Tomorrow's Offering

We continue to focus on Christian maturity during Epiphany. I don't have any prayer to post today. Sorry. My prayer writers don't get me copies in advance (if they want to, I'll be happy to post them!). We'll begin something new in the prayers tomorrow. I want us to be praying for other churches in the area. I contacted Tim Carlson at Walnut Christian Church and let him know that we would be praying for them tomorrow. I also asked if there was anything public and specific we could include in our prayer. He said their youth program is going really well. So, we rejoice with Walnut.

With the cold and ice receding like my hairline, hopefully we'll have a good turnout for worship tomorrow. The title of the sermon will be "Growing Up: Becoming Leaders" and I'll be looking at the call of the disciples.

In lieu of the prayer, here's the intro to my sermon. Peace!



Can you see Abraham, standing outside the city of Ur? His flocks are covered by their rising, visible, breath in the morning air as they prepare to leave Ur with him. His possessions are loaded and ready, all on the backs something or someone. If you look closely, you’ll notice the look he gives Sarah. She sits on a beast of burden, bundled, in order to keep the chill from settling in her bones; next to her weariness.

Abraham feels a twinge. You know the twinge. It’s the one you get after you’ve decided to do something risky. It’s that tiny spot deep in your gut, sharp and steely, that reminds you of all the times you’ve been wrong about things, even when you were sure you were right.

Watch Abraham as he looks to the empty morning sky, no clouds, no remaining stars. He speaks to a God he cannot see, “But if I haven’t heard you right, we’re all dead.”

It’s one thing to trust yourself to God’s reckless call; it’s quite another to trust your wife, your wealth, and your home.

Can you see Moses, standing on the shore of the Red Sea? A mass of people, his people, are standing behind him. They have been through so much; through generations of slavery and abuse. Next to Moses is his brother. In front of him is an impassable body of water. Bearing down on him and his people is the most powerful army he has ever known. The army is angry and desperate and ready to attack.

Watch Moses look at the mass of people he has led into this mess. His eyes don’t look boastful in this grand moment; they look worried. Watch Moses as he looks to a sky that is filled with ominous and angry clouds, and as he speaks to a God he cannot see, “Did I hear you right? Should all of these people die because of me?”