Our church is making a difference in so many ways - we have not relegated ourselves to doing what we can do but what we can do with God's help and strength. As one person told me; ' our church never does things like your church does - we never reach out to the community,' or another told me, ' we held two potlucks last year for our church and a hymn sing.' To them these were huge things and major outreaches. Now while I do not fault them for the things they do, I am so grateful for what we are doing - far beyond a potluck or simply a hymn sing - we are touching lives OUTSIDE our walls and I beleive impacting the Kingdom of God.
As opportunities come to serve the Lord we must fully engage and grab them - it is those journeys of service and healing others that allow us to grow deeply as we follow our lives purpose with abandon. As Paul reminds us, the goal is to put ourselves into play according to our God-given purpose. (I Tim. 4:15 - TLB)
The past ten days have been filled with much activity, and many have put their abilities to work. The work has been seasoned with much prayer and great glimpses of God's grace. While myself and several from our church reached out in love and care, tangible expressions and also graced by God's presence.... The news of the shooting and death of 19 year old, R.J. Davis stunned our community - many of you know R.J. was a part of our church family and often attended the 8:00 AM service with his family - when I received the call I went to be with the family and quickly over 100 people gathered at the Lompoc E.R. Navigating the door, ministering to the family, assisting the Police Department and helping others the best I could was all met with the love of God. There really was a sense of God's grave in the midst of this tragedy and as people reconciled the last time they saw R.J. with the news of his death. We almost always meet the news of death with disbelief. Yet it is real and it comes - but as it comes we have another realization too - one that was clearly expressed today at his memorial service. Well over 850 people gathered to show support and pay their respects and Pastor Daryl Fort and I both shared the message of hope and life. He hammered the truth that each young person needed to live their lives for God and not forget the God of their 'youth' - to serve Him while they are young. I shared the fact that Jesus was with us - He was in the room and standing next to each one of us. Jesus asks us a question: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?
Mark 10:46“Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.”Who knows how many years Bartimaeus was blind. Most probably all his life. For all his life without any visual contact with the environment, he was sitting there, by the road, begging. For sure, he must have heard what Jesus did to other blind men and how they received their sight. Really, how much he must have longed to be one of those that would meet Him. And he was:
As opportunities come to serve the Lord we must fully engage and grab them - it is those journeys of service and healing others that allow us to grow deeply as we follow our lives purpose with abandon. As Paul reminds us, the goal is to put ourselves into play according to our God-given purpose. (I Tim. 4:15 - TLB)
The past ten days have been filled with much activity, and many have put their abilities to work. The work has been seasoned with much prayer and great glimpses of God's grace. While myself and several from our church reached out in love and care, tangible expressions and also graced by God's presence.... The news of the shooting and death of 19 year old, R.J. Davis stunned our community - many of you know R.J. was a part of our church family and often attended the 8:00 AM service with his family - when I received the call I went to be with the family and quickly over 100 people gathered at the Lompoc E.R. Navigating the door, ministering to the family, assisting the Police Department and helping others the best I could was all met with the love of God. There really was a sense of God's grave in the midst of this tragedy and as people reconciled the last time they saw R.J. with the news of his death. We almost always meet the news of death with disbelief. Yet it is real and it comes - but as it comes we have another realization too - one that was clearly expressed today at his memorial service. Well over 850 people gathered to show support and pay their respects and Pastor Daryl Fort and I both shared the message of hope and life. He hammered the truth that each young person needed to live their lives for God and not forget the God of their 'youth' - to serve Him while they are young. I shared the fact that Jesus was with us - He was in the room and standing next to each one of us. Jesus asks us a question: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?
Mark 10:46“Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.”Who knows how many years Bartimaeus was blind. Most probably all his life. For all his life without any visual contact with the environment, he was sitting there, by the road, begging. For sure, he must have heard what Jesus did to other blind men and how they received their sight. Really, how much he must have longed to be one of those that would meet Him. And he was:
Mark 10:47“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, HE BEGAN TO CRY OUT AND SAY, “JESUS, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!””“Jesus, have mercy on me” Bartimaeus cried out.
The voice - its tone, sound, content - reflects the heart of needing a touch from God. Bartimaeus was longing for the Lord, and the Lord was there. The others started murmuring: “Why Bartimaeus makes so much noise?” We will always have people who will challenge us for calling on God and wonder why we are foolishly (in their minds) wasting our time. But we know, this blind man no longer listened to his friends or the crowd. He just kept crying out. Mark 10:48“Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out ALL THE MORE, “Son of David, have mercy on me!””Bartimaeus was desperately looking for the Lord. He would cry out to Him, till he was heard. And Jesus heard him. Bartimaeus’ cry made Him to stay still. A whole multitude was following Him, but the cry of this blind beggar was so valuable to Him. It was like He was looking for it. So He stood still and called him:Mark 10:49-51“So Jesus STOOD STILL and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside the garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”” I told the crowd at the funeral today - What do you want Jesus to do for you? You would think Jesus knew that a blind man would want to see - but I believe Jesus is showing us that He can go beyond the obvious and supreficial and touch deeply into our hearts. The Lord stands still at the cry of those that call Him. For Him, each and every soul is very valuable, regardless of color, race or position. He does not look at names and titles but at human hearts and all, without any exception, need Him the same. Till they meet Him they are blind, and all that meet Him, receive their sight. Today, many (about 50) responded to a call to salvation - to say 'YES' to Jesus and make the most eternal decision they could ever make. The memorial service would have never happened without the many great people from LFC who served, gave, and shared and without the kind people of Trinity Church who opened their doors for both the service and the reception.
This memorial came on the heals of a great Sunday at LFC in which I shared how God Can Use Us. The many people who brought food to the reception, set up the food and stayed and cleaned the Trinity Gym - were servants of God for sure. They were modeling in front of many what the heart of God is all about. But to start the weekend off we had Tommy Walker and a great band and a 65 voice choir. Lompoc Foursquare Church funded the promotions, printing, travel, honorariums, sound system and all........it was a great investment as we were able to see $15,000 dollars go to the Philippines - to take kids who live in the dump and allow them to have an education and books and thereby change their lives. LFC was a part of this and the night of worship with almost 1,000 in attendance was incredible and people are still talking about it today. Many on our teams and staff are tired tonight and rightfully so - and much of what we do is tiring work - I am tired too - but God will give us all strength........I am amazed at the lives touched....as a great chorus says: Jesus you are more than amazing!
So thanks, LFC for serving, praying and giving and making me so honored and proud to be your pastor. Please call on Jesus and you will hear Him say: What do you need me to do for you? And He will meet your needs.
Let's keep touching lives and not wait until tragedy strikes, lets keep believing - serving and giving and not wait for a huge event or concert to happen. We have many upcoming ways you can get online with serving - Our Harvest Party - our Halloween alternative Block Party (we need workers, set-up, those to run games and lots and lots of candy donations as well as clean up) Our upcoming Blood Drive - giving blood so others might live, our Nursery team is in need of additional team members and our cleaning team (all volunteers) needs to be expanded and much more. So, keep believing and together we can keep on making a world of difference.
I love being your pastor!
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