Clarksbury Church

Romans 10:13 For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15 And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

We are the hands and feet of Christ in this world.  We are charged with taking the message of Christ to our community, our places of work and recreation.  Our life should bear witness to Christ living within us.   Each decision that we make each day should reflect Christ in us.  Simple decisions over and over again create a life style of faith.

A few weeks ago Will receive Student of the Day.  A teacher witnessed him pick up a dollar that fell out of another student’s book bag.  He flagged the other student down a returned the dollar.  Will never knew that anyone was watching.  He was not doing it for recognition or praise.  He was making a simple choice to live in a way that was morally upstanding and reflective of his beliefs.  As a middle-schooler, he was excited to receive the praise, but that was not his motivation.  This simple choice reflected a way of life.  Simple choices add up to our live styles and witness to the condition of our hearts, for good or bad.

As we walk through each day, we make simple choices that bear witness to Christ within us.  May we live as people worthy to be called Christ Followers!

Blessings,

Pastor Mandy

John 8.1-11

8¹while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. ³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, ⁴they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ ⁶They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ ⁸And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ¹¹She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.

The crowd had their stones in hand as they brought the woman to Jesus.  They were ready to stone her to death.  She was a sinner and she was caught in the act of adultery.  (On as side note – I have always wondered if she was caught in the act, wasn’t there a man with her.  In this story, he seems to be missing.)

The crowd was more than ready to judge the sins of the woman, until Jesus stepped in asked them to consider themselves.  The one without sin was the first to throw the first stone.  The only one that lived without sin was there, but did not cast the stone.  Jesus was clear that we are to focus not on the sins of other, but on our own sin.  We need to be taking care of the places in our life that are not right, instead of judging others.

In a judgmental world, it is easy to slip into judging others.  There will be times when we find ourselves in the middle of judging someone.  When that happens, may we hear the words of Jesus talking us down and putting us in our place.

Jesus was offered the woman grace and mercy that day instead of judgment.  Jesus offers us the same grace and mercy for our sinfulness.  We are to acknowledge that grace and mercy, be thankful and pass it on that others may experience God’s transformation love living in us.

God bless,

Pastor Mandy

 Luke 4.23-30

²³He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ ²⁴And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. ²⁵But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ ²⁸When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Jesus did not care about making friends.  He cared much more about truth telling.  As he stood in front of the Jewish people he did not say what they wanted to hear.  Instead of giving them what they wanted, he gave them the cold hard truth.  Today, when we read this scripture it does not sounds harsh, but those that heard it wanted to kill him for what he said.  So what is the big deal?  Jesus basically said that there were plenty of Jewish widows in the time of Elijah, but Elijah did not go to them.   Instead of being sent to an Israelite woman, Elijah went to a Gentile.  If the message was not clear in the first story, Jesus tells a second.  Elisha did not cleanse all the Israelite leapers, but did cleanse Naaman who was a Syrian.  The people that heard this story were filled with rage.  Jesus was saying that God came not to the chosen of Israel that were on the inside, but to the outsiders.

We know, reading the rest of the story, that Jesus wanted them to know that he came not just for the Jewish people, but also for the Gentiles.  It was a hard message to hear.  Jesus came for everyone, not just the people that looked and acted like those sitting in the synagogue.  It might not seem like a revelation to us, but if you visit most churches in the U.S. on a Sunday morning, you will find that most everyone looks the same.  We have grouped ourselves by race and economic affluence.  Jesus’ message that morning to that group of worshipers was that God was interested in those on the outside.  Those that were not there and had not heard God’s word yet.  I believe that message is the same for us.  God is interested in those that have not heard the message yet.  We spend so much of our time and energy on ourselves and tending the flock that is already in church, that we forget that God is interested in bring in those on the outside.  Maybe, just maybe, if we did tell that truth we might have people wanting to run us out of town.  Jesus was not interested in making friends; he was interested in telling the cold hard truth.

Jesus’ message did not change Nazareth in a day, but standing up for that truth through the power of God changed the world.  How are we called in this day to tell the truth despite the consequences?

God bless,

Pastor Mandy

 Deuteronomy 6.4-9

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.⁶Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ⁸Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, ⁹and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In Israel, you will find Mezuzahs on doorposts of houses.   In the hotels, they are on each room.  The Mezuzah is a word that means doorpost.  The tradition of have a Mezuzah on the door goes back to this scripture.  The Mezuzahs either have the Hebrew words for “The Lord our God is God alone” printed on it or sometimes this whole scripture is printed on a scroll inside the Mezuzah.  Having it as they walk into their homes is a way of remembering God and keeping God at the forefront of their lives.  It has become a reminder to pray for God’s blessing.

We need reminders in our daily lives.  Objects that help us remember to keep God at the center of our lives.  Maybe it is a simple as a cross on our necklace, a picture on our wall or our Bible by our bedside.   Symbols point us to something much greater than the symbol itself.  During this time of Lent, place a symbol in your home, office or car that points to God that you might remember to pray for his blessing upon your life each time you see it.

Blessings,

Pastor Mandy

Luke 15.1-3, 11-end

15Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

3 So he told them this parable:

11 Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” ²²But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” ³¹Then the fathersaid to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” ’

The son that leaves home in this story does not get what he deserves.   We can all agree that he gets much more than he ever deserves.  He thought that he knew it all.  He took what he thought he was entitled to get from his father.  He made mistake after mistake.  He did learn a lesson, but some would argue that he deserved to receive much less of a warm welcome home than a party.  The father celebrated in an outrageous fashion by the standards of the loyal son that played by the rules.  The son felt entitled to a little punishment of the other.  All these reactions are part of being human.

We all make the same mistakes in life.  We believe we know all the answers.  We feel entitled to certain things.  We make bad choices.  We feel jealous of what others receive.  All these things make us human.  The reaction of the father is much different than the feelings and actions of his sons.  The father grants mercy and grace instead of punishment and lectures.  The love of the father over shadows the human reactions of his children.

This, like all of Jesus parables, is more than a story of a dysfunctional family.  It is a picture of the human condition and the love, mercy and grace of God.  God desires us to be in a relationship with him and nothing that we do keeps us from that love, as long as we are willing to come back home to God.  The son that left deserved punishment but received mercy, just because he was willing to come home.  When we fall away from God and sin, we to deserve punishment, but God offers us mercy.  We have to be willing to see what we have done wrong and our need to come home.  God is waiting and watching for us.  God wants to be in a healthy relationship with him.  God is waiting full of love, mercy and grace.

God bless,

Pastor Mandy

Matthew 21.33-43, 45-46

33 ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ ⁴¹They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’

42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?
⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Jesus brought light to the problems of the world by telling parables that resembled what was happening in the world.  This story is not just about a rich man’s vineyard, but about the kingdom of God.  The story seems so far beyond the norm of society that it is shocking.  Why would these tenants that have no right to the land or the produce kill the slaves or the owner’s son?  We can easily see that they are in the wrong.  When we see that point, we can then go to the deeper meaning.  The tenants are those that God has trusted to produce good fruit.  They have no right to the land or the produce.  In the time of Jesus, these were the people that stood all around him.  Today, we are the tenants.  The salves are the prophets that were killed bringing the news of the kingdom, sometimes good news, many times bad news.  The son is, of course, Jesus.

There are many things that this scripture teaches us.  One of those, for me, is that many times we need a different perspective.  The people that were caught up in this parable, the Jewish people, were really trying to do what was right.  They were trying to protect their religion from false prophets.  They were protecting the traditions that defined them.  They were so caught up in believing that they we right that they had missed the bigger picture.  Jesus told them their story from a different perspective in an effort to get them beyond themselves.

There are times in our lives that we too get caught up in our perspective.  We overlook the bigger picture.  There are times that we need to stop and look beyond where we are to see how God is working or how we are preventing God from working.  We need people in our lives that we can trust to help us see our lives from a different perspective.  Find people that you trust to tell you the truth and don’t be afraid to ask for a different perspective.  This is not a sign of weakness, but rather as sign of maturity.

Blessings,

Pastor Mandy

Luke 16.19-end

19 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” ²⁵But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” ²⁷He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.”²⁹Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” ³⁰He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” ³¹He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’

We all know the Lazarus’ of life; those people that sit on the exit ramps with signs, sleep on busy city streets or ask for money when we pass.  Many of us cringe when we see them.  We have an internal unrest.  We know that Jesus wants us to help others, but are these really the “others” that Jesus means?  How do we know their story?  How do we know if they are responsible people?  Is this a scam or do they really need help?  If they really needed something shouldn’t they go get a job?

Jesus tells this parable about the rich man and Lazarus.  As I was reading, I noticed something that I had never noticed before.  It was not until after the rich man needed something that the rich man used Lazarus’ name.  When the rich man was in need, he saw the very humanness of Lazarus.  How many times had he seen Lazarus and not really thought about him as a child of God.

There will always be people that we cannot help, but we should not treat them with less respect than they deserve.  When we are quick to judge them and to make assumptions about them we do the very opposite of what Jesus taught us.  Jesus said that we should love God and love our neighbors.  When we feel that judgmental thought rise up in us, let us remember that the Lazarus of life are children of God, created in the image of God and worthy of respect and love.  We may not be able to help everyone, but we can treat everyone with respect.

Blessings,

Pastor Mandy

Matthew 11.28-30

28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

We all carry burden in our hearts.  It is part of the human condition; to have struggles and challenges.  Jesus knows that it is hard to have rest for our souls when they are overloaded with burdens.  Jesus offers us an invitation, take his yoke and have rest from the burdens of life.  You may know that a yoke is used to balance power between two animals.  The stronger animal bears the brunt of the load.  Jesus offers to walk with us in our life and to carry our load and give us rest.  The invitation is open to walk through your burdens with Christ.  Will you accept his invitation and have rest for your soul?

Blessing,

Pastor Mandy

Matthew 23.1-12

23Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ²‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; ³therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.⁴They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. ⁵They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. ⁶They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. ⁸But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. ⁹And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

As I was driving this morning, I heard someone on the radio talking about personal convictions.  They said that many people believe things with their minds and their hearts, but fail to live them out in their lives.  They were saying that if we truly believe something we act it out with our life, we don’t just proclaim it with our lips.

Jesus was talking to people that could see this idea in action.  They were taught one way and shown another by those that were teaching religion.  This has been a problem for every religion not just Judaism or Christianity.  Many people today feel this way when they know someone goes to church and then does things that are not worthy to be called “Christian.”  The simple fact is that sometimes we fail, but we are a living example of what we believe.  If we continue to do things that are wrong without trying to change, we are living out of our core beliefs, good or bad.

I agree with the woman on the radio this morning.  When we really believe something with our mind and heart, we do all we can to live it on our lives.  When we live out Christian discipleship in our lives, we are a witness to God and we bring glory to him.  In this day, how will you live out your beliefs?

Blessings,

Pastor Mandy

Daniel 9.4-10

⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,

‘Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, ⁵we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. ⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

7 ‘Righteousness is on your side, O Lord, but open shame, as at this day, falls on us, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.⁸Open shame, O Lord, falls on us, our kings, our officials, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. ⁹To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

Human nature makes it is hard for us to admit that we are wrong.   We know that before we can truly change, we have to admit to ourselves that we have done something wrong and we need a change in our life.  In Christian terms, the word for this is repentance.  True repentance begins with admitting to ourselves and to God that we have sinned and we are in need of forgiveness.  It also means that we desire a change in our lives and are willing to work to make that change occur.

Daniel is admitting the sins of the people of Israel.  The people have sinned against God and are in need of forgiveness.  We know that time and time again God forgave them and they continued to sin.  Looking back on the history of the Hebrew people it is easy to say they failed to change their hearts and lives, but their failure reveals to us a loving, patient God.  We too continue to sin and to fail as individuals and as the Christian church.  God continues to forgive us when we fail.  God is loving and patient as we seek to change our lives and our hearts.  When we fail and sin, God wants us to admit where we have been wrong, to seek his forgiveness and to change our hearts and lives.  May we see clearly, as Daniel did, our failures so that we can make a lasting change.

God bless,

Pastor Mandy