Almost, if not, every kid in school has “plans” for the summer months. They have plans ranging from a new hairstyle, vacation destination, baseball or softball goals, movies to watch, books to read, people to meet, etc., etc.. We probably all do something similar.

  In a family with three children:

  Child A talked about plans but slept in every day, watched a lot of television, and only did extra things the family or friends made them do. At the end of the summer, child A was extremely unhappy that the summer had gone by so fast. Everybody paid for child A’s frustration as everyone heard about it all the time. Child A was also mad at God for not making the summer more fun.

  Child B also talked about plans and wrote a few down. This child slept in some of the time, accomplished two out of three things on their plan, and only did extra things the family and friends made them do. At the end of the summer, child B was also extremely unhappy, but found some comfort in knowing that two of the three things in the plan were accomplished and began praying that the new school year would go quickly.

  Child C talked about plans, made a list of 60 goals, mapped out 30 of them on a calendar. This child slept in two days a week, did things with the family and friends, and accomplished 23 of the things on the list. At the end of the summer, child C was not extremely happy that summer was over, but was not unhappy either because many things had been accomplished. Child C thanked God for a great summer and felt prepared for a new year in school.

  When it comes to life and our relationship with God, which child are you? Child A: I’ll tell God what to do and be mad at God for not doing it. Child B: I’ll do a little for God so that God will see some effort and reward me, but I’ll wonder why God didn’t do more for me. Child C:  I’ll trust God every day. I will challenge myself because God will help me. I will believe more and more in God because I have found God every day.

  We are all, one of these three. The beauty of it is that God loves us every day for what it is, a new day. God gave us the choice, and we will become what we choose.

Making faith, life!

  “On the Sabbath day He went to the synagogue, as He always did, and stood up to read. The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to Him. He opened the book and found the place where this is written: ‘The Lord has put His Spirit in me, because He appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly and to announce the time when the Lord will show His kindness.’”

  Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the assistant, and sat down…He began to say to them, “While you heard these words just now, they are coming true’” Luke 4:16-21 New Century Version

  “This is the Gospel of the Lord.” Many will say those words after reading from one of the four Gospels. They are said here because the words of Jesus we have heard ARE the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. He came to set us free from whatever keeps us from living the life God breathed into us!

  A sadly true statement has been made: “Jesus set the captives free, and the church has spent its time since then trying to re-capture them.” Another sadly true statement is that it’s usually no one’s fault but our own that we don’t feel as if we’ve been freed. Time after time, Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” Faith means believing in what we can’t see. Jesus simply asked those people to walk from the road of brokenness the seemingly invisible road of wholeness. Those who did, discovered new life.

  It’s May! It is the official month of spring. New life, provided by God, is all around us! Now, it’s our turn! Take a step in faith and accept the freedom God has given you and us! I don’t need to define it for you. You know what it is. Jesus is with us, in His Spirit, to help us take those steps!

Have you ever known someone who was brought back from perceived death? A book I’m reading asked that question and then went to explain the attitude of someone who has experienced a near death situation. They have a zest for life that recognizes a truly “new lease on life.”

  Jesus knew from beginning to end that suffering and death just didn’t matter to Him. Yes, it would be more painful than we have the courage to talk about. Yes, Jesus the man would breathe His last breath and die. And, YES, He knew that He would not really die. As a human, He all too well understood the pain of it all. As God and man He understood the reason, even more so. It was all for us. It was all so that we could live with hope, with a taste of how much God loves us, and a realization of how important God’s grace is in our lives.

  Easter is the time to remember this and CELEBRATE it! If we’re going to honestly celebrate it, then we MUST live like it’s real. Anyone who’s been truly and literally revived from the brink of death understands this and lives like it. Do we really grasp the gift we’ve been given?

  God has given us the greatest gift we will ever get—life that we cannot possibly define except to live it!

  It’s time to quit looking in the mirror and live it! It’s not about me, Rev. Greg Wack. It’s not about you or any other one person or group of people in the church. It’s not even about your church, my church, or anybody’s church! It’s about the Body of Christ in the world that celebrates and accomplishes its mission through he Church. It’s all about what God has done for us through Jesus!

  It’s like a friend, who’s a United Methodist pastor in Texas, recently said; “No more will I fear labels. No more will I hesitate due to rhetoric. Though all sides may denounce me—I follow Jesus.”

  That’s what it means to be a Christian. That’s my focus for life. That is the only mission of the Church. May the love, grace, and new life Jesus died and rose to give us become alive and real within you all!

As I write this, it’s Monday, November 23. Some of the major cable television networks have begun, and have already began, running Christmas movies. We watched one of these movies last night that was all about the notion of grace. It was about looking past imperfections and human expectations to look into our hearts.

Christmas is as much about unhappiness as it is about happiness. Jesus came to pave a path from the unhappiness of sin, mistakes, and misguided human expectations to a path of life and happiness in God’s love.

The cultural ideal of Christmas might be hard to find, but the true joy of Christmas remains abundant. It cannot be taken from anybody, and it is there for everybody. The peace and happiness that can only be found in God’s love is a gift that is always under everybody’s tree, whether the tree is real or imaginary. The grace that wipes away sin, mistakes, and unmet expectations is in the air waiting for us to let it work in our lives.

One of, if not THE, primary human desires is happiness. If you want to experience, and share, happiness this holiday season here are some steps to do so:

* Enjoy the company of your family and friends. This might mean forgiving and/or forgetting things they’ve done, or do, that you don’t like. * Watch at least one good Christmas movie. If the spirit of Christmas makes you laugh, laugh out loud with gusto. If the spirit of Christmas brings a tear to your eye, let it flow. (Yes, guys, it takes a lot more courage to let a tear roll than to pretend we’re too tough for emotion!)

* Sing some Christmas carols, or at least joyfully listen to some. * Talk to some kids about Christmas, or, eavesdrop on kids Christmas conversations. Uninhibited, unimpeded Christmas excitement is contagious! * Speaking of kids: Come and watch or help with our Kids Christmas Activity Time on December 13 from noon to 1 PM. * Help someone else have a Merry Christmas. There are numerous ways: Right here you can donate a box of cereal, a dozen sugar cookies, toys, money, etc. to our Hicksville community Christmas project efforts. * (Shameless plug: God see “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Huber Opera House.) * Come to any of our holiday worship services, especially our Christmas Eve service! * Most of all, in any and all of these things, find a way to let God’s grace and love wash over you and experience that joy, even in the @#%^& of life!

We have new families, new Sunday School classes, new looks, and possibility abounds in and through the ministries of Grace! In the midst of financial struggles we have been able to cut some expenses, have people think creatively to come up with fundraising projects that help the church and the community, and we are moving forward in our mission to follow Jesus! Our worship services are probably as vibrant and passionate as they’ve ever been with the help of these kinds of things: Our Chancel (adult) and Chapel (kids) choirs are going strong. Altar-ed Sound, our praise group, regularly provides various kinds of praise music, we have special music every week, and we have a meaningful time of singing praise music each week! The free soup supper, started by Lila Wittig, continues to provide food and company for people of our community! We continue to have some of the tried and true ministries that have been the foundational ministries of Grace throughout the years!

We still have our struggles, both financially and otherwise. We won’t be able to pay our full apportionments (the funds we send to our conference of the United Methodist Church to help support denominational resources and ministries) and we are always struggling to resource some of our vital ministries such as Christian formation and education.

All in all, there is more than enough good news to go around! Grace UMC is a vital Christian faith community in Hicksville with ministries that make a difference in people’s lives! As such, we continue to be a good investment of your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service! In this month of Thanksgiving, thank you for your past, present, and future support of all we do!

Can you read my mind? Do you wonder what thoughts are rambling around the emptiness of my brain? One way to find out is to read the postings on my office door. Another is to come right out and ask me. I’m going to help you out right now.

A pastor friend of mine (Rev. Bruce Cole, senior pastor of Faith Community Church in Huntley, Illinois) recently posted this on his Face Book page and I put on my office door:

“Faith is believing that one of two things will happen: there will be something solid for you to stand on—or—you will learn to fly.”

The imperative of this sentence is that, with faith, something is going to happen. Faith isn’t something to carry in your pocket for good luck. Faith is a word to decorate our house with to make people think or say ,”Awww.” Faith is a way of life that believes something is going to happen. As Bruce so nicely puts it: we will either find something solid to stand on, or, we will learn to fly.

Only statues find something solid to stand on so that they’ll not be moved. People find solid places on their way to something else. This isn’t my idea, or Bruce’s idea, it’s God’s way of doing things. the only time God ever gave someone a solid place to stand and not move was with Lot’s wife, after he turned her into a pillar of salt.

Somebody in another state is thinking” “O yeah, well the only time we fly is when we’re in a plane!” Absolutely! Amen! Guess what? The “church” is a flying machine! God invented the “flying machine” when He gave people the notion of faith. “Flying” isn’t meant to be literal (repeat that in your head). Flying IS meant to point toward things we can do that somebody doesn’t think we can do that will impact the world in a positive way.

In the Bible, God is pretty clear about something: Faith is a necessary ingredient for every disciple. There are no exceptions!

With faith, we at Grace are going somewhere! Thanks for what you’ve done in the past! Come join us as we move into the unavoidable future!