Viruses, Vexation and Verses
Working in a grocery store during COVID-19 has been quite the experience. I have a front row seat to the human range of emotions, from grateful compassion to downright rude and disrespectful. However, the most prevalent emotion has been fear. It’s why I cannot stock the shelves fast enough. People are afraid of what this virus will do, afraid of what will happen to life as we know it, afraid of running out of food, and afraid that they won’t be able to get food later on, so they buy more than they need. If fear had a scent, you would be able to smell it a mile away from my store, and many others. I know despite my best efforts I even feel some fear; I’m afraid of what happens if I get sick and can’t afford my rent or worse, medical treatment. I’m afraid of what happens to those who are most dear to me if they get sick. I’m guessing those of you reading this are feeling some fears of your own. For most of us it’s incredibly hard to admit these fears out loud because then they feel more real. The beauty in this is God has something to say about what we do when these horribly uncertain situations. For many years my mom has embedded Philippians 4:6-7 in my head when I felt worried or afraid. As a teenager I rolled my eyes often at this memory verse, thinking “yeah mom, I got it.” But let me tell you, as an adult I have never been more thankful for this memory verse because it was the first thing that came to mind when my fears
Murderous Eyes – Sermon for 3/15
The following is the sermon by Pastor Ken Haupt which was to be preached during worship on 3/15. We share it here in the hopes that it will allow you to keep your “Eyes On Jesus” as a part of your devotion time at home this week. “The eyes are a window into the soul.” This old saying suggests that you can tell the character of a person by simply looking into his or her eyes. If a person’s eyes appear dark and foreboding, you can presumably conclude that the person’s soul is evil, or at least seriously troubled. A person with bright, sparkling eyes, on the other hand, would display a calm and peaceful soul. If it is true that the eyes are a window into the soul, then there are a lot of people in this morning’s Gospel reading who had very dark and foreboding eyes. They were the kind of eyes that our Lenten series calls “murderous eyes.” When you look into the eyes of these persons, you see souls that are literally hell-bent on harming someone else. Their eyes reflect souls that were looking for opportunities, not to befriend but, to destroy someone else in one form or another. This morning we will take a look at each of the five examples of murderous eyes in our text, as well as yet another set of eyes that looked at people much differently. As we do, let us consider whether the attitudes we see looking into their eyes just might be present in your soul and mine as well. Murderous eyes # 1 look to DESTROY. “Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,
Seeing Through Another’s Eyes
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 I wouldn’t exactly call it a “whirlwind romance”, but when my husband I became engaged about six months after our first date, I had not yet met most of his family. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, Todd’s mom had made an impromptu visit from their home in Illinois to Dallas a couple of months earlier to meet me and (apparently!) had given her approval of the match, but it wasn’t until my first visit to Springfield later that year that I finally met the man that I would begin calling “Dad” just a few months later. Todd and I had been anxious to make the most of our time with his family over Spring Break that year, so as soon as school got out on Friday, we loaded the car and set out on the 12-hour drive. Although excited to see Todd’s family home and meet these people who would become so important to me, as the drive progressed, I found myself becoming more nervous. Would they like me? Would they accept me? Would they forgive my East coast accent and (occasional) attitude? When we finally rolled into town around 3:00 am that morning, we quietly let ourselves in the front door. It was then that Todd’s dad appeared at the top of the stairs. In a robe and obviously having been asleep for hours, he simply smiled and said, “Good to have you home. See you in
All Things Work Together for Our Good
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 A boy named Joseph (Genesis 37-50) lived many years ago and was a great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great uncle in the family of Jesus. He was family to Jesus and he is part of your family and mine by our faith in Jesus. Did you know his dad gave him a special coat? By giving Joseph this coat, his dad was telling everyone Joseph was his favorite son. His brothers did not like to see him wearing it. Joseph had a dream that meant one day he would be more important than his brothers. They were so jealous, they thought about killing him. But they decided they could make some money if they sold him to men who took him away from his family and home. They didn’t want to get in trouble with their father for selling him. So, they told their father he had died. Joseph must have wondered what was happening to him. Where was he being taken? What would he do there? Was he going to die? He must have been scared, lonely, and hurt by what his brothers had done. But we know that the Lord was with Joseph. Joseph was taken to Egypt where he was a slave in an important household. He had a lot of chores he had to do. It was much more than help with the dishes or clean up his room. He worked very hard. He was never alone; the Lord was always with him. Even
Eyes on Jesus
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:2 There’s a hymn titled “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” It was written by Helen Lemmel whose life spanned almost a century (1863-1961). The hymn’s refrain goes like this: 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. The hymn has stood the test of time and life. Listen to a modern interpretation by popstar and Christian recording artist Lauren Daigle. Her beautiful version is found here. (Pam Tillis and Johnny Cash have a wonderful duet too!) But the song, it’s timelessness, the words of scripture from Hebrews 12 and life remind me of the pressing need to keep our eyes on Jesus—that the distractions of the world are apt to redirect our attention away from all that is good and true to all that which gives birth to fear and uncertainty. A great example of this is the apostle Peter in Matthew 14. Peter is out in the middle of the lake with the other disciples. Suddenly, they see Christ walking across the water towards them so Peter steps out of the boat to go to Jesus. As soon as he reaches him, however, he gets distracted by the wind and waves. Peter begins to sink, crying out in desperation, “Lord, save me!” We may think the example is extreme. The setting is, that’s for sure, but Peter’s story is
To all my “Ruths”
So, February is undeniably all about love. Not just any love; romantic love, and around every corner! If I’m honest, as a single, young, twenty-something, it grates on my heart. It’s very easy to throw a pity party! “Woe is me, I’m all alone and everyone is in love and adorable with their cute lovey plans!” However, that didn’t last long this February because of two things. Good friends and the book of Ruth. On Friday, I will see not one, not two, but five of my dearest friends in Dallas. The morning will be filled with wings, slushees and silly reality TV and the evening will be filled with bingeing The Office and Dominoes! Now, you might be asking yourself, “What on earth does this have to do with the book of Ruth”? Well, if you remember, Ruth faced quite a bit of calamity in her life. Her husband died and then her mother in-law decided to go home to her people and urged Ruth to leave. “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” Ruth 1:16 Ruth is a rare lady who exemplified sacrificial love. Not for romance, but for someone who was her family and possibly even a friend. She didn’t make the easy choice. She knew going with Naomi would be hard and she willingly,
