Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 84; II Timothy 4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18:9-14

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

When I first started going to church some 35 years ago I had some real problems with people there. Do you ever have problems with church people?

I certainly did.

I was at that time – three and half decades ago - and still am - what some would call a bible believing Christian - I not only took my bible to church with me every Sunday, but I nowadays have it on my Smart phone.

At that time the faith was new to me and I was enthusiastic and eager.

Winning souls for God was important to me, prayer was important; enthusiasm in worship was important; - and, while I was in a very good congregation, a charismatic and evangelical congregation, I nevertheless found that I was in some kind of minority within the church.

I looked around me at worship services - and I saw that many people there did not read their bibles, they did not sing the hymns, they did not seem to pray, nor did they fellowship with their brothers and sisters afterwards.

How many of you people do that you know - check out what other people are doing during worship? Looking to see if they are singing, or if they close their eyes during prayer time or lift up their hands?

I think lots of us do it. During worship - and at other times in our life together.

And when I did it, when I checked things out, I noted that many in my congregation seem more concerned that the service end exactly one hour after it began so they could get home and eat, or meet their friends - than they were about the actual worship they were involved in.

I noted too that only about 10% of the congregation ever bothered attending the weekly bible studies and prayer meetings; and - and that - as far as I could tell by how they talked - most of them had never really grasped the gospel message is one of grace - instead of works – that Jesus died not so people who treated one another decently could be rewarded - but so that sinners could approach the throne of God and find there a welcome that they do not deserve.

I had real problems with some of the people in the church in other words. To my eyes the church was full of hypocrites, full of people who could barely talk the talk, let alone walk the walk.

You ever make judgements like that??? You ever thought of yourself as better than someone else???

One of the biggest issues I had at worship services in those days were the prayers of confession that were often printed in the bulletin.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I still have a strong reaction to the words that I find in prayers of confession that have been written by other people.

The fact that those prayers were prayers of confession didn't bother me. I knew I was a sinner. What bothered me was the kinds of sins that were often listed in the prayers: - things like - neglect of the poor - selfishness - ingratitude - racism - and the like.

I found it hard to pray some of those prayers because I knew in my heart that I had not done those particular things - that I was not especially selfish or neglectful of the poor, nor was I in any way a racist, or ungrateful for all that God, and indeed other people, did for me.

I found it hard, in part, because I knew in those long ago days that, all in all, I was pretty much on the right track.

While I was not well off, I gave a substantial amount to the work of God each year, a tenth of my income in fact, and that little tenth was more than most others in the church gave, though they had far more income than I.

Indeed, I tithed, I went to prayer meetings every Tuesday night, I attended a bible study every Wednesday night, and I worshipped almost every Sunday morning, - even if I had company coming for lunch or relatives were expected to drop in for supper. I even helped lead in worship when the minister was away.

Not bad eh? I know that many of you out there have been there. You have been faithful. You have been generous. You have worked hard and asked nothing in return.

Like me all those years ago, you too have realized God needs many workers in his vineyard. Like me, you knew too that your efforts have made a difference both to others, and in the end, to you.

Now in all this you have to understand I was not particularly prideful. Any more than the hard workers among you are particularly prideful.

I knew that there were sins that I committed - I knew that I needed God's grace and forgiveness - I believed that it was only because of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice upon the cross that I would enter heaven.

My favourite hymns in fact revolved around these ideas - and I, even with the poor memory that I have, memorized some of the key verses of those hymns: verses from songs like those we sing today:

Amazing Grace - how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now and found, was blind, but now I see.

Or

Just as I am, without one plea - but that O Lord, you died for me.

One of my favourite sayings from that time of my life, in fact it is still one of my favourite sayings, was a short and simple one that is know to you all - There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Those hymns, those verses, and that saying, my friends, are good stuff, they are of the essence of the gospel - but I want to suggest to each of you here today, that they can easily be misused by us; that they can be, for us, songs and words that allow us to feel good about ourselves, and good about what we are about, instead of being words that penetrate and pierce our hearts!

We may, in other words, comprehend in our heads what these words concerning God's grace mean, but in our hearts, and with our feet and our hands and our lips, display a total lack of true appreciation for their messages.

In other words, We may fail, by our behaviours and by our attitudes to really understand who we are before God - and who we are in relationship to one another.
Hear today's reading from the gospel once again:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.'

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

If you were one of the two persons described in that reading, which would you be?

You know, it is one thing to thank God for what he has done for us, for the blessings we have received but it is quite another thing to compare ourselves to one another and to thank God for the differences, as if somehow we are better than that poor miserable tax collector over there, better than that single mother who drinks too much, or that clumsy idiot who is our fellow worker or the parishioner who sits next to us and seems to have no real faith at all, or that person who owes people so much money and not got round to repayment.

But we do it don't we?

We do it - whether we see ourselves as the tax collector begging God's forgiveness, or as the Pharisee - who has been diligent in all things of the faith.

I don't know about you. But I suspect that most of you do it.

Even I, some 35 years later from when I began, find myself doing it upon occasion, I still find others lacking something - which I, by the logic of the observation, think I have.

Why oh why do we, do I, such dumb things?
Why oh why do we, do I, engage in behaviour, or hold an attitude, that can do not but end up dividing us, one from another?

That is the mystery of sin my friends. It has power!

And while we have breath, we must continually fight that power. We must fight it - and we must trust in the good Lord to forgive us when we fail.

You all know the Jesus Prayer don't you? That famous prayer that is recommended as a mantra, which we should repeat over and over again, when we get down to serious praying?

"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner."

"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner."

"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner."

It comes from today's gospel reading - where the tax collector – the lowest of the low according to all that was right and holy in those days - and even today - beats his breast and says: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner".

Words to live by. Words to cultivate in our minds and hearts that we might know the true joy of salvation.

There is a beautiful promise in today's gospel lesson my friends, the promise is this:

"All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

It is a promise of God, but it is also a challenge - a challenge because it is very hard not to exalt oneself, - very hard not to think that somehow or other, that I am better than that person over there: that tax collector, that sinner, that arrogant person, that cheat, that hypocrite, that lazy person, that liar, that domineering person.

It is very hard, but it is not impossible .

We do not have to think that we have the one right answer; that because we do this or that thing better, or more often than others, we are somehow better people, wiser people, or holier people than those who do it poorly or less often than we.

We do not have to think that because we are more diligent at serving God inside the church and out, that because we tithe, or attend worship more often than most other people, that we are somehow more important, or more faithful, or more loved by God than they are.

Nor do we have to think - that because we work hard, pay our taxes, and refuse to hold out our hands, that we are better than immigrants from the China or the helpers in our midst, or politicians, or those who own big businesses, or people on welfare.
"All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

A promise. And a challenge, a challenge that we are all called to embrace, a challenge that we are all called to work on..

There is an old saying that goes like this:

"The person who thinks he can live without others is mistaken; the person who thinks that others can't live without him are even more mistaken."

Our prayer each day - should not be "O Lord, I thank you that I am not like other people - like John or Jane, like my mother or my fellow worker"; but rather it should be "I thank you God that you are so good to me - me a miserable sinner; help me be good to others in the same way."

Praise be to God, day by day. Amen

Psalm 72:6

"He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, Like showers that water the earth" Psalm 72:6

Not very long ago, with the very hot weather we were having in Hong Kong, when out of nowhere a cloud would form blocking the blistering sun. A cool burst of air would rush over the land. Then, with a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, the rains would fall. There is nothing as wonderful as the scent of rain on the grass! What a refreshing feeling it provided - not just for the land - but for me as well. It seemed that the whole world was renewed in a few moments time!

So it is with the Lord's presence. When He arrives, there is nothing like it in all the world. Weariness drops away like a garment. Heavy hearts are lifted. Burdens fall away. All our cares shrink at the majesty of God! Something I experienced sometime ago while working with the homeless. The air was aglow with a fresh scent and the Holy Spirit was surrounding each and every one of us. We could have stayed out there all night long. There was no doubt that God was there. Sins were washed away like dust in a rain shower. We found that we were clean. Our spirits were refreshed. Our souls washed in the Blood of Jesus.

I pray that you will experience the presence of God this week as you worship Him with His people. May He dwell with you. May He find you ready and willing to be cleaned, refreshed, and made whole by His visitation. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Isa 26:4

"Trust in the LORD forever, For in JEHOVAH, the LORD, is an everlasting Rock" Isa 26:4

Here's a question for you:
Why should we trust in the Lord?
Because He is a Rock?

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Give up?

Off the top of my head I can think of several reasons. First, during the Exodus we find that the Rock provides water. When it was struck, out of it flowed rivers of life giving water. What's more, in Hebrews we find that the Rock followed the people while they were in the desert places. So we see that the Lord is a Rock of life - we cannot survive without water. We cannot survive without the Lord.

Second, the Rock is a hiding place. Isaiah talks about being hidden in the shadow of the rock. Many a man has found protection from his enemies, the weather, wild animals, and more by hiding in the rocks. When the storms of life come upon us, when our enemies surround us, all we have to do is take shelter in the Rock, Jesus Christ.

Third, the Rock is a foundation. Jesus talked about the foolish builder and the wise builder. Which built his house upon the rock? Of course it was the wise man. Jesus said to Peter that He would build His Church upon the Rock. What was that Rock? The fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God - Jesus is the rock. Jesus referred to Himself as the chief foundation stone. The wise man builds his life upon the foundation of which Jesus is the chief cornerstone.

We all need to trust in the Lord for He is our sustainer, our protection, and our strong foundation. Those who rely upon Him in these ways will find salvation. I pray that you are one of them. Renew your reliance daily. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Gen 2:18

"And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him" Gen 2:18

Did you notice the wording here? "It is not good for man to be alone"? Why not? Have you ever seen the apartment of a single man? How about his car? Need I say more?

I knew a youth Pastor years ago who was a single man. His car looked like it was part of the set for the junk yard! I don't believe he ever threw anything that entered the door of his vehicle away. Worse yet, I don't thing there was a thing in there worth saving! And, sorry to say, this is not an isolated case! It seems to run in the "youth Pastor" blood line!

Most men think they can "go it alone," but let the little woman go shopping and leave a couple of kids with daddy and see what happens. Oh, it may look good on the outside, but look closely and you will begin to see some strange things - like food splatters where there should be no food, like spaghetti sauce in the cracks in the ceiling tiles! And diapers put on in reverse with duct tape, because the tape wouldn't work! Or, feeding steak and rice to an infant. Yes, I did ALL these things myself. My wife almost had a heart attack!

When God created man, he created a creature with an ego. When He saw that man was nothing but trouble constantly, He chose to create woman to help Him out, because Man did not know where he had come IN! Eve had just the talents that Adam was missing. (And I'm not talking about looks here guys!) I really believe it was woman who discovered fire. Man would still be eating his meat raw! I believe most women have the skill to organize a man's life. Without a woman, most men couldn't get out the door on time - except Sunday when the shoe is on the other foot! (To be honest, if most men would help their wives with the kids, they would not be late at all.)

I've noticed over the past many years that what a man lacks, his God given wife has. If he is no organizer, she is. If he lacks financial wizardry, she has it in abundance. It is good for a husband and wife to sit down together and discuss their strengths and weaknesses - and we guys really have them - and the biggest weakness we have is our inability to admit to anyone that we REALLY DO have them!

Then, after our strengths and weaknesses are honestly discussed, we should divide the responsibilities, giving each care over our strong areas, sharing what is left over. If that means Me, being the Man give up the check book, so be it. The marriage will be stronger for it. If that means Me, again, The Man wash dishes, I will do it with all that is within me -- don't get the wrong idea, Carmel. This is just an example!

Having problems in your marriage? Look to see if each is doing what he or she is good at. You might be surprised at what you find. Praise God, Amen and Amen.

Psalm 108:3

"I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations" Psalm 108:3

I know, it is not Thanksgiving Day, but it is still good to give thanks to the Lord. As a matter of fact, there is no Biblical Thanksgiving Day because every day should be a day of thanksgiving!

Three questions come to my mind:

First, of what should we be thankful? Now this is not a loaded question, but I want you to make a list of things you are thankful for. Be specific. Be generous in you thoughts. I think you will find your list a lot longer than you think - if you will just get quiet and ponder the possibilities for a few moments.

Question 2: To whom should we be thankful?

Obviously God is tops on most of our lists, but how long has it been, guys, since you thanked your wife for a well prepared meal - or the way she runs your household - or the way she is raising your children (and she does, you know. She has much more influence on your children than you do.) Have you ever thanked your server at your favorite restaurant? No, I mean with more than a tip. Have you stopped and thanked her/him personally and told them how good a job they did? Have you thanked your employer for hiring you and providing a job for you? Come to think of it, how often do you express thanks to those around you?

Question 3: When it comes to thanking the Lord, where do you do it?

In the privacy of your prayer closet? That's good. In the presence of your family? Wonderful! In the assembly of the saints? Perhaps. In the market place? " Get real, Pastor Edwin. I'm too private a person for that!" Oh, really? The Psalmist suggests that we should not be so shy! He recommends that we thank the Lord among the people - that's the world, people. They should know from whom our blessings come. We shouldn't make them guess - they are most likely to believe we quietly won the lottery, or a rich uncle died, or some other such thing. No, they should have no doubts that our blessings come from the Lord. How do we do that? I have a friend who, when asked how he is, always responds "Blessed!" It opens opportunity for him to share how the Lord has blessed him. It really gets some strange reactions in the checkout lane of his favorite grocery store!

Try it, you may like it! Of course for the really bold among us, the Psalmist suggests that we sing God's praise among the nations! Now we have really stretched out into the heathen world - and we don't really have to burn a CD to do it. We can just hum a happy song of the Lord as we shop, work, play, visit, etc. Trust me, even if you are a lousy singer, people will wonder why you are so happy! And THAT will open doors for you! My life is a daily Ministry and yours can be one too. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

John 5:4-5

"For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years." John 5:4-5

Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be made whole, and he answered, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up." He was so caught up with thinking he needed someone to help him, he could not see that his miracle was standing right in front of him! When you have no man to help you - nowhere to turn but God - you are a prime target for a miracle! No man can do for you what Jesus can do for you.

When you quit depending on your job, the preacher, your family, or the next healing line, you are positioned for your breakthrough. Family may let you down, the preacher may disappoint you and your friends may forsake you, but Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Rely on Him and Him alone, and He will meet you at the very point of your deepest need. What are the deep needs He is meeting in your life today? Praise Him, Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

II Timothy 3:14-4:5; Psalm 119:97-104; Luke 18:1-8

God of our days and our nights, of our coming and our going, bless we pray thee, the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts and by them and the power of your Holy Spirit, make us more fitting servants of your most Holy Will.

Perseverance is a trait that is much admired in our society and with good reason.

Those who do not try - and try again - until they succeed - are bound to fail. While those who persist, who labour unceasingly, who hang in, generally accomplish a great deal.

The bible is full of examples of perseverance - from Jacob wrestling with the angel at the River Jabuk and refusing to let this much stronger opponent go until he receives a blessing, - to Paul - who despite being imprisoned, stoned, flogged, beaten, and shipwrecked and having to endure hunger, thirst, nakedness, and rejection - went to all the known world and preached the gospel and so brought to completion the job to which Christ called him.

The Gospel today seems to be a classical example of the link between perseverance and blessing; between unflagging doggedness and achieving one's goal.

Luke sets the story in the context of a challenge Jesus makes to his disciples to pray always and not lose heart. His story describes a widow who wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted from an uncaring - an unjust - judge. Jesus concludes the story by saying: "And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?"

The lesson seems clear - persevere and you will be blessed.

Today I want to challenge you by questioning that teaching. Indeed I want to suggest to you that Jesus was trying to tell his disciples something entirely different.

We believe, you see, in a God of grace, a God who freely gives his people what they need.

Jesus says over and over again: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners". And over and over again we are told by him and by the Apostles that he went to the cross for us, he died for us, while we were yet alienated from him, while we were his enemies.

Indeed the essence of the gospel is found in the scripture that says: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that is not your own doing, it is a gift of God."

So how can we take this passage of scripture and assert that if we do something

- if we work at praying hard enough
- if we just hang in there and pester God without mercy

then God will roll over and give us what we want?

This kind of assertion reduces the gospel to a mere matter of works and it makes a mockery out of any statement that tries to assert that God is loving and giving.

Furthermore - because it reduces the gospel to a matter of works - it lays guilt trips on some people and creates pride in others:

"If you try hard enough - God will give you stuff - see what I have..."

And,

"If you don't try hard enough - God will not listen to you - you will not get what you want or need...."

How can we say such things and look one another in the eye?

How can we tell the person who is suffering from cancer - "You haven't prayed hard enough"? How can we suggest to the person whose son has been killed - "If you had remembered to pray to God every day this would not have happened?" And how can we stomach the person who suggests - that everything they have is because they worked hard and prayed to God till they got it?

Persevere and you will be blessed is not gospel!

It is important of course: fidelity, commitment, and hard work do take us places in this world, but it is not the good news we celebrate here each week.

Think for a minute of the gospel story we heard here a few weeks ago - the story of the man who goes to neighbour at midnight to borrow food for an unexpected guest. Think of the punch line of that story - how Jesus says that the neighbour will get up and give the man some bread, not because he is a friend but because of the man's persistence. And think of today's story and of it's punch line - how the unjust judge says: "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because
this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming."

Though both stories sound as if their lesson is "persevere and you will be blessed" the reality is that they are told to draw a contrast: - a contrast between God and the reluctant neighbour - and between God and the uncaring Judge.

If a corrupt and unjust Judge will render justice because the plaintiff is so persistent, how much more is God, who loves us and is concerned about us, willing to answer us when we call to him?

Which leads to the point of the parable - to the reason Jesus told this story. The words with which the story opens - and indeed the words with which it closes.

To remind you - the opening line was: "Then Jesus told them a story about their need to pray always and not to lose heart"

The concluding line is "I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to those who cry to him day and night.... and yet when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Jesus calls us, with the example of the widow and the unjust judge, to have faith, to trust that God in his goodness will bring about the justice we all seek, the blessing we all require - and that we should continue in prayer for these things till they happen.

It is simply a matter of timing.

I head a story which illustrates how we often confuse God's timing with our own.

A rural newspaper overseas had been running a series of articles on the value of church attendance. One day, a letter to the editor was received. It read:

"Print this if you dare. I am trying an experiment. I have a field of corn which I plowed on Sunday. I planted it on Sunday. I did all the cultivating on Sunday. I gathered the harvest on Sunday and hauled it to my barn on Sunday. I find that my harvest this October is just as great as any of my neighbours' who went to church on Sunday. So where was God all this time?"

The editor printed the letter, but added his reply at the bottom: "You're mistake was in thinking that God always settles his accounts in October."

That's often our mistake as well, isn't it? Thinking that God should act when and how we want him to act, according to our timetable and according to our desire.

The fact that our vision is limited, that we are unable to see the end from the beginning, somehow escapes our minds. That our desire, while often very good, runs against the freedom that God has given, for good or ill, to all people...

Bad things happen my friends. And Sometimes it seems to us that God doesn't care:

- that he doesn't make a difference in our lives
- that justice will not come about,
- that evil will prevail
- that death will have the last word.

This is why Jesus says we ought to pray always and not lose heart. This is why he asks "when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth?"

Persistence in prayer is part of what faithfulness is all about.

It means refusing to give in to appearances and continuing to trust God to act in his way and in his time. It may appear that we are alone. It may appear that God does not hear. It may appear that injustice and evil are prevailing. BUT faith dares to go on praying, it dares to approach the reality we cannot see and live by it.

This is what makes people of faith different from other people. We are willing to live by what we cannot see, but believe to be real, rather than by what we can see, and what the world tells us is real.

Many people pray my friends - And mostly they pray when they are in a jam and are desperate because they cannot come up with some fast and efficient human solution.

- They pray because they have an incurable disease
- They pray because they cannot figure out any way to help themselves.

And when they don't get the answer they expect when they expect it, the
temptation is to stop praying and start asking "Why?"

That is not faith my friends.
It is not faithful living.
It is not what Jesus calls us to.

Jesus calls us to pray always and not to lose heart.

God has a blessing in mind for us.
He has promised to stand by us and to vindicate us.
He has promised a new heaven and a new earth.
He has promised to save and deliver those who trust in him, - those who are joined to his people, those who have faith.

The real lesson of today's gospel is not - persist and you will get a blessing.

That is not in doubt for those who believe.

The real lesson is found in our reaction to the world around us - in our reaction to our trials and tribulations and to the trials and tribulations of this world.

Do we trust God. Do we believe? Do we pray always and not lose heart? Or do we see this world as all there really is - and only go to God when we can't do anything else, and then abandon God when things aren't happening as we think they should.

Where is the point in your life at which you need to let go of your fears, your frustrations, your impatience, your anger, and sink down into patient trusting in God's timing and his way of working?

Where is the point in your life at which you need to stop asking Why and instead trust God to bring about that which He has promised? That which he calls us to pray for and to look for and to expect during the time when it doesn't seem to be happening.

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

That is the question this parable asks of each of us. May you be blessed in your own answering of it, day by day, till the day our Saviour returns. Amen

2 Kings 16:8

"And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria" 2 Kings 16:8

Ahaz was not a good man. Never was. Never will be. It just wasn't in his nature. He was selfish, proud, arrogant, selfish - oh, I already said that. There was nothing Ahaz wouldn't do to please himself. So, when the kingdom was on the line, Ahaz did the only thing he could do to save his position - he emptied his personal coffers - wrong! No, he emptied the coffers of his national bank account - wrong again! He went to the Temple and robbed the wealth that was held in the storage rooms there! Can you imagine the nerve of this man. Robbing God! I suspect that he thought God wouldn't mind. After all, God never did have much to say to Ahaz. Only those prophets came around and gave nothing but harsh warnings. I suspect Ahaz though, "I'll show Him who's boss. I'll just use His wealth to keep my enemies happy!"

Speaking of robbing God, none of us would think of breaking into our local Church and stealing the sound equipment and selling it so we could buy a new car. None of us would ever take money OUT of the offering plate as it was passed! Of course not. We are an honest people and we honor our God by being honest.

Or are we so pure in our relationship with God? We may pay our tithes, but do we do any work for the Lord on Monday? Do we ever call on a new visitor? Do we ever visit the sick in the hospital? Do we ever volunteer to teach a Sunday School class? Do we offer to cook a meal for some bereaved family - even though we don't know them personally? Do we help the janitor clean the building after the morning service so he can get home at a reasonable time? Do we even pick up our own trash after the service? No? Then you are robbing God.

Do you watch movies you shouldn't watch? Do you drive over the speed limit? Do you look hungrily at that luscious looking co-worker with the gorgeous body? Do we shout at our kids and show them no love? Do we buy them things to make up for our lack of personal time with them? Yes? Then you are robbing God.

You see, theft comes in many forms. God has required more of us than our tithe - though if you are giving less than 10% of your income to the work of the Kingdom, you are robbing God, too. He requires our time. He requires our love. He requires that our love be expressed to our family and our neighbors - and our enemies! He requires our lives - and not just part of them, but all of them. If we are only giving 10% of ourselves, we are robbing God. If we are giving 95% of ourselves, we are robbing God - and we are just as guilty as Ahaz!

You may have missed it yesterday, or in the last hour, but you can start over right now. Go ahead, give Him your all. You will find that He gives much more in return! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings" Jeremiah 17:9-10.

"It's hopeless. I can't be changed. I'm evil from my mother's womb and there is nothing I can do about it." Ever thought that or something like it? I have. When I get caught in the snare of one of my pet sins - again - and again, that's when I think it. I also wonder "what's the use of trying? I never change." And all this is true.

"Wait a minute, Pastor Edwin. You are supposed to lift my spirits. Now you are telling me that I am bad and there is nothing I can do about it. What's gotten into you. Are you like, sick or something?"

I hear you, but it is true. There is nothing you and I can do about the evil lurking in our hearts. Jeremiah was correct. Think about it. Where does our sin come from? The desires of the heart. We want something so we set about getting it. Whether it be a new toy, or a new car, or a new wife, or a house or whatever it is our hearts desire, we usually find a way to get it. We may use legal means - like working overtime to get the required the funds, or being on our best behavior when we are around our "dream" date. Or we may turn to illegal means - like stealing or lying or cheating or even killing. The difference is only in degrees.

Allow me to explain. A legal means must cause sacrifice somewhere. It may be stealing time from our families. It may be padding our time to get the overtime thus stealing from our employers. These are no better than robbing a bank or killing. They are all sin - and there is no degrees in sin. Romans says "all have sinned and fallen short. . ." It doesn't say "only those who have committed great and grievous sins have sinned and fallen short . . ." A sin is a sin and a sin will keep you from God - yes, even one sin.

"So where is the hope, Pastor Edwin?" It's here: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10 ) While it's true that we can do nothing about our deceitful hearts, God can. He can take our hard, cold, lifeless hearts and replace them with soft hearts full of love and mercy and grace. He can do what you and I find hopeless. The only problem is that He will not do it unless and until we are ready. God will never force himself upon us. He only gently prods us in the right direction. Even then we have the right of refusal. Yes, God cares, but He created us with the freedom to choose and He will never take that away - not even to meet His own needs.

Caught in the depths of despair? Turn to Jesus. He has the ladder. Locked in a prison of defeat? Turn to Jesus. He holds the keys to your lock. Lost in a maze of confusion? Turn to Jesus. He has the map to freedom. Yes, it's true. Jesus is the answer for the world today. Without Him there is no other. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the LIGHT. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Psalm 137:1

"By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion" Psalm 137:1.

It was a sad time for Israel. The unbelievable had happened. The once great kingdom of David and Solomon laid in ruins - her people, those who were left alive, had been transported to nations far away. The best and brightest and healthiest and strongest were now in Babylon. They were inconsolably saddened by the turn of events that lead to their demise. Sure, they had been warned by the prophets, but they were thought of as nothing but a bunch of religious fanatics and kooks. But they had been true spokesmen for God. Now they were paying for their frivolities.

Their captives - ever desiring something "new" - demanded they play the songs from the Israeli homeland, the happy songs, the joyous songs, not the dirges the Jews wanted to play. But their hearts were not in it. How could they do the "happy" songs when their hearts were heavy with defeat and disbelief. Besides, they were homesick for a land they would most likely never see again! The next verse says the hung their harps in the willow trees. They refused to play.

To be honest, I long for the old days myself. I long for the days when Moms were home when the kids got home from school. I remember a time when drugs were bought from the druggist not the corner "pusher." I weep for a time, long lost, when the moral standard was high and the teen pregnancy rate was just barely above zero. Yes, I long for the days of the '50s, '60s and early '70s. Those were days when you didn't have to lock the doors to your house and car. Those were the times when you could walk the streets at midnight and not worry about being mugged. Those were indeed the "good old days". And, yes, they were better times.

What happened? Where did we go wrong? More importantly, how can we return? Yes, we were warned by the modern prophets. They shouted that we should not allow abortions to enter the main streets of our communities. Certainly, they informed, cajoled, pleaded, bargained, and warned us that if we continued to turn our backs on God that He would eventually turn His back on us. If it could happen to Israel, God's chosen nation filled with His chosen people, it could happen to each and every nation and race.

Indeed, there is an answer. And that answer is unpopular! We, as the people of God, must return to the roots our forefathers planted. We must return to the Judeo-Christian foundation. We must return to a saving faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! That is our only hope to prevent the same thing that happened to Israel from happening to us!

Do you weep with me? Do you long for something that we had and lost and long to have again? Then pray that God will save all the nations - no, pray that God will save all human beings again! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Luke 11:42

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" Luke 11:42.

"Pastor Edwin, I don't have any mint or rue or other herbs, so what's your beef today? Besides I tithe on all of my income. So lay off will you?" I hear you loud and clear. Today, I won't preach about tithing. I won't even tell you that you need to tithe on the small things in addition to your regular income. (Oh, by the way, have you ever thought about tithing on your birthday presents?) And that wasn't Jesus' point either.

Jesus was talking about the letter and the spirit of the law. The law was to tithe 10% of the "increase." The Pharisees didn't have a problem with that. They were so strict that they counted even the smallest details. I mean, get real, you tithe off the increase of your herb garden?

No, the point was not tithing. It was the spirit of the law. They tithed, but they did things against God's law that no self-respecting church going man would ever do. For example, the Law stated that a man could not walk over a certain distance from his home on the Sabbath. That was rather restrictive since Sabbath dinner at Mom's house was beyond the limit. So some rabbi somewhere down the line said a man's house was where his hat was. Alas! Friday afternoon would find a man walking so far and leaving a hat in a tree. He would travel that distance and leave another hat. He would do that until he could reach Mom's house - only a Sabbath's day walk away from his hat - err, I mean "home" (or should I say "homes"!) Pretty slick.

Another ploy used by good Pharisees was this. The Law says that a man should take care of his family. Mom and Dad were in need, but Jr. didn't want to help. So what did he do? He dedicated all he had to the Lord - and appointed himself as God's representative. He certainly couldn't take care of Mom and Dad with the Lord's money. It wasn't his to distribute. Mom and Dad went hungry. Jr. extracted his "maintenance fee" from the "Lord's property" and lived quite well, "thank you very much."

"OK, Pastor Edwin. What's the point?" Glad you asked. We often justify ourselves with "spiritual excuses." Carmel might ask me to do something for her. I often forget. I might come up with an answer like this: "I'm sorry, Honey. I was praying and time just got away from me." See the "spiritual" excuse? It sounds good, but it's a lie just the same. Or I might have indeed been praying - no lie - but the truth of the matter is I was just too lazy to do it! I'm sure if you think about it you can come up with something that you really did along this line.

Jesus was saying that we should live our lives in service - not just paying our tithe - or doing our good deeds - or praying - or reading the Word (though these are vitally important and not to be ignored). There is a difference. Hell will be quite well populated with men and women who "paid their tithes" but live like hellions during the week. Hell will be the eternal home for many who "went to Church every Sunday" but hit the bars every Friday. And that's not to mention the men who "love their wives" but have affairs with the women they work with. Good deeds, paying the tithe, praying, even preaching, do not guarantee your salvation. Only the application of the Blood of Jesus can do that. And that only if we don't wash it off the first time we get a chance! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Acts 20:23-24

"Except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" Acts 20:23-24.

The Apostle Paul is speaking in these verses. He is telling of his final trip to Jerusalem before his arrest and detention and ultimate trip to Rome. Paul says that at each stop along the way, the prophets and prophetesses would indicate that he would be bound in Jerusalem. Of course they wanted him to go elsewhere - anywhere - to remain a free man. But Paul would not be swayed from the direction the Lord was leading him. The Lord said "Jerusalem" so Jerusalem it would be. If he was to be put in bonds, so be it. If it meant certain death, he did not hold life so dear that he was not willing to sacrifice it for his Lord and Savior. Paul was focused - (like a kind of tunnel vision) focused on Jesus. Nothing else mattered to him but doing the will of his King.

In this Paul was adamant - and we should be as well. Nothing - no person, no possession, no government, no power or authority, nothing - should keep us from doing the will of our Father. But, alas, we live in a land far to influenced by "Stuff." Who among you can walk through a department store and exit the store without making a purchase? When the kids and grandchildren come over to play, do we hide our most valued possessions so they will not get broken? What is more valuable, grandma's whatnot or a grandchild? If our TV or DVD player breaks, do we rush out to replace it with something even better? I'll admit, I long for a flat screen TV, but I
still don't have it.

Stuff or things do separate us from our appointed purpose and plan. How often have we not gone to church so we could watch the "soccer game" live? (I've tried recording the FA Cup Finals - it's just not the same! But I go to church anyway.) When Carmel and I get away to Xavier House (A Christian Retreat in the Cheung Chau with no phones in the rooms and no TV, radio, etc.) we find ourselves much closer to God. And I found I could do without TV or radio or a refrigerator or even a lot of food. But how quickly I fell into the old patterns when I returned to "civilization". How sad that I have to resort to solitude in the retreat house in order to "hear Gods voice louder." The affairs of this world are indeed a distraction to me. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes my focus is blurred. Will you be the second? Amen and Amen.

Nahum 1:7

"The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him" Nahum 1:7.

It's nice to be known. When you walk into a room full of strangers, you immediately look for a familiar face. Why? We don't like to be alone. If we see two faces that we know and they are on opposite ends of the room, we have a choice to make. Invariably we move to the end housing the person with whom we are most comfortable. We just like to have company in a strange or uncomfortable situation.

How important it is then that we know the Lord. Even more important that He knows US! There have been times that I walked up to that familiar face only to discover that the person didn't know (or remember) me! Now that's embarrassing. What do you say when you greet a person with a hearty "Hello, Bob. How are you." Only to be greeted with a puzzled look and a "Do I know you?" It makes you want to melt through the cracks in the floor!

It certainly is comforting that we are known by the Lord when we take refuge in Him. Not only are we known by Him, but He welcomes us with open arms. He asks how we are doing. He inquires about our spouse, our kids, the job . . . . He is interested in all our doings. He makes us feel welcome - at home - at ease. When we are in His refuge, His shelter, His fortress, we have nothing to fear. If you are outside the stronghold looking in, open your door and enter. Yes, you read me right. The only door that keeps you out of God's presence is the door that you keep closed to Him - your door - your heart - your privacy. In all reality, God has no doors on His kingdom for He is willing to accept all comers. It is only our refusal to accept Him as our Savior, our Lord, our King, that separates us from the joy and peace we all seek.

So, open your door and walk into the presence of Jesus. Though you may have done it before, you can do it again -- every day. Don't allow yourself to be kept apart from Him. He certainly wants you in His presence. He will never turn you away if you are seeking His face. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Jeremiah 29:1,4-7; Psalm 66; II Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.

On the way to Jerusalem to face the cross - while he was near Samaria - Jesus encounters ten lepers - ten outcasts - ten people with, for their time at least, the equivalent of AIDS.

They are under a sentence of death - no one will come near them - no one will touch them - no one will even touch their clothing and their eating utensils.

By the rules of their society, rules created because of the fear of contamination, lepers were forced to live apart from everyone else, and on those occasions when they drew near to others for one reason or other, they rang little bells to announce their presence and to warn others to stand off.

Until very recently Lepers were treated as the living dead - shunned and avoided, they were regarded as unclean, - as people most likely guilty of great sin, - as men and women of the greatest misfortune, - as people beyond help and beyond all but the least significant form of compassion - charity.

As Jesus enters a village ten lepers approach him and, mindful of the rules of their society, mindful of their need to avoid contaminating anyone, and mindful too of the fear that others had of them, they call out to Jesus from a distance: "Jesus, Master, Have Mercy On Us."

What a plaintive cry that must have been. With what sense of futility, what desperate hope - must they have called out?

But Jesus does respond - even to them - but he does so in a most unusual manner.

Rather than saying, as he had said to others - "be healed - rise up - look and see - take up your bed and walk", Jesus responds to their cry by saying - "go and show yourselves to the priests".

It helps us to know that Jesus was referring to Leviticus, chapter fourteen, verses two and three, which specifies what a priest is to do with a leper who happens to get healed.

Lepers were not allowed in the temple because they were regarded as "unclean". If cured, however, the leper could gain re-admission to the temple, and to the rest of society, if he was ritually purified and certified as "clean" by a priest.

Still, Jesus' command to the ten lepers is a bit confusing. They have asked for mercy - they have asked to be healed. But Jesus does nothing for them but tell them to go and act as if they are healed - to go and present themselves to the priests as if they were whole, healed, accepted, living people.

Yet, despite the unusual response of Jesus - despite the possible confusion in understanding what Jesus is about, they go, and as they go - as they walk down the path towards the priests in the village they are healed.

The Greek for the word healed here - in verse 14 and again in verse 17 is IAOMAI - which literally means cleansed or cured.

As we know - one of the ten - a Samaritan man upon realizing he has been made clean, turns back and praising God with a loud voice he comes up Jesus and prostrates himself, he falls on his knees and his face before Jesus’ feet, and thanks him.

And Jesus looks upon him - and he says something very strange - and very important to his disciples. He says:

"'Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?' And then he says to the man: 'Get up and go on your way, your faith has made you well.'"

The word for well that is used here in the Greek is SOZO - which like the word IAOMAI - can be used to mean "healed" - but unlike IAOMAI, SOZO also means to be made whole or to saved.

My friends, we all know, or ought to know, that faith makes us whole. That is a basic tenant of our teaching. But here, in this story, we have the opportunity to see faith in a different light than we might normally see it.

We have the opportunity to see faith as something that leads us to a life that is more than normal.

And we have the opportunity to see faith as nothing more difficult and as nothing more profound as remembering what God has done and giving thanks to him for it.

What, after all, is the difference between the nine lepers who are made clean and the tenth leper who is not only made clean, but made whole? Between the nine who go to the priests as commanded and the one who returns to Jesus praising God and thanking Jesus for healing him?

Robert Capon, in his book "Parables of Grace" urges us to think about it this way.

The ten lepers are all dead people. Whether you are talking physically, spiritually, or socially, they are dead. They would love to get healed which, in this context, means they would love to get raised from the dead, and return back home to a "normal life".

That's all that they, like most people, ever really asked for. Just a chance to "be like other people", an opportunity to go back home be like everyone else, to be normal. They assume that this is what Jesus is all about - a return to the normal, a revival of the ordinary for people who, because of their infirmity and illness, are abnormal and sub-ordinary.

But one of the healed lepers, the Samaritan, realizes real resurrection. He alone comes back to say "Thanks". He realizes that his healing comes from God - through Jesus - and that God has put him in a relationship to Jesus - and that relationship alone has made him whole and alive again.

All that the other nine wanted out of Jesus was to made well, to go back home and start all over again, doing what everybody else had been doing: going to school, driving to work on Mondays, attending synagogue on Friday night if nothing more interesting is going on, eating yogurt out of plastic containers, meeting someone and maybe starting a family of nice, normal, ordinary kids? And who would blame them?

But that one Samaritan comes back not only cured, but saved, made whole.

He comes back - saved - because he alone saw that his healing, his resurrection, for what it was.

He was saved and accepted by Jesus - by God - while he was a leper, while he was still sick, while he was untouchable, before he got well.

He realized that Jesus didn't just want to heal people, much less make them normal, but that he wanted to, and had the power to, raise them from the dead, now. Today.

Nine lepers got healed, one got saved.

Nine people go away from Jesus healed, but not saved, because they put their lives as lepers, as outcasts, as dead people, behind them.

They go in obedience most certainly, but they go in a hurry, anxious to be on with it, to begin living like everyone lives.
.
They go away unsaved because all they really want is a normal life - a life like that they have dreamed of, a life like that which they had before they became lepers, - a life just like everyone else.

But the tenth leper - he is not in such a hurry to forget how bad it was - he's not in such a hurry to get a normal life. He realizes something important.

He realizes that the hand of God has touched his life; that Jesus has accepted him - as he accepted the other nine, before he, before they, were healed.

It didn't matter to Jesus that they were lepers, that they were outcasts, that they were dead in their sins.

And the Samaritan realizes this - he realizes how unusual, how out of the ordinary, how exceptional this is, and he gives thanks to God, and to Jesus for it; and his acknowledgment of this fact - his Thanksgiving – is called faith by Jesus, a faith that saves.

How many of us have made vows to God to do something for him if only God in return would do this or that for us - and then promptly forgotten those vows when our lives have returned to normal?

Too strong an example?

Well then, how many of us have had an experience of divine grace, - only to forget that experience shortly there afterward like those who have never encountered grace?

How many us have had an experience of knowing that God is truly out there and that he truly cares, - only to go on with living our lives like normal people, like those who have never known the grace of God's forgiveness or the wonder of his many gifts?

Too remote an example?

Well, how many of us have been in trouble, how many of us have despaired, how many of us have been rejected by friends and by family members, and then encountered one day a person who has really helped us, or experienced an event or a series of events that has allowed us to live again, to live and rejoin those whom we had feared forever lost to us and then failed to treat each day hereafter as a incredible gift from God?

I fear that all too many of us are in the position of the nine lepers who went onward to the priests and to a renewal of their "normal lives".

What a shame to have met Jesus, the Lord and Giver of Life, to have met the one who loves to eat and drink with sinners and to worship in the synagogues and in the temple and to pray alone on the mountain tops and in the wilderness, and to then come away from that meeting with nothing more than our health.

What a shame to have met Jesus, the risen Christ, the one who takes us and embraces us just as we are, the one who forgives us and gives us his resurrection power, and come away from that meeting with nothing more than normal.

The power of salvation, of wholeness, is in remembering our previous state - what was normal for us - how we were enslaved by the powers of despair, darkness, and death, and seeing the miracle of what we have now - of seeing that God has acted and is still acting, of then acting like this is the day that the Lord alone has made, and rejoicing and being glad in it.

Our faith is not about how to live a normal life, It is about how God touches us and Christ embraces us, and raises not only that which was dead to new life, but transforms that which was ordinary into the blessedness of the more than normal, the blessedness of knowing that God's hand and God's heart is in each and every moment of each and every new day.

One day Jesus healed ten lepers. Of them nine went away as commanded to show themselves to the priests and to return to their normal lives. But one of them, a Samaritan, turned and gave Jesus thanks - and he was made whole, he was saved - on account of his faith.

Blessed be God, day by day. Amen.

Matt 6:24

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" Matt 6:24

Picture this. I knew a man who had two jobs. Both employers want this fellow to work weekends. Not only do they want him to work weekends, they want him to work the same hours on the weekend. Obviously this guy has a problem. He is trying to satisfy two bosses and it is impossible.

His situation is a bit like the little boy who was sitting on the fence between two turfs with a mean massive dog on each side. Which way was he to go? If he jumped off to the right, the black dog would get him. If he jumped to the left, the brown dog was waiting. The only thing he could do was try to shimmy down the fence to a place where there was no dog and not fall off before he got there.

We do that sometimes. We straddle the fence trying to take advantage of two different worlds. We may have an alcohol problem, but we think we can drink wine with a meal and not get into trouble. Ask any recovering alcoholic if that is possible and the answer is likely to be a resounding, "NO!" Is it possible for someone trying to kick the cigarette habit to wean himself off the weed one at a time? Possible, but not likely. Is it possible to lose weight and keep it
off by not eating? Not without a serious lifestyle change involving increased exercise (I know because I have lost weight over the past year, but they seem to find me every time and bring a lot of friends back with them!

Jesus was right; we cannot serve two masters. Oh, we may get by with it for a time, but eventually one or the other will take control and we will invariably loose because the fleshly master will have the greater draw. We will love the one and hate the other.

One last word: if we desire to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, we must continually break our ties with Satan. Just like losing weight, stopping smoking, quitting drinking, we will have a struggle on our hands and it may be a prolonged struggle. But this is a battle we can win, if we are willing to choose the right Master. If you are struggling today, choose Jesus. He is the only Master who can help you win the war and His victory parade is out of this world! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Acts 8:23

"For I see that you are poisoned by bitternessand bound by iniquity." Acts 8:23

At a church I once attended, they had a young lady who signs forthe hearing impaired members. She was very expressive and was a joy to watch even for the hearing congregation members. While watching I noticed the sign she used for sin. She crooked her finger like a hook and placed it near her mouth. I checked to be sure and she said that the origin of the sign was,indeed, a hook. How appropriate! Sin is like a hook. And Satan sets his line to reel us in if we are not careful.

Like a fisherman, Satan places bait on the hook. That bait is what the Bible refers to as the pleasures of sin for a season. He "helps" us elevate our mood with drugs or alcohol, gives us a few moments of delight in sexual sin, provides a secret exhilaration when we deceive another, gives us a feeling of superiority when we gossip about another. These are all pleasurable feelings. They are the bait. But concealed within bait is a hook. Once we begin to sin, it becomes easier to sin. Eventually, the sin begins to control our lives. We become a slave to the alcohol ,the drug, the sex, the lies, the gossip. We are hooked.

Fortunately, we can be "taken off the hook" before the barbs dig in. The tool is repentance. We admit our sin to God and ask for help. He will help us come unhooked. But once freed from that sin, we need to become wiser. We must examine the "pleasures" of the world carefully. Be cautious of the treats offered to us, because often hidden beneath that nice juicy worm is a very sharp hook. Amen and Amen.

Hebrews 12:11

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" Hebrews 12:11.

Robert Munger writes about an American traveling in Syria who became acquainted with a shepherd. Each morning he noticed the shepherd taking food to a sheep that had a broken leg. As he looked at the animal, he asked the shepherd, "How did the sheep break its leg? Did it meet with an accident, fall into a hole, or did some animal break its leg?"


"No," said the shepherd, "I broke this sheep's leg myself."


"You broke it yourself?" queried the surprised traveler.

"Yes, you see, this is a wayward sheep; it would not stay with the flock, but would lead the sheep astray. Then it would not let me near it so I had to break the sheep's leg so that it would allow me, day by day to feed it. In doing this it will get to know me as its shepherd, trust me as its guide, and keep with the flock."*

Sometimes, just sometimes, when we insist of going our own stubborn way and leading others astray, the Shepherd of the fold, may have to "break our leg" too for our own good and that of others.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me the good sense to not only know what is the right thing to do but the courage to do it, so that I won't need to experience painful discipline. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Robert Boyd Munger in Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan.

Psalm 20:1-3

"May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion; May He remember all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice." Psalm 20:1-3

I humbly pass this blessing on to you. You deserve it. Go ahead, it's yours! I sincerely pray that your prayers will be answered - always. From experience I know that it is not easy having questions unanswered. It is better to receive a sharp "no" than to hear nothing. I pray that all your prayers be answered in such a way that you will know the answer without doubt. You are set aside for God. He has lifted you out of the quicksand and placed you squarely in the very center of His family. You are His child. He loves you. Because you have called upon His name, you ARE exalted on high - and in the end, we will all reign with Him.

When you are in trouble, may He always send help. It may be an angel. It may be a friend. It may be supernatural. Or it may be a natural occurrence, but God will always send you help. God is good - All the time. He answers prayer - especially a prayer offered in unity by His children.

May the Lord find all your sacrifices acceptable. Those sacrifices may be financial, (temporal time), emotional (praise, thanksgiving, and worship), prayer, or any other type of offering. I pray that God will meet you at every turn and find you acceptable. I ask that He will give you an unquenchable thirst for Him. In this way, all that you do will be pleasing to Him. Hallelujah, Amen.

(1 Peter 3:8-9

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" (1 Peter 3:8-9, NIV).

Dr. Leslie Flynn writes about the time when the English and French were at war in colonial Canada. " Admiral Phipps, in charge of the British Fleet, was ordered to anchor outside Quebec, a city on the St. Lawrence River. He was to await the coming of the British infantry and then join the land forces in attack.

"Arriving early, Admiral Phipps, an ardent nonconformist, was annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the roof and towers of the Catholic cathedral. So he spent his time shooting at them with the ship's guns. How many he hit we don't know, but history recorded that when the infantry arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral found himself out of ammunition. He had used it for shooting out the saints."

I sometimes wonder, in the church, how much of our efforts are poured into fighting among ourselves over insignificant trivialities, and "shooting our wounded," instead of uniting our efforts to attack the real enemy.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me not to waste my time, energy, and resources on trivialities or majoring on minors, but always to major on the majors. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

Matt. 16:17

"Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" Matt. 16:17

Sometimes we just "know" things. I have been walking down the street and "just known" that someone had just come up beside me. How? I don't know - they had not yet entered my peripheral vision. They walked silently. I don't know how I knew they were there; I just knew. How? I just knew. There is no explanation.

Peter was in one of those moments. He had blurted out the knowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. How did He know it? He most likely couldn't tell anyone - even Jesus. He just knew. But Jesus had the answer. "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Peter "just knew" because God told him - no, not in some audible voice. God did not reveal Himself in that way on a regular basis. Peter knew because in his heart, God had planted a seed. That seed had taken root. The seedling grew into a flowering plant. And that flowering plant had begun to produce fruit. This statement is the first of the many fruits that Peter would produce over the next years.

Jesus even tells Peter that his fruit would be quite amazing. "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18

Ah! What fruit! Out of Peter's confession would grow a great assembly - "My church" - and that assembly would be a powerful force in the world - "the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." I suspect you and I would be very pleased to hear these words spoken to us. Peter was most likely taken back a bit, but soon recovered his former bravado. It wasn't until the denial that Peter was humbled enough to know how great a responsibility was being placed upon his very human shoulders.

There was more. "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" Matt. 16:19

Not only would a great congregation come from Peter's confession, but Peter himself would be handed the keys of the kingdom and the authority to use them! Unfortunately, we don't know what Peter's response to these promises was. Perhaps Matthew is saving Peter from further humiliation; I don't know. I do know that Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and multitude was saved. I know that the keys of the Kingdom were used that day to unlock the bonds that bound lost men and set them free. I know that Peter eventually understood what Jesus was trying to tell the bull-headed fisherman who would not listen.

I also know that Jesus is training each of us for a specific project. All that we go through in life is designed to help us prepare for that mission. I also know that you and I do not understand what we are intended to do with ourselves - oh, we may think we have our lives all sorted out and planned from today on to the day we die. But we would be wrong. If we are dedicated to the will of God, our plans can be changed by the Master on the spur of any given moment - because He knows where we need to be and what we need to be doing. The real question is this: "Are we the pre-Pentecost Peter-type or are we the post- Pentecost Peter type? Are we living our lives our way - or God's way?" And that, my friends, is a question we must answer every day. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

Lamentations 1:1-6 (3:19-26); Psalm 137; 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10

A nun who works for a Carits was out making her rounds when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it there was a station just down the street. She walked to the station to borrow a can with enough gas to start the car and drive to the station for a fill up.

The attendant regretfully told her that the only can he owned had just been loaned out, but if she would care to wait he was sure it would be back shortly. Since the nun was on the way to see a patient she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.

After looking through her car for something to carry to the station to fill with gas, she spotted a potty she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful, she carried it to the station and filled it with gasoline. As she was pouring the gas into the tank of her car two men walked by. One was heard to exclaim, "Now that is what I call faith!"

Back to the sermon:

I am going to tell you a story, this story about a business traveller who was on his way from his home town to a large city in the Middle East by road. One night he met two other travellers travelling on the same road as he was. Their name was Fear and Plague. Plague told the traveller that once they arrived at the city, they were expected to kill 100,000 people in that city. The traveller asked Plague if Plague was to do all the killing by himself. Plague said, “Oh, no. I shall only be killing a few hundred people; it is my friend ‘Fear’ who will do the killing of all the others.

Fear, whether it is real or imagined, can discourage us, overwhelm us, beaten us and even strangle us. Dreadful things happen everywhere. There are people around the world paralyzed by fear. Fear is such a terrible thing!

Fear is widespread in this society of ours; in fact it is widespread throughout the world. We have personal fear – fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, fear of not being loved, a fear of having no work, a fear of not being up to the measurements of our peers, a fear of not being able to help our families, a fear of being looked down by others. We also have social fear, fear that war and disasters will go on forever, a fear that society will collapse, a fear that the pollution in the air will kill us, and so on and so on. Even inside the church too there are fear, personal fears, social fears and spiritual fears. Do you have any fears?

There are many people who feel:

- That they are not able to do anything of real importance
- That they cannot and do not make a difference to society
- That they cannot and do not make a difference to anyone
- That they are unable to do even a part of what it is that God asks them to do
- That they will let God down or that God will let them down.

There are so many Christians in this world who are in a mess. They have forgotten what their faith is all about. They have forgotten that as long as it is the will of God, God will give to you the strength and the means to have it accomplished. Do these feelings describe your life – fear, despair, a sense of failure, a sense of not being competent, and a sense of hopelessness? Do you feel unexcited by your worship of the Lord? Do you feel unsure of just what the good news of the Gospel is? Do you feel burdened by life and by the tasks set to you by God? And yet wanting to believe, wanting to do the right thing, wanting to have the life that God has promised us even in the here and now?

Wanting, and yet……

How can I feed the hungry?
How can I clothe the naked?
How can I help the sick?
How can I bring peace to those around me?
How can I help my family?
How can I help others?
How can I spread the gospel of Jesus Christ?
How can I forgive the people who have hurt me so badly?
How can I even experience the joy that is supposed to be part of life with God, let alone help bring it to others?

The disciples had exactly the same feelings. From our Gospel reading of today, we hear of them crying out to Jesus. A cry similar to one that you may have made to God at one time or another.

They were feeling that what they were facing in life, not to mention what they were facing or will be facing as the ones following Jesus was too much for them to bear, too much for their small faith to handle and so they cry out to the Lord, “Jesus please increase our faith”. “Lord, help us believe enough so that we can do what it is that you have commanded us to do – help us trust enough so that we can live as you say we should be living. Lord, take away our fear.”

Jesus please increases our faith.

And what did Jesus do – how did he answer their prayers? Did he laid his hands upon them and pray and give them more faith as they asked? Did he just snap his fingers and grant them a double dose of his Spirit and his Faith?

No, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ – he did not – instead he told them that “if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted it in the sea and it would obey you.”

If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and plated it in the sea and it would obey you!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do you not find that answer of Jesus to be a strange answer? But really it is the best answer that could be given, for you see, the real issue for everyone of us is not “how much faith do we have?” but rather the question of “do we have any faith at all?”

I would like to share a story with you: Many years ago a shoe company in England sent one of its sales people to Africa to start a business. After a few months this salesperson sent a message back to his head office telling them that he is coming home as nobody in Africa wear shoes and therefore it is a waste of time and money being there. This shoe company did not give up, so they sent another salesperson to Africa to replace the returning one. After a few months this second salesperson sent an urgent message to head office asking them to send more order forms as nobody in Africa is wearing shoes and there are plenty of opportunities making sales. The second salesperson saw the opportunity in his situation – not the difficulties that he is facing, and more to the point, he had in himself and in his products, and because of that he succeeded where the first salesperson failed.

I would like to suggest to you that faith is a bit like being pregnant. You see, you cannot make a valid distinction between having a little faith and a lot of faith, anymore than claiming someone is a little pregnant but not really a lot pregnant. I think you will be completely confused or started laughing if one day I tell you that my wife, Jenny is a little bit pregnant. You would think that Edwin must have either gone crazy or he is too happy and said the wrong thing for there is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant. It is a matter of either she is pregnant or she is not. Same with faith, it is either you have faith or you do not. You cannot just have a little bit of faith. It is something that does not make sense to the one who is listening. If we do believe in the promises of Jesus, the promises of God our Father in Heaven, even a little bit, then my brothers and sisters, we are already on the right path. I do sincerely believe that all of you who are here today are on the right track. All of you, who, if you are like the disciples were asking for an increase of our faith, are already, going on the right way.

Having said all that, and having understood the distinction between having faith and not having any faith, the question for us to answer is not how much faith we have, but what do we really have faith in.

There are many Christians in this world who look at themselves instead of God. Often we look at ourselves and say – I cannot do that. I am not strong enough, loving enough, giving enough, wise enough; I do not have the income or the money, the power or the faith to be successful in what I am doing. And those doubts, my brothers and sisters are completely true – we by our own powers are not able to accomplish what God wants us to achieve. We do not have what it is needed what it comes to dealing with what is truly important matters. We will not even last a day in this world without God looking after us. But my brothers and sisters in Christ, God has the power; God is able to do anything that he wishes to do. All we need to do is pray to him and believe in him. Ask God for help and his power will be able to flow through us, and he will work through us to complete what he wants us to complete.

Some of us, at one time or another has met people who have been through very difficult and trying times, and our thoughts were that they must be people of great faith to come out of their trial and tribulations as well as they have. If we ever say to them with respect and admiration that we do not think that we could have faced what they have faced. Your faith must be very strong indeed. Do you know what their answer would be? Their answer would almost always be with words like these: “My faith is no greater than anyone else’s. I just did not know what I had until I have need for it. God helped me through it. If it was not for him I would never have been able to make it.”

Have you not heard of this kind of thing yourselves? Is it not one of those times when we may have said to ourselves: “I wish I had a faith like theirs”?

I wish I had a faith like theirs!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you know that those people of faith that we admire are correct in what they tell us. We very often do not realise just what we have in ourselves. We let our faith in God lie sleeping inside of us, and we go out looking for it. While all the time, God is there, and our faith in God is there, but our faith is doing nothing because we allow it to go to sleep.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ covers all areas of human life:
- It tells us of forgiveness and peace
- It tells us of eternal life
- It addresses the problems of poverty and of war
- It gives solutions to despair and answers to human distress.

But most of all, my brothers and sisters in Christ, it tells us:
- That alone by ourselves we can do nothing
- That we are, as many of us think, inadequate, incapable, sinners lost in a dark world.
- It tells us that are not alone, and that God cares for everyone of us
- That God works in the lives of all those who believes in him
- That God’s good purposes cannot be stopped by anyone or anything
- That his word does not return to him empty
- That he desires to transform not just the human heart but he wants to transform the world in which we are all living in
- And that all we need to do is to reach down to that little seed within us and begin to do what we have been called by God to do and God will do the rest

God will do the rest, which is his promise, however, we must do our part, just like Moses having to stretch out his rod, , just like Moses striking the rock with his staff in order to get water for the people, or the people who need healing must come to Jesus first. God will work in us and through us and bring his word to pass. He will pluck up the mountains and fill in the valleys. He will bring about the kingdom of God here on earth as we pray for. We are after all his partners in his work in this world.

What I am trying to say this morning is not ‘have more faith’ – but rather work with the faith that you already have inside you. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when we started acting in faith the very first thing we will notice is that a little is a lot.

There is a Chinese proverb that tells us that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. I should know as I am Chinese by race, and I am suggesting to you to take the step; follow he commands of God – hear his advice found throughout the scriptures and believe – believe in what God has promised us will come about. He is not one who speaks empty words.

Remember that no matter how small the step you may be taking, each step will bring you closer to your destination when it is taken. But you have to take the step, you have to start claiming God’s word as your own if you are to receive what God has promised and do what God has called you to do.

When you practice your faith, when you pray, when you believe and when you do, then in the language of the story that I began this talk with, you will overcome – God will overcome – plague and his far more dangerous companion – fear, and the blessings of life will be completely yours, yours and your family and the world. Praise be to God, day by day – Amen.

Joel 2:23

"Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you, The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month" Joel 2:23

God had disciplined Israel -- severely. It's like making a kid stand in the corner for 3 weeks! 70 plus years in exile, separated from your homeland, cut away from your place of worship -- the visible evidence of your God. It had been a long, long time. How did God respond? He blessed His people. This is indicated by the rains. In an agricultural society, the rains are everything. Without them there are no grains to make into bread, no grapes for wine, no pasture for the animals -- no animals -- no food -- no drink. But, there's more. God provided the early rains -- those needed to provide moisture for the germination and growing of the seed into plants. Even these are worthless without the latter rain.

Ask any farmer. The best looking corn will produce nothing if there is no rain at the appropriate time during the growing season. No rain then equals empty ears of corn equals no harvest. God was faithful to provide all the needs of His people. He always is. For those who turn to Him, He makes all the provision necessary for success. It may not be rain that is so important to you. It could be an unexpected raise, or another unexpected raise in gasoline prices, or a seemingly worthless stock that suddenly becomes a hot commodity.

I don't know how many times God has provided for HIS family in ways that seem miraculous. Those are the former and latter rains to our modern society. Remember this: God has His hand in all things concerning His children - that's you and me. He is fully capable to do what is best for us. All we have to do is move over and get out of the way! Amen and Amen.

What are you wearing for the wedding?

A minister was planning a wedding at the close of the Sunday morning service. After the blessings he had planned to call the couple down to be married for a brief ceremony before the congregation.

For the life of him, he could not think of the names of those who were to be married. “Will those wanting to get married please come to the front?” He requested.

Immediately, nine single ladies, three widows, four widowers, and six single men stepped to the front.

After Sunday when you get to the church and look around, do you see people who are rejoicing? Do you see people who are happy? Do you see people who know that they are truly blessed?

Or do you see people with long faces, and hear only complaints and grumbling?

When do you talk to other Christians, whether it be in church or outside, do you sense in them real joy over what they are believing in? or do they only talk of the wonder and peace of Heaven as if it something that you can only be experiencing in the future, that is after death?

What about you? Do you rejoice in your faith in Jesus? Or do you see Christianity as a burden? Do you see the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a burden? A burden that you are carrying around because you think or been told that this is the right thing to do?

Unfortunately there are many in this world that sees Christianity as a burden. There are many who do not understand that our faith is liberating. There are many who do not know or think of being a Christian is being a member of God’s Kingdom – of God’s church. They do not think that being a Christian is like being a part of a wedding banquet and not a funeral procession.

There are too many people in this world who think of the Christian life as only a series of rules, a series of do’s and don’ts and are designed to get them a dream in the sky sometime in the very distant future.

They consider the life of faith as only a bundle of shall’s and shall not’s which are to teach them how to treat their neighbours, and they therefore misses out on the fullness of the Christian life.

A good many Christians miss out on the fact that the Christian faith is meant to lead to more than good behaviour and a place in heaven later on…the Christian faith is meant to lead us to joyous living. It is meant to lead us to abundant life. It is meant to lead us to a life and that rich and deep and full of peace, the peace which Paul calls “the peace which passes understanding.”

The parable in this morning’s Gospel reading from the book of Matthew compares the Kingdom of God to a wedding banquet.

Let us think for a moment of all the wedding banquets that you have attended in the past. Were they not times of celebration? Were they not times of rejoicing over the love between the bride and the groom?

Let us now compare a wedding banquet to what is missing in the faith of so many Christians. Their faith ended up as something that kills joy rather than brings in joy. The problem for many Christians is that their faith is not complete. They become stuck in thinking that all one has to do is to show up in church every Sunday and to follow a whole big bundle or rules.

Because of that wrongful concept, some of us will end up failing to cloth ourselves in the clothing that our God has already provided for each and every one of us. Just like the man in today’s Gospel reading, who failed to wear the wedding suit provided for him, and so ended up being kicked out from the banquet.

Let us recall how in today’s Gospel reading of the wedding banquet, after many of the invited guests refuse to come to attend, the king opens up his house to anyone his servants can find.

He throws open the banquet hall, and everyone, regardless of whether they are good or bad, is invited to come and share in the royal wedding banquet. A wedding banquet just like one the one that any royal family, which, had we been invited, we surely would have attended.

All those lucky new guests went, they met the King’s son, and they all sat at the King’s table.

And then the King himself came into meet all the guests, and he suddenly noticed that a man is there who is not dressed as he should be, as he has no put any wedding clothes on, nor his best clothes, but dressed in shorts, old tatty t-shirt and slippers. The King then asked the man “How did you get into the banquet hall without proper wedding clothes.”

The man was speechless, he had no answer for the king, and he was evicted – he was literally thrown out of the house.

Why do you think that this man was speechless?

If you look at his situation from his point of view, I would think that he expected that everything was alright. He was after all, an invited guest, and all kinds of people were there, some of them with very doubtful backgrounds, so what did it matter what he was wearing?

Surely the host will not be caring about what I am wearing – after all he was the one who had thrown his doors wide open for people to come in….

But that view point is not really reasonable, is it?

When you attend a wedding, do you not at least put on your best clothing? Do you not put on your barong tagalong, your Filipiniana dress, your best suit or your best dress? When you attend a wedding, do you not go prepared to celebrate? Do you not go prepared to enjoy yourself? Do you not prepared to be there to help and take part in the rejoicing of the hosts?

What kind of a person would not do his very best, and what host would not look down, or despise a guest who failed to come prepared to celebrate with him, especially since all the clothing that a guest needed, was provided right at the door – as indeed it has been prepared for us.

All of us here today, have been sought out by God and invited to his banquet of life, a banquet held in honour of his Son Jesus.

We have all been invited to richly enjoy life, both in this world and in the next, and we have all accepted the invitation. We have come to the wedding banquet of our King.

Are all of us prepared to celebrate as God wants? Do we have the faith that we all needed? Have we all put on the clothing of righteousness that Christ offers to each and every one of us? In other words have we all changed for the feast? Or are we trying to wear our old clothes and live in the old way?

I remember a story I heard sometime ago of a fisherman by the name of Aaron.

Aaron lived on the banks of a river. Walking home with his eyes half-closed one evening after a hard day’s work, he was dreaming of what he could do if he were rich. As he walked his foot struck against a leather pouch filled with what seemed to him to be small stones.

Absentmindedly he picked up the pouch and began throwing the pebbles one by one into the water. “When I am a rich man,” he said to himself, “ “I will have a large house”. And he threw another pebble into the river. He threw another one and he thought, “My wife and I will have servants and rich food, and many fine things”. And this went on until just stone was left. As Aaron held it in his hand, a ray of light caught it and made it sparkle. He suddenly realized that he was holding a piece of diamond in his hand. He had been throwing away the real riches in his hand, while he was dreaming of unreal riches in the future.”

The story unfortunately summarizes the situation of a great many Christians in this world.

We have been given everything that we need or could ever want, it has been placed in our hand, and we have been invited to enjoy it.

But for some reason or other, many of us do not look into our hands. For some reason or other, many of us do not take what God has given us, or actually uses it.

Instead of using the riches given to us by God, we dream of the day when we will be richly blessed. We dreamed of the day when the joy of the banquet will be ours. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, the letter in the Bible what is actually called the Letter of Joy, recommends to his audience four very simple ways in which they can begin to experience the joy and peace of God; four ways in which they can put on the wedding clothes provided for us by Christ and so keep our place at his wedding table.

First of all, Paul recommends that we REJOICE IN THE LORD and reminds us that HE IS NEAR.

Every one of us here today is near to God.

Every one of us present here today has been invited by God to meet Him and His Son, and to enjoy His wedding banquet.

I know that whenever I am down, when I am getting lost in my own tiredness, troubles or fears, that when someone reminds me that God cares for me, that God is near to me, I can hold on to those things.

When I really think about it – when I am reminded by someone of the love that god has for me, or when I begin to think about what Jesus had done for me – for us – I am moved towards joy. I began to rejoice.

Rejoice in the Lord! I will say it again: Rejoice!

That is a part of the clothing that we can wear to the wedding banquet of God. Nothing will shine or look as good as rejoicing; and nothing can be quite as infectious as rejoicing.

Knowing that God is near, Paul then goes on and says:

DO NOT BE ANXIOUS BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND PETITION, WITH THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO HIM.

The thing that blinds so many of our Christian brothers and sisters, the thing that prevents us from putting on the wedding clothing of God and enjoying His banquet is anxiety and fear.

The Christian life is not a problem free life, bad things still happened to us; but my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God is near to us, and while He may not be preventing those bad things from happening to us, He can and He will help us through them.

But we need to ask, for it is only in asking, which we do by prayer, that we will allow His presence to lift us up.

God is near. Tell Him all your joys and concerns, make all your requests known to Him, and then thank Him, as you would thank a friend for listening to you.

Paul says that when we do these two things, when we rejoice in the Lord, and when we present our requests to Him with thanksgiving, that the Peace of God that passes understanding will fill us, and will keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

That peace shines my dear brothers and sisters. I have personally seen it clothe many people whom others would think of unfortunate people; I have seen it clothes many people that others think should be bitter, worried, and resentful towards God, and yet they are not. Instead we find that they have radiance about them.

The THIRD thing that Paul recommends – and it is related to the others. It is that we need to set our minds on good things.

Paul writes: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS. Think about good things – concentrate on what is good, not bad.

Make it a habit to look for and dwell on the true, the noble, the pure, the admirable. You will not then be without rejoicing.

The final thing that Paul recommends is that and I quote: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or whatever you have seen in me put it into practice and the God of Peace will be with you.”

Which Christian have you truly admired? Which grandmother or father or sister or mother impressed you with their faith? How do they live their lives?

Put into practice what you have seen and heard – their way of prayer, their convictions about God and His presence, their way of thinking about this world of ours.

You know – the Christian life works a bit like the way that a freezer works.

If the freezer is almost empty every time you open it, you let out a lot of cold air; warm air will rushes in and makes the motor work extra hard. And that is costly, for it uses more electricity.

Now if we keep the freezer closed – there is no such problem – but keeping it closed means that we can get no use out of it.

The secret is to fill the freezer with good things – then when we open it to take out something; there is no room for the warm air to get in. The motor does not have to work so hard then. There will be less strain on the system.

We, Christians, by putting on our wedding clothing – by rejoicing in the presence of God; by constantly praying and offering thanksgiving to our God; by filling our minds with good things; and by practicing those things of faith that we have seen and admired in other people; we will discover for ourselves the joy of the Christian life, a life that is more than do’s and do not do. A life that has richness to it; a life that shines and gives comfort and joy to other people; much as in the same way as the happiness and joy of a wedding feast would give to everyone a feeling of the blessedness of life.

Rejoice ion the Lord always – again I say Rejoice. Amen.