A Pastor's Blessing....

Back to School Special

A Pastor’s Blessing to Parents, Grandparents,

Students and their Teachers

August 30, 2016

Jeff Lampl

At the end of Sunday’s Message about how Jesus would have us educate
our children in “how to do life”, I prayed four prayers of blessing, one each for

grandparents,

parents,

students re-entering school,

and also a blessing for their teachers.

I will keep these prayers in front of me as the new school year starts. 

Perhaps you will want to do the same 

A Prayer of Blessing for Grandparents

“I bless you with the love of God in Jesus Christ.  I bless you with the heart of Jesus for your grandchildren.  I bless you with the ability to give to your grandchildren the knowledge that God is real and that whatever your grandchildren study in school, knowledge of God is the first thing to know about that subject and all other subjects, be it science, math, reading, art, relationships with others, or life choices.   II bless you with the ability to know and see beyond appearances, that whatever appears to be happening with your children and grandchildren, God is not finished with them or with you.    I bless you with the conviction that God is the hound of heaven and that every prayer that you utter for them is heard and acted on in the throne room heaven.  Amen”

A Prayer of Blessing for Parents with Children in School and in College

“I bless those of you who are married with the knowledge that your marriage is holy and is the most powerful conveyor of the reality of God that you have to give to your children.   I bless those of you who are not married with the knowledge that God is working every angle to give your children exactly what they need.  I bless every parent with the stamina and perseverance to pray your hearts out for your children, that they know God and build their lives on Him as the most fundamental reality of their lives.   I bless you with the reminder that you have your children only for a short time but that short time will set the course of their lives forever.   And I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ with the time energy and ability to train your children in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit through reading the bible with them, through praying with them and for them and through their seeing how real God is in your lives.  Amen”

A Prayer of Blessing for Teachers, whether Public, Private or in Churches

 I bless you with the knowledge that God has entrusted you with his most prized possession, his children.   I bless you with the knowledge that because Jesus is alive in you, when you show up to work and the children come to you, that is Jesus saying through you to them “let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”   I bless you with the knowledge that every day that you arrive in your classroom, you are arriving on Holy Ground.   I bless you with the holy fear, joy and honor that comes with being chosen as a conduit of the Love of God to children who might otherwise never know that they are treasured, loved, cherished and given a holy purpose for their lives.  What an honor.  I bless you with the stamina to stay prayed up daily, and the stamina to love and train when it’s hard and the courage to persevere when all progress is visible only to God.  Amen”

A Prayer of Blessing for Students as you begin your School Year

“I bless you with the knowledge that God is real, that God is the beginning and end of all knowledge.  I bless you with an ever increasing awakening to God’s reality in your science classes, in your math classes, in your literature classes, in your art, health, physical education and practical arts classes.    I bless you with the deep and solid knowledge that you matter to God, that God has given you a purpose for your short time on planet earth.   I bless you with the reminder that the deepest and most solid and most satisfying joys in your life are found by seeking to live right at the center of God’s will for your life.   I bless you with the insight to discern the difference between what is from God and what is not.   I bless you with friends who love God and love you.  And I bless you with the incredible almost unsurpassable gift of being God’s blessing to those around you.   I bless you with knowledge that your sins cannot separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ, nor your doubts, nor your fears nor discouragement.   I bless you with the promise of God that nothing, absolutely nothing  on earth can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ, who prays for you, who is available at every moment to guide  you and who is there at every turn whether you are aware of Him or not.   Amen”

Election 2016

What Would Jesus have Us Think, Believe and Vote?

August 29, 2016
Jeff Lampl

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap (Jesus) in his words.  They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.

"Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.  Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax."

They brought him a denarius,  and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"  "Caesar's," they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." 

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.     

                                                         Matthew 22:15-22 (NIV)

In the above passage the Pharisees (Israel’s ‘Tea Party’) teamed up with the Herodians (Israel’s party of compromisers) to bait Jesus into making a mistake.   If Jesus had agreed that paying taxes to Caesar (who claimed to be a deity) was a correct thing to do, he would be accused by the Jews of blasphemy.   If he had said he was against paying taxes he would be accused by the Romans of subversion.

How does that help as we go to the polls in November?

First, it seems that Jesus would tell us that a good citizen of Heaven is also a good citizen of earth.  Christians are not separatists.   Believers are to be a blessing to others and that includes participation in society.  Taxes, though frequently wasted and misused, support the functioning of a flourishing society.

Second, Jesus didn’t answer in black and white, with a yes or a no.  Christians live in a world where we must learn to adhere to the teachings of God and Jesus Christ in less than perfect ways.   Rather than trying to ask ourselves WWJD (What would Jesus do) we must learn to ask ourselves, “What would Jesus have us do” given the realities of our circumstances.  Life is much more gray than black and white.   That requires applying John 16:15 and Matthew 10:16 to our decision making.

Notice that Jesus could have said, “Wait a minute, I’m Lord not Caesar.  Follow me above all else” (the party of the Zealots would have been all in on that).   Jesus did not elevate Himself or take sides.     It’s almost as if Jesus is affirming our constitution’s establishment clause which forbids the establishment of any one religion as a state religion for our nation.   He must have known how badly Christianity would fare when it found itself in the corridors of power in the coming millennia.  We Christians must remember Jesus ‘consistent teaching that our job is not to rule, but to serve.

Finally, further on this same chapter of Matt 22, Jesus gave us the summary of the entirety of the teaching of the Bible

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.      Matthew 22:37-39

As we prepare for the November elections we would do well to ask ourselves what Christian value do we want our new leaders to pursue?   What is the Jesus Lens?  Is it capitalism, or socialism, or democracy, or TPP, or Protectionism, or Interventionism, or . . . . ?   Jesus gave us none of those, rather he gave us the value of Love.   In short the Christian value is that I love God more than my country and I love others more than myself.   

Question:   How can I allow this “Jesus Creed” to overlay my thinking about who I vote for and how I think about all the issues that our country faces?

“Lord help me to think, see, act, believe, and hope all through the Lens of the’ Jesus Creed’, the Great Commandment of loving you and loving others.  May I approach my participation in society not through the lens of republican or democrat or independent or ethnicity or self-interest rather through the lens of Jesus.”  Amen

Back to School Sunday!

Back to School Sunday

8/28

Friday, August 26, 2016
Jeff Lampl

Sunday’s worship (8/28) will focus on what Jesus would have us do about the
educating of our children.  How does Jesus define education?  
What would he have us do as students, parents,

grandparents and as members of our Community?

How did public education start in America and what was its purpose? 
Is education’s purpose to develop skills for entering the work force? 
Is it preparation for earning the income necessary to live? 

 Or is it fundamentally something else?

Who should the educators of our children be?  What kind of schools should we seek? 
What is the role of the Christian Family in the training of our children, and in influencing the direction of the schools of  our communities and of our nation?

Finally, what do the following scriptures tell you about the nature of education,

 both as Jesus would have it and as it is today?

The Shema (Hear!)

“These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”    Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Life on the Rock

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”                                             

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.                                                                                                 Matthew 7:24-27

What lens are you using?

What lens are you using?

August 11, 2016

Megann Graf

Pastor Jeff talked about using our “Jesus lens’” to look at the upcoming election.  What if that’s not enough?

What if this isn’t election advice?  What if it goes beyond?  As I sat on my front porch yesterday, sulking and being miserable, because things that afternoon had not gone my way, it hit me.  It hit me and humbled me.  I was looking at my life through the wrong lens, and I knew it.  No wonder I can’t see politicians in a positive light, if I’m having a hard time seeing my life in a positive light.  It’s easier to complain sometimes, to look at all the bad.  I want to see things through MY lens, you know, the one where everything goes my way and I am always right.  But, oh how distorted it is.  And, when I sit, looking through that lens on too long, things get blurry and confusing.  It’s not the right lens.  It never lasts long enough.   

I have to look through a different lens.  The only one that will not fail is His.  It’s the lens of God that allows me to see the beauty in the messes, the joy in the sorrows, and allows for gratitude in all things.  It is only through this lens, that I can feel peace and feel happiness because I can SEE God.  I can see Him in everything and everyone around me. 

So, here was my take away from Sunday’s message, and my porch revelation yesterday.  It was to switch my lens and look for the good.  Look for 3 good things about each of the candidates.  Look for 3 good things in my home.  Look for 3 good things in each of the children.  See them.  Acknowledge them.  Seeing the bad is easy.  It’s easy, because it’s in all of us.  It’s hard, because deep down we know that if the world saw us from the outside, and focused only on our worst things, it would be awful.  We are changing, through Christ, from the inside out.  And, our outsides won’t be perfect on this earth. 

What if Christians got this?  What if we lived this?  How would this country be better?  How would this campaign season be better? 

Think about those answers, and think about the lens you’re looking through.  Maybe you need a new one too. 

  

Filtering

Filtering

Friday, August 5, 2016
Jeff Lampl

Do you filter your faith through the Lens of being a republican or a democrat or an independent or an environmentalist or your ethnicity or your sexuality or your social status or . . . ?
What if Jesus overturns everything you think?  What if filtering what you believe through the Lens of Jesus means that everything you've always thought is wrong?

"Lord, I look forward to learning more about what it means to view the world, my politics, my voting choices and all my presuppositions about right and wrong through the Lens of the life, death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ.  Amen"

Jesus is in My Boat. Now What?

Jesus is in My Boat.  Now What?

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Blog by Megann Graf

I don’t know about you, but I was comforted by the disciple’s response to Jesus in their boat.  (Mark 4:35-41)

 The disciples were the people who literally left their old lives and followed Jesus.  They physically walked with Him.  They audibly talked to Him.  They made a pretty bold choice to decide to commit their life’s work to spreading the gospel.  And yet, when they hit a storm, they were saying “Jesus, why the heck are you sleeping?  Why aren’t you doing anything.”  Okay, those weren’t their exact words, but they’re pretty close.  Even the disciples had doubts.  They were human.  They came to a storm, and they still had that “oh crap” moment of wondering what was going to happen and why Jesus wasn’t running out to save them. 

Ever have one of those moments? 

Ever wonder why it seems like Jesus is sleeping during your storm?

I have.  I do. 

And yet, Jesus was with them.  And when they came to Him, the first thing He did was calm the storm.  The very first thing he did was calm their storm.  Now, he didn’t transport them to another time and place.  No, they were, in fact, still in the same body of water.  They weren’t completely out of danger, but he calmed the waves that were crashing around them.  He gave them that peace of knowing that He was in control.  And then He asked them “why are you so timid and fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?” 

These were the men following Him and watching Him heal people and listening to his teachings.  They had behind the scenes footage of the Son of God!  I guess it wasn’t unfair of him to question why they had such distrust.  And I find it interesting that this little snippet of scripture doesn’t end with the disciples looking around at each other and saying, “oh right, we’re with Jesus, we’re good.”  No, it ends with them in awe and fear saying “who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey?”  They were speechless.
 If Jesus is in our boat, we’ve got to trust Him.  We have to believe that he will calm the storm, even if the storm he calms, is simply the one we have in our hearts.  Because, most likely, we will still be “out to sea”, so to speak.  He might not take away the circumstance we are in.  But, He will calm our storm.  And, I have experienced moments where I am in the middle of something that doesn’t seem right, and yet, I have peace.  I can’t explain it.  I am somewhat in awe, and a little fearful of what is still to come, and yet the waves are not swallowing me up.  I believe that is Jesus in my boat.  I wish I could say that I never question God.  I do in so many things.  And yet, deep down, there is this thing called faith.  It pulls at me and begs me to trust.  It’s that gut feeling that tells me that what is going on is so much greater than me.  I am so small, and He is so big.  The fact that he’d even be in my boat is amazing.  I’m sure I’ve taken him up some rivers he’d rather not see.  But there He was, in my storms, in my boat.  And He’s in yours too.

Going to the Polls

Going to the Polls

Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Jeff Lampl

"Jesus is Lord"
Acts 10:36

What would it look like if Christians filtered their politics through their faith rather than filtering their faith through their politics?  

What does it mean that Jesus is both Creator of the earth and everything in it and also Lord (CEO and COO) of earth and all that happens on earth?  What does it mean that God's definition of Goodness must be filtered through Jesus' life of teaching the meaning of goodness by feeding the hungry and healing the sick, and then demonstrating goodness by dying on the cross for his enemies and then, exercising the greatest power on earth, by rising from the dead?

How does the answer to this question shape your votes on Election Day?   How would Jesus have you think about the issues?  How does a Jesus following believer think about health care, foreign policy, "America first", abortion, same sex marriage, immigration, the economy, free trade and all the rest?  Does Jesus shape your thinking or do you follow a god which you have created in the image of your presuppositions?

Beginning this Sunday we will address these questions and more.  See you at 9:00 or 10:30!   Bring a curious friend!!