Jan 28, 2016 | Uncategorized
Even though it was a rainy night, we had such a great turn out at Grace and Grits. Through God’s blessings, we served approximately 220 plates and handed out 150 lunch bag to the hungry in Sanford.
We had 9 awesome cooks that helped to prepare the menu of potato soup with bacon crumbles, ham and cheese mini sandwiches, salad, and bread. You will see from the pictures that the age plays no factor in serving your neighbor. Way to go Molly!
Thank you to those who served with us, prayed for us or donated gift cards to make this all a possibility.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself.
Jan 28, 2016 | Uncategorized
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength (Luke 10:27)…”
“He’s so one track minded!” a woman might say of her husband who doesn’t see the dirty laundry on the floor as he passes by for the third time, lost in his thoughts or his own goals. “Imagine how many hours of practice went into that performance. That girl must eat, drink, and sleep classical music!” we might say of a cellist after an astounding performance. Sometimes we admire people who are so focused. Other times we may be annoyed by their narrow vision because we want them to see the bigger picture. Concentration on one activity can bring tremendous achievement or narrow mindedness and sometimes both.
When it comes to a life of faith, it’s true Jesus wants our full attention on his presence as we go through every portion of our lives. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3: 17).” It just seems that our focus on God in daily life is supposed to be more like how we experience being enamored when we are in love than it is a rigid discipline. When we are in love, the world seems bigger and brighter. Sweet things taste sweeter. Difficulties feel less significant. Life, though not fully perfect, is perceived to be richer, more vibrant, more dynamic because we share it with the one we love.
The Bible often envisions our relationship to God as the relationship between husband in wife. In Hosea, we are the unfaithful, wandering wife while God is the ever faithful husband. One of the few reasons the whole book of the Song of Songs made it into the Bible is because people saw in the sensual romance of covenant love between husband and wife a deep connection to the pleasure and attachment between God and his people. Finally, when Jesus returns to make the world right again in Revelation, he is the groom, ready to reclaim his bride, the Church!
Jesus does not invite us to focus our lives on him only because he saves us from sin and hell and death, though that is certainly a worthy reason! He invites us to love God fully with “all our heart, mind, soul and strength.” Then, instead of growing more narrow, the world becomes a more beautiful and amazing place, and life becomes a fuller experience.
Jan 20, 2016 | Uncategorized
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3: 5-6).”
For a period of time in my early twenties, I would drive to St. Pete College and listen to Christian radio. Frequently I would here Christians share how powerful it was for them to memorize verses of scripture. “Whenever I needed them most, God would bring the verses to mind!” For a while I would write scriptures on pieces of paper and tape them to my dashboard or my mirror at home and commit them to memory. I have to say that, though I am not a good word for word memorizer, God has used these memory verses to speak to me when I really needed to hear it.
The Proverbs verse above has been one of my favorite memory verses. When we go through periods of change as individuals and as a whole church family, especially as we plan to relocate and rebuild Lakeside by August 2017, these verses are a powerful reminder that, trusting in God’s guidance is far more important than trusting in our own feelings and thoughts. We are the ant, looking at how high our ant mound is, while God sees how the entire universe works together by the direction of his hands! We see the small picture as it relates to us, and God sees the big picture as it relates to the universe.
These verses also remind us the importance of submitting our desires and understandings regarding our present circumstances to God’s directions for us. Whenever there is a conflict between our way and God’s way we must trust and obey our loving heavenly Father. As the old hymn reminds us, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
May we encourage one another to trust the Lord with our whole heart! Drop me a line and let me know how to pray for you at clashbrook@lakesidefellowship.org
Peace and Joy,
Pastor Cameron
Jan 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
Have a question about God or Christian life that floats around in the back of your mind that you’ve always wondered about? The Sundays of February 21st and 28th are set aside for “Q and A” Sermons. Please send questions you would like answered directly to me at clashbrook@lakesidefellowship.org. I will review them, study up, and answer as many of them as I can. This may turn into a fun version of “stump the chump,” so go ahead and send me your best questions!
Peace of Jesus,
Pastor Cameron
Jan 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
“…but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die (Genesis 3: 3).'”
Read Genesis 3. We equate knowledge with power and with life. Think of all the lives that have been saved by the scientific knowledge practiced now in the medical professions! How can it be that knowledge ever leads to death? Yet knowledge is power, and power, in human hands, sometimes yields good results and sometimes yields destruction. List the crimes, wars, and terrorism you read about today in the news or the most destructive conflicts in history and think of the technical knowledge and the struggle for power behind them. Then it is not hard to imagine how knowledge, in the twisted and broken hands of humans, can lead to death.
Knowledge is our hunger and thirst. We crave it like a castaway cries out through cracked lips for a rain drop! The moment we humans gain some partial knowledge, some new control over part of life, we, like Adam and Eve in the garden, are immediately tempted to believe we can control everything. Because we aren’t God and we only have partial knowledge, we make a mess of things! Knowledge, like wealth, is not evil in and of itself. It is our desire to be in control of everything, to rule all, to have our way above all other ways, to be God, that is the root sin and the cause of all evil in the world.
So where is our hope for humanity, or the world? It is not purely in knowledge. We find our hope and salvation in Jesus Christ who alone can heal the human heart and mind. His way is to use power to serve, to give life to others, to share power with those he loves while never relinquishing his ultimate Lordship over all things. As followers of Jesus’ way of life, we too, are to use what power we’ve been given to serve and give life to others.
Lord Jesus, thank you for cleaning up the messes we make when we abuse the powers you give. Free us from our sin sickness to trust you fully, and to live fully as agents of your loving service for the life of the world. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
Peace of Jesus,
Pastor Cameron
Jan 7, 2016 | Uncategorized
Jesus replied (to Nicodemus), “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3).”
All of my Christian life I have been told how important it is to “get into the Word.” For much of my early Christian years I got the message that it was vital to following Jesus, but I wasn’t clear why. Now that I’m a bit further along in my life with Jesus, I have come to understand that practices like prayer, Bible study, worship, Christian conversation, service, and others are life giving because in them we learn to recognize God in our lives. If you follow the metaphor Jesus uses comparing spiritual eyes to physical eyes, these practices help us develop eyes to “see” or recognize God who has been working in our hearts and in our world all along. We often do not experience God because we do not know God well enough to recognize him! Thus, knowing Jesus through the presence of his Holy Spirit AND through regular study of the Bible helps us recognize Jesus working in and around our lives!
Now, I know that in these days of mobility and constant activity, it is a challenge to set aside time to read and pray. However, neither you nor I will grow in our love for and service to Jesus without making it a priority. So, Lakeside is here to help you!
Get the Lakeside for weekly devotions, sermon podcasts, and more: http://apps.appmachine.com/lakesidefellowshipumc Or go to your Apple, Android or Windows app store and download the Lakeside Fellowship UMC app. You many also scan this QR code with your phone.
- Use a daily Bible reading plan like this one:
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=C
- Join one of our small groups:
https://lakesideumc.net/small-groups/
Lord, give us the grace to commit ourselves to knowing and loving you more through the study of the scriptures in 2016. May you open our spiritual eyes to see your love and work in and around us this year! Amen!
