Each Day Already is a Challenge

Monday, Monday

What a day I had yesterday. Busy, busy, busy.

In the morning, of course, hubby and I attended church. Our pastor continued with the series about getting to know Jesus. His focus, and that of the small group I attended Sunday night, was about Jesus as the Shepherd.

Did he really have to keep telling us that sheep are really stupid animals? After all, if Jesus is the Shepherd, that makes us the sheep...and stupid. But, I guess we are. We get lost just like sheep do, and we need our Shepherd to help us find our way home.

As usual, the notes I made in the margins are the ones I really want to remember.

God is love. Do we really get that???

People seek love through: performing, pity parties, positions of power, pleasure, possessions - none of which make us feel loved, at least not for very long.

Our congregation includes: seekers, strugglers, and sold-out followers. Even sold-out followers of Christ forget about how deep and how wide God's love really is sometimes.

If there was a notebook of all of your sins, how big would it be? Thankfully, our sins are forgiven and we don't have to keep carrying them with us!

Do you wake up thinking, "Good Lord, it's morning" or "Good morning, it's the Lord"????

Turn on your light, reflect God's love, be an example to the world.

Some of the Bible verses that we focused on in this lesson were:

John 10:11 NIV I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:14 NIV I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.

Psalms 40:11-12 TLB My only hope is in your love and faithfulness. Otherwise I perish, for problems far too big for me to solve are piled higher than my head.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

John 1:12 NIV Yet to all who received Him to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

John 13:34-35 TLB And so I am giving a new commandment to you now -- love each other just as much as I love you. Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

The sermon points were:

The Shepherd's Role:
God loves and knows me.
God looks after me.
God leads me.
My Response:
I receive God's grace and rejoice.
I rest in God's protection.
I resign myself to God's guidance.
I will reflect God's love.

Our small group focus on Sunday night was:

John 10:10 NIV The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Acknowledge the rescue.
Accept the rescue.
Appreciate the rescuer.
Announce the rescuer.

After both the morning sermon and the evening small group study, I realized how little time we - Christians - spend rejoicing and showing the world how much joy and peace we have because we are loved so deeply by our Creator and Father.

In between the church service in the morning and the small group in the evening, I was blessed with the opportunity to serve. A group of folks from our church - ranging in age from 10 to 60 - drove across the river into Kentucky and served a meal to the homeless (and working poor).

The church we visited there serves food every Sunday night to their neighborhood poor. Somewhere between 125 and 225 people show up every Sunday to eat. What a ministry this is for that church.

Our church, by providing the food (one of our members is an executive for one of our local eateries and they donated the food) and doing the preparation and serving last night, allowed the other church folks to spend time outside the kitchen and to be with the people they support each week. It was good for all of us.

Normally, folks line up at the door of this church just before 4 p.m. The serving begins at 4 and ends at 6. Last night, there were about 30 people waiting to get in at 4 - about 20 less folks than usual. They trickled in after that, and around 4:40 it dawned on a bunch of us at about the same time that, DUH, some of these folks that were regulars were really homeless. Perhaps they didn't realize that daylight savings time had changed 3 weeks earlier than usual. Sure enough, at 5 p.m. a bunch of folks showed up at the door.

Perhaps we served about 125 people last night. There was enough for everyone to get a hefty plate of food and for seconds for those who wanted more. There was even enough for take-out plates for those that requested them. What little food was left, we put in the freezer for them to use later.

Serving the homeless is something I like to do. My brother is homeless in PA and by serving where ever I am, it somehow gives me a connection to him. Besides, just hearing the stories of how people end up on the streets is a good reminder that so many of us are just one pay check away from being in the same situation. That's rather sad for a country as "rich" as ours is supposed to be.

When I went to bed last night, I was thorouthly exhausted. And, yes, there were pains everywhere. Still, it was a good exhaustion and I knew that the pains would disappear as I drifted off to sleep.

And as I did - drift off to sleep, that is - I was comforted knowing that God always takes care of me. I need that, because, I guess I am as dumb as the sheep sometimes. Often, actually.


I almost forgot. Many thanks to shleprock for making my Easter basket and to intuey GoT Survivor! for giving it as a gift.