#18 Thursday Talk Story June 18, 2009

#18 Thursday Talk Story June 18, 2009 www.omropres.com

“I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer. O Lord, do not delay!” Psalm 70: 5

Deliverance is still a common theme in human life. The world waits and hopes for deliverance from economic recession. Sports teams want deliverance from winning slumps. Individuals pray and wait for deliverance from diseases like cancer, accidents, war and trouble. We hope and pray to be delivered from evil.

The Good News is that God has sent the deliverer! Jesus of Nazareth is God’s deliverance in the flesh. He has come to save us from sin and death. Instead of fear, He gives peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives

do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Then He sends the Holy Spirit to empower us to live His peace, justice and mercy into the present today. We live His values into the world by what we say and do now. The Omro Presbyterian Church promotes His peace.

· We supported One Great Hour of Sharing Offering in its fiftieth year of showing God’s mercy to neighbors in need.

· We spread peace to families by sponsoring 9 children through Compassion International—“Liberando a los niños de la pobreza in el nombre de Jeśus.”

· Through our Presbytery of Winnebago, we enjoy a partnership with Presbyterian Churches in Colombia, South America. Members from there have visited us and we have visited them.

· Closer to home, we are building peace and partnership with Casa Esther Ministry in Omro by providing space for our Community Garden project.

Jesus gives peace and calls us to live peace into our daily lives.

Thank you Lord for sending Jesus to be our deliverer from sin and death. Thank you for inviting us to live His peace into our daily lives.

Thursday Talk Story for June 11, 2009

#17 Thursday Talk Story for June 11, 2009

Psalm 68: 20 “Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord belongs escape from death.”

What idols do we fashion and follow today? The choices are endless. We can turn any thing into an idol by making it more important than God. Fun, money, sex, family, sports, or anything else we can think of can take God’s rightful first place in our hearts and minds. John Calvin the great 16th century reformer (whose 500th birthday is July 10th, 2009) said the human heart is an idol factory. An idol is anything that takes God’s rightful first place in our hearts and lives. What do we put first in our lives?

Leanne Van Dyk professor of reformed theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI has written that, “A key insight of the Reformed tradition is that we are all, at heart, idolaters. The gods we hunger and thirst for include status, money, security, recognition and power. Calvin’s great precursor, Augustine, knew about these competing gods as well. In a prayer that includes all of us, he said, ‘Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee. ….The remarkably big claim of the Christian faith is that in Jesus Christ we find our rest in God.” (Presbyterians Today p. 4 June 4, 2009, www.pusa.org/today)

The Psalmist proclaims that the God of Israel is the God of salvation who helps us escape death. Life without God is death. Jesus is God’s secret salvation plan that gives us life and peace because He defeated death. Peter explained more fully when he sang, “Thank God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that we have been born into a life filled with hope because of Christ’s rising from the dead…” (I Peter1:3)

This hope is what our Christian faith is all about. Our hope in Christ for life now and eternity changes everything. Now everyday is our chance to live in gratitude to God for the hope we have in Christ. He is God with us. As Calvin said, “God shows us his righteousness, goodness, wisdom, power, in short his ENTIRE SELF in Jesus Christ.” (Ibid. p. 4) Idols are useless.

Thank you God for revealing yourself completely in Jesus Christ and for the assurance of eternal life Your Word and Spirit give us. May we rejoice in that hope and live grateful lives of joyful service to you forever.
Visit us at www.omropres.com and learn more at www.pcusa.org

Responsiblity

Thursday Talk Story #16 for June 4^th

 

Psalm 67: 1  “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known upon the earth, your saving power among all nations.”

 

     With great blessings comes great responsibility.  Israel is blessed to know God and God’s gifts of law and ordinances.   By accepting those gifts and practicing them in daily life, Israel reveals God to the world in their worship and behavior.

 

     We Christians are blessed to know God through our faith in Jesus Christ.  Through Him we have forgiveness of our sins, new life in the Spirit, and the promise of eternal life.  With these great spiritual gifts comes great responsibility.  God wants us, the church, to make Christ’s Word and Way known through our worship and daily living.    But to ignore the 10 commandments, for example, is to deny our faith.  To skip Sabbath worship and behave like the world around us is a denial of God’s goodness and blessings to us.  We forget our responsibility to be witnesses for Christ if we forget His blessings and benefits.

 

      If this economic recession teaches nothing else, it reminds us that sin is real.  We have learned greed is not good and has consequences for the future, our neighbors and society at large.  But gratitude to God for life’s blessings expressed in weekly worship can lead us to live grateful lives of peace, contentment, and responsible stewardship.  The Psalmist concludes by saying,

 

      “May God continue to bless us,

              let all the ends of the earth revere him.” Vs. 6

 

       God continues to bless those who remain faithful and responsible in their stewardship of God’s never ending goodness. 

 

     Lord, in these difficult economic times, we rejoice that you continue to be gracious and merciful, generous and kind in all your ways.  Help us to respond to your steadfast love with faithful worship and stewardship of all you have entrusted to us.