Fall Creek Christian Church

"Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship Gods you have not known before."   -Deuteronomy 11 There he stood, all two-and-a-half-feet of his two-and-a-half-year-old self fully engaged with the decision at hand. "Sorry buddy", his mother, my daughter, explained to him, "We don't always get we want." She continued, "If you choose to continue to whine and throw a fit, you'll have to sit in timeout. If you choose to nicely and calmly find something else to do, you're welcome to stay here with all of us. It's your choice."  Moses was having just such a conversation with the people of Israel in preparation for their entrance into the promised land. He reminded them of all that God had done for them in the past. ...

  "Gabriel appeared to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!'" Luke 1:26-38 "Um...are you sure about this?", I asked. I knew I was going to work on the maintenance crew for the summer, but I wasn't prepared for this news. "Yep", he said, "You're going to lead this team and make sure all of these critical support areas of the camp are right on track." I had never led anything. This plan didn't seem like a winning situation. I didn't know this; I didn't know that...blah, blah, blah. None of that mattered I was told. I was chosen and that was the end of it.  I have to believe similar thoughts went through Mary's mind when old Gabriel showed up with some news for her straight from God. Mary was a young woman. She was a "lowly servant girl." She was not married, but was about to be pregnant. None of that played out well in her world. Yet, she was chosen to become the mother of the ...

  "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!" Numbers 21:4-9 I've always been confused about the medical symbol -- a snake wrapped around the top of a pole. First, I don't like snakes. Never have, never will. If I come across one, I immediately recoil. Snakes, spiders and sharks; no thanks! One day, I did a little research. Okay fine, internet black hole. It turns out that it is the rod of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. I think a much better source for this symbol is this story in the Bible. The people were at it again. They never stopped speaking out against God and Moses. Again and again, God brought swift discipline into their lives. This time, it was poisonous snakes. They were all over the place and the people were getting bit and dying. It's amazing how quickly deadly snake venom brings a group to repentance! Moses prayed for them and God told h...

  "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!'" Numbers 11:10-23 Growing up our kids regularly took turns sitting in the whining chair. It was a little green chair that allowed the whiner their own space in a different room to process their emotions and consider the disrespectful, annoying and selfish tone of their voice. Once they gathered themselves, they were allowed to return to the family. Most of the time, all went well. However, if the whining continued, the chair was ready for action!!  Moses had hundreds of thousands of whiners. There weren't enough chairs to put them all in one. God brought fire to wipe some of them out, but the whining continued. Moses was absolutely worn out. "Kill me and put me out of my misery!!" he asked God. The whining was pure torture. He couldn't take it anymore. Graciously, God stepped in and provided him some help. He anointed more leaders. He prom...

"'I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them." Mark 10:13-31 One of the things my heart ached for the most when my children grew up were the times when I would come home and they would run into my arms, "Daddy!!" I could have had a terrible day, but in that moment, all was made right. They saw me and their hearts were filled with joy. I didn't do anything. I didn't bring them a gift. I just showed up. That's it. These days, my grandkids have given this priceless gift back to me, "Grandpa!!" Jesus loved to have the little kids run to him as well. The disciples didn't get it. More accurately, they were annoyed by it and tried to keep them away. Jesus told the disciples to leave the kids alone. They were interfering with those who belonged to the Kingdom. Enter the rich man. T...