Tag Archives: GRACE

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on July 30, 2015
Tags: GRACE, ,   

I Am a Fool For Jesus — Rev. David J. Schreffler

July 30, 2015

“Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.”” John 4:10-16

“You see, the issue in Christianity, in spite of what some people say, is not usually an intellectual one…..it is moral. Human nature does not change much from age to age. Jesus Christ understands human nature–all its foibles and dodges. He knows our difficulty. See how he dealt with this problem in a woman of the first century. Christ….came back to the first point–the real point, the wrong in her personal life which was cutting her off from a relationship with G*d…”  Peter Marshall (1902 – 1949) John Doe, Disciple – “For All The Saints”, volume IV (p. 450-451)

There is so much that can cut us off from a relationship with G*d….but so much of what does cut us off from G*d comes down to human nature — the desire to live our lives the way we want to — and not the way that G*d wants. We can’t fool Jesus — Jesus knows the human mind and the intellectual gymnastics we go through thinking we have fooled G*d. We have not fooled G*d. We have only fooled ourselves. We can go on playing the fool “with” G*d — or we can play the fool “for” G*d. I would rather play the second fool — for what is of the world is foolish compared to the glory of the kingdom of G*d. Come join me in being a fool for Jesus….

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on July 23, 2015
Tags: GRACE, ,   

Do You See the Cross? It is Right Here — Rev. David J. Schreffler

July 23, 2015

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:31-40

“Do not look for the cross of Christ in the past alone; in the year of our Lord 30. See it in the present, it is standing among us! The black sky brooding over Golgotha is arched above us too. The tempest and the earthquake which terrified Jerusalem terrify us also. Do not envision the cross of Christ as something far away. It is as near and contemporary as anything can be.” Edmund Schlink (1903 – 1984) “For All The Saints” volume IV (p. 313)

Who was Edmund Schlink? He was a leading German Lutheran theologian in the modern ecumenical movement, especially in the World Council of Churches. He was a teacher, a pastor (since 1932), and a professor (1946-1971), and he was also a leading participant in several official ecumenical dialogues. In 1961 he wrote the Theology of the Lutheran Confessions.

Schlink is trying to help us understand that the work of Christ was not just meant for the 1st century in Palestine. The work of Christ is embedded in all time and space — because we will always find the hungry among us — and the naked — and the sick — and those who are in prison. And so we look to the cross of Jesus, and the life and ministry of Jesus, and this informs us how to live our lives. I was sitting and talking with a lady the other day who was discussing her son. She said her son was seeking G*d’s direction in his life — but in particular, he wanted a clear sign from G*d that he should do this, or do that. Her response to her son was to say “I do not ever hear G*d’s voice — except when G*d tells me to help that person, be generous to that person, forgive that person, love those people. That is when I hear G*d’s voice most clearly.” I would say that this woman understands Matthew 25 — how the cross of Christ stands among us today — and how the voice of G*d speaks to us everyday, pointing us to service, love and grace.

Pastor Dave