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Archive for the ‘God’ Category

People on the Way

Sermon notes from Brian Conklin‘s message
at Madison Valley Presbyterian Church today.

Isaiah painted a picture
of people on their way.
They arrive atop a mountain
Where everyone has their say.

Nations shall not rise up
Against other nations anymore.
Isaiah promises our future
Will hold that peace from shore to shore.

We’re all moving toward God’s judgement.
Our hope is rooted to God’s future.
Romans 13:11-14 says, “Live like people
Who are headed for the dawn.”

God is asking us to wake up
And be a people on the move…
Moving toward God’s promised peace.
Pick God’s goals as The Way you choose.

Don’t stop, my friends. The hike is worth it.
The view is stunning from the top.
You’re on a journey to the new Kingdom.
So, be reminded: keep engaged; don’t stop.

Live in a way that causes you to see
There is a beautiful Kingdom to come.
Love, pursue peace, and resist darkness.
Walk in the light of the Lord. Don’t be dumb!

No, Brian’s sermon didn’t include “Don’t be dumb!”
I had to add that cuz it caught my mood – – –
And besides, I needed something that rhymed with kingdom!

Happy first day of Advent! Did you go to church today?
If so, what message did you take away?
What does this Advent season mean to you?

Love ya,
Thanks for visiting
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Jesus, Living in Harmony, peace

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Holding On to Hope

The inspired, hopeful scripture
and another inspirational Sunday sermon
from our dear Interim Pastor,
Brian Conklin,
yesterday at
Madison Valley Presbyterian Church

The Glorious New Creation

17 For I am about to create new heavens
    and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
    or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
    and its people as a delight.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem
    and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
    or the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days
    or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
    and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain
    or bear children for calamity,[a]
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
    and their descendants as well.
24 Before they call I will answer,
    while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
    but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
            says the Lord.

The world seems very fragile
Seems everything’s falling apart
Between despair and hope we are
Wondering how to take heart

Promises and warnings go hand in hand
Isaiah speaks of a new world beginning
He promises the Kingdom has arrived
But Luke reports Jesus’ warnings of sinning

Luke 21:5-19
NRSV Updated Edition

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

Signs and Persecutions

7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and, ‘The time is near!’[b] Do not go after them.

9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Jesus tells of a world that trembles
He encourages us to stand and endure
“By your endurance you will save your soul”
Dig deep into your heart and persevere

We’re caught between joy and sorrow
We’re asked to trust God even when we
Can’t see evidence of His promises
The Kingdom of God is now and not yet to see

Where you see the church planted, you see
Signposts that point to the kingdom to come
God’s love wins out over human nature
So keep speaking peace over poverty and slum

God’s love holds us together when we feel
The world is falling apart at the seams
May we see even now glimpses of this
New Heaven and New Earth – and know what it means.

Amen?

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, Living in Christ's Family, optimism, Poetry, sermon notes

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In the Shadow…

Ps. 17:8
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings

The smiling face below belongs to our interim pastor, Brian Conklin, who delivered a beautiful sermon Sunday inspired by the prayer of David found in Psalm 17. I posted my sermon notes here and then (while messing around on WordPress on my phone), I accidentally erased the post. Some of my friends saw it before the mishap, I hope. Anyway… heeeeeere’s Brian…

And heeeere’s “A prayer of David”

1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;
    listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
    it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from you;
    may your eyes see what is right.

3 Though you probe my heart,
    though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
    my mouth has not transgressed.
4 Though people tried to bribe me,
    I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
    through what your lips have commanded.
5 My steps have held to your paths;
    my feet have not stumbled.

6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
    turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
    you who save by your right hand
    those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
    from my mortal enemies who surround me.

Heaven knows, I need to be one of those protected chicks under “the shadow of your wings!”

Can’t redo what I lost… Need to get to bed.
Oh well…

See ya tomorrow. It’ll be a better day.

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, Jesus, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Montana, Poetry, sermon notes, writing

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Turn Back with Gratitude

My sermon notes try to capture the essence of what I hear each Sunday. Our pastor, Brian Conklin, delivered this inspiring message last Sunday:

Issues of faith, leprosy, and other skin troubles
Are the topics we are looking at today.
God is whispering to us to pay attention,
Live with humility, and show our gratitude.

Naaman, the man in 2Kings 5, was a man of great wealth
Whose skin disease stripped away his power.
A small, captured servant girl told Naaman
There was a man in Israel, Elisha, who could heal him.

Naaman went to Elisha’s house and was greeted
By a servant who told him to go to the Jordan river
And dip himself seven time for healing,
He does go, after anger and reluctance, and was healed.

It was his listening and obeying God in humility
That was his true source of healing.
Then, (in Luke 17) there were ten lepers who were healed
And only one turned back in gratitude, and was made whole.

Ten were healed, but only one was transformed.
Faith is about trusting in the next step,
Even in transition, fatigue, illness, and reluctance.
Healing is about the restoration of relationship.

God meets us in our obedience, humility, and gratitude.
Trust enough to step forward – then healing begins.
When you are blessed, do you turn back?
Do you stop, remember, and reflect in an
Attitude of Gratitude?

Give thanks always, knowing our faithful God
Will make you whole in your transformation.
Sometimes the solution seems too simple –
But if it takes seven dips in the river, do it!

And then, don’t forget to turn back to God
And express your heartfelt gratitude
For the ways He is faithful and always
Answers your prayers with His mercy and compassion.

Amen?
Amen!

What answered prayer are you especially grateful for today?

Love ya,
JanBeek

Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, Gratitude, Life's Challenges, sermon notes, writing

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I Can Become

In the devotional, In Touch, by Charles Stanley this week, he wrote, “… Authentic Christianity is about becoming rather than doing.”

I was struck by that idea because, as he also wrote, “Probably the greatest obstacle to understanding God’s purpose for brokenness is this: Many think of Christianity as a series of activities. We pray. We read the Bible. We go to church. We worship. We tithe. We do and do and do…”

The devotional went on to say, “The life of faith that God designed involves receiving Jesus into our heart and allowing Him to change us so we become increasingly more like Him.”

1 John 2:6
“Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.”

“This realization will change our perspective on the heartaches we must endure… When we recognize that the Christian life is about Jesus’ persistent work of “re-creation” in us, then the role of brokenness makes more sense. It’s the process the Lord uses to strip away obstacles to our spiritual growth.

God doesn’t want to be Lord of most of our life, He wants to be Lord of all of our life. He wants us to become more like Him each day: loving, giving, serving, forgiving, teaching others about Christ by our life of love. So, we must BECOME more Christ-like by opening our hearts to Him and asking God to reveal to us anything that hampers that growth.

We can be so busy listening to all the instructions to be cool, aim high, and see the world that we forget to just BE… Just appreciate every moment as a precious gift from God, a chance to reflect, an opportunity to let God know how grateful we are for each day we are given.

Yes, I CAN become… I can become more like Christ… I’m just sitting here thinking about HOW He would like me to BE. What can I do to become more like Him? If it’s about BECOMING instead of DOING, how can I become without doing? Hmmm…

Think about that!

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Aging Gracefully, Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Jesus, Life's Challenges

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Great is Thy Faithfulness

Sermon notes on Sunday is a regular habit of mine.
I used to share them here every week.
I don’t know why I got out of the habit.
Time to start doing that again.
I hope you find them enlightening and inspiring.

Sermon by Brian Conklin at Madison Valley Presbyterian Church

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Lamentations is a beautiful book
Each of the five chapters is a poem
It’s a reflection of encouragement and hope
Written out of the pain of total loss

Rubble, grief, and despair are the topics
But in the middle of the book is a word of hope
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Great is Thy faithfulness; it is new every morning

But we can feel letdown in the midst of hope
And God would rather have our honest tears
Than fake smiles. We live in times of pain…
The things we see in the news weighs us down.

We’re allowed to walk through pain and share
We can walk with empathy and compassion
See the loss and pain in others and empathize
Acknowledge your own – and remember God’s promises.

God is consistent and unchanging. He said
His mercies are new every morning, and so
We have fresh grace again and again and again
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.

This week, keep track; look for moments
When you can see God’s grace at work.
Praise God! Thank God! Accept your inheritance.
The Lord is my portion. Take hope. Have faith.

Amen?

Lotsa Love,
JanBeek

Here’s Brian,
the dear interim pastor
who delivered the message today.

(I hope my notes did it justice)
God bless him!

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Life's Challenges, Poetry, sermon notes, writing

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I Can TRUST

Three out of four of the devotionals I read yesterday and today had the word TRUST as one of the main topics. Everytime I see the word trust, I draw a rectangle around it and affirm, “I Can Trust.” Today I decided to write about TRUST in my journal, “I Can and I Will, Watch Me.” My mind just thought about it in a Haiku format. Here’s what the result was:

I CAN Trust

I know I can trust –
The world may feel chaotic,
But I reclaim peace.

Unsettling events,
An unknown future,
Don’t define my mood.

I am claiming peace.
I see where my power lies:
It’s trusting in God.

What I want in life,
Peace, love, joy, kindness and faith,
Are mine when I trust.

I know I can trust
In the Ruler of my heart
To heal what’s broken.

Heal the world’s chaos,
Bring back Unity for all.
I can trust my God!

Thinking of you and sending love your way.
Trusting Him to guide you and me through the storms of life.
What storms are you facing?

Thanks for visiting…
JanBeek

Category:

Faith, God, Haiku, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, optimism, Poetry, truth

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Tears of Joy

Daily writing prompt
What brings a tear of joy to your eye?
View all responses

Tears of joy come easily
When someone approaches me breezily
To say my lost puppy is found
And they have him right there on the ground

Tears of joy come spilling
When someone says they are willing
To do some yard work for my Bob
Whose limited body makes me sob

Tears of joy are a blessing
When troubles overflow and I’m stressing
And then miraculous help arrives
Fixing the problem … giving high-fives

What brings tears of joy to your eyes?
Crying is a gift to the wise
Who turn to others and prayer
Knowing that needed help is there.

Where do you turn so that you can have
Tears of joy and turn sadness to glad?
Know that the Lord always is there
You can count on Him everywhere!

Happy Labor-less Day, my friends!

Love,
JanBeek & Bob

(and our friends, the Vasches, too… we have
tears of joy when friends like them come to visit!)

Category:

blessings, friendship, God, Gratitude, Jesus, Life's Challenges, peace, Poetry

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Come, Have a Drink

Inspired by today’s sermon
by Brian Conklin
at our Madison Valley Presbyterian Church
in Ennis, Montana

Come and have a drink with me
The water’s fresh and the drink is free.
No, huh? Water from a broken cistern
Doesn’t quite look like something you yearn?

Well, Jeremiah recognized the problem, too.
He spoke to the children of Israel and to you
About the broken cistern and polluted water.
He told ’em about a better source – come and listen, daughter.

Drink from this pure, flowing, everlasting spring.
Let go of the water that’s full of things to which you cling.
You think refreshment comes from money or possessions.
You trade pure water for power and other obsessions.

Come and have a drink with me
The water’s fresh and the drink is free.
If you hope to satisfy your heart’s desires,
Tune in to the Living Waters, not the liars!

God is the source of all Living Water for us.
He wants to refresh us purely without much fuss.
He says “Drink with me; fulfill your needs.
Grow in love and faith; let’s remove the weeds.”

Isaiah speaks in Jeremiah 2:1-13 clearly
About God’s grief as people turn away and nearly
Break His heart as they rely on themselves with greed,
Trying to go through life alone satisfying every need.

It’s not possible… we fool ourselves when we take control.
Accept God’s invitation, refresh in Him. Make that your goal!
Carve out time each day to drink deeply; refresh with Him
From His Living Water – fill your cup to the brim!

Come, have a drink with me!

Filled with His Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Poetry, sermon notes

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Positive Emotion?

Today’s Prompt was:
What positive emotion do you feel most often?

My Response:
Gratitude

I’m grateful for the neighbors who came immediately last night when I called them. I was frantic! Kenny, our pup, was crying. We could hear his barks and his whining, but we couldn’t find him. It sounded like it was coming from under the house. Maybe he went under the deck and got stuck on something. Maybe a rattlesnake bit him (years ago we had that happen to our Boston named Angela). We searched high and low for Kenny. No luck!
We were frantic!
So we called our friends.
They came. Four of them!
We all searched.
Still no luck.
So, we went into the house
(we’d already searched there thoroughly).
When we walked in through the back door,
there was a black and white nose
sticking out from under Bob’s chair!!
Kenny had squeezed under to fetch a toy –
and he got stuck!!
Whew!!!😥
We lifted the chair to release him.
Gratitude?
Ah yes!! 👏🏽
Thank You, Jesus!

Thank You, God,
Thank You, Jesus!
Thank You for neighbors,
for answered prayers,
for the safety of our pup!
Whew!!

Remember that first picture up there of Kenny lying on a quilt?
I’m grateful for it, too.
Do you have a memory quilt?
I love mine!
And no, Kenny doesn’t usually get to lie on it!
It was a retirement gift from my teaching colleagues
when I retired back in 1999.
The sentiments on it
and the remembrances
are so precious!

Marta Garcia did the stitching
and each of my colleagues at school
added a piece with their name
and sometimes a sentiment.
“Stitched with dreams of traveling forever,”
Marta wrote.

If you live in Ennis, Montana
with the Madison River running through it
and the spectacular Rocky Mountains as your backdrop,
and people from all over the world coming here to fish
and to just relax and enjoy the peace, the open spaces,
the wild animals, and the proximity to Yellowstone,
then you live daily with an attitude of gratitude,
and guess what?
Traveling forever is not a daily prayer.
We are grateful that you come to us!
Keep doing it!

What positive emotion do you feel most often?

Cheers from JanBeek

Category:

Animals, blessings, contentment, friendship, God, Gratitude, happiness, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, Montana, pets

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