What are the Odds?

March 23, 2014

In the world of college basketball, we are now in “March Madness.”  This is when the best basketball teams in the country compete to be the national champion.  These teams are “seeded” in a bracket that many people use to predict who the champion will be.

This year the ritual of picking the champion is receiving a lot of publicity as billionaire Warren Buffet and a business interest have put up a one billion dollar prize for the person who correctly predicts the outcome of every game in the tournament.  One small catch … The odds of correctly predicting the tournament are 1 in 9.2 quintillion.  That’s 1 in 9,200,000,000,000,000,000. 

So the good news is that you have a chance.  The reality is the odds are “slim and none.”

What do you think the odds makers would list the chances of a camel fitting through the eye of a needle?  My hunch is that they would be even higher than 1 in 9.2 quintillion!  

Yet Jesus says in Mark 10:25:   "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."   This shocked the disciples and probably disheartened them as they gave up their lives, families, jobs   and homes to follow him.

That doesn’t bode well for any of us here today either.  We are all certainly rich by global standards.  And even in our most devout moments, I hardly think we would out-disciple the original disciples by much (I’d hope we pass up Judas!).

So what should we do… give up?  Sigh at the long odds and play the game?  Scripture says the disciples, “were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’"  That’s a good question if the odds are so high!

 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). 

For God all things are possible.  Now I like those odds!  Perhaps Kingdom life is not just about hustle and effort and even luck.  Perhaps it is relying on the love and grace of God… for whom “all things are possible.”  May God bless you and provide just what you need… today and every day… even to entrance in the God’s kingdom through faith in Christ!

 

 

Discovering Eastminster

March 16, 2014

It is with deep gratitude that I thank the Session and Congregation for the beautiful Service of Installation and Reception that followed last Sunday.  What a joy to worship God in the presence of representatives of the larger church.  Our guests were quite complimentary of our congregation and they experienced joy and beauty in our worship and warmness in our hospitality. I am humbled and honored to be your pastor!

This Saturday and Sunday following worship there is an opportunity to join Eastminster Presbyterian Church.  Becoming a member of the church involves a profession of Jesus as Lord, an intension to live under the power of God’s grace, and being faithful in the ministry and mission of the congregation.  Joining a church has proven to be of significant spiritual benefit.  When we say “I’m in” to God and a Christian community, our minds seem to become more steadfast in our relationships of love of God and others.

For those who join and those who are curious, there will be a Discover Eastminster day on Sunday April 6 from 8:45 am until 12:30 pm.  We will meet in the Fellowship Hall for coffee and then go on a tour of the facilities and meet some key leaders of the church.  The group will worship together at 10 am.  After we will reconvene, examine some basics of being a Presbyterian, and will have a time of questions and answers.  There is a sign up “Tear off” card in the announcements to place in the offering for those who would like to come and learn.  Discover Eastminster is open to non-members and members alike.  Childcare is provided upon request.

Also in the bulletin is a postcard concerning “The Final Teachings of Jesus” sermon series that starts next week.  Please pass it on to a friend, relative, neighbor, or acquaintance. This series will take us through Easter and will look at those last teaching opportunities of Jesus as recorded in Mark 10, the story of Palm Sunday in Mark 11, and the account of the Resurrection in Mark 16.  I hope we grow deeper in faith and knowledge through this series, through our personal Lenten prayers and devotions, and through participation in other worship, fellowship, service and study activities that are part of this Season.

May they know we are Christians by the light we bear… and by our Love!

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

What is Lent Really?

March 9, 2014

Last Wednesday I celebrated “Ash Wednesday,” the start of Lent, with Eastminster Presbyterian preschoolers and families in the morning and with our congregation and community in the evening. Throughout the day questions came up concerning the meaning of Lent. To observe Lent well, it is good to have a sense of the meaning of these forty days, excluding Sundays before Easter.

Lent originated as a time for preparation for Easter.  During that time Christians repent… we turn from attitudes, thoughts and practices that fail to honor God.  We seek to reorient to God’s will and direction for our lives and community.  Martin Luther taught that the essence of Christian life is turning away from self centeredness and toward God.  During Lent we focus on repentance and reorientation.

Some questions that may help do this include:  What are my habitual sins?  In what ways am I living a Lukewarm Christianity and how might I turn to love God wholeheartedly?  What prayers and actions will lead me closer to God in Christ?  To whom might I/we want to be accountable for change besides God?

In this sense, Lent is the spiritual equivalent of an annual physical.  It’s a time to take stock of our lives and hearts.  It’s a time to live our way to a deeper faith by self-examination, self-denial, acts of compassion, and deeper practice of spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Scripture reading, and meditation.

In my life I have found two things.  A simple Lenten practice is to give up at least one thing that keeps me from God and add one thing that brings me closer.  For instance one year in my Lenten season I resolved to “eat less and pray more.”

A second practice is to have prayer and accountability partners.  They help us grow and keep on the path of God’s will.  You will meet two of my prayer and accountability partners Sunday afternoon if you come to the Service of Installation.  They are Scott and Jane.  Such partners help us not trivialize the spiritual life and keep us focused on growth and glorification of God.  For instance, the Lent I resolved to “eat less and pray more,” I had already shared with Scott my sense that I was not glorifying God by my physical condition and I resolved to change it.  So when I said I would “eat less and pray more,” he asked “and what about the exercise?  Nailed!

The bottom line is we have an occasion to get serious about our spiritual lives and Christian walk right now.  May we use this season to grow as individuals and supportive members of this faith community!  Let me or another Christian know how we might be helpful in your development in the direction of life God desires.  We don’t have to journey through Lent alone!

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

 

 

 

God’s heart for the world

Feb. 9, 2014

We have been examining the theme of “LOVE” for several weeks now.  Today we focus on seeking to conform our hearts to what is close to God’s heart … to fall in love with those things about which God is passionate .

Our scriptures today from Isaiah 58 and Luke 14 focus on caring for those who might seem to be neglected … on having a heart for the people and situations that might be left out at first pass.  The pattern is not simply to “do good”….  It is to love God and seek to have God’s heart for the world.

Several of our members and friends have been reading the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  He offers some wise advise and asks some deep questions.  Here is a sampling for our reflection:

·         The point of Life is to point to Him.

·         Are we in love with God or just His stuff?

·         How we live our days is how we live our lives.

·         Will we choose what is popular or what is right?

·         Ask God to save you from sin … not just sin’s penalty.

·        Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.

·         God does not just want good theology, God wants us to know Him and love Him.

·         What are you doing now that requires faith?

Jesus models God’s love and mission.  He says, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (John 10:10) …  “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (Luke 19:10) … and he challenges us: “A new command I give you, love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

May we be a church with hearts that beat in rhythm with God’s heart and lives that radiate the very love of God, who first loved us!

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

tmartin@epcfl.org           (321) 723-8371 ext. 217

 

When is it good to have a broken heart?

Feb. 2, 2014

When is it good to have a broken heart?

We are in February… the “love month” complete with Valentine’s Day and other customs that honor human love.  It is also a month when many suffer from “broken hearts.”  This can be a tough time.  Yet sometimes, the condition of a “broken heart” allows God’s love to heal and for spiritual renewal to happen.

Today we gather around the Communion Table.  As we come today, know that even as we break the bread and pour the cup remembering Jesus’ body broken and his blood shed, God desires us to come broken as well.  God desires that we come with hearts broken for that which breaks God’s heart.  Hearts broken in confession for the ways in which we have strayed.  Hearts broken for the poor and oppressed.  Hearts broken for the sick and suffering.  Hearts broken for those where justice is not served.

As our hearts break for that which breaks God’s heart, the healing and power of the Spirit has room to fill our lives.  As our hearts break in desire for a closer relationship with God, Jesus enters in and fills us with fellowship, love and hope.

Several members of our congregation mentioned that they read Oswald Chamber’s devotion, My Utmost for His Highest.  This is a classic and worth checking out.  Chambers says, “If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” And again he says, “If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him.” If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, ‘I will only go to there, but no farther.’ God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose becomes one.”

Jesus says, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (Rev. 3:20). It’s through the door of a broken heart that Jesus enters our lives.  May we be an open, even if broken, people today!

Blessings,
Pastor Tim

tmartin@epcfl.org           (321) 723-8371 ext. 217