March 9, 2011
TIME FLIES
Is it REALLY March? Is it REALLY almost spring break, already? When did it become 2011? I remember being a young person and always having older folks say something to the effect that “time is sure going to fly by when you get older.” I remember hearing this, but not putting much validity in it. At that point in life, a year had two benchmarks: Christmas and Birthday. And it took FOREVER for those to come around each year, so I was not to be convinced that time would ever move faster.
Now of course, every bit of that has proven true! Just yesterday I was a newlywed. Just the day after that we were expecting our first child ... and “WHAM!” now we find ourselves in 2011 with three kids! TIME TRULY DOES FLY BY. It seems like winter just began, yet my children begin soccer practice this week. The examples go on and on!
So that means time is flying by on our church calendar as well. There are many things that are not as far off as we may think. It will be very soon when we will begin rolling out our second year of CIA. Super Summer Sunday Nights are just around the bend. Summer is almost here! So we want you to be ready for these things, planning for them and eagerly anticipating them.
For our youth and their parents, summer is very busy and is on our doorstep! So I want to help you all plan accordingly. THIS SUNDAY, March 13, we will have a PARENT/TEEN Meeting RIGHT AFTER services upstairs in the youth room. I will hand out a calendar that outlines all major events of the summer. Please come to this! I want as many involved as possible and you need to have your calendars prepared early. Please bring any questions you may have also.
I will see you Sunday.
– Pannell
Too Little, Too Late
A common expression says, “too little, too late.” The former expression is usually recited when a kind of final judgment or discipline is about to bear down upon someone. The about to be disciplined person may suddenly recognize their impending trouble and try a quick-fix, or turn-around, but often it is “too little, too late.” In other words, there is no more time or opportunity to achieve the desired goal, or prevent an unwelcomed consequence.
In the book of Judges, God’s people experience a too little too late moment. In Judges chapter ten, we read how the Lord sends foreign armies to punish His people for their idolatry and they cry out to God, “We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals (Judges 10:10). However, this recognition of sin is too little too late. God responds to this inspired repentance by saying, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you when you are in trouble! (Judges 10:11-14).
Like God’s people of old, we too often repent with too little too late. We also make the mistake from time to time of only turning to God in difficult times or when the consequences of our poor choices come crashing down upon us. Yet, we know in our hearts that we ought to be calling on the name of the Lord in good times as well as bad times. As Ecclesiastes says, “When the times are good, be happy; but when the times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).
Why do you suppose human nature seems to so readily seek God in bad times, but not seek Him as readily in the good times? I suppose one analogy that might help is that light is always easier to spot in the darkness than in the daylight. The need for light is more apparent in the night than in the day. In other words, the need for God is more apparent in times of trouble than in times of peace. However, is the analogy of light in contrast to darkness an apt explanation for why we seek God more in the bad times than in the good times? Recall that Ecclesiastes says God “made the one as well as the other.” If I am hearing Ecclesiastes correctly, then whether the times are good (light) or bad (dark) ought to make zero difference in our seeking of the Lord. God is present as much in the bad times as He is present in the good times.
The issue of seeking the Lord more in the bad times verses the good times, therefore, comes back not to the context of our situations (good times or bad times), but to how we perceive the relationship of God’s presence to the good times and the bad times. Our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus, gives us a better understanding when he says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23).
The key to avoiding too little too late in our relationship to God is to see God as present in the good times as well as equally present in the bad times. The truth is, there is not a time when God is not present with His covenant people. Jesus assures us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). We must not be looking for God only at the end, but always diligently seeing God’s presence from the beginning to the end. I pray you “see” God before the time is “too little too late.”
– Terry
Who Wants to be Like Jesus?
Growth plans will be studied for each of the traits being examined during our Wednesday evening sessions in March (16, 23 and 30). Each session will start at 7:00 p.m. and last one and a half hours. Children’s classes will be available.
2011 Church Directory Updates
This will be the LAST SUNDAY to update your directory listing! Please do it this week if you haven’t already done so. Thank you.
*Listings – Please proof your directory listing posted in the hallway by the stairs. Make any necessary changes or initial if all is correct. If you would like your cell phone number or email address to be printed, please add them. *If your name is not on the printout, there is a sheet next to the listings for you to write down your information.
*Prayer Chain – For those who would like to be added to or removed from the prayer chain, please check the listing posted by the directory.
*Photos – Sandra Cummings is now taking pictures for our directory of all our new members or families that have had babies this past year. Please contact Sandra to set up your appointment.
Prayer Requests . . .
Merlin and Mary Ragsdill and Evelyn Bates are still not feeling well ... Cody Smith is slowly improving and will be moved to a hospital in California next week ... Dorothy Trimmer had cataract surgery this week. Please pray for a quick recovery ... Norm Woods (friend of Reed & Shirley Barlow) has three spots on his liver. Please pray for good test results ... Cooper Albright had a chemo treatment last week and woke up the next morning with energy to play! ... Paul & Bonnie Huard have a praise and thanksgiving to God for his care and protection of their granddaughter, Carmen, who was born eight weeks early, but now at one month old has gone home from the hospital. Pray for God’s continued protection of her breathing and development ... Jeremy Huard asks prayers for his friend, Emily, that she will find hope and friendship in her loneliness at college ... Pray for comfort for Linda Anderson and family in the passing of her mother, Wanda Ginsley ... For our President and all of our military men, women and families.
It’s Not Too Early to start thinking about camp. Please save the dates July 10-16 to join us at camp at Box R Ranch.
Coffee Servers Needed for the months of April and June. Please sign up on the sheet posted on the bulletin board by the stairs. Thanks!
Parent and Teen Meeting this Sunday in the youth room immediately following morning worship. ALL parents and teens are encouraged to attend as we will be going over the major events on our summer calendar. Please bring any questions you may have, also.
Mexico Trip Forms : If you have not turned in your forms for your trip to San Felipe during Spring Break, please do so this Sunday. You may turn your forms into Grant or Valda Newton, Russ Gann or to the church office.
Assistance Needed : Connie Kennedy is in need of some personal assistance for her daily needs while her broken arm heals. If you can help, please call the church office or Connie.
Spring Forward: Daylight Saving Time begins March 13th. Please remember to set your clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed on Saturday night.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
March 16, 23, 30: 7:00 p.m. - “Who Wants to be Like Jesus?”
Seminar Sessions
March 19-26: Spring Break - Mexico Mission Trip
April 2: Daughters of the King
