A Message for You

August 26, 2010 · Filed Under Faith Message · Comment 

The gift of here and now

by LAURIE TENHAVE-CHAPMAN
First Congregational Church of Rockford

I like to think of myself as an optimistic, carefree person. But I have this uncanny predisposition to see potentially dire mishaps in the simplest and safest of settings. For example, I might be watching a play in a beautiful, old Chicago theatre. I admire the chandelier gracing gilded ceilings. All of a sudden I’m thinking, “What if I were hanging off that chandelier? How long could I hang on? Would it hold my weight? What would the people below do to help me?” Or I’m driving behind a truck loaded with logs. Couldn’t one of those work itself loose and come right through my windshield? Before I can send out an S.O.S. I’m breathing into a bag and trying to snap my mind back to my very safe reality.

Fortunately for me these are just ridiculous daydreams. My husband knows this about me and, when he sees a potentially hazardous situation, he will ask me with a grin, “Are you hanging from a chandelier?” Then we both laugh and get on with reality.

Our imaginations can do a number on us. Jesus’ ministry was one of acting mercifully in the present moment even as danger lurked nearby. While the religious hotshots breathed threats against Him, He focused on the very real needs around Him: illness, loss and poverty. He didn’t waste His energies musing, “What if?” He took the 24 hours of each day He was granted in His short ministry to model a life of active, hands-on faith.

So, whenever my mind drifts down some perilous rabbit hole, I pull myself right back out with a laugh. Then I focus on who God has placed before me that day so that I can make a difference for good. Thanks be to God for the very real opportunities placed before us each day. These keep us grounded in faith and focused on the gift of the here and now!

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A Message for You — July 15, 2010

July 15, 2010 · Filed Under Faith Message · Comment 

Are you thirsty?

by Pastor Michael Cisler
North Kent Bible Church

When I was in college, my roommate and I worked for a few hours a day at a package shipping company in Georgia. After four hours of loading boxes on trucks, we would be hot and thirsty. When we got home we would share a pitcher of flavored sugar mixed with water. It was cold and wet and felt very refreshing. Unfortunately, this sense of refreshment only lasted about a minute. After that, we would be very thirsty again and no matter how much of the sweetness we drank, we would still be thirsty. I later learned that the sugar actually made us thirstier because the body uses water to break down the sugar we were consuming. No matter how much of the wrong thing we drank, we remained thirsty.

In John chapter four, Jesus has a discussion with an individual about water. They are together at a well, drawing water, and Jesus begins a conversation comparing physical water with a spiritual need.

He says in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

When we recognize our need to come into a relationship with God and we make a decision to come to Him, we receive this water Jesus is talking about. We receive the gift of holy spirit to help us in our lives and, as Ephesians chapter one says, this gift is a “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.” This need of God that we have is one that we sometimes attempt to fill with other things. Because these are the wrong things to fill this need, we will always remain thirsty. When we come to Him, we will never be thirsty again.

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A Message for You — July 1, 2010

July 1, 2010 · Filed Under Faith Message · Comment 

Church: safest place to be

by PASTOR DICK RILEY 
Rockford United Methodist Church

I read an article last month about the safest places for us humans to be, and it had some very interesting statistics in it. For example:

• Don’t ride in your car—they cause 20% of all fatal accidents!

• Don’t stay at home—17% of all accidents happen there!

• Don’t travel by air, rail or water—16% of all accidents result from these activities!

• Don’t even walk in the streets—15% of all accidents happen to pedestrians!

But did you know that only 0.001% of all accidents happen in church?

Please remember these facts as you make your summer plans. The safest place for you to be is—yes—in church! However, I must tell you that some strange things have happened to people while attending church. For example:

• Lives have been changed.

• Burdens have been lifted.

• Forgiveness has been given and received.

• Commitments have been made that have lasted a person’s whole life!

So, yes, there is some risk in coming to church—it could turn your life upside down. But I hope that you will visit the church of your choice this weekend, and all throughout the year, and be in that safest place—be in church!

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A Message for You — June 10, 2010

June 10, 2010 · Filed Under Faith Message · Comment 

We’re all in life together

by REV. HELEN H. COLLINS
North Kent Presbyterian Church

One of my members recently sent the following story to me:

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed this warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, his head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap—alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house—the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it. It was a venomous snake whose tail was caught in the trap.

The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital.

When she returned home she still had a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. So the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued. Friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

But, alas, the farmer’s wife did not get well—she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them for the funeral luncheon. And the mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

Whether it is helping someone who is dealing with illness, surgery or aging, or responding to global needs such as hunger, poverty or the oil disaster in the gulf, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn’t concern you, remember: When one of us is threatened, we are all at risk—we are all involved in this journey called life—we must keep an eye out for one another.

Nothing you can do to help is not much of an excuse. One of the best things about being part of a church community is banding together with others to meet the needs of neighbors, both close to home and around the world. I frequently hear people say, “I don’t need to join a church to worship God.” Perhaps. But consider this: Being part of a faith community multiplies your effectiveness in helping those who are at risk.

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A Message for You — May 20, 2010

May 20, 2010 · Filed Under Faith Message · Comment 

A window lets the light shine through

by PASTOR JEFF WILLIAMS
Courtland-Oakfield United Methodist Church

One of my favorite classic Far Side cartoons has a young man looking down, book in hand, leaning against a door at the Midvale School for the Gifted. He is pushing on the door and the sign just above his hand reads “PULL.”

Sometimes doors can be quite formidable for us. They may represent barriers or boundaries that we struggle to open or understand, let alone pass through.

The writer of Colossians asks directly for help finding a door to share good news: “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison” (Colossians 4:2-3).

Making assumptions about doors and how they do or do not open, we sometimes forget the obvious opportunity to pray for God to open a door for the Word—that is, prepare the way by providing “windows of opportunity” for the gospel (New Interpreter’s Bible). Sometimes opening a door starts with a window.

The Wolverine World Wide Family YMCA in Belmont has a small, lovely chapel. Many people are surprised that there is such a room in the facility. Offering a reminder that the organization’s mission is to put Christian principles into practice helps a little. Until Good Friday, April 2, the chapel was separated from the nautilus machines, drinking fountains, and long hallway leading to the locker rooms by a solid wooden door. People hesitated to open the door for fear of interrupting people who might be inside; you also could not tell if anyone was in there.

So, we decided to start the process of opening up the chapel by putting in a window with the YMCA logo.

At the dedication we recognized that the chapel window now would reveal the light and people on both sides of the door, seeking spiritual, mental and physical strength. Now we could see each other getting better. An invitation was made to devote time on both sides of the door.

If doors are frustrating your spiritual journey, consider putting in a window first to let the light shine through. You also may find people on the other side who are on a similar journey. God bless you in finding and sharing light for your path, and when you enter the YMCA Chapel, push the door open.

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