Prayer Worriers

            “Prayer Worriers” is how the message began.  The message continued with an  old friend sharing that he  was getting ready to have surgery and asking folks to pray for him.   I don’t know for sure, but I think that my friend meant to write “prayer warriors” instead of “prayer worriers”.     This mistake in a choice of  words got me to thinking about a connection between prayer and worry.    

Are you a “prayer worrier”?    Are you a person that will pray to God about something putting the person, circumstance, or need in God’s hand and then you turn around a few minutes, hours, or days later  to take it out of God’s hands and start worrying about it again?   A related thing that “prayer worriers” might do is to take a person, need, or circumstance before God  in prayer and then tell God what He should do to “make it all better”.

I have been a “prayer worrier” at times in my life.  There have been times when I have prayed about something close to my heart  (e.g. need, person, circumstance, etc.) and then continued to worry about it.    Sometimes, I have found myself putting the need in God’s hand and then worrying again when God does not work it out in MY TIME AND MY WAY.     In Matthew 6, I read these words:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]? 

These are not just any words in the Bible, but they are Jesus’ words.   When Jesus speaks, I know I need to listen.   Worry  does not add a single hour to life.  A matter of fact, mental health studies say that it might diminish the quality of life.   In this new year of 2020,  I am going to work on being more of a “prayer warrior” and less of a “prayer worrier”.   How about you?  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall  

Prayer:   God,  forgive me for the times I fail to trust in you.  Help me to trust you more fully and completely;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen. 

"That We Might Be One..."

            In the corners of my memory, I can still see the signs that said “white only” and “colored”.  I can still hear the adults talking in whispers about the “sit-in” by black students at the  Woolworths in Greensboro.  As I watched the movie “Remember the Titans” many years ago, I remembered again my high school senior year when our high school became the first predominately white high school in the south to have a black football coach. Americans recently observed  the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and remember his dream of a day when “all men are created equal” would be not only   words of the Declaration of Independence, but a way of life.     My hope and prayer is that we as the body of the Christ, the Church, might work to that end because of the words of another King, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Christ Jesus who prayed “that we might be one, even as I and the Father are one.”     If we that follow that King do not strive to love others whatever may be the color of their skin, then how can we  love a God that we cannot see?

PRAYER

 O God, whose Spirit made people of different places and backgrounds one in Christ at Pentecost, let the power of your love overcome the barriers between us that we might be neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, black and white.  Make us one in Christ Jesus.  Amen.  

The Fiddler on a Stool

            The yard is now overgrown by bushes that need trimming and grass that needs mowing.   A sign from a local real estate company tells all that wait at that stoplight the property is available for sale.   As I sat at  that stoplight a few weeks ago at the corner of Winecoff School Road and Highway 73 in Concord,  I thought about a time years ago when I saw a different sight when I sat at that stoplight.   On many Sunday mornings, I would travel that way to a nursing home where I would visit a member of our church congregation before Sunday worship.  While many folks are not eager to see a pastor on Sunday morning, the folks at that nursing home were always glad to see me.   In turn, I was glad to see them because there was something about my visit there that reminded me what I would be praying about  and who I was preaching to when I would step into the pulpit later on Sunday morning.

            On most Sunday mornings when I would sit at that stoplight as I headed from the nursing home to Sunday services, I would see a surprising sight:  a man sitting on a stool in the yard of that house playing a fiddle or violin.   I would often roll down the windows of the car and turn down the radio so I could hear the sweet melodies of a country tune or a familiar hymn that would drift across the highway in my direction before the stoplight would change and allow me to be on my way.      I know not the man’s name nor do I know anything about him.    What I do know is the yard of that house is now overgrown and the property is for sale.      For a few moments on a Sunday morning, the melodies of that fiddler/violinist would be music for my ears and to my soul because a man chose to share his talents with the world.  

            What talents do you have?    What skills do you possess?    I could not tell you if that violinist could sit in the first chair of the Charlotte Symphony or whether he could fiddle along with the tunes of your favorite country singer.   What I can tell you is that a man took the time to share his music with a world that certainly needs to hear some harmonies.    What skills and  talents do you have to share with the world today?   Share them now before it is too late.  Perhaps the best gift you can give is found in simply being you.    Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   God, I thank you for the gifts and talents that others have shared with me that have made my life better and brighter.   Help me to do the same;  through the greatest gift, Jesus Christ, I pray.   Amen. 

The 12th Day of Christmas

Since last Sunday was the day of  Epiphany  (the 12^th day  after the birth of Jesus when   the wise men arrived from their far country home to worship the Christ child), I have found myself thinking about the wise men lately.   How about those gifts that the wise men brought to the Christ child.   How did they ever decide to bring those gifts?   Wouldn’t it have been more practical to bring the Christ child a blanket or baby clothing instead of gold, frankincense, and myrrh?    And what about that gold, frankincense, and myrrh  given to the Christ child?  Certainly the Christ child had no ability at his young age to make a decision about how to use  those things.  I wonder what Mary and Joseph did with those gifts?  Did they use the gold to finance their quick trip to Egypt or give it in the temple as a gift to God?   Since myrrh was used as a burial ointment and Joseph is believed to have died when Jesus was at a  young  age, was Joseph’s  body anointed with the myrrh that the wise men brought?   Did Mary and Joseph give the frankincense to Zechariah (father of John the Baptist) to use in his duty at the temple?  

None of us know what Mary and Joseph did with the gifts the wise men brought the Christ child.  Since the Holy Scriptures do not tell us, all we can do is speculate about their use.  But one thing is certain:  when a gift is given, the receiver of the gift must decide what to do with it.      Every day, you and I are given the gift of life and new life in Christ.    Our life and our salvation is a gift given to us by God.  We can use the gift of this life and salvation  or not use it   It is God’s desire that we use the gift of life and new life in Christ for the glory of God.  What will we do with the life that is ours in Christ? 

PRAYER

            O God,  thank you for the gift of life.  Lord, give me the faithfulness and the wisdom to use the gift of life in Christ for your glory;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

I Am Tired this Christmas

                I am tired today, and it is not because I did not sleep well last evening or because of the busyness of this Christmas and holiday events.   As I reflect on my tiredness, I realize there are some other things I am tired of.  As I think about the man going to Tennessee who I bought $10 of gas some time ago , I am tired of seeing people struggle with so little.  I am tired of hearing the sad tales of families that know strife.  I am tired of seeing in the newspaper the names of men and women soldiers who die in faraway lands and people in places in the USA who die even as they gather to worship.  

                The Gospel of John does not have a story about the birth of Jesus. You will find no shepherds or wise men there.  The closest that John comes to sharing about the birth of Jesus is this:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father"  (John 1:14). What that means for me is that God knows and understands what we experience in life because God in Christ lived among us.   If you are feeling tired at Christmas like me, know that God understands as Christ Jesus was so tired one day that he sat down beside the well (see John 4:6).    If you are tired of seeing poverty or know poverty, know that God understands because His Son was so poor when he was born that his parents wrapped him in swaddling cloths (see Luke 2:12).  If you are tired of strife in your family or in families around you, know that God understands because the family of Christ Jesus did not always understand him (see Matthew 12: 46-50).  If you are tired of war, know that when Christ was born the angels announced that Christ would bring a new age of peace and good will (see Luke 2:14).

  

                Christmas means many things, and one of the things that Christmas means is that God understands  because God in Christ became one of us.  God not only understands, but through that Christ he came to do something for  the plight of our humanity.   Have a joy-filled week and a Happy New Year!-   Pastor Randy Wall

PRAYER

                Almighty God, thank you for your gift to the world of yourself in Jesus Christ.  We give thanks that you not only understand what it is to live, but through Christ you offer us salvation.  Make me mindful in this season of the eternal, changeless truths of Christmas;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

A Living Nativity on Graham Hopedale Road

One of the big influences on my beginnings in becoming a follower of Christ were  my experiences in the youth group of  Grace Church in Burlington.   The youth and the adults that worked with the youth of my home church were an important part of my life in my teen years  and I will always be grateful to God for them.  I remember an occasion when our youth fellowship group decided we wanted to have a “living nativity scene” for a series of nights in December near Christmas.       It was not uncommon for churches and businesses in those days to have wooden figures on their lawns in December that resembled Mary, Joseph, wise men, and the others in the “Christmas story”.    However, it was unusual in those days in our area  for that story to be told through real human beings and real livestock.

     

With the help and encouragement of our youth counselors and people in the church, we decided to have a living nativity scene for a series of nights near Christmas.   The lawn of our church seemed to be a prime spot to share the real message of Christmas with many since Graham-Hopedale Road was a main thoroughfare in that section of Burlington.    We built a outline of stable with old wood;  Carl Parks was kind enough to let us use some of his sheep and cows so we would have livestock for the stable.    Parents and youth counselors helped us create costumes that would resemble what our 1970’s mind thought was the way the shepherds, wise men, and the others dressed at the time.     Some parents volunteered to prepare hot chocolate and  snacks for us to enjoy when we came in from the winter cold.   We were excited and we were ready. 

Things did not turn out quite like we had planned or imagined.   Though some of the youth group were eager to sign up to be shepherds, after a few minutes they wandered away like lost sheep to other pursuits.     Though we thought it a great idea to have livestock in our 1970 stable, some of the sheep decided to wander away just like the shepherds and (unfortunately) one of the sheep was hit by a passing motorist.       While all of us were bundled with many layers of clothes, they were not thick enough to withstand the blistering cold and wind in piedmont North Carolina in December.     Youth that had been so eager to create a “living nativity scene”  soon realized that it was more than we had bargained for. 

I tell that true story because I think it a fitting metaphor of the way the story of the birth of Christ Jesus really is.   A young peasant pregnant girl named Mary and her betrothed, Joseph, make the trek to Bethlehem;   shepherds tending their flock have their tranquil night transformed by an angelic message and appearance.   Wise men in a country far away see a bright light in the heavens that beckons them to travel.    All came and all were  changed because of a God who gave them all more than they bargained for.  In the life of a small tiny child born in Bethlehem  God gave them and the whole world  a Savior who would save them from their sins.   Thanks be to God for this wondrous gift!-    Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:   “O holy child of Bethlehem, descend on us we pray.   Cast out our sins and enter in, be born in us today.   We hear the Christmas angels; the great glad tidings tell.  O come to us; abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.”   Amen.  

Christmas Shopping: Finished or Just Getting Started?

Are you finished with your Christmas shopping or not even started?   If you have not started your Christmas shopping, it certainly is not because the retailers have not made you aware through television, internet,  and print of what they have to offer.    We give and buy our gifts for one reason- God’s great gift to the world found in Christ Jesus, God incarnate.   You might see some sales and bargains in this Christmas shopping season, but no gift compares with God’s gift in Christ Jesus.  And on top of that, God’s gift is free.  The apostle Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 2:8,  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”.    Thanks be to God for the gift of Christ and the gift of God’s grace that is ours in this season and every season. 

PRAYER

            O God, who came among us long ago and who comes among us in these Advent  days, prepare our hearts to receive anew the gift of your son, Jesus Christ.    Cleanse our hearts through the power of your Holy Spirit that Christ might live anew in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.