“Unexpected Surprises”

You had them before, you know, those unexpected surprises.  Someone does something for you out of the blue and you’re like, “WOW!  Didn’t expect that!”  You open a letter and it is from someone you haven’t talked to in years.  We all have had those unexpected moments. 

Some friends of ours gave us a gift certificate for “Dinner for Two” to a very nice local restaurant in Raleigh a few months ago.  I decided to wait and use it for Terry’s birthday.  Yes, I’m cheap!!!  But, think about it, it was my only way of taking her to a really nice restaurant so that has to count for something.  Anyway, I decided to take Emma with us and the three of us went this past Saturday night on Terry’s birthday.

I was very impressed with this restaurant.  Very classy, sheik, and a great atmosphere.  We had made reservations and were immediately seated upon arrival.  Si was our waiter and so I gave him the gift certificate upfront because I wanted him to know we had it, you know, NO surprises.  He put it in a black folder in his waist band and we began our experience.

I’ll have to say the food was great and service was fantastic.  I don’t think I could have asked any better.  For her birthday celebration, Terry and I ordered a couple of drinks and Emma Grace had a Shirley Temple (one of her favorites).  After the meal was over we decided to order coffee and dessert and I’ll just have to say, if you go to this place to eat, order the chocolate over chocolate cake with ice cream.  You will not be sorry.  Maybe a few pounds heavier, but not sorry!

We were ready to get our check, pay, and head home.  I knew what the two lowest priced entrees cost, so I knew about $50 would be taken off our bill and I would owe the rest.  Si brought the bill and I looked at it and said, “Si, wait a minute.  What about our gift certificate?”  “Oh,” he said, and picked back up the bill and walked away.  The bill he laid down was somewhat north of three digits.  I guess I didn’t realize French Press Coffee and dessert would have been quite that much, nor that a glass of wine would be $15.  But, hey, it’s my wife’s birthday.  Si, came back in just a couple of minutes with the new bill and said, “All, we are charging you for are the two drinks you and your wife had” and he walked away.  What?  Wait!  The certificate was only for two, 2 entrees, nothing else.  Man, what an unexpected surprise.  The bill had gone from north of $$$ to $20.  What a blessing!!!

As we walked to my truck Terry and I both said, “Well, that was unexpected.”  The word got stuck in my mind driving home and I began to think about the unexpected surprises during the last week of Jesus life.

We are in the Lenten season and are now close to Holy Week.  Think about it from His disciples perspective.  He just asked for a donkey colt to ride into Jerusalem.  Surprise, the prophecy on display.  Jesus clears out everyone in the temple.  Surprise, there is such a thing as righteous anger.  He tells them that one of them, one of the twelve, will betray Him and he tells them this at the Passover Meal.  Surprise!!!  “What?” ”Surely not I,” was their response.  They are even surprised when walking to the garden that night to hear, “All of you will flee from me.”  They were surprised He was arrested.  I think they were surprised He allowed them to arrest Him.  Every time before He slipped away untouched.  They were surprised that on Calvary’s Hill, their Lord would be crucified, but He was!

But folks, their biggest, grandest, most beautiful surprise came when the women came to the tomb and heard, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said…”  “Go and tell His disciples…” Matthew 28:5-7  Though they had been told, they did not expect that one.  “He Has Risen.”  The greatest “Unexpected Surprise.”

This Easter, what if you allowed yourself to experience the Resurrection of your Lord anew?  What if your experience on Easter morning was, “OH LORD!!! Thank you for the empty tomb!”  The unexpected surprise for me is that the resurrected Jesus has called me to be His, one of His chosen.   He took on my sin so I wouldn’t have to.  He conquered death so I could!  Greatest gift, greatest surprise ever!!!

Have you experienced the unexpected surprise of the resurrected Lord in your life?  If not, please do, for it will be the greatest surprise, the greatest gift you have ever received.  There is no doubt about it.  And if so, celebrate anew this Easter the resurrected Savior, your Lord, and give thanks!  

Let us come and Worship the LORD!!!

Blessings my friends,

Pastor Marty                   

Worship, Grow & Serve 

                     

“The Same Truth Is a Must”

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all you soul.  You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”          Deuteronomy 13:1-4

My family drove up to Boone last week to visit our son who is going to school there.  Of course one of the things you have to do for a college student when you visit is FEED THEM!!!  I mean, it’s like you feed them the entire time you visit.  You would think they never eat.  And many do not know this about my family, but we eat Mexican food at least once a week (sometime twice.)  So when we asked the 4 kids we had with us on this trip the first place they wanted to eat, well, we ended up at the local Mexican restaurant in Boone.  

Because of my family’s habits, I have eaten in just about every Mexican restaurant in every town I’ve visited or lived.  Here is the deal!  I’ve noticed that in all of these different restaurants, they all have something in common.  It is #5.  Yes, #5 on the menu.  #5 on every menu is 2 beef enchiladas, rice and beans.  Always!  

This has to be passed along to new restaurants that open.  We had a new Mexican restaurant open in Moore County and the first thing I went to when I opened the menu was to see if the #5 was 2 beef enchiladas, rice and beans.  Yep!  There is was.  The exact SAME meal.

While I was eating in Boone on that Monday with the family, eating my #5, I thought about one of my Bible readings from Deuteronomy in recent weeks (the passage above).  And my crazy mind went to, “wait a minute, there is something about every Christian living, preaching, teaching the same truth.”

If the truth is distorted, twisted, or false, that’s a problem.  Unfortunately, this happens all the time.  It happens in churches, with preachers, with congregational members.  False teaching, false doctrine is lift up as “truth” when all they are giving you is words with no real truth.  Some of you are saying, “Marty, please!”  But wait minute!  Truth is important.

If you are listening to the dreamers, the false prophets (preachers), it may be a test to see if you truly know God.  Do you truly love Him with all your heart.  Just because they say it does not make it true.  You have to test scripture with scripture.  And here is the thing, God says, fear Him, listen to Him, serve Him, and keep His commandments.  If you are listening to His Word being distorted, then there is a problem.

Moses goes on to say, that those dreamers and prophets that are spreading false teachings will be put to death.  Or in other words, they will face eternal separation from God.  

The “Same Truth is a Must.”  We have to teach, preach, and share the same truth from God’s Word.  You cannot take His Word out of context to make your desires or your agenda seem to be His.  His “truth” is the only truth.  Oh, the dreamer can make it sound so real and even, as this passage tells us, do signs and wonders, but that does not make it “truth.”

Paul tells Timothy, his preacher brother in Christ, to beware of false teachers that can lead you astray.  This message still holds true.

I know I can go into just about any Mexican restaurant and order a #5 and have the same thing.  We should be able to go in any Church and get the same truth, GOD’S WORD!  As long as I’m the pastor at HOPE EPC of Raleigh, you can be sure the truth will be proclaimed.  His Word Preached!  The same truth is a must!

Blessings my friends,

Pastor Marty                   

Worship, Grow & Serve 

                     

"Live Into the Light"

“This is the message we have heard from Him and announced to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  1 John 1:5

After Terry and I were married we began to look for a place out in the country to purchase and make our home.  Living in the country has its plus and minuses, but we do love where we live.  One of the minuses of country life (or at least where we live) is that there is no cable or internet service.  So in 2004 we decided to go the satellite TV route and see how that would work for us.  Well, it is 2017 and we still have the same satellite company providing our TV service.  

One of the pluses to satellite TV is all the Pay Per View channels that are available.  We don’t watch them, but they are available.  What we do is this though, about once a month we allow the kids to choose a movie on PPV that is appropriate to watch and we purchase it for a 48 hour period for them to watch.  We did that this past Sunday evening.  The movie we rented on PPV was “Trolls.”

I’m sure if some of you have younger children or grandchildren you have seen this movie.  Let me say as an older adult, I thought the movie was silly and was so glad I did not pay $13.50 per ticket for each member of my family to see this movie in the theater.  $5.99 was pushing it once I saw it.  Ok, enough criticism.

Trolls is a movie about, of course Trolls, that live in a Troll tree in a town where the Bergens live.  The Bergens are characters in the movie that live in despair, have no happiness in life, and are dark with no color.  On the other hand the Trolls are colorful and happy and have a positive outlook on life.  So the Bergens believe that once a year, if they eat a troll, they will become happy.  Of course this is not very enticing to the Trolls, so they run away from Bergen Town to save their life.  Unfortunately one of the Bergens find them and take a number of the Trolls captive.  The Troll Princess, Poppy, sets out on a mission to find and save her friends from the Bergens.  But she needs help and solicits Branch one of the strong male Trolls.  Branch has no color though.  Why?  He has no happiness.  I won’t go into why he has no color here, but he is as dark as the Bergens.

During the rescue mission, Poppy and Branch get caught and all the captured Trolls are put in a pot to be served as a meal to the Bergens.  Here is where I said to my wife Terry, “Well, that would preach!”

Poppy had all her color and all her wonderful positive outlook on life, in that moment, leave her.  She found herself in despair and sadness.  As you saw the sadness come over her, you saw her color turn to darkness, just like Branch and the Bergens.  As her color left her, so did all of the other Trolls who flourished with color.  Now all the Trolls lived in darkness until Branch stepped up and began to sing (the movie is filled with some great songs).  As Branch began to sing, the color in him and in the other Trolls began to return and their happiness, their resolve to move forward and not remain in this darkness and despair came back to life.

I could not help but think about this verse from 1 John, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  In the darkness we can hide.  No one will see us.  In the darkness most of the crime happens and sin runs rampant.  In the darkness of our souls, anxiety, depression, and despair can take over and we can loose all meaning of life.  But when God is our focus and we don’t loose sight of His presence in us as believers, His Light shines.  Branch started with a song that brought hope in a dyer situation.  For us, we see the Light of God in Worship, in His Word, in a friend or family member.  We see God’s Light in the Christians music we sing, the fellowship we enjoy, the hugs and kisses of loved ones and fellow believers.  We see the Light of God in His creation around us.  None more so than this time of the year, Spring Time, as creation comes to life with flowers and leaves.  Just begin to look around you and you will see the Light of God, that is if His Light is in you.  With out Him, we tend to have the attributes of a lost world, those of darkness.

So my question to you today is “Have you tapped into the Light of the living God?”  I can tell you that the more you allow HIS Light to shine in you and through you, the less the darkness of this world will taint you.  The more you live into His Light, the less darkness people see in you.  The more you let your LIGHT shine, the more people around you will be effected by it.  The more you live into the LIGHT, you can begin to kiss the darkness good by.

Branch and Poppy were able to save the Trolls and even more, show the Bergens that they could have Light in them without eating a Troll.  Light comes from the soul and its source is from God, for “God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  AT ALL folks.  Live into this Light!

Blessings my friends,

Pastor Marty                   

Worship, Grow & Serve 

                     

"Covered"

As the HOPE family knows, we have been working on the Courtyard and Playground areas of the church.  We are just about finished, well, once this next workday is complete.  But things are shaping up nicely.  I believe when it is done, the entire area will be something we use and enjoy as a congregation.  

Since we are having a workday this coming Saturday, we have ordered several different materials to be delivered this week.  The first delivery came on Monday which was 5 tons of pea gravel that we will be using as ground cover.  The last loads of top soil and gravel we received were dumped at the front part of our property near the road and we had to load it in wheel barrels and truck it back to the work area on the side of the church.  Lots of loads, as you can imagine, were made.  So I asked the driver on Monday if he could back his truck over the grass area and dump the pea gravel closer to the work area, which he was glad to do.  But he made a suggestion to me that made a lot of sense.  He asked if I had a tarp I could put on the ground to cover it so that the gravel could be dumped on the tarp instead of the bare ground.  We had a tarp in the back storage shed and I went and got it and we spread it out over the ground covering the area where the pea gravel would fall.

Now of course some spilled over the border of the tarp.  The driver apologized to me for that, but I said, “No Problem!  It’s covered!  We’ll clean it up.”

I got to thinking later that day about the cover on the ground.  This cover (tarp) protected the ground from the gravel.  It kept the ground immediately underneath the covering from having to be cleaned.  And the fact that the covering was there, actually made it much easier to clean up the “spill overs” on the ground where the tarp did not cover.

We begin Lent today.  Lent is a 40 day period prior to Easter Sunday (excluding Sundays) where, as we journey again toward the cross of Christ, Calvary, we examine ourselves.  Yes, of course, we should examine and confess year around, but certainly the emphasis of Lent does give us food for thought in this journey.  So as I thought about the events of Monday with the “Covering” (our tarp), my mind flashed to the “Covering” provided by Jesus Christ and His blood.  He has covered us as believers.  Glory to God!  Psalm 32:1 and 85:2 reminds us of that covering.  Psalm 32:1:  “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!”  Psalm 85:2: “You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah.”

But what about the spill over?  What happens to that?  In Matthew 8:24 we read: “And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.”  You all know this story.  Jesus and His disciples were on the Sea of Galilee and a violent storm arose and the waves were covering the boat or in other words, spilling over from the sea into the boat and they were afraid.  Jesus was asleep and woke up to their fears and mostly screaming.  Save us Lord!!!!  Wouldn’t we be doing the same?  But this spill over, or the high waves covering the boat was no problem for Jesus to take care of.  Two words spoken, “Be still” and the waves were calm.  No more spill over!  No longer were the waves outside their borders.  Jesus had it covered, even the spill over.

He has us covered, even the spill over.  There are times we fail.  We shouldn’t, but we do.  But even in those times, He has us covered.  His blood from Calvary covers us completely and even takes care of the spill overs.  This Lenten Season, why not use these next few weeks to take a look at your life and see where you can limit those spill overs.  Yes, they are covered, but it is His desire that we sin no more.  It is His desire that we realize what is spilled over is covered, taken care of, so there is no need for Him to address that again.

We all can use some examination every now and then.  We all can see what needs to be cleaned up and then confess to Him knowing, we are “Covered!” Thanks be to God!

Blessings my friends,

Pastor Marty                   

Worship, Grow & Serve 

                     

“Imperishability”

50 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this moral must put on immortality.”                                                                 1st Corinthians 15:50;53

If you have been reading the HOPE Connection for any length of time you know that I often use my life experiences to make application to our walk with Christ.  Today’s rendering is no different.  So bear with me.  I’ll make the correlation.  

4 Years ago I purchased a used 2005 truck with around 83,000 miles on it.  For the most part it has been a dependable truck.  But once it passed the 200,000 mile mark it seems old “Blue” (yes, my daughter names all our vehicles) decided, “I’m done.”  After putting several $1000 into it over the past 2 months, finally the transmission issues caused me to admit, it was time for “Blue” to go.  So last Monday I traded “Blue” for “Babe” (yes the name of my “new” truck) a 2008 truck with only 71,000 miles.  I’m praying this one will last 4 or 5 years too.

There is more though, that caused me to use this experience in this article.  Having just dealt with my truck issues, this past Saturday night, checking the oil in my 2006 Honda Pilot, it was not only low on oil, but it did not even show on the stick.  Even with 307,000 miles on it, yes 307,000, it has never needed oil between oil changes.  Then yesterday while I was driving the Pilot home from church, my wife was following my in my truck and when we got home she said, “Marty, you are NOT going to want to hear this, but the Pilot (which by the way is named “Bessie”) was smoking from the exhausts on the way home.”  REALLY?  GREAT!!!!  Now I’ll have to figure out how we replace this car.  I will have to say, “Bessie” has been a great car and has served us well for over 10 years.  I cannot complain with 307,000 miles.

On Sunday night I was thinking about this situation I now find myself in, and as usual, my mind drifted to God’s Word.  I know, I’m crazy, but it just seems to happen to me often.  I have just finished preaching through 1st Corinthians 15 in January and I thought, I will be sooooooo happy when the perishable puts on the imperishable.  Ok, I know Paul is talking about humans, not inanimate objects, but look folks, the longer we stay on this earth, we are perishing.  I am looking forward for many reasons to Eternity, but one of these is for this perishable body to put on imperishability.  

I don’t know about you, but even at 59 years of age, with all I’ve done in life, my body aches.  Joints with arthritis and energy levels below my expectations make me realize that I want to feel 30 again.  With the beautiful weather this past Saturday I worked all day in the yard and let me tell you when I got up Sunday morning, I could feel it.  Not good!

With the “Fall” of mankind, death entered the picture and our bodies began to fail.  But God had a plan.  It was a twofold plan to make the perishable imperishable, all through His Son, Jesus Christ.  If you come to faith in Christ, truly accept Him as Savior and Lord of your life, then if you die before His second coming, you will put on the imperishable.  Glory!!!  Oh, I’m ready to go, but hoping to have a long life.  Second, when He returns all those who remain will be caught up with Him and will put on the imperishable.  I am looking forward to that also.  So whether in death, or His second coming, we are secure in Him and will put on “IMPERISHABILITY.”  We will have a body that is perfect, a body that does not wear out, a resurrected body with no more pain.  Hallelujah!  Until then, we will live in the world of the perishable.

I will have to deal with my car situation.  Not sure how yet, but have no doubt, God will provide a way.  As far as myself, God created me, God saved me, and God will sustain me through the power of His Holy Spirit.  I’m going to claim and live into Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  But I’ll have to say, I’m looking forward to eternity!!!!

Blessings my friends,

Pastor Marty

Worship, Grow & Serve 

                     

“The Hallmark Affect”

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and I hope you shared your love for your love ones.  Gentlemen, it is too late to get that special person in your life a card now.  I hope your didn’t forget.  The Hallmark affect is significant.  Only behind Christmas does Valentine’s Day Card purchases fall for holidays.  Of course the most cards sold are your daily birthday cards.  But there were, on average, 144 million Valentine Cards sold by yesterday.  

Hallmark, still a privately owned company, has the market for cards.  If you watched the Super Bowl on February 5th, you saw a Hallmark commercial celebrating the love of one for another across the different classes, races, and sexual orientations.  Here are just a few statistics taken from Hallmarks 2015 report.

Total number of Hallmark greeting cards purchased in 2015 was 4,750,000,000.  Total annual revenue for Hallmark Cards was $4,250,000,000.  Number of languages Hallmark Cards are printed in 30.  Total number of countries Hallmark cards circulate in 100.  Total number of year round design selection for Hallmark card 21,000.  Total number of Hallmark Cards made specifically for Valentines day 1,400.  Total number of worldwide full-time Hallmark employees 13,000.  Total number of new and redesigned greeting cards each year 10,000.  Total number of Hallmark products available at any one time 49,000.  Total number of Hallmark retail outlets in the U.S. 38,000.  

The Holidays ranked in order: 1. Christmas (including boxed and individual) 1.5 billion.  2. Valentine’s Day (including boxed and individual) 144 million.  3. Mother’s Day 133 million.  4. Fathers Day 94 million.  5. Easter 57 million.        6. Halloween 20 million.  7. Thanksgiving 10 million.   8. St. Patrick’s day 8 million.  These are some significant numbers both in dollars and number sold.  I would say Hallmark has a market niche and has capitalized on it.

Why is this so?  Why are we compelled to buy a Hallmark Card for someone?  I believe there is only one reason, only one!  It is our desire to show someone else our love/care for them.  There is really no other reasons to spend on average $2 to $4 for a Hallmark Card.  And Hallmark knows that and has magnificently captured that market.

Why bring this up, except for the fact we just celebrated Valentine’s Day yesterday?  Good question!  I’m glad you asked.  The “Church” should learn from this marketing genius.  We could learn from the “Hallmark Affect.”  The church, the very body of Christ, has a wonderful story of “Love” to tell.  We the church, have a story of love that pales to any other story, any other relationship, any other possible future outcome of this relationship.  We have a wonderful card, “The Bible” to share with others.  We can give it away, share it personally, lift out excerpts for almost any occasion.  If someone is down, there is a card in scripture for that.  If someone is grieving, there is a card in scripture for that.  If someone is celebrating, there is a card in scripture for that.  If someone is lost and has no direction, there is a card in scripture for that.  

Here is the thing folks, the Card for God has been written for every occasion, but unless we share the card with our love ones, our friends, those we meet, it is but a card left on the shelf.  But when we share the love that is in this card, when we share it passionately from our heart, the Hallmark Affect takes over.  You see, when we share God’s love from His special “CARD” to us and do so in love, then we just sit back and watch it work.  Oh, sometimes it is not immediate.  Sometimes it takes time, but His special Card to us has power, has a way of sticking to us as His Holy Spirit works.

Probably one of the most quoted verses in all of scripture is John 3:16.  We see it on signs at sporting events, on the side of walls in cities across America and yes even on greeting cards.  But it tells the story.  Maybe we need to re-instate the verse in our vocabulary.  It is a very powerful statement of the love God has for us.  Remember:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  

It is really very simple!  Share what God has done for you!  Share His “Love Letter” (Scripture), His Card, with those you love, for this “Card” can have eternal affects.

Just a closing question.  If we are willing to spend 4.2 Billion dollars on 4.7 Billion Hallmark Cards, then can’t the church share with those they love the one love letter/card that makes an eternal difference in a life?  Just saying!!!

Blessings friends,

Pastor Marty

Worship, Grow & Serve 

                     

“God’s Propensity to Detail”

“Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.  Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. 

(added underline)  Exodus 25:8-9

If you have ever questioned God’s propensity, his focus on detail, you need to read Exodus 25 and 26.  In these two chapters God tells Moses and the Israelites ,exactly to the inch, how and what they are to do in building HIM a Sanctuary/Tabernacle.  He details the exact size, the exact materials, the exact colors, the exact wood, even the exact construction methods.  You read these chapters and think, WOW, God has a plan and wants it to be exact.

Detail is not only in these chapters, though some of the most detailed instructions in all the Bible, God is very detailed in most of His instructions.  Beginning with Adam and Eve, He gave explicit instructions on what they were and were not to do in the Garden of Eden.  To the Israelites explicit instructions were given on sacrifices that were to be offered to Him.  To the prophets He gave explicit orders on what and when to talk to His people.  God is even in the details.  His plan is perfect and I believe He often is seen making divine appointments.  What do I mean by that?  I believe God puts people in our path, has situations come our way at the right time and in the right way, that reveal to us (if we are looking), “I’m here, I’m working, it’s my plan!!!”

Let me give you an example of this happening on Monday.  As many of you know, HOPE Church lost one of its members this past Saturday night.  Terry came to Hope on August 21st of last year.  He was a practicing Hindu and surrendered his life to Christ.  I’m not going to go into any more details on that now.  That can be for a later date.  I visited his family this past Monday night and Terry’s sister had indicated over the phone that though they were a Hindu family, they wanted to celebrate Terry’s life as a Christian by having the HOPE family and me, as his pastor, lead a Christian service of celebration for him.  I went over to share our condolences and to pray with the family along with talking about their desires for this service.  One of Terry’s sisters said, “You won’t believe what happened today.”  Here is her story.

“My sister and I were running errands this afternoon and we had looked up a few funeral homes to visit to see which would work for us for Terry’s service.  We had narrowed it down to one we felt would be big enough and work for us.  As we were on the way to that appointment, we were on Millbrook Road and were passing another funeral home.”  She said, “I yelled to my sister, “Pull in here!  I saw that one on the internet.  Let’s check it out first.”  

Her sister had to cut across the lanes of traffic to get into the parking lot and said,  “I was so thankful that no one was in those lanes or we would have wrecked.”  The two sisters walked into the funeral home and a gentleman walking down the hallway greeted them.  One of them said, “We need to see about making arrangements for our brother’s funeral.”  He made a couple of inquiries as to their needs, and then asked their brother’s name.  They gave his proper Hindu name and the man’s response was, “Your brother is Terry.”  To that they said they broke down and cried, for they realized, “Here is someone who knew our brother.”  Here is the back story to this divine appointment as the sisters called it.

Elder Bill Joyner of HOPE Church is a Funeral Director.  I had texted him at lunch and asked if he could find out which funeral home Terry’s family was using.  He texted back and said that he could not find where they had chosen one yet.  He said he was leaving to go down to St Mary’s street from his location and he would check again later.  About an hour later I received a text from Bill saying, “Divine appointment!  I just met with Terry’s family.”  You see Bill, who knew Terry, worshiped with Terry, had a relationship with Terry, was the man who greeted Terry’s sisters.  The sisters told me the minute that Bill said Terry’s name they knew it was a divine appointment and had been orchestrated by God.  God’s propensity to details shines again.  I love how God works.

As I stated earlier, throughout the Bible, God gives us details.  One place in the New Testament, though there a many, Jesus gives detailed instructions for His disciples and ultimately for all who would believe.  In Matthew 26:26 Jesus says, “Take eat, this is My body.”  In Matthew 26:27-28 He says, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”  In Luke 22:19b “Do this in remembrance of Me.”  Details!!!  Remember!!!

Are you seeing God in the details?  He is there.  As you read His Word and grow in knowledge of Him, as you Worship Him, as you serve Him, you will begin to see Him more clearly and yes, even in the details of your life.  He is the ever present, ever with us Father and His Holy Spirit is present in us.  Divine appointments happen!  Watch for them and then act upon them and see what God will do!  You will be amazed.

Blessings my friends, 

Pastor Marty 

Worship, Grow & Serve