Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A Kingdom Heart

Many of you probably haven't heard me preach in awhile or ever, so if you would like to hear the message I gave on Palm Sunday during our main service copy and past the link below. The message is about 25 minutes long.

http://www.nlbf.org/nlbf/index.php?id=143&tx_wecsermons_pi1[showUid]=103&tx_

Sunday, March 23, 2008

"Relax Son"

A story from a fellow Pastor that I shared today in our sunrise service, be blessed-Jeremy

"A father and son were traveling down a country road on afternoon in the spring time when suddenly a bee flew in the window. Being deathly allergic to bee stings, the boy began to panic as the bee buzzed all around inside the car. Seeing the horror on his child’s face, the father reached out and caught the bee in his hand. Soon, he opened his hand and the bee began to buzz around once again. Again, the boy began to panic. The father reached over to his son, and opened his hand showing him the stinger still in his palm. “Relax, son,” the father said, “I took the sting, the bee can’t hurt you anymore.”

The empty tomb is God’s way of saying to us; “Relax, my child, I took the sting, death can’t hurt you anymore.” Why was the tomb empty? Because Jesus was alive and the promise to us is that we too can live even if we die. That is promise of Easter."





Graydon's Beautiful Smile

Two weeks old with the hiccups

Friday, March 7, 2008

Lessons Learned about God by Being a Parent











































































God has been teaching me a lot about His love these past 2 weeks of being a parent. It says, in Genesis 1 that we are made in His image. Graydon definitely looks like his daddy and I’m sure some of his mommy’s traits will be coming sooner or later. We do know that Graydon loves to sleep like his mommy, so he at least has that of hers☺. God not only desires that we look like Him, but act like Him.

God says in Matthew 6 that He is our provider and will meet all our needs. My son totally relies on his mother and me to meet his every need, whether he realizes it or not. I often forget how much I truly rely on God for every single thing in my life and how that goes unappreciated.

In Psalm 34, God’s eyes are on the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. Sabrina and I can’t stop staring at Graydon and it’s amazing how just a whimper from our son is enough to practically make us jump out of bed. God’s eyes are truly on His people and He listens and cares about every single cry.

Zephaniah 3 says God rejoices over His people with singing and 1 John 3 lets us know that God lavishes His love upon His family. What a fitting reminder as we love on our son, how God loves on His children as well.

God promises that He takes us under His wing where we find refuge in Psalm 91 and that His faithfulness is our shield and protection. It’s amazing at what a protective papa and mama you can be and if you mess with our kid you mess with us. My protection can only go so far and it is God who is the ultimate protector. You mess with God’s child and you got a fight on your hands.

Lastly, God shares with us in Psalm 139 that His thoughts for us are as countless as the sand of the seashore. It’s pretty hard to concentrate and get my mind off my wife and newborn child when I am away from them, yet God never stops taking His mind off of us. I am humbled by the lessons I have already learned as a parent and God’s incomprehensible love for His children, not just for our sake, but for His glory and because that is just the God that we serve. If you question God’s love, being a parent is a great reminder of who our creator really is.

5 Days Old Video