
Bonus Reading: Isaiah 1:18-20
The waiting-room sign warns, “Blessed are those who engage in lively conversation with the helplessly mute, for they shall be called dentists.”
My dentist drives me crazy! He asks really thought-provoking questions right as he puts sharp, pointed objects into my mouth. “So, what’s the real solution for the Palestinian problem?” Or, “Aren’t all religions basically the same?” I want to respond, but my attempts are muffled by his hands in my mouth and that noisy suction thing.
I wonder if some of our evangelistic conversations sound like interactions between my dentist and me. One side posits a question, not really expecting an answer or listening for a response. The other side sits frustrated, not really getting to answer or expecting to be heard.
Scripture admonishes us to always be ready to explain our Christian hope (1 Peter 3:15). But doing so requires listening in order to know when and what we’re being asked. Listening primes the pump, opening hearts to accept conviction of sin, establishing common ground for further dialogue, or giving insight to felt needs.
—Randy Newman in Questioning Evangelism
My Response: I’ll listen-out a friend, connecting and clarifying without interjecting my own thoughts, so he’ll know I’m hearing him accurately.
Thought to Apply: If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive.—Dale Carnegie (writer & speaker)
Adapted from Questioning Evangelism (Kregel, 2004)
Prayer for the Week: Lord, help me share the Good News in a less cut-and-dried manner, softening hearts through relational give-and-take.
On this cold, rainy twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, when we celebrate Reformation Sunday, and when the Delta variant of the coronavirus again prevents many of us from gathering in Central Church’s Sanctuary to worship in body, let us join together in spirit with our online worship service.
Central United Methodist Church Beaver Falls 