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Showing posts from July, 2012

He Knows Our Name...But Do We Proclaim His? - Isaiah 43:1-3a, Luke 12:4-12

Do you know how many hairs are on your head?  How about your spouse’s head?  Your child’s head?  Your grandchild’s head?  I’ll be the first to say, I have no idea.  Imagine how much you would love someone and how well you would truly know them, to know how many hairs are on that person’s head!  Our Scripture reading from Luke this morning tells us that is exactly how much God loves us…that is exactly how intimate God’s knowledge is of each of us.  Now mind you, for some of us, that knowledge that God has is a pretty difficult task…for others…not so hard.  Of course, I have been told that God only made a few perfect heads, and on all the rest he put hair. For God to know the number of hairs on our head…that’s almost unimaginable.  We are not used to people knowing us that completely (though the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media where many people offer what could be considered way too much information).  We are more used to business, organizations, and the governm

You're Working Too Hard - Ephesians 2:1-10

How many of us know someone who is a workaholic?  Maybe we are the workaholic?  Just how many hours in the office, or on the job, does it take to qualify someone as a workaholic?  Is it 70 a week, 60 a week, 50 a week, 40 a week, more than that, less than that?  Do they work without taking a holiday, vacation day, or sick day (even though they might be running a 110 degree fever and bleeding profusely from  a missing limb)?  Just what constitutes a person being a workaholic?  How  much work is working too hard?  I surveyed several of my friends, and not counting the folks that are retired or working part-time, and definitely not counting the housewives who work 168 hours a week, the average fulltime employee is putting in around 49 ½ hours a week.  That’s almost ten hours more than what is considered to be a 40 hour work week (that in many places now is down to 37 ½ to 38 hours for fulltime employment).  How does that compare with history and the world?  Well, 49 ½ is pretty close

Freedom - Galatians 5:1, 13-25

It happened in some places starting Friday, and will continue in many places through next weekend.  Folks around this country will gather together, family and friends, to celebrate our nation’s independence.  There will be picnics, trips to the pool, the lake, or the beach.  Some will watch fireworks or set off their own.  Some communities will have parades, while others will have concerts, military drills, or BBQ cook-offs.  We do all of this as we celebrate as our nations celebrates its freedom from England’s tyranny.  With that in mind, I spent two days this past week asking the question, “When you hear or read the word “Freedom,” what is the first thing that comes to mind?”. Some of the responses I received were: ·         Fourth of July ·         Soldiers ·         War ·         Military ·         Soldiers ·         The Revolutionary War ·         The Liberty Bell ·         Celebrating all those who fought for our freedom ·         Self Determination ·