Start or Start Over

Start or Start Over

When I hear the story of the prodigal son, I see this picture in my mind. I realize there is much more to the story, but I know the love a parent experiences for their child,  A child lost to the world comes home, not to judgement or condemnation but to the overwhelming love of his father. No ridicule, only a hugs and celebration. 

Every year Pastor Greg takes on a Sunday to emphasize our church mission statement. To start or start over. He does try to change the sermons up, but I have gone here for 20 years, You can imagine I have heard them all. But this time he brought out the Prodigal Son story and my heart caught this image. Our church tries to be a place where one can begin their walk with Christ or start it over again. We've found many people have been hurt by the church and need a place to heal. Sometimes we are the church that has hurt and that makes us very sad. 

If you have left the church or God, please know He is watching the road for your return. He will welcome you home with hugs and tears. All is forgiven, come home.

In The Image

In The Image

We were made to be in the image of God. Our purpose in this world is to reflect Jesus. I've heard this type of sermon before. I always imagined an image of a shimmering glowing being, with golden sparks flinging around Him. The image of Jesus, clothed in a robe so white it hurt your eyes. How do we become like this Jesus? It seemed impossible. But during this sermon I realized to be the mirror image of Jesus, to reflect who He is, I needed to do more than wait for a spiritual car wash. To reflect the image of Jesus, I needed to study His life on this earth. What was He like? How did He live and die? Therefore in this sketch I made Jesus represent, humility, forgiveness, generosity, sacrifice, love, no condemnation, fearlessness, selflessness. What can we be doing to reflect these things? We need to DO! We need to give, pray, be courageous, have fellowship, be selfless, speak love, seek God, continue to hope, and love the poor, disenfranchised, the marginalized and the ones furthest from Christ. How are you doing with your reflection?

Justice and Love

Justice and Love

"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Why doesn't God just get rid of evil? Wipe it all out? To rid the world of sin and evil someone must take on payment, or retribution for the evil done. The problem with that is, we all contain evil. When we are perfectly honest with ourselves, we know this. Therefore all humanity would be wiped out. Payback for wrongs is only just. Jesus came to take that judgement, to bring justice, not to condemn us.To show his unfathomable love, He took this on Himself so that we don't have, too. I hope this picture expresses what Christ did for us.

Treasures of the heart

Treasures of the heart

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and vermin destroy, where thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up treasures in heaven where moth and vermin do not destroy and thieves don't break in and steal."  Matthew 6:19-20.  So, how do we do that? Pat Dorbin preached this sermon for us. The treasures you build in heaven you cannot hold in your hand, unless you are holding a frighten child's hand to comfort. You can't wear these gems, unless it is the smile you give, even when you've dragged yourself to bed after volunteering to help children read, when you've already had a full day at work. 

These riches are not for yourself, but given to a culture of people that is in dire need of food, shelter, or safety. If a quarter tossed in the Salvation Army pots is all you will spare, than your heavenly treasure will be sparse. But if you fill you heart's treasure box with precious times of prayer and Bible reading, jewels of loving sacrifice, and pearls of selfless giving then your treasures will never be taken from you. Dress yourself in the fruits of the spirit. love, joy peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, They will never rot, and no one can ever steal it from you. 

No Condemnation

No Condemnation

This summer Pastor Greg has been teaching on Romans 8:1. "Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." So, what does that look like from my sketch pen? Well, one way is to remind us that as Christians we don't need to carry the burdens of our past mistakes, sins, and fears. Many of us still carry them on our backs in the form of guilt, worry, and striving with our own strength. We are fighting a war that has already been won.

We need to throw off the heaviness of fearing that any moment God will say, enough, you've gone too far. You've lost my love. God does not stop just short of your sin, sister. You are not the one that God says, nope can't do it, brother.  Remind yourself daily about His unfailing love. Don't lecture yourself about how this was not good enough, or that sin too evil for God to demolish. 

Put your mind on Him. Seek out holiness. What does holiness look like? Singer/song writer, Rich Mullen says we need to come to the place where we are not even tempted by sin. Where we are not trying to white knuckle our nature into obeying. We can walk past sin and not be affected by its pull. 

Wow, how do we do that? When we become so close to Jesus we couldn't even think of betraying Him. That's freedom. That's peace. 

Start by quitting, and begin resting in His strength, not yours. 

            "For the the law of the Spirit has done away with the law of 

                                                                                            SIN 

                                                                                                     and DEATH.

                           For what man could not do, because human nature is weak,

                                                                                                                           GOD DID!

                      He came with a nature, like man's nature, to do away with

                                                         SIN and DEATH!

And how do we get that close to God? More sketches to come.