"Uncle Bill"

John 1:1, 14, 16-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen his glory, the glory as of a Father's Only Son, full of grace and truth.

From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son who is close to the Father's heart who has made him known.

When I was seven years old, my family lived in a two-room apartment in the projects of Cincinnati called Laurel Homes. Some Sundays as a family we would visit my great-uncle Bill (he was known in his community as uncle grace because he was so forgiving, full of love and his kitchen was always open for the needy). He lived in a small community out side of Cincinnati Ohio, called Hamilton. Often when we we would visit, the house would be filled with adults, other relatives, having a meal and right in front of them all would be my Uncle Bill with a Bible in hand and in deep conversation. My sister and I were quite bored, so Uncle Bill instructed one of the older cousins to walk us down to the school playground, which were a few blocks away. We were glad to go. The cousin took us there and left us on our own to play.

A great deal of time passed, and we decided we probably should get back to Uncle Bill’s house. Unfortunately we could not remember how to get back there. After a couple of attempts with nothing looking familiar to us, I realized we were lost. My sister started crying. I did something I probably should not have done. I took her by the hand and began to knock on doors. In my excitement when people answered I would ask, "Do you know where Grace lives?"

The first few homes looked at me strangely. Finally, I knocked on a door where a younger adult man responded positively to my question, "Do you know where Grace lives?" He had a smile on his face that was as big as a sugar cookie full of love, he told us to wait a minute with excitement. He came back out and said, "Yes, I know where Grace lives. Get into my car and I will drive you there." We got in the car and a few minutes later we were sitting in front of Uncle Bill's house. We were so relieved. My sister ran in and immediately told my parents how we had gotten lost. They were not too happy about that, but were glad to see us. We had a pleasant dinner, piled back into the car, and made the long drive home that evening. All ended well.

Do you know where Grace lives? I am not talking about my uncle, but the experience one has when God steps into your life and you receive His unmerited love and favor. Do you know where to find that? We hear about it now and then. For instance, from the sober alcoholic who testifies that is by the grace of God that he hasn't had a drink in a long time. Or we might hear a friend talk about God as if he lives right in his house with him. Or we hear someone who has gone through a crisis and says, "I would never have made it but by the grace of God." We think to ourselves that we would like to have some of that grace. Where can we find it?

John 1:1, 14, 16-18 tells us in his gospel where to find grace.

He first tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Replace the Word with Jesus, because that is the truth John is sharing with us. Then we learn that the Word was not only with God, but that the Word was God. To me they are one in the same.

In verse 14, John announces that the Word (Jesus) became flesh and lived among us. That is John's way of saying that Word became a human being and tabernacle among us. We reminded of God's presence with his people in wilderness as he led them to the Promised Land. His presence was in the Tabernacle. I once remember hearing a Pastor, paraphrase or interprets this as: "The Word moved into our neighborhood and became one of us." He came to get personal with us. That phrase has stuck with me and often made me think of my Uncle Bills community of believers.

Then he wraps his story up by saying, "It is God - the only Son who is intimately tied to God - who has made God known." He has taken us on a personal God tour. He has shown us God's heart.

Later in John's Gospel Jesus will say, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."
To look into the face of Jesus Christ is to look into the face of God. Looking into that face a person will find, receive, and experience GRACE. Grace has a face - Jesus Christ!

We no longer have to guess about God in terms of how he feels about me and what he thinks. Christ has made him known as he stepped into our world filled with grace and truth. Grace is available and it has a face - the face of Jesus Christ. So . . .

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of his glory and grace.

God Bless You and this Ministry!

“What I Need”

Philippians 4:607
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Experiencing worry is a part of living. When we live as responsible people, we will experience some concern in our lives. In fact, stress/worry can cause a positive effect. Stress gets us going and adds excitement to our lives. Facing an examination causes a student to study, and learning takes place.

Have you ever laid awake at night worrying about things? I know I have in the past, and I probably will continue to do so once in a while in the future. Each of us has a list of worries with the potential of keeping us awake at night: job worries, family worries, health worries, and financial worries just to name a few. When we are shaken or confused, we get anxious with uncertainty.

In my life, I have hd my own particular worries list like when I was a member of Messiah Lutheran church council I found myself worrying about church matters. It was the start of fall and attendance was continually to down. That means the finances are down as well and also many aren’t being filled with the fullness of life through Jesus Christ. I also have observed many members with problems (death, sickness, faith issues etc.,), and I worried about them. We had some devoted council members, and I found myself worrying about them praying for them. Are they happy? Are they burning out? Will they stay on? Should we add worship service or have only one, and I worry about that change? And what should we do with our new monetary gifts? “The band just plays on”. It seems to never change. Today at a different Church my worry has changed but similar.

But you know life without some kind of stress would make us lazy, unproductive people. But I must add, I use to have doubt and blame everything in my life until I discovered that it rains on everyone once in a while and my worries are worries. When I discovered that worries are an example of control on my part I felt relied. Christian brothers and sisters these are stressful times in the church today I truly believe we need to take a deep breath and open our eyes and recapture our sense of who we are and what we believe as a Community.

So, my purpose in this article is not just to suggest we eliminate all worry and just say, “don’t worry be happy”, but to remind you what our purpose is and learn from the life of Jesus how to manage those times of tension. He has much to teach us.

Jesus talked about this subject in his parable of the sower (Mark 4). A seed fell among thorns and was choked out. Later he told the disciples that seed represented the Word being heard by a person, but the troubles and worries of the world prevented him from enjoying it and growing.

Worry can strangle us as well. It can harm us physically as we go without sleeping and stress out over things that might happen. A Greek proverb says, “The bow that is always bent will soon break.” How true that is for us. The person who is always under pressure will soon break into a million pieces. We get headaches, ulcers, and all sorts of serious ailments.

Worry can affect us emotionally as well. Being a loving person when you are tired and crabby is difficult. It can sour our attitudes and make us negative and emotionally weak. Author Corrie Ten Boom once said, “Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” We just find ourselves emotionally strung out.

Worry hurts us spiritually. It shrinks our view of God and his greatness, his bigness, and his ability to take care of us. As we get caught up in it, we stop maturing and therefore cannot bear fruit to honor our heavenly Father. He does not tell us to work at adopting more moderate views in our Christian witness. No, instead we are to remain strong, and steadfast to our faith so when those hours of constant worry come, listen to what He says in his Word:
"Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
As God makes us more Christ like, stress will not be eliminated from our lives. Instead, we will know how to handle those tough hours as we are drawn closer to our blessed Lord.
One last thing:
A weary Christian lay awake one night, trying to hold the world together with his worrying. Then he heard the Lord say to him, “Now you go to sleep, _____, and I will sit up.” That is the promise. Our Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps. He is there for you.

So do not worry about anything. But pray about everything. Hand it over to GOD!

God Bless You and This Ministry!