Monthly Archives: July 2015

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on July 3, 2015
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A Holy Experiment — Rev. David J. Schreffler

July 3, 2015

“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’ ” He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Luke 18:20-22

“One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you— and His experiments always succeed.” My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers

“He will make a holy experiment out of you”. Did you ever think that you were possibly a grand experiment on the stage of life? I have often felt as if my whole life was an experiment — and the more I did, the more I experienced, the more I learned about life, the universe and everything (to quote one of my favorite authors, Douglas Adams). We have to live life to learn about life, and in living life, we learn to try new and different ways to deal with the situations that come upon us. So, yes just living life is a grand experiment. And when G*d uses us for G*d’s will, we become a “holy experiment”. We must be open and more prepared than ever to be a test-case for Christ — a case experiment in love, mercy and Grace.

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on July 2, 2015
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Always Present — Rev. David J. Schreffler

July 2, 2015

“Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:7-10

When I was in high school, my mother worked in the High School Office – she was a secretary. As such, since my high school was very, very small (I knew everyone from 5th grade to 12th grade) it was difficult to hide if I was in trouble or caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing. Even the few times that I was in trouble, it seemed my mother knew in an instant. There was no escaping her presence.

This is the kind of G*d that we have — we have a G*d who is always present — we can not escape this G*d of ours. When G*d promises to be in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, we know that G*d is there. When G*d promises to be in the waters of our Baptism, we know that G*d is there. And when G*d promises to be in the word preached and read, in the presence of the Holy Spirit wherever two or three have gathered in the name of Jesus, well, G*d is there. And what is surprising about this G*d we have is that the Spirit blows into our lives and out again — and we have no idea when or where that Spirit will move. We just need to remember that G*d promises to be there — G*d promises to be present — no matter where we go, no matter where we flee, no matter where we find ourselves — G*d will be there.

How do you look for G*d’s presence in your life each and every day?

Pastor Dave