Nursing Home Ministry

Do I Surrender All?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT

I love the way that one of my friends opens in prayer at our men’s meeting, saying, “Thank you God for another day that was never promised.” I love it because it reminds me that as I begin my day it is a gift that God has freely given. Whether I am sick or well, able to pay the bills or looking at an overdraft message from the bank, the hours that lie ahead are evidence of God’s grace. I love that prayer because it reminds me of the Hymn, “I Surrender All,”. Full surrender, or as today’s verse says, giving our bodies as a living sacrifice, is the perfect response to God’s grace. It tells us that rather than using our day however we please, an “I surrender all” attitude, is the only way to truly worship God, But to be honest, there are days when I couldn’t sing words like, “worldly pleasures all forsaken,” or, “I will ever love and TRUST Him.” because I like to reserve something for myself. Instead of trusting the hand of God, I rush around trying to do things on my own. Or I decide that there are a few worldly pleasures that I deserve and when the Holy Spirit convicts me by speaking in His still small voice, I turn down the volume and plow ahead with my own plans. But God in His great mercy and faithfulness has a way of getting our attention when we stray. Just like sheep who wander far from home and get tangled up in thorns or stuck at the bottom of a pit, we discover that our way was not so great after all and that maybe God was right. What a blessing that when we have fallen, we have a Good Shepherd. Though He has been seeking us all along, He has had to wait for us to stop our struggling, and surrender to His will, Then He begins to untangle us from the mess we made. In surrender we make the amazing discovery that once we give up our demand to be large and in charge, Jesus begins His work of restoration and healing. His plans and calling are far better than anything we could think or imagine, but He awaits our surrender to Him, as He surrendered Himself for us.

I love the fact that Billy Graham called this hymn one of his favorites, because during the time when he attended what today is called, Trinity Bible College, not far from where we live, Judson De Venter, who wrote the hymn, often preached at the school. The full surrender that God had planned for Billy Graham, continues to impact the lives of millions of people around the globe. We will probably never gain a worldwide reputation as Billy Graham did, but when we release our grip on our desires, our homes and even our finances, God will begin to use them in ways far beyond anything we could imagine, as a blessing in the lives of others and then lead us into a deeper walk with Him.

All to Jesus I surrender
All to him I freely give
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live
I surrender all - I surrender all
All to thee, my blessed Savior - I surrender all
Judson Van De Venter 1896

Lifted by Love

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
"Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31 ESV

I find it interesting that this hymn was written by two friends, James Rowe and Howard Smith working together. While Rowe was composing the lyrics, and coming up with a few notes, Smith would play them on the piano, connecting the words to the wonderfully flowing melody that we are given today. It is said that Howard Smith suffered from such severe arthritis that his hands were twisted and it was painful for him to play, and yet, the joy that exuded from the music reflected the joy of his faith rather than the difficulty of his daily life. What a lesson these friends leave for us today, of working together in the cause of Christ. When one wearily stumbles, the other comes and lifts him up, so that together we can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith!” 2 Timothy 4:7

Each of us comes to a place in our lives, more than once when it is hard to go on. Just as Peter who boldly stepped out of the boat and at first began walking on the water towards Jesus, we have times when we feel strong. Our faith seems to be hitting on all cylinders; we are confident and going full steam ahead. But, just as often, all of us come to moments when, like Peter, we start to sink under the waves of hardships, difficulties or opposition. Then, we cry out in desperation, and just as He did for Peter, Jesus reaches His hand, lifts us up, and leads us back to the boat. Oh yes, Jesus will correct us, and challenge us to greater faith, but He will never abandon us. No matter what you are going through Jesus will never abandon you. He has no problem with wind and waves. Stormy sea walking is His specialty! He has come out on these dangerous waters just for you and me. But we have to choose to take HIs hand and let Him lift us up. This past Sunday, when we sang, Love Lifted Me there was such joy in our people’s response, that I had to share it with you. There are very few who know so well the saving, helping, and strengthening power of Jesus than those in long-term care facilities, and I hope you will be blessed and maybe even sing along! If you are in trouble, facing a crisis or are just plain discouraged and don’t know where to turn, I recommend that you at least join us on the chorus.

"Love lifted me! Love Lifted me!
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me!"

Listening with Our Eyes

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments 
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4

When we first moved to Florida, I struggled with garage door syndrome. Garage door syndrome happens when people come and go in our neighborhood. We rarely get to meet them because when they leave, their garage door opens, and then they drive away. When they return, the door opens, they drive in and sometimes shut the door before even getting out of their vehicle. Suffice it to say that getting to know folks here is challenging! So, one day, upon noticing a young man across the street parking his car in the driveway, I called out as he got out, “Hey, how’s it going?” But he seemed to take no notice and instead just walked into his house. I know I have quite a loud voice, because people occasionally have to tell me to tone things down. I just couldn’t understand why I was being completely ignored, and as I walked back inside, I mentioned to my wife, that the young guy on the other side of the street was really rude, because he never even turned his head when I had called out to him. Nancy quietly listened for a moment, then with a gentle smile she replied, “Did you know he is deaf?” Wow! In one second, I went from being outraged at the lack of manners in young people, to being ashamed of my silly complaint. My problem was that I didn’t realize that as a lip reader, our young neighbor needed to see me, because He listened with his eyes. In today’s verse Jesus was also listening with His eyes. Everyone else simply observed all the rich guys: the Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos of their day putting big offerings into the temple treasury. But Jesus was not looking at shekels, He was watching hearts. So, when this widow who went unnoticed by everyone else, put her offering in, Jesus immediately stopped everything to point her out to His disciples. All day long people had given what they could, what made sense, what seemed reasonable, but not this lady. No! Jesus said that her gift was all she had to live on, at least for that day. Probably this was the money that would have bought her dinner, but she offered it anyway and went hungry in order to give. This scene challenges me when I think of my own choices in giving. Now, God’s word also tells us to give cheerfully, not out of guilt or necessity. But this widow’s example makes me pause to ask, “What is preventing me from cheerfully giving like this woman? What barrier do I have, that keeps me from giving all? All my time? All my energy? All my finances? Am I just giving from a position of abundance, or does it cost me something, and can I still give it cheerfully with a smile?”

I hope you will enjoy this five-minute video from our Friday morning service at Life Care Center. In it I also give just a peek at how after thirty plus years of weekly meetings, God has continued to draw me back to worship with my brothers and sisters in long-term care. Have a blessed weekend everyone!