Fall Creek Christian Church

"One day some parents brought their children to Jesus to touch them and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them,'Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.'" Mark 10 13-14 There are moments in our lives where we wish we could get a redo. A little tweak here and there and it would have been a much better experience for everyone. There are other moments however, that move way passed simple regret. These are the memories we beg God to erase. We hope every morning that we'll wake up to find out they were only a bad dream. We didn't really say or do that. It never truly happened, did it? Yet, with soul crushing clarity, we remember it did. This scene was one of those times for the disciples. I believe this to be true because I've done the same thing. They stood betw...

"'Now which of  these three would you say was neighbor to the man who was attacked by thieves?' Jesus asked. The man replied, 'The one who showed him mercy.' Then Jesus said, 'Yes, now go and do the same.'" Luke 10:36-37 After being rocked by waves for over three hours, my poor wife was more than ready to move to calmer waters. As a person who struggles with motion sickness, those waves did her digestive system absolutely no favors. The boat driver took us around the point and then inside the break wall to calm waters. In so doing, he showed her great mercy. Relief was quick and gratitude was high. The story of the Good Samaritan is one just about all of us have heard. A man jumped by thieves and left for dead. Two pass by, but then a third stops to help. One commentator made these observations: For the thieves, the man was a target to rob. For the religious leader, he was a problem to avoid. For the average church goer, he was a curiosity to ...

“For David had done what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and had obeyed the Lord's command throughout his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite."  I Kings 15:5 I remember reading the roster for the sixth grade basketball team. I felt pretty confident going into the tryouts that I would get on the team. If memory serves me correctly, there was an "A" and a "B" team. Surely I was on one of the lists. Nope. It felt like everyone made a team except me. I learned very quickly the sharp stinging edge of the  except . The narrator/author of I Kings was compelled to publish David's  except  once again. Adultery. Conspiracy to commit murder. It was a very ugly story.   David followed God ... most of the time. In Psalm 51, he came to terms with his e xcept  ... "Have mercy on me, O God." God did.  You and I have some of those  excepts  too don't we? We can let them haunt us. We can pretend they never happened and hope they go away. We c...

"He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy.  He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.  He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did.  He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness.  And now we know that we will inherit eternal life."      Titus 3:5-7 As I leaned over to grab my ankles, a wide variety of thoughts raced through my 13 year old mind ... "Is this going to hurt?  I'd rather not be here.  Is this really happening?  What will my parents think when they find out?"  Whack!! Ouch!  My inquiry as to the painfulness of getting a swat from my burly history teacher was rather convincingly answered.  While reflecting on this particularly vivid memory, I notice that at no time then or since then did I ever think or say, "I'm innocent!  This punishment is an injustice!"  Nope.  Never. ...

“'My thoughts are completely different from yours,' says the Lord. 'And my ways are beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Is. 55:8-9 I once was standing in a circle of college professors. Each had earned their doctorates in their particular area of expertise. My immediate sense of intellectual smallness grew through the course of the introductions. "Hello Dr." ... "Dr." ... "Nice to meet you Dr." And then there was me. The Sesame Street tune starting running through my mind ... "One of these things is not like the other." Thankfully, the conversation remained at a level, within which, I could engage. However, I was keenly aware that if they had chosen to do so, they could have easily discoursed over my head. In our verses for the day, God in his mercy lets us in on a little secret. The m...