Fall Creek Christian Church

"Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person." Ecclesiastes 12:13 Life is full of conclusions. We conclude high school, college, and apprenticeships. We conclude jobs, projects, and programs. We conclude childhood, our youth, and if we're blessed, our children's childhood and youth. These conclusions are bitter-sweet by any measure. They beg the question, "What's the conclusion behind all the conclusions?" After all, there is one last conclusion for us all ... death. Solomon was a big thinker. He pondered. He examined. He weighed. He observed and he reached, you guessed it, many conclusions. He ultimately came to one and only one final conclusion. Revere God with a holy fear and obey him with an unwavering determination. In so doing, we fulfill our obligations to him. Putting our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins which makes us right with God is the only way to properly fear...

"David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him. When Saul recognized this, he became even more afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was so successful at leading his troops into battle." I Samuel 18:14-16 The other day I was attempting a car repair. One of my offspring had located a mailbox with the side view mirror of the car. Initial attempts to reattach said mirror were unsuccessful and a complete removal/replacement was needed. Nearly an hour into the project, the new mirror was solidly attached and shouts of joy ensued when the power button actually moved the mirror --- success!! Our verses today reveal that David was a very successful guy ... "in everything he did." He was a leader. He was an inspiration to warriors. Those he protected and served loved him. His enemy feared him. The secret to his success? "The Lord was with him." He was God's man following God's lead for God's glory. I...

 " Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." I John  4:18 It's a great relief to have negative things expelled from our lives. After having my wisdom teeth removed, they went into dry sockets. Pain and misery were my only companions for nearly two weeks. There is no way to describe the elation when they finally healed up. I felt like jumping, dancing and doing flips for joy. The only reason I didn't is because I can't really jump, dance or do flips, but you get the point.  In our verse for the day, John tells us something truly remarkable. Fear has been expelled from the life of the one who truly embraces the love of God in Jesus. How does that happen? Fear involves punishment. If we still think we are going to be punished for our sin, we haven't fully understood what Jesus was doing on the cross. He took our punishment. Why? ...

“And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  Matthew  22:39 "To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper." Proverbs 19:8 There are times when I'm looking at my wife or my children listening intently to every word they're saying. I understand the meaning of the words, but I have no idea what they're trying to communicate. I'll give them my all too familiar blank look and say, "I have no idea what you just said or what it is you're asking me." After another pass or two, we normally break through to clarity and move on from there. I've noticed there are times when I'm reading the Bible where I have that similar experience of lack of understanding. The second greatest command of Jesus is one of those examples. It's not so much the "love your neighbor" part. It's the "as yourself" part. What does that mean? One of the great truths about the Bible is ...

“The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' He (Jesus) replied, 'If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." Luke 17:5-6 The apostles were distracted by the "more" disease. It's a condition, with which, all of us at one time or another have been afflicted. All I need is more help, more money, more freedom, more power, more control, more time, more love and then everything will be better. The myth of the "more" has brought down many good people.  In our verses for the day, Jesus was attempting to reorient the focus of the apostles' thinking. One commentator observed that the amount of faith is secondary to its quality and its focus. Honestly, how much faith, if directed towards the omnipotent God is really necessary? According to Jesus, a little living seed is all that is needed.  A seed is meant to be planted. So is faith. Plan...

“When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy these laws on a scroll for himself in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep this copy of the law with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God ... prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he's above others ... prevent him from turning away from these commands ... ensure his reign and his descendants..."  Deuteronomy 17:18-20 Ten years or so ago, I joined with a group of men on a mission trip to one of the island tribes of Panama. We built homes and started construction of a school for the tribe. It was definitely an adventure as we tent camped for 4-5 days and nights. Food, water, and bathroom facilities weren't like home to say the least. I think we only bathed once with soap and that was in the ocean. Being a person who is a big proponent of daily hygiene, this experience was way out of my comfort zone.  Simply said, there are some activit...

"The Lord is my light and my salvation-- so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress protecting me from danger-- so why should I tremble? When evil people come to destroy me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack me, I remain confident."   Psalm 27:1-3  A few days ago I saw a spider that was so big, my first instinct was to grab a baseball bat to defend my life and the lives of all those with me.  After taking a photo of said arachnid, we did some google research.  It turns out this kind of spider is such a bruiser that it doesn't even bother to make spider webs.  It just sneaks up on dinner and pounces on it.  ...  I don't like spiders. Even though we humans are typically not on the menu, their mere presence is simply unsettling to me. Fear is a reality for all of us.  It may or may not be spiders, but it's there lurking in th...

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with surging."  Psalm 46:1-3 Life seems to follow a pattern of:  Storms approaching, Storms raging, Storms subsiding.  The older we get the less surprised we are at this pattern.  However, regardless of age or mounting experiences, the fury of the storm never loses its sting.  It still hurts when others are cruel.  It still concerns when resources are not matching needs.  It still grieves to say, "Good-bye."  Broken dreams still break the heart. This reality was not lost on the writers of this Psalm.  They got it.  Perhaps, it's better to say, "They got him."  Ever-present trouble requires ever-present help.  The ground beneath our feet may give way.  The towering strength of the mountain ma...

"King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, 'I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.'  'They will not hand you over,' Jeremiah replied.  'Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you.  Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.'"   Jeremiah 38:19-20 All I had time to do was to shout, "Stop!"  My son had pedaled his bike off the sidewalk near a busy intersection without noticing that he was just about to end up in oncoming traffic.  Fortunately, he stopped.  The raw emotion of my response left him indelibly marked with a healthy fear of traffic while biking near busy roads, but not an unhealthy fear of biking itself.  Fascinating isn't it?  Fear is neither always bad nor always good.  It really depends upon its object. King Zedekiah's circumstances placed him in a crisis of faith.  Would he fear God more than men?  God's pro...

"He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." Proverbs 13:20 When our fearless leader showed up with full body white cover ups, I should have known things were about to get really really interesting. The owners of the house, who had no means to pay anyone, had a kitchen drain that had come apart under their crawl space. We were there to fix it in Jesus' name. Water, etc. had been pouring out onto to the ground for who knows how long. We had to lay down some plastic tarp, crawl over the muck and through the cobwebs to get to the drain pipe to repair it. The men I was with that day reminded me that sometimes loving others is a tough and dirty job. The writer of the Proverbs here lets us know in no uncertain terms that we will come under the influence of those with whom we spend our time. Guilty by association if you will. We get to choose ... Do we want to be guilty of being wise or being foolish? Granted, we are told to love ...

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4 ESV) What or who are you afraid of? Are you fearful of losing your job, your family, or even your life? Are you afraid of a certain person? So many times we are fearful of what may happen. And when we go there, the possibilities for terror are unlimited. The following quote from Eugene Peterson is so powerful: "If we truly believe that we live in a God-bathed world, we having nothing to be afraid of." We are praying today that you would take Psalm 23:4 to heart, and know that you have nothing to be afraid of... Because God is with you.

Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they immediately began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord. They did this each morning and evening." Ezra 3:3 At some point in our lives, most of us have experienced the grief of bullying either personally or through the eyes of someone we love. Bullying is an egregious attempt on someone's part to elevate themselves or their agenda at the expense of someone else's dignity or efforts. It is horrible through and through. As a grade school kid, I was pretty excited when the local paper boy said that he would pay me to deliver the paper route for him from time to time. I honored my half of the bargain only to discover later that he had no intention of honoring his. He was quite a bit older and bigger than me and I was afraid of him. I had a choice to make. I could either keep being used or I could stand up to him and tell him that I wasn't ...