Waiting
Posted by admin on February 1, 2012
Waiting
I am writing this at the car dealer where I get the oil changed on my car. They told me that I really do need a brake job. I asked about another situation that I thought was a problem. Guess what? There is a problem. It will take a couple of hours and a good wad of money. Good time to do some work. I am in the customer waiting area. There are a lot of people here. Most are talking on their I-phones. How much time do you spend waiting? How do you use it?
As I was waiting, I did a translation for my sermon for Sunday. God is giving me some time to think about the sermon. It is a good time to do some prayer. We have some members and people outside our membership that can use our prayers. I can use this time to talk to God about other matters too. There are always things that are on our minds or even on our chest that we need to talk over with the good Lord. God gave me some time to do that too.
What’s my point? People use the excuse, and so do I, that they don’t have enough time for this or that…as if God made a mistake in not creating days long enough. Take an inventory of the time the LORD has created for you. All the people here on the I-phones seem to have time to communicate. Just think if we did this in conversation with our God or by just meditating on the mysteries of God’s grace - to simply think about his love and mercy. I am feeling pretty much at peace right now. I am sure I will be stirred up when I see the bill, but you know what? After the water pump is replaced, maybe they will find something else wrong. That might not be so bad. God is giving more time to focus on him. I am sure that he does the same for you. Do you take advantage of it?
In Christ,
Pastor Zahn
Christmas Message
Posted by admin on November 30, 2011
Bugs on the Windshield
Dear Friends,
I usually allow my wiper blades on my car to go beyond the time they need to be replaced. With rain the wipers don’t clean the windshield completely. Sometime ago I had a head-on collision with a moth and its graveyard became my windshield. I noticed that the windshield wipers don’t do a good job of washing off the remains of the moth. I have also noticed that when I drive, my eyes tend to wander to the accident scene and it drives me crazy. Do you, like me, have a tendency to have a hard time looking past that spot even though there is plenty of opportunity to look around it? Or am I the only one that seems to focus on that messy grave of the moth?
We are in that time of the year when “bugs on the windshield” can do us some spiritual damage. I am talking about the distractions that come at this time of year when there is a danger to focus our attention on things other than the real reason for the season. The bugs on the windshield (partying, enormous monies spent on gifts, the extravagant meal preparations) can get in the way of celebrating the birthday of our Savior. The angel said, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” This is a time of repentance. This is a time to confess our sins. After all, that’s why he came - to be our Savior. What a pity if we missed the point of his coming and failed to give him honor and thanks he deserves.
Please come by our Living Christmas card on December 9th and 10th from 6-9 PM. We are also celebrating Christmas Eve with a candlelight service at 7 PM and Christmas Day we are having a song service at 10AM. Please join us! Merry Christmas!
Pastor Larry Zahn
Thanksgiving
Posted by admin on November 2, 2011
Thanksgiving Under All Circumstances
When the first American Thanksgiving was celebrated, it was done so in sight of forty graves in the Plymouth cemetery. There were fifty five-English speaking people including only four women who survived from the original band of pilgrims who came to America. The weather had been brutal; there was an epidemic that brought death in that first year for so many. In thanks to God, however, they set aside time and enjoyed their meal and compatriots even though there was a lot of suffering.
Martin Rinckardt wrote the popular Thanksgiving hymn entitled “Now Thank We All Our God.” He penned that hymn during an epidemic in which the number of people who died was so great that they had to bury the dead in trenches. His own wife was taken away; he lost his property and was driven to extremes to find food and clothes for his own children. Yet he triumphed over despair to sing –
“All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given.”
How could he give thanks? While health and wealth and even our stealth can go away from us, one thing can’t be taken away – God’s grace in Christ. Regardless of how rich or poor we may be in life, no matter how important or insignificant, the Son of God opened up heaven for us. We are forgiven of our sins and assured an eternity with Christ. No amount of money, no promise of food and clothing for a few short years on this earth will ever compare.
While circumstances certainly have been better in our nation, yet compared to the pilgrims and Martin Rinckhardt, we are living in Paradise. Remember that no matter what our circumstance, whether bleak or beautiful, the best is yet to come, promised to us through the blood of Jesus.
Come celebrate with us on Thanksgiving Eve November 23rd at 7 PM at our favorite hymn service.
In Him,
Pastor Larry Zahn
That's Not All Folks
Posted by admin on August 24, 2011
When I was going to college, the rock opera “Jesus Christ, Superstar” was being performed for the first time. It was wildly popular. It was made into a movie. I had never seen it. I loved the songs in them with the snappy and lively rhythms. It wasn’t a movie I would recommend people to see since there was a lot in it that was simply not true and gave the wrong impression. The last scene, however, was done well. It was very moving. It was the scene of the crucifixion. While the crucifixion was done so as to touch the human emotion, there was something seriously wrong. That’s where the movie ended as if to say, “That’s all folks!” I was trained to know that there was more. I know there was more. The Bible says there is more. Without the resurrection the Bible says that our faith is futile and we are lost in our sin. Jesus with no Easter? Christ’s life with no resurrection? I’m sorry, Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber, that’s not all folks. Jesus Christ has destroyed death by his resurrection. Jesus destroyed the eternal effects of sin. If Jesus remained in the grave, what proof is there that sins are paid for. How do we know that we are really all right with God? Jesus is alive and well and lives with us everyday. He promised, “I am with you to the very end of the age.” The Crucifixion? That’s NOT all folks.
Join us this Easter and hear the good news of the empty grave and how Jesus fills our lives.
In Him who has risen from the dead,
Pastor Larry Zahn
