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Who is on Guard Duty?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

A few days ago, the verse of the day in my Bible app was the one from Proverbs that told us to guard our hearts. It was great advice, but my problem is that I am not always great at guard duty. Sometimes I am distracted by temporary problems, get embroiled in controversies with the other guards or have days when I just feel like being lazy. That is why I was encouraged by these words of Paul to in the church in Philippi. After several chapters dealing with the hot topics of the day, he gives some fatherly advice to his friends telling them that they could bring all their problems and anxieties to God in prayer. But they must also remember to give God thanks in advance and trust Him for the answer.

I am so happy to learn that it isn’t just by my being vigilant or adhering to a strict set of rules that my heart is protected. I am guarded by asking God for help. Now, I don’t know about you, but God is definitely a better guard than me! I fall asleep about ten o’clock every night, but God stays awake 24/7. God never sleeps so that we can. He never fails, though we do so often. God is always faithful, loving kind and powerful, so why should we ever doubt Him? Let’s start today by giving Him thanks for His help in our crisis, His mercy to forgive our sins and most of all for His sacrifice of His only Son Jesus, so that His peace could guard our hearts and minds today!

Welcome to Sunday School!

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You might think people at the nursing home, just want to hear a few quiet hymns, pray and go back to their rooms. But nothing could be further from the truth! Not only do they like some hand clapping and foot stomping music, but they also LOVE Sunday School songs! This was a recent session from Life Care Center, that we recorded last Friday. I hope you will not only enjoy the music and story, but that you will be inspired to trust God and pray and stand firmly on the B-I-B-L-E through every storm!

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life Matthew 6:26-27 NIV

Everyone Can Be a Volunteer

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke 10:34 NIV

My volunteering in nursing homes began with a friend named Darryl, who with his wife Beverly went to church with us. Then one day Darryl had a massive stroke and ended up in a nursing home about thirty minutes away from where we lived. Since my job was in that city, Beverly would often ask if I could stop by some day after work to visit him. Though that sounded like a nice idea, but I procrastinated because I knew how tired I was at the end of the workday. Every week I made another excuse, but every week Beverly persistently asked (and the Holy Spirit was convicting me!) Finally, I decided to at least give it a try, and that visit, some thirty-four years ago, opened the way to becoming a volunteer chaplain, which has been of the greatest blessings of my life.

But being a volunteer goes far beyond the walls of long-term care facilities. For example, we have friends with three daughters, ages 10-17. Their youngest is named Laura and Laura is a down’s syndrome child. Raising their girls with equal love has been a tough balancing act because sometimes Laura requires so much time and energy that the other two have had to put their own time with mom and dad on hold. Then there is my good friend Rob in our men’s group who has multiple sclerosis. Rob struggles just to stand up and get a grip on his walker, at the end of each meeting, and yet he is there most weeks, in part because his wife Lisa helps him to get ready. If you think that these people are the exception, you would be correct. But the story of the Good Samaritan shows us, that God has strategically placed people in all our lives, to give us the opportunity to be what Jesus would call a volunteer – a good neighbor! As a neighbor we all know a Laura, a Rob or a Darryl and what we decide to do can change their lives and ours forever.

I once heard someone say that “If you can get paid for what you love to do then you will never work a day in your life.” But as a volunteer I like to think that “If we just love for free, the people God has put in our path, then one day we will discover treasures in Heaven that will last forever! “