Hello again to everyone. I know I filled you in about my past few days with my last post, but I want to use this post to talk about a few things that have been on my mind.
I will tell you very quickly about my uneventful day today. I went to Lutheran Mind this morning which as always, had my mind at work the entire time. That’s one thing I love about that class; it is impossible to forget what we talk about in it, because it is so fascinating my mind keeps thinking about it for several days to follow. After class, I took a four hour nap. Then when I woke up, after a shower, I ran to Walmart for a few errands. Now I am using the rest of my day, since I didn’t have to work today, to catch up on blogs and write my paper for class tomorrow.
The first thing I want to talk about is Friday’s chapel sermon. Dr. Gibbs preached again, because the guy who was assigned to preach couldn’t make it. He used this example to tell us, “As pastors if you ever get asked to do something last minute to help out a fellow brother, just man up and do it.” This was only the beginning of his motivational sermon. I can’t remember everything he preached on, but I certainly remember the emotions he has us all feeling by the end. He gave a wonderful sermon on the text of 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. It is a great passage reminding us how to live our faith. Dr. Gibbs’ main theme was that while we do not know when Jesus is coming, we can be sure He will come again for us all. We can always proclaim the truth that Jesus lived, Jesus died, and yet Jesus is alive again. We can live our faith because we have the promising truth that Jesus is coming back for all of us. He was preaching with such emphasis and force that it really got me pumped up. My emotions were running pretty high, I had chills down my back, and I was ready to literally run out of the chapel sharing the good news with everyone I met. My favorite part was when he finished by yelling as loudly and firmly as he could, “WE DO ALL THIS IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT! WE STAND AND SING OUR HYMN!” Our hymn was “The Threefold Truth.” For those of you who don’t know it, it is a pretty rare, but beautiful hymn. Its chorus is the threefold truth that Jesus was born, Jesus died, and Jesus still lives. It fit perfect with Dr. Gibbs sermon, and even though it was a rare hymn that not many of us knew, we belted it out with the same force Dr. Gibbs had just preached. It was just one of those services you walk out of feeling like you are ready to take on the world.
The second thing I want to talk about comes from church Sunday. Tim, the fourth year seminary student, preached on the text in Matthew where Jesus and Peter walk on the water. The twist he put on it which fits well was the baseball saying “keep your eye on the ball.” He talked about how when Jesus says to Peter, “O you of little faith”, it doesn’t actually mean Peter didn’t have faith. Peter had more faith than any of the disciples on the boat to step out of the boat and actually believe he could walk on water just like Jesus. However, even though he had faith, the reason he began to sink was because he lost focus. It was his lack of focus on Jesus where he failed, not his lack of faith. Then he used this appropriately to show how we daily lose focus on Jesus. We all sink, because we take our eye off the ball, Jesus, and lose focus even when we have faith. The thing Peter did right was as soon as he started to sink, he cried out for Jesus. He knew the only one who could actually save him was his Lord. This is what we need to remember when we lose focus and begin to sink. We need to remember the one who can truly save us, the one who never takes His eye off of us, and is always there ready to grab us by the hand and pull us out. He is our Savior because he died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, but He is also our Savior because He daily reaches out and grabs us by the hand and keeps us from sinking in our sin. I just really liked that analogy, plus the idea of Peter didn’t lack faith, but focus. We have faith; we know we are claimed children of God. We just don’t always keep our focus on that fact, and that’s what causes us to see the waves and wind around us, rather than our Lord standing right there in front of us.
All praise be to Him that we can live our faith in the comfort of the threefold truth. Our Savior came to earth to live among sinful humans, was killed by sinful humans, but rose again and is alive to grab us sinful humans by our hand and pull us out from sinking in our sin when we call His name. We can proclaim His name because He is alive and does promise to come back again to prove His focus has never once left us. All praise be to Him!
Dear Heavenly Father,
We know we are Your children, we know You love us and claim us. However, help us keep our focus on You, that we may live our lives according to Your Word and Your will, help us proclaim Your name as the Threefold truth. Then, when we lose our focus, help us to always remember to call out Your saving name. Remind us, that even when we lose our focus on you, You have never once lost Your focus on us. Thank you for always being there for us, saving us, and claiming us as Your own. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we bow before You, praising and worshiping Your name, and praying all of this. Amen.
I will tell you very quickly about my uneventful day today. I went to Lutheran Mind this morning which as always, had my mind at work the entire time. That’s one thing I love about that class; it is impossible to forget what we talk about in it, because it is so fascinating my mind keeps thinking about it for several days to follow. After class, I took a four hour nap. Then when I woke up, after a shower, I ran to Walmart for a few errands. Now I am using the rest of my day, since I didn’t have to work today, to catch up on blogs and write my paper for class tomorrow.
The first thing I want to talk about is Friday’s chapel sermon. Dr. Gibbs preached again, because the guy who was assigned to preach couldn’t make it. He used this example to tell us, “As pastors if you ever get asked to do something last minute to help out a fellow brother, just man up and do it.” This was only the beginning of his motivational sermon. I can’t remember everything he preached on, but I certainly remember the emotions he has us all feeling by the end. He gave a wonderful sermon on the text of 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. It is a great passage reminding us how to live our faith. Dr. Gibbs’ main theme was that while we do not know when Jesus is coming, we can be sure He will come again for us all. We can always proclaim the truth that Jesus lived, Jesus died, and yet Jesus is alive again. We can live our faith because we have the promising truth that Jesus is coming back for all of us. He was preaching with such emphasis and force that it really got me pumped up. My emotions were running pretty high, I had chills down my back, and I was ready to literally run out of the chapel sharing the good news with everyone I met. My favorite part was when he finished by yelling as loudly and firmly as he could, “WE DO ALL THIS IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT! WE STAND AND SING OUR HYMN!” Our hymn was “The Threefold Truth.” For those of you who don’t know it, it is a pretty rare, but beautiful hymn. Its chorus is the threefold truth that Jesus was born, Jesus died, and Jesus still lives. It fit perfect with Dr. Gibbs sermon, and even though it was a rare hymn that not many of us knew, we belted it out with the same force Dr. Gibbs had just preached. It was just one of those services you walk out of feeling like you are ready to take on the world.
The second thing I want to talk about comes from church Sunday. Tim, the fourth year seminary student, preached on the text in Matthew where Jesus and Peter walk on the water. The twist he put on it which fits well was the baseball saying “keep your eye on the ball.” He talked about how when Jesus says to Peter, “O you of little faith”, it doesn’t actually mean Peter didn’t have faith. Peter had more faith than any of the disciples on the boat to step out of the boat and actually believe he could walk on water just like Jesus. However, even though he had faith, the reason he began to sink was because he lost focus. It was his lack of focus on Jesus where he failed, not his lack of faith. Then he used this appropriately to show how we daily lose focus on Jesus. We all sink, because we take our eye off the ball, Jesus, and lose focus even when we have faith. The thing Peter did right was as soon as he started to sink, he cried out for Jesus. He knew the only one who could actually save him was his Lord. This is what we need to remember when we lose focus and begin to sink. We need to remember the one who can truly save us, the one who never takes His eye off of us, and is always there ready to grab us by the hand and pull us out. He is our Savior because he died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, but He is also our Savior because He daily reaches out and grabs us by the hand and keeps us from sinking in our sin. I just really liked that analogy, plus the idea of Peter didn’t lack faith, but focus. We have faith; we know we are claimed children of God. We just don’t always keep our focus on that fact, and that’s what causes us to see the waves and wind around us, rather than our Lord standing right there in front of us.
All praise be to Him that we can live our faith in the comfort of the threefold truth. Our Savior came to earth to live among sinful humans, was killed by sinful humans, but rose again and is alive to grab us sinful humans by our hand and pull us out from sinking in our sin when we call His name. We can proclaim His name because He is alive and does promise to come back again to prove His focus has never once left us. All praise be to Him!
Dear Heavenly Father,
We know we are Your children, we know You love us and claim us. However, help us keep our focus on You, that we may live our lives according to Your Word and Your will, help us proclaim Your name as the Threefold truth. Then, when we lose our focus, help us to always remember to call out Your saving name. Remind us, that even when we lose our focus on you, You have never once lost Your focus on us. Thank you for always being there for us, saving us, and claiming us as Your own. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we bow before You, praising and worshiping Your name, and praying all of this. Amen.
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