Grateful for God's High Grace and Love

Dear Fellow Children of God,

 

Have you ever thought about how we can take our blessings for granted?

 

This week our family received a letter from a young girl we sponsor for Compassion International.  Astro Mesfin lives in Ethiopia.  We have supported Astro and her schooling and Christian education for over 10 years with small monthly payments.  In her recent letter Astro thanked us because our small gift had helped supply shoes, toiletries, and school supplies.  She ended her letter by saying, “I pray for you with my family.  Don’t stop praying for me.  God keeps us alive and His grace is high.”

 

Ethiopians face many challenges.  According to the internet the average yearly income for each  Ethiopian is $1000 a year.  Our small donations go a long way for people living in poverty.  However, there is another danger for Christians living in Ethiopia.  Conflict exists between Muslim and Christian Ethiopians.  In Africa many Christians have died because of this conflict.

 

Astros’s choice of words, “God keeps us alive and His grace is high’ are a little different than the phrasing Americans would use.  But they contain real truth and meaning.  Yes, God does keep us alive, even in the face of poverty and violence.  And yes, God’s grace is high.  In Ephesians 3 we are told of Paul’s prayer for the Christians at the church in Ephesus.  “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (Ephesians 3:17 b – 18)

 

You see, not only does God keep us alive through earthly dangers, but through Jesus God gives eternal life to all who believe in Jesus as our Savior from sin.  That makes the poverty and danger some face in this life more bearable, knowing that God has eternity waiting.  God’s eternal love makes all the struggles of this life ultimately inconsequential, because in heaven God takes them all away.  As American Christians who have not faced the poverty and dangers others in the world face, do we take God’s love for granted because we are so blessed with affluence compared to the rest of the world?

 

And yes, our family does pray for Astro.  After reading Astro’s letter in our devotions after supper our family prayed for Astro and her family.  We thanked God that He keeps her family alive and that His grace is high.  But, the thing that brought tears to my wife’s eyes was that Astro and her family, in the midst of their poverty and danger, are praying for us!  With all the danger and poverty she faces, she is praying for us?  It sort of puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?

 

I pray, with Paul, for each of you and myself.  I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  And, I pray that knowing this high love of Christ we may not take God’s love for granted, but may live lives that show His love in all we say and do.

 

A Child of God blessed more than I know by the love of Christ,

Pastor Jonathan

 

 

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

 

Making a Difference for Good with an Act of Faith and Kindness

Dear Fellow Children of God,

About a week and a half ago our whole family was surprised by the blessing of the kindness and generosity of others.  Our daughter, Mary, was getting ready to fly to Chevak, AK, to teach school again this year.  Mary actually left for school last Sunday, August 12.  This is the second year that Mary and Falon Tardiff have taught in the Chevak School, which is about 20 miles inland from Hooper Bay.  This year Mary is be teaching 5^th and 6^th grade students. 

Mary had told Kathy that last year when her students left class at the end of the day they often asked for a “plastic,” a grocery bag so they could carry their stuff home.  Kathy and Mary were thinking of what they might get for Mary’s 46 students this year so they had something other than a “plastic” to carry their supplies from home to school and back.  Because Kathy works at our local hospital, Mat Su Regional Medical Center, Kathy asked her boss, Emily Stevens, if the hospital could donate any tote bags which they use as promotional gifts. 

Emily told Kathy to e-mail her.  Emily then passed on a challenge to hospital managers to respond personally, rather than institutionally.  The results were that the managers, on their own, purchased 51 backpacks full of school supplies so that Mary’s 5^th and 6^th grade students could use them.  We were told by some of the managers how much fun they had shopping.  We heard from others who wish they had been part of the process.  Mary even received a large box of extra school supplies to use with her class.  What a gift!

What a difference an act of kindness and generosity can make in the life of, not just one person, but many people.   The gift of time in shopping, the gift of the cost of the supplies, the even bigger gift of kindness and good will are blessings.  Not only does this gift make Mary’s life as a teacher easier, but the students know that someone they don’t even know in Palmer cares about them.  An act of goodwill sends out waves of blessings.

God’s directions to His people tell us, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37, 39).  What a blessing when people love others as they love themselves. That is what God has done for us in the sacrificial death of Jesus.

This week I have been at church meetings in Portland and Seattle.  As I traveled I was struck that the lines and scanning of TSA in the airports are becoming more and more interesting.  Think of the difference that acts of terrorism have made causing challenges for the traveling of everyone else.  On the flip side, think of the difference for good that the gifts of backpacks and school supplies will make for a teacher, for 46 students, for a whole Alaskan community!

Where are you making a difference for good in the lives of those around you?  Where do you plan to share with others the love God has first given us?  God can use your acts of kindness and good will in ways that bless others far beyond what you expect.

A Child of God blessed by the kindness of others,

Pastor Jonathan

P.S.  Here are two versions of a picture of Mary and her backpacks! 

https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/BackPacksGiftedToMarySClassesInChevakAGiftFromMSRMC?authuser=0&feat=directlink

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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Is Jesus Necessary?

Dear Fellow Children of God,

Is Jesus just a good idea for some people, or is He really necessary for life, for a full life, for eternal life?

If you have read or watched the news lately you heard that the Matanuska Maid Building burnt to the ground on Monday.  What a shame to lose this historic landmark for the city of Palmer and the Matanuska Colony!  Reports say that the Fire Marshall is investigating what might have been the cause of the fire in this abandoned building. 

But, perhaps you don’t know of other fires this summer that were assuredly arson.  At the end of June the parents and players for the Palmer Little League were faced with a real inconvenience.  Someone had set fire to all the port-a-potties at the Little League baseball field, and also at the soccer field.  For a short time there were no facilities, and new port-a-potties were significantly more expensive to the Little League.

Then on Tuesday our Administrative Assistant, Judy Stahancyk, let us know that some mail we had attempted to send was burnt up in the drive through mail box at the Palmer Post Office.  We are told this fire was caused when someone threw a flare into the mail box.  Post Office employees returned to us what was left of a letter and package we were sending to a St. John member in marine basic training.  The post office told us the perpetrator had been caught.

I can think of no way to say that such acts of destruction are good or acceptable or helpful.  Such acts as arson affect many others in ways that cause loss of property and disruption of lives.  Sometimes people are hurt and killed in such fires. 

I am writing this, not only because a sudden a rash of suspicious fires have occurred, but also because these fires point to a truth that many find difficult to accept these days.  Evil and sin are part of the world in which we live.  Our lives are all impacted in negative ways because of the selfishness and sin of others.  Our lives are all impacted in negative ways because of our own behavior which rebels against our Creator or hurts other people. 

Yet, today people don’t like to talk about evil.  In fact, to mention the word “sin” is often considered backwards, old-fashioned, or insensitive.  However, look at the trouble in the world around us.  Is there any spiritual truth that is more easily observed than the truth of evil and sin?  Humans can seek to overcome results of sin.  In some cases, when we admit a problem, we can make it better.  But the pain and destruction and loss caused by sin are still there, ultimately showing the affect of sin in our lives through death.  This is not just some small inconvenience, or the suspicion of backwards people. The stark reality of sin and evil affects our lives every day.

And, once we admit the existence and affect that evil and sin have on our lives and on the world around us, we then come to another realization that goes contrary to popular thought today. We need a way to deal with the sin and evil that is so pervasive.  We need to be saved from our own struggle with selfishness, rebellion, and sin.  We need a Savior!

That is what makes God’s gift of His Son such good news.  Jesus told us in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  God works in Jesus’ humility in becoming human.  God works through  Jesus’ sacrificial death and in His victorious resurrection to save us from the evil that we can fight but we can’t overcome.  Since sin is a reality, Jesus, our Savior, is a necessity. 

I pray that the arsonists are caught and the destruction is stopped.  But, ultimately our real hope is found in Jesus.  We need Jesus, and God has in love sent the gift of his Son.  Maybe Christians can share this hope even with the arsonists.  Jesus changes our lives for the better, now and eternally.

A Child of God, Thankful for my Savior!

Pastor Jonathan

P.S.  Here is a picture of Jonathan with friend, Ron Hawkins https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/LongTimeFriendsAndFishingAdventuresJuly2012#5774790998367758946.

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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The Gift of Friends

Dear Fellow Children of God,

Last week was a week of re-connecting with long time friends (Notice I said “long time” not “old”.).  On Thursday and Friday, my oldest son, Josh, and I went fishing with John Webb and his son, Scott.  John and I haven’t seen each other since high school graduation day, 1971, but we re-connected through Facebook because of our 40^th high school reunion last year.  (See pictures below.)

Then, on Sunday right after church I got to spend 15 minutes with Dave and Peggy Adler.  Peggy and I began college together in Austin, TX, in 1971 and Dave joined us in 1972 and graduated with me from seminary in 1979.  They were on an Alaska cruise tour and as they traveled on a bus from Denali to Seward their bus stopped for lunch at Settlers’ Bay.  (See picture below.)

Finally on Monday I got to fish with Ron Hawkins.  Ron and Deb were members of St. John years ago, but they have lived outside for the last 10 years or so, and now they live in the Las Vegas area.  Ron and I have been fishing buddies for a long time, but it has been a couple of years since we had the opportunity to fish.  We also took along a friend of my daughter, Kevin Neyhard, who teaches with her in Chevak.  While the silvers were few and far between, Kevin caught his first salmon that day, and quite a few others. Ron and I had the opportunity to re-connect. (See pictures below.) 

Friends are a real gift of God.  As we are told in Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  A friend is a joy in good times and a help and strength in times of trial.  As one of our Fellowship Board members said in our meeting last night, “God created us for relationships, not to live alone.”  We not only rejoice to have friends, but we want to be good friends to others, though as sinful people, no friend is perfect.

We do have a perfect friend, however.  In John 15 Jesus tells us  “13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.”  We can always count on Jesus.  He is not just there to comfort us in times of adversity He laid down His life to take away our sins.

What a gift to have friends, people who help us enjoy God’s blessings in the good times and help us through adversity.  What a gift that God has lowered Himself so that Jesus is the one friend on whom we can count, one who laid down His life for us.

A Child of God, Blessed with Friends!

Pastor Jonathan

P.S.  Here is a picture of Jonathan with long time friend, John Webb.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/LongTimeFriendsAndFishingAdventuresJuly2012#5772524224095271298

P.P.S.  Here is a picture of Jonathan with classmates Dave and Peggy Adler.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/LongTimeFriendsAndFishingAdventuresJuly2012#5772525263939071778

P.P.S.  Here is a picture of Kevin Neyhard from the July 30 fishing trip.  Pictures of Ron Hawkins to follow.  https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/LongTimeFriendsAndFishingAdventuresJuly2012#5772525534776378690

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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ -   I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have.  (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.)  However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.

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