Fall Creek Christian Church

"But when he (King Uzziah) had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord's Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. ... They (the priests) confronted King Uzziah, '... Get out of the sanctuary for you have sinned. ... .' ... leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead." II Chronicles 26:16-21 Over and over again the headlines buzz with fundamentally the same message ... "Another One Bites The Dust." Affairs. Abuse. Lies. Illicit Drugs. Embezzlement. Numerous men and women of social, religious or political standing have found themselves looking into the cameras for all the wrong reasons. When having it all leaves one assuming they deserve all and are above all, the proverbial wheels begin to loosen. King Uzziah was God's man. He faithfully pursued the Lord for guidance. God said. Uzziah did. He obeyed his commands. He cried out ...

"I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold. I will call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, for he saves me from my enemies." Psalm 18:1-3 As the young woman entered the hospital room in her white lab coat, we just looked at her quizzically. The same questions were bouncing around in all our heads. Who are you? What are you doing here? Clearly the looks on our faces communicated the same questions. She quickly introduced herself and let us know she was Dr. So-and-so's physician assistant. After that, we freely asked her questions appropriate to her identity.   In Psalm 18, David couldn't stop himself from reciting everything he knew God to be. My Strength. My Rock. My Fortress. My Savior. My God. My Protector. My Shield. My Strength. My Stronghold. Whoa! Given this reality of who God is, David responded...

I Am The One "David looked up and saw the Angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth with his sword drawn, reaching out over Jerusalem. So David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap to show their deep distress and fell face down on the ground. And David said to God, 'I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep--what have they done? O Lord my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people.'" I Chronicles 21:16-17 I had my suspicions, but I couldn't prove it. Our youth group's honor system snack bar money kept coming up short. I had hoped that conscience would win the day, but sadly, it didn't. Finally, I caught the person and confronted him. He kept denying it like the child with the cookie still in his mouth as he tells his dad he didn't eat it. Instead of acknowledging that he was the one stealing and asking forgiveness, he just le...

"They waged war against the Hagrites, the Jeturites, Naphishites, and the Nodabites. They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated. I Chronicles 5:19-20 Things weren't looking good. The semester was coming to an end and I was on the verge of seeing my first ever failing grade after never even seeing a "C" before. My mind and this course had a complete and total disconnect. Hours of study and practice problems proved pointless. There was only one thing left to do ... "Help!" I prayed relentlessly and started meeting with a super smart kid in my class. By God's grace, I narrowly passed.  The people of Israel had amazing moments where they were in step with God. This passage records one of those moments.Tucked in the midst of the record of genealogies, we find this solid gold scene of life with God in summary form. Instruction. Obedience. Res...