Family, often such a misunderstood concept in our culture today. I could go into a long discussion about my thoughts on the current culture but instead I want to take a moment to share my current pondering.
I love family, I love the idea of family, I love experiencing family. Family is a beautiful God given gift for us. A set of relationships wherein we can find love, compassion, care, encouragement, laughter, tears, comfort, strength, life, mourning, sadness, and a true sense of community among other things. I know no family is perfect, in fact I think all of them are a bit messy in one way or another.
I got to spend time with a very special part of my family tonight. Time with my wonderful wife, two sons, daughter (in-law) and yet-born grand child. Such a great and close family. Warms my heart. Are we perfect ... NOPE! But even when things get tough we will always love each other and be there for one another.
As I pondered family, my mind regularly flashes to different people. Many of them as close a part of our family as anyone and yet we are not blood related, at least not close "blood-relatives". We all have the same common ancestors in Adam and Eve but we do not necessarily share last names or grand parents. I have so many family members that I often long to spend time with. They are all over the world. Some are my parents, grand parents, brothers, sisters, etc... but so many are close to me because we are part of the family of God. god brought us together and connected us.
Some people who are family to me I have spent very little time with, and yet I feel a close bond to them. Others I have had the honor of spending a lot of time with. All are so very special to me. I am glad we have such modern technology so that I can try and stay connected with them.
Here in Brandon where I have been only a short time, I have already been finding more family. I love discovering all of the family members God has for me to meet up with. This family idea is amazing, a great opportunity to make sure others know they are valued and cared for. We are so blessed that God gave us this model. I pray that we learn to embrace it better.
Find someone to encourage every day, if the day is not yet over find another one and then repeat.
Blessings,
Pastor Bruce
Showing posts with label Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirit. Show all posts
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Love - Valentines Day?
Today it is Valentines day, named after Saint Valentine as a day to remember those we love dearly. If you want to look at the history behind it, feel free to google it. Our culture has taken Valentines day and made it all about "romance". This is not a bad thing in general but often I find the real point of love is missed.
Love, true "Love" is much much larger than "romance". It is meant to be selfless, giving and not looking to receive. The Truest form of Love is learned from God, as Jesus is our prime example of this Love. We learn that Love is a commitment more than a feeling. We learn to love not only those who love us but those who do not. We begin to understand that hard work of loving during times when the people we are caring for are not treating us well. When we seek to Love like Jesus, then we begin to understand what Love really is about.
Sure for couples romance is a part of their Love, God gave them those emotions and desires, it is good for married couples to enjoy their romance. To those who are single this day is a great opportunity to be reminded of the Love God has shown you. The great Love that you can show to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and even strangers, can become your focus. Take the day and redeem it to use for God's glory.
Let us all walk together in unity and Love, the same Jesus resides in all of His people and as such we are united. Regardless of our marital status, age, race, culture, as Christians we are the Family of God.
Pastor Bruce
Love, true "Love" is much much larger than "romance". It is meant to be selfless, giving and not looking to receive. The Truest form of Love is learned from God, as Jesus is our prime example of this Love. We learn that Love is a commitment more than a feeling. We learn to love not only those who love us but those who do not. We begin to understand that hard work of loving during times when the people we are caring for are not treating us well. When we seek to Love like Jesus, then we begin to understand what Love really is about.
Sure for couples romance is a part of their Love, God gave them those emotions and desires, it is good for married couples to enjoy their romance. To those who are single this day is a great opportunity to be reminded of the Love God has shown you. The great Love that you can show to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and even strangers, can become your focus. Take the day and redeem it to use for God's glory.
Let us all walk together in unity and Love, the same Jesus resides in all of His people and as such we are united. Regardless of our marital status, age, race, culture, as Christians we are the Family of God.
Pastor Bruce
Priorities Priorities Priorities ....
Many things run through my mind all day and sometimes all night. Maybe you are a lot like me? Lots to do and not enough time it seems to do it all. Yet we continue on and find ourselves as slaves to the most "urgent" item on our todo list or the emergency that walked through the door. Yet we know that this is not the way life should be. We recognize that this continuum is not healthy. So what do we do?
Well most of us decide to plan out time better, make better lists, take a time management class or get more organized. Yet almost always we find ourselves back where we started. Maybe we need to learn from God and His Word. In the Bible one of the first principles we learn is rest. In Genesis after God creates everything, He creates a 7th day for us to rest. The rest principle is not just about a day off, it is far more than time freed up. It is about us not focusing on the busy things, not being distracted by regular life. Our rest needs to be directed toward the One who can truly give us rest ... God. If we fill our rest time with other "busy" things that are not considered your regular work, then you will have some fun maybe but you probably won't rest. Rest is where we begin to find balance in our lives, that is how God made us and it is where we need to start.
The second thing is that we need intentional time with our Creator, the God who made us and knows us better than we know ourselves. Prayer is a key part of this relationship. We need to be a people of prayer more than we need to be a people who climb the ladder of success. Martin Luther the great Church reformer who dies hundreds of years ago once said "I pray 3 hours every morning but I am getting so busy, maybe I should start praying 4 hours every morning". This sounds counter productive and yet we are not to live in our own wisdom but the wisdom from God. you will not find this wisdom in your busy task filled day but instead you will find it in communion with the one who has such wisdom to give.
So I urge you today to join with me to put the important things first. God should be first in our lives, and that needs to be reflected in our time with Him. For that time to be effective we need to be a people of Prayer and the Word. God will work in us to help us meet the challenges of the day, do not worry, take proper care of your family, be properly involved in your Church, and when you are at work - work hard to honor God in all you do.
Let us press on together, but we need not set a fast pace on the less important things.
Pastor Bruce
Well most of us decide to plan out time better, make better lists, take a time management class or get more organized. Yet almost always we find ourselves back where we started. Maybe we need to learn from God and His Word. In the Bible one of the first principles we learn is rest. In Genesis after God creates everything, He creates a 7th day for us to rest. The rest principle is not just about a day off, it is far more than time freed up. It is about us not focusing on the busy things, not being distracted by regular life. Our rest needs to be directed toward the One who can truly give us rest ... God. If we fill our rest time with other "busy" things that are not considered your regular work, then you will have some fun maybe but you probably won't rest. Rest is where we begin to find balance in our lives, that is how God made us and it is where we need to start.
The second thing is that we need intentional time with our Creator, the God who made us and knows us better than we know ourselves. Prayer is a key part of this relationship. We need to be a people of prayer more than we need to be a people who climb the ladder of success. Martin Luther the great Church reformer who dies hundreds of years ago once said "I pray 3 hours every morning but I am getting so busy, maybe I should start praying 4 hours every morning". This sounds counter productive and yet we are not to live in our own wisdom but the wisdom from God. you will not find this wisdom in your busy task filled day but instead you will find it in communion with the one who has such wisdom to give.
So I urge you today to join with me to put the important things first. God should be first in our lives, and that needs to be reflected in our time with Him. For that time to be effective we need to be a people of Prayer and the Word. God will work in us to help us meet the challenges of the day, do not worry, take proper care of your family, be properly involved in your Church, and when you are at work - work hard to honor God in all you do.
Let us press on together, but we need not set a fast pace on the less important things.
Pastor Bruce
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