Run the race with grace So you know you’re finishing well Goal: the finish line!
Today’s sermon at church was titled, “Running the Race” But the main topic of interest was “Finishing Well.” So my sermon notes today reflect that focus. Come and read the highlights as I heard and recorded them:
2nd Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 “6 As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing… 16 At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Why do people run? Pain, elation, Personal challenge, delirium… Concentrate on how far you’ve come Rather than on where you’ve been.
Feeling stiff and in pain, but knowing I have the ability to endure hard things Gives me the ability to show up for myself So I can therefore show up for others.
Let’s end our journey with peace in our hearts Knowing we have run the race well. The Lord stood by us, gave us strength And gave us perseverance as we served with trust.
Serving in faith, fighting the good fight For mercy, for love… We often stand alone. Feeling lonely and isolated in life’s race, We reach out in ministry to others.
Christ calls us to run the race in faith. Faith transforms us in our disappointments Into opportunities of grace and hope. So finish the race with faithfulness.
See through the things we’ve started With integrity, keeping the faith through change. The glory of your finish will last forever. Run the race… and finish well.
Amen?
Love to you – and best wishes for a race well done! JanBeek
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?
I’m picking to fight for more love unity and respect in this world!
With gentleness and respect I choose to fight for a better world
Fight to replace controversies and arguments with more love and joy.
Love, JanBeek
ben Alexander (David) from the Skeptic’s Kaddish blog https://skepticskaddish.com/ invited us to write a poem or prose with exactly 49 words today. So, the blog above does that. Thank you, David, for the challenge.
In his book, Catching Whimsey, Bob Goff told about the time he and his wife, “Sweet Maria,” bought his father-in-law’s decrepit old wooden wagon. They bought it so they could restore it to mint condition. I related to Bob Goff’s story because I have friends who have an old wooden wagon in their yard. It has been a part of their family for two or three generations. They treasure it and have restored it to mint condition.
But, in the case of Bob & Maria Goff, after buying sandpaper and paint and nuts and bolts and the tools needed to get started on their immense reconstruction project, there was a huge storm. A hundred-foot tree fell on the wagon. Bob Goff wrote, “We had plenty of firewood that winter, about a hundred feet of tree and one priceless wagon’s worth.”
So what does this have to do with WHIMSEY? Well, ya gotta know Bob Goff! Whimsey is his favorite word!! And in his “Faith Step” at the bottom of the page, he cautions us, “Don’t let today’s challenges break you, and don’t live in fear that a tree might fall on you. Live a life so full of love and whimsey people will think you are made of the stuff.”
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…
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.
… hello to more trips to Bozeman and to enjoying the fall colors while we go
I can say reluctantly goodbye to green grass and bright flowers
… and say hello to orange sunrises and sunsets and pumpkins
Yes, I can say Hello to cooler days and colder evenings (but we’re not ready for the snow yet!)
Seasons come and seasons go. Company comes and company goes. But family (ah yes, family) stays in our hearts forever regardless of how many times we have to say goodbye!
To what are you ready to say goodbye? And hello to what? Tell me!!
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!
