Adulting; May the Lord Teach Us How





Adulting: Taking on adult responsibilities.
 

Psalm 143:7-8

Answer me quickly, O Lord;
    my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
    or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
    for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.

 

 Making the transition from teen-ager to adult can be a bit scary for many. Graduation from High School and prospects of either further education and/or learning to care for and support themselves can be daunting.

 

My granddaughter, who is a teen working on this transition, taught me a new word this past week. It is adulting. I laughed when I first heard her use it. I thought she had made it up. But, I checked the Urban Dictionary and it appears to be a word that is being used today. Adulting is when a young person begins to take on things that would be considered adult-like. These might be things as simple as getting out of bed on time without anyone having to wake them up or filling out a job application without assistance. Of course, this is a process; and, the training of a young person to make this transition should actually begin at birth. But, that jump from teen to adult is not always easy even for those who have been adulting (bearing the responsibilities of an adult) for many years.

 

My granddaughter is actually a bit shy around people she does not know well. But, she is learning that if she ever wants to be independent of me; she will have to break out of that shell and quickly.

 

The psalmist prayed that the Lord would teach him the way that he should go. This is my prayer for all of our young people. That the Lord would be with them; guiding them in His Way as they learn how to be mature and fruitful adults. It is not easy to make that transition from teen to adult. Aging is a process that cannot be stopped. Prayerfully, as we all age, we will also all grow and mature in Christ. May God be with our young people as they learn to follow in the way that He would have them go.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Seasons Change

Daniel said:
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
    for wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons,
    deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding.
                                           Daniel 2:20-21 NRSV

We are beginning to see the fall colors up here in the U.P.. The fall may be beautiful; but, I do not look forward to the cold season of winter. Whether I like it or not, winter will be here soon. It is inevitable. Change is inevitable. I will live through it.

Who; but God, knows what changes we will actually experience with the next presidential election? We will have to wait and see. Change will come. There is no reason to fear. After that change, other changes will come. They are inevitable.

We experience change every day of our lives. If we do not, we will fail to learn and grow. Some of the changes can be quite scary. But, we should not fear. God is with us. He knows exactly what is happening and will happen. He has a plan. Although, we may not always have the wisdom or knowledge to understand why God would allow some of these changes we can be assured that His plans are for the good of all people. 

Do not fear change. God is with you. He is with us. Trust Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

The Lord Takes Care Of You

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!" (Luke 12:27-28)

The Lord provides! He finds many ways and many people to do this. Sometimes, it is through grandparents. Sometimes, it is through others. But, for those of us with even a little faith, He does provide.

It has always kind of amazed me that often those with very little feel abundantly blessed and those with an abundance sometimes feel and act like they live in poverty. They do not recognize the gifts that God has already given them. They do not treasure what they already have.

Jesus reminds us that God clothes even the grass of the feel with beautiful flowers; He will also clothe us - we who have such little faith. Trust in the Lord and give thanks for all that He has done!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Hebrews 12:4-12 - A Father's Discipline

Hebrews 12:4-13 NIV

A father who loves his children will discipline them when needed. No matter how difficult it may seem, he will not turn his eyes the other way and ignore it when his children are on a path of self-destruction. He will also continue to support them and love them just as our heavenly Father loves all of His children.

It can be difficult for a child to receive discipline or reproof from their parents. It causes many to feel as though they are no longer loved. It can be just as painful of an experience for a parent to discipline their child. Yet, it is sometimes necessary. Loving parents will discipline their children as they think best. Sometimes the discipline of earthly parents turns out not so much for the best. But, even then, it is usually because it is the best that the parents know and can give. It is what they have been taught. Most try to discipline lovingly and justly. Human parents make mistakes and sometimes with wrong motivations. However, God does not. He disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.

Life can be tough. Yet, through all the lessons we must learn, we will grow in Christ. We will grow up as children of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Hebrews 5 - Infant Christians

Hebrews 5 NIV
Years ago, there was a young man whom I had been teaching about Christ. We had seen each other almost every day for close to a year. I was going to be leaving and would probably never see him again so I attempted to explain to him about the peace and joy that comes with the indwelling Spirit of Christ. I could see a dazed look in his eyes. He finally said, "I just don't understand." I realized that he was still too new to Christianity to get it, yet. He was still an infant. He had much to learn. I smiled and told him that I understood that it was hard to grasp; but, that I was teaching him all this so that in years to come, when I wouldn't be around, he might remember my words and understand.

The author of Hebrews begins to explain the significance of Jesus being called as a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, offering up prayers and a sacrifice for the people. The author understands that readers will not understand. They are still infants to Christianity. While, by this time they should be teaching, they still have much to learn. The problem the author sees is that they do not really want to learn. They no longer try to understand.

There are things that are beyond our comprehension. But, that should not stop us from trying to understand. It should not stop us from listening. It should not stop us from studying God's Word. I sometimes hear the excuse that someone does not attend community worship because they just don't understand scripture. They don't understand the lessons read or what the pastor's sermon is about. That is not a reason to stay away. If you don't understand, that is all the more reason to hear it. To know Christ and him crucified; to grow in Christ one must be fed with the Word.

See you at Worship where you can hear the word and grow in Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Col 4 - Prayer and Proclamation; Don't forget Praise!

Colossians 4 NIV

Young Evangelists - Youth Choir
Say it! Sing it! Just do it!
Share the Good News!

Prayer, praise, and proclamation; that is my evangelism strategy. As Paul closes his letter to the Colossians he reminds us to be diligent in prayer and proclamation. Devote yourself to prayer. Pray that God will open doors for the message so that mystery of Christ may be proclaimed. We don't need a program. We just need the grace of God in order to do His will.

Years ago, my congregation was involved in a multi-congregation effort to do more evangelism. We met quite a few times to talk about evangelism among ourselves. As I drove home with two of the congregations "delegates" to this consortium, we discussed the fact that we were driving quite a distance and spending an awful lot of time talking about evangelism and not actually doing any evangelism.

The truth be told we had these many meetings and had come to the conclusion that we were not of like minds. Leaders from various congregations did not trust one another; everyone seemed to have different and personal agendas, and we were not working well together. We talked a lot at every meeting; but, we never actually got to the point of proclaiming the mystery of Christ. We never got around to doing any evangelism. We had been too busy trying to figure what kinds of evangelism programs would work best. We agreed on that drive home that evening that we already knew in our hearts what we needed to do.  That we would quit wasting time, energy and financial resources talking about evangelism. We were determined to get back on track and put our time and energy into doing the ministry we had received from the Lord. Rather than just talk about it, we would get on with the business of evangelists: praying, praising God, and proclaiming the Good News through both word and deed. We presented this to the council. The motion was approved. By the grace of God, we continued to grow both in Christ and in numbers.

The growth that happened though, did not happen because of one or two or even three people. In this closing section of Paul's letter; he reminds us that he had many co-workers in the gospel. They proclaimed the Good News with one heart and mind. They served together. There were no special programs. They did not discuss strategies. By God's grace, they prayed that God would open doors and proclaimed the mystery of Christ clearly to the glory of God. And... the church grew both in Christ and in numbers.

God's Peace - Pr. J

John 17:6-26 Praying for God's Children

John 17:6-26 NIV
Yesterday, we prayed for all of our children. On the first day of Sunday School every fall, at Zion Lutheran, we put the names of all of the children (newborns thru college) in the offering plate. The plate is passed around and congregants, who are willing to commit to praying every day for the next year for a child, draws a name(s) out of the plate. We pray for those little ones who know and believe in Jesus. We pray for their lives in this world and in the Kingdom of God. We pray that they would continue to grow and abide in Christ and he in them.

In his last hours, Jesus also prayed for those who believed in him. He prayed for the disciples who were with him and followed him as well as for all who would believe in him through the disciples.  He prayed that we would be one. He prayed that the Father's love would be in us. He prayed that through faith in him, he would abide in us.

He abides in all who believe. May God grant that Jesus should abide in us that the world might know him and our Father.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Luke 13:18-21 Seeds Planted

Luke 13:18-21 NIV
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grew and became a tree. It is like yeast mixed into flour. It becomes something other; something greater, than it was. It grows.

The Word of God is the seed which is planted in the hearts of man. As it is planted, the Kingdom grows. Likewise, when seeds which are not the Word of God are planted, they will probably grow. Be careful then what kind of seeds are being planted within your hearts.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Malachi 3 - Annual Reports; Budgets

So much I'd like to cover in such little space....

First, the prophecy of the coming of John the Baptist:
"I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty." (Mal 3:1 NIV)

Next to consider the word of God when He says: "I the LORD do not change." (Mal 3:6) I'm going to let you think about that one on your own.

Thirdly; I have been working on annual reports and budgets and benevolence comes up a lot when I do that. So the following verses kind of jumped out at me.

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty." (Mal 3:-8-12)

It is no secret that I and many others in this community think that we live in a delightful land! It is a friendly and caring community. The people who live in this place are very generous when it comes to helping those in need. We do all that we can to help others in need. (See Mal 3:5) As a congregation reaching out to others we have grown in many ways over the years.

Back to the annual report.... Thanks be to God, our budget is also being managed quite well and even grows - slowly but surely. We have some very faithful stewards. I have to admit that I get a little antsy at times when it comes to budgets (maybe even a little cranky - especially if someone intimates that our storehouse is for us and not to help those in need). Our congregation budget, in the end, is one of those things that we (I) have to say, from year to year, that we will just have to trust the LORD to provide. He has, after all, an outstanding track record of consistently providing for us and for others, through us, in various ways. I was quite surprised to find out that almost 40% of our general fund offerings, this year, came from non-members and I want to take this opportunity to thank God, in all of you, for supporting our ministry. We are a small congregation and a small community; but, thanks be to Christ in all of you, the ministry in this place does not just exist, but thrives.

You have been good stewards of God financial gifts. How's your stewardship of the Word and word going? Are you actually reading your Bible so that you can know His word and Word? That, after all, was the intent of this blog to help you get more involved in daily Bible reading and studying. Make sure you read the rest of Malachi 3. There is much in just this one chapter to understand.

God's Peace - Pr. J
P.S. Just a little clarification for those who may be wondering why I refer to both "word" and "Word." When I speak of the word with a small "w", I am referring to the Holy Scriptures. When I use a capital "W", I am referring to the Word who is Jesus the Christ.