Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Another Living Christmas Tree is done...

Well, another Living Christmas Tree has come and gone. The last few months have been a bit crazy. We learned the house we’d been renting for the last 5 years was going up for sale. After careful consideration, we decided we did not want to purchase it and began looking for alternate living arrangements. After a long and insanely stressful process we finally closed on our new house and moved a few days before Thanksgiving. We spent the next few days frantically getting the kitchen and main rooms of the house presentable so we could have everyone over for Thanksgiving! In the middle of all this, we were trying to prepare for the Living Christmas Tree. Finalizing music, the script, the cast, countless rehearsals, edits to the script, last minute changes to music….it was completely overwhelming at times. But I want you to know that, even though this has been one of the most stressful times of our lives, it has also been one of the best. We’ve been surrounded by the love of our choir, our congregation & friends and lifted up in prayer constantly. I was not always certain our housing arrangements would work out in a good way. I have been reminded once again that trusting in God’s provision is easier said than done. Boy did God come through in a big way for us. We have been beyond blessed. It was obviously a lesson we needed to be reminded of and at the same time, it put things into perspective for both of us. So we knew if God could do the nearly impossible and find us the perfect house in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, then He could surely get us through another Living Christmas Tree in one piece. We have come out the other side of three of the most stressful months in a long while and we are happier than ever before. We might have become impatient here and there, but we never got angry. We might have disagreed on a detail here and there, but we worked it out together and came to an amicable solution. We’re a team, in every way and I am blessed beyond measure to have Scott York as my soul mate. We want to say thank you to everyone who was involved in any way with the Living Christmas Tree! It is because of YOU that it was a success! Thank you for your hard work and dedication! I’ve already got an idea for next year! Can we start next week?? I’m kidding of course, well...for you anyway. I do have to get busy writing very soon. I hope that each of you has a very Merry Christmas and that the new year brings wonderful things but most of all “I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”
~ Ephesians 3:14-21 (The Message)

Blessings,

Amy :)

Thursday, April 28, 2016

There is no one outside the bounds of God's grace...

“There is no one outside the bounds of God’s grace.”

Think about that for just a moment. It has been bouncing around in my brain all week after I heard it during our Sunday Morning Class. We’re doing a study by Andy Stanley called Why in the World and when he said this, I had to write it down. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it and so, here it is written down so that I, and I hope you, can understand how significant it really is.

There IS no one outside the bounds of God’s grace.
Right now, at this very minute, no matter where you are or what you’re doing or what you’ve done, you ARE NOT outside the bounds of God’s grace. His grace reaches to the depths of the universe.

There is NO ONE outside the bounds of God’s grace.
NO ONE is too far gone. That’s huge! No one...not the worst of the worst. Think about the worst thing a person could ever do. Even though they may be hopeless and unforgivable in our eyes, that person is not hopeless or unforgivable in God’s eyes. Romans 8:1 says “There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, ANYONE that chooses can be forgiven and saved.

There is no one OUTSIDE the bounds of God’s grace.
Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  This should give you hope! No matter what it is you’ve done, it is not unforgivable! You do not fall outside of God’s grace! We as humans may find it impossible to forgive something horrendous, but the God who made each of us and loves each of us as His children, can and will forgive anything. It doesn’t mean we won’t have to face the consequences of our sin here on earth, but He will forgive it and remember it no more.

There is no one outside the BOUNDS of God’s grace.
We tend to put boundaries on God. We think that in order for God to love us we have to already be good. If we’re kind and compassionate and follow the rules, etc. We’ve all got a set of rules in our heads that must be followed, in our opinions, to be worthy of receiving God’s love, forgiveness, and grace. We put God in our little box and think that if someone won’t fit within our little box of rules then it cannot be worthy of God’s love, forgiveness or grace. The fact of the matter is, God’s love, forgiveness, and grace are BOUNDLESS! It has no limits!! Psalm 86:5 says, “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for ALL who ask for your help.” It doesn't say for “some”. It doesn’t say for a “few”. It doesn’t say if you’re “good” or “sinless” or “perfect” or “white, black, blue, green, purple, male, female, young or old.” It says ALL. That means...EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON.

There is no one outside the bounds of GOD’s grace.
If we had to depend on the grace of our fellow man, we’d be in serious trouble. There are some things we find beyond forgiveness. Isaiah 1:8 says, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.”Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson they shall be white as wool.” Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” We may not get forgiveness from our fellow man, although that would be nice in this lifetime, the only forgiveness that truly matters is the eternal forgiveness of our creator God.

There is no one outside the bounds of God’s GRACE.
Grace is the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. It is something good that is given but is not deserved. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.” His grace has brought us salvation. We didn’t deserve it. We didn’t earn it. We are given it as a gift because of His boundless love for each one of us. He offers it to Every. Single. Person. No matter our past or our present, we are each precious to our creator. We are his precious children whom He loves beyond all measure. Whether you consider yourself the worst of the worst or think you’re doing alright, God wants a relationship with you. One day this earthly life will be over for you and you will enter into eternity. Your soul will go somewhere. Either you will spend eternity in hell, hopelessly separated from the love of God, or you will spend your eternity in paradise surrounded by the love of God. I don’t know about you, but that’s a no-brainer for me.

You may be someone who doesn’t believe in intelligent design, a creator, a God of the universe. You may believe that we evolved from some slime in a primordial lake. You may believe that once your life is over, that’s it, you’re dead and gone forever. In order to have this opinion you have to believe that this whole thing started by accident, that every living thing adapted perfectly to its environment by accident, that our intricate bodies are knit together in our mother’s womb by accident, that the moon is the perfect distance from earth to provide tides to keep our oceans from going stagnant and killing everything in them is by accident, that the sun is the perfect distance away to give us survivable seasons is by accident, that all of nature is stunningly beautiful and complex and depends on millions of things happening in synchrony in order to live is all by accident. I’m sorry, but that is more far-fetched than believing in a loving, intelligent God who created us and everything in our universe. I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done, God loves you, even if you refuse to believe in Him. My prayer is if you’ve gotten this far, that you will sit down and read the Bible, and do your best to prove to yourself one way or another the truth about God. I’d rather live believing there is a God who loves me than to die without Him and find out He does exist after all. It is worth your eternity to find out!  

Ephesians 3:14-21

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Sunday, March 20, 2016

How About We Love Like Jesus?


There was a time when our Creator looked down at His beloved people and realized that they were all full of sin. He loved them so much, and wanted to be able to spend all eternity with each of them, but He knew they were too full of sin to be able to enter His kingdom. So, God decided that the only solution was to send His only Son down to Earth to show them the true meaning of unconditional love. His son would preach and teach, showing the people how to love each other and then He would take the blame for all the sin of every person living and yet to be born so that they would each be blameless before God and be able to enter His Kingdom. But, God wouldn't force people to believe Him. They needed to use their own free will to choose to accept this gift of unconditional love and forgiveness. So Jesus came as a helpless baby. He grew up and He taught and preached and modeled unconditional love for the people and many believed. But sin was still alive and well in the world and some men became so resentful of Jesus that they unknowingly fulfilled the will of God the Father.  They accused Jesus of blasphemy, they arrested Him, tried and convicted Him, and sentenced Him to death. He was beaten and scourged until the flesh hung from His body. They shoved a crown of thorns into his skull, then forced him to carry the cross He would be hung on up to Golgatha...the place of the skull. He had been beaten so severely He collapsed and couldn't carry His cross all the way, so they grabbed a man along the road and had him carry it for Jesus the rest of the way.  They stretched Him out on that cross, and they nailed His hands and feet to it and hung Him there to die, just as the Creator had willed it. Then, the blame for all the sins of all the world, every disgusting, depraved, horrendous sin, was placed on Jesus. In that moment His Father turned His back and let Him die so that we could be saved. But...the story doesn't end there because you see Jesus had already told the people that He would be raised on the third day and then He would go back to His Father to prepare a place for them in Heaven. Three days later, inside a tomb that had been sealed with a massive stone and guarded by Roman guards, Jesus arose! The stone rolled away and He came out! The tough Roman soldiers fainted. Jesus made no less than ten appearances to His followers that are recorded in scripture. He instructed His disciples and other followers periodically for 40 days and then ascended from Mount Olive, near Jerusalem while the apostles watched. This is not a fairytale. You can read this for yourself in the Bible. I dare you to read it. So many people out there say it's just a book of fables that can't possibly be true, but if you take any time at all to study it, you see that it can't possibly be false.  The universe we live in is a miracle. There is as much chance of it all happening by accident as there is you placing all the parts to a watch in a bag, shaking it up and a perfect watch coming out. It is statistically impossible. He is evident in every part of this universe and every part of the Earth. The Earth itself is exactly the perfect size. If it were smaller, it couldn't hold an atmosphere. If it were larger, the atmosphere would be toxic.  It is also the perfect distance from the sun. Any further away and we'd all freeze...any closer and we'd all burn up. The moon is the perfect size and distance from earth to create the tides so our oceans don't stagnate, but remain without their boundaries so the whole earth doesn't flood.  The water on earth is perfect for our bodies and the bodies of every living plant and animal. Without it, everything would die. It is so perfectly constructed that is can carry the various required chemicals, minerals and nutrients throughout our bodies into the tiniest of blood vessels. It makes this planet's survival possible. I'll say one last thing, even though we could go on and on. Scientists agree that our universe came into being because of one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call The Big Bang Theory, the singular start to everything that exists, the stars, the planets, and the beginning of every living thing and yet, they cannot tell you what caused it to happen. Why was there a colossal explosion that filled the universe with light? I can tell you. It's in the first chapter of the first book in the bible. Genesis 1:3 says "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God divided the light from the darkness." And in Genesis 1:16 it says, "And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, He made the stars also." There's your Big Bang. God said, "Let there be light," and it was so.

I am going to tell you something you might already know. Some people who claim to be Christians are mean, hurtful and judgemental. You may have been hurt by someone like that. You may have been condemned by "church people".  But that is not the kind of love that Jesus taught and many churches have forgotten that. To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ...a follower of His teachings. Today it has taken on a derogatory meaning in many people's minds and represents someone who is hypocritical, hateful and judgemental, much like the Pharisees who are described in the bible, they cannot see the forest for the trees. They're so worried about everyone following the rules, they have forgotten that Jesus told us to love each other above all else. I can love you and not agree with your life choices. I can talk to you about the love of Jesus and the way He wants us to live and not say hateful, mean things about you. I can disagree with your belief in something, and still be your friend and show you kindness and love. These days the word tolerance comes up a lot. I think it's used in the wrong context most of the time. To tolerate something is to allow the existence, occurrence or practice of something that one doesn't necessarily like or agree with, without interference.  If we were all practicing tolerance all the time then we'd be allowing murders and abuse and theft and a million other things that we don't agree with to go on without interference. It's a horrible word to use the way it's used today. Forget tolerance...how about loving your neighbor as yourself...how about love people the way Jesus loves them...how about love people regardless of their sins. My friend, you may be doing things that the bible says are a sin. In fact, I'm certain you are. So am I. So is everyone still alive on this planet. That's not the point. The point is that you have this one life on Earth, this one chance to accept the unconditional love and gift of Jesus Christ so that when you die and leave this Earth you can live for all eternity in the fathomless splendor of Heaven. There are no second chances once you die. Jesus is not uncomfortable with who you are. He will meet you right where you are, just as you are...all you have to do is believe Him. He's calling you to something better, to lay down your sins at His feet and let Him help you. Easter Sunday is coming. What a glorious day to begin a new life with Him! Think about it! 

And now my dear friends... "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19




Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Matters of the Heart...for Valentine's Day

     I have been married to Scott now for 28 years and 1 month.  I'd love to tell you that every one of those years has been wonderful and happy, but I can't.  Some of those years were wonderful, some of them were horrible, and many of them were somewhere in between, but they have ALL been blessed. How, you ask, can I say that the horrible times were blessed?  I mean, it makes sense to say the good times were a blessing, but the bad times, the in-between times, how have those been blessed?  It's simple really.  Because God, the One who loves us unconditionally, has never left us and it was in the tough times that we grew even closer to each other.  We learned to depend on each other. We learned that we could disagree and the world wouldn't come to an end. We learned that we are two different people who sometimes have different opinions and that's ok. We learned to rely on each other's differing strengths all while putting our trust in God.  He has never failed us.
     Right now, I can honestly say that I am more in love with my husband than I have ever been.  I thought I loved him more than anything the day I married him.  I thought I could never love him more the day we had our first child, and our second, and our third.  I thought I could never love him more when I was so sick after having some serious health issues and he took such good care of me.  The truth is, every single day my love for him grows deeper.  Now, don't roll your eyes.  Everyone wants to have a love like that.  You know it's true.  I mean, 90% of songs on the radio are about love in some form or another, and how many movies out there are love stories?  We all long to be loved.        So, what's the secret to being madly, deeply, completely in love?  Hold on to your seat for this amazing revelation...it's a CHOICE.  Yep, you read that correctly.  You can choose to concentrate on all the things your mate does that annoy you, or you can choose to concentrate on the good things. You can choose to have a bad attitude and gripe and complain, or you can choose to be positive and encouraging. You can choose to be sarcastic and snarky or you can choose to be kind and loving.  In other words, set out to purposefully treat your spouse the way you yourself would want to be treated. Be kind, listen, encourage, compliment, and be patient with them.  Make time for them and make certain they know you've made them a priority in your life.  Even if your spouse isn't doing these things, at first, they will take notice of the changes in you and it will change their attitude too.
     You'll have to be patient, though, especially if you've had a difficult relationship for a while now. But isn't it worth it?  To be madly, deeply in love with your mate again?  It's a bit like that book, The Love Dare. If I could give you one piece of advice from someone who has been married longer than the average couple, aside from putting God first in your marriage, it would be to treat each other with kindness, gentleness, respect and a sense of humor. Our marriage may not always be perfect, but we've never been happier and I wish the same for you.

p.s. - I love you Scott!