Grace Blog

One thing is clear when you read the Bible from beginning to end—God likes the marriage of a man and a woman—and He intends it to be for life. In 1 Corinthians 7, He counsels people not to divorce but rather to remain separated or else be reconciled. He even tells a husband and wife to stay in a marriage where the one spouse is not a Christian. Everywhere, His persistent message is to stay married if at all possible. Jesus made allowance for divorce in only one situation—where there is adultery. But he tells us that divorce is not God's heart—but the result of man's hardened heart. "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery" (Matthew 19:1-9). It is pleasing to God the Father when we are married for life.

This past Sunday we heard Pastor Merritt unfold God's Word to us from Psalm 46. Merritt reminded us that "The LORD of hosts is in control and with us, through all trouble and rebellion." What a great truth to be reminded of! Even better is to know that since it was God who put Psalm 46 in our Bibles, we can trust that He will give us the grace to believe this truth when we find ourselves in times of trouble and rebellion.

Desiring to extend this sermon throughout your week, here is a little devotion on the first verse of Psalm 46. 

Suffering is a fact of life in a fallen and broken world. The truth is if you have not already, you will experience suffering, trouble, or trials of various kinds. A wise man once wrote, "...all we have to do is live long enough, and we will suffer."* Well I guess I've lived long enough. Over the past three years, Lauren and I have gone through several trials: family, job, and even personal. Before the Lord gifted Lauren and I with Payton Anne, we had three miscarriages. This is not one of those things that gets easier with experience. There was significant weeping with heavy hearts.

It's that time again - for our annual All Church Picnic! The theme for this year's picnic is "A Taste of Grace" which builds upon one of the themes in the current sermon series of 1 Corinthians - unity in diversity. This year's picnic theme celebrates our unity, in that Grace is a gathering of people who are united in our belief that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The theme also celebrates, by God's grace, our great diversity in both age and ethnicity.

Come taste our "best" dishes that represent our traditional and/or cultural diversity and enjoy games and other fun activities for both youth and adults!

"A Taste of Grace" will be Sunday, June 10th, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm on the church grounds. This will be in place of our 11:00 am worship service.

For our date night this week, Lisa and I went to a garden park to walk, talk and enjoy the beauty of God on display. While sitting on a park bench, we noticed a mother goose sitting on a nest, affectionately and gently caring for a nest of eggs with hope and patient steadfastness. It reminded me that God is regularly portrayed as being like a mother who is affectionate, gentle, kind—a “God who is slow to anger and abounding in a steadfast loving kindness” toward us. This phrase may be the most repeated single phrase throughout the Old Testament describing God. While God is always called our Father and portrayed in Fatherly terms, some of the characteristics of God are associated with terms of motherhood. Why? Because God is a Spirit. He is always reflected in masculine terms to reflect his role in the Godhead; however, he is in reality neither male nor female. Yet, because man is made in his image—in both male and female—we reflect both aspects of God’s personality. Mothers can look to God and see a model of love for loving their children as God asks in Titus 2:4 or a model for how to display a “quiet and gentle spirit” which Peter reminds us is “very precious in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4). The apostle Paul describes his own ministry to the Thessalonians in terms of a “gentle nursing mother” who is “affectionately desirous” toward her child. And Jesus described himself as loving and nurturing like a mother, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing” (Luke 13:34 ESV)!

We had the priviledge of hearing from guest preacher Matthew Maka on the topic, The Gospel and Parenting from Luke chapter 6. You can listen to the sermon below or even download it from this post as well.

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