Daily Archives: January 13, 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 12:00 pm on January 13, 2015  

SALT – Rev. David J. Schreffler

Why do I feel so poor?
Each week is a struggle – the dance between wants, needs, desires…
I do not dance the dance of Astaire or Rogers,
more like Elaine from Seinfeld, a spasmodic jerking this
way and that…one minute too much and the next, nothing.
I am not poor – I am blessed – blessed with riches no person can provide.
So what makes my salt lose its saltiness?  My life becomes seasoned with doubt and despair,
hopelessness and feelings of scarcity – but they do not define me.

I feel poor…but Jesus seasons my life
I feel poor…but people season my life
So I am not poor – I am blessed with riches
So many blessings – so much salt to share

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 5:00 am on January 13, 2015  

“He fell…and was taken up dead” – Rev. David J. Schreffler

January 13, 2015

“And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.” Acts 20:9

Yesterday we had an ice event here in South Central PA. My wife, who does safety reports for PennDot, was out reporting on the road conditions, when she slipped on the ice and fell. In the process of falling she bruised her hip and hit her head on the ice. A doctor’s exam and a few x-rays later and I am glad to report that she is ok, just a little sore, but none the worse for the wear.

Life often brings us surprises, don’t you agree? We never know when we get up in the morning what might happen that day. From our reading, the young man Eutychus was anxious to hear Paul preach. But as his sermon went on and on, Eutychus also slipped – first into a deep sleep and then fell out the window.

The eternal question that many would ask here is: “Was this G*d’s plan for Eutychus to fall seemingly to his death?” My pastor’s answer would be the same as Jesus’ answer about the man who was born blind in John 9: this has happened “so that the works of G*d might be displayed in him.” The things that happen to us in life are not G*d’s way of playing the “Puppet Master”. But all things that happen to us can be opportunities for G*d to work in amazing ways in our lives. It begins with ultimate trust in G*d. We trust that G*d knows a higher path, but also trust that G*d will help us see a way through whatever it is that happens. For my wife, this injury allows G*d to work through the doctors, the physical therapists, her family, and others in her healing process. Today may not bring the things we were planning, or expecting, but every experience is an opportunity for G*d to do amazing things in our lives.

Pastor Dave