The Messenger - January 21, 2008

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    Pastor Neal's Notes

           The Believer's Tool Kit

                  January 7, 2007

I certainly hope you had a blessed Christmas and an enjoyable break from your routine. Kim and I had a marvelous time at the many Christmas parties that you hosted, and we feel truly privileged to be included in these events. We also feel truly grateful that you included my mother in these gatherings while she was in town. Finally, we really enjoyed the fantastic music programs that we heard: The Gospel Gang Musical, the Family Christmas Concert, and both services on Christmas Eve. Each performance was different, but each revealed God's grace in some fresh, new way. I hope you will join me in thanking the staff and volunteers who put in so many extra hours to make these programs "work". While you're at it, thank the Youth Staff, too, because they put in a lot of extra hours to serve our kids at parties and service projects during the last few weeks.

Now, it's time to store our decorations and sort through all our gifts. Did you need to return some items? Are you thinking of returning others? Are you keeping some that you probably will not use? Many of the gifts that I have received through the years were sweet and thoughtful and kind, but not too useful in the end. I've often received ties, for example, with some lovely religious scenes that did not complement any of my dress clothes. How could I use those ties? In other years, I have received seasonal bric-a-brac--santas, snowmen, reindeer, etc.--but we have so little space to display this sort of thing, and all our counter tops are full. How could we use these little statuettes? In still other years, we've received nice magazines or books. I love reading, but even that is hit-or-miss, because it's hard to guess someone else's taste.

Fortunately, there is one gift I received over 30 years ago that keeps on giving every single day--the Bible! Parts of it are difficult to comprehend, and some parts that we can grasp are difficult to apply. But there's so much richness here--so much poetry, so much beauty, so much power. And most of it is quite practical in the end.

Perhaps the most practical book in the whole New Testament is the book of James. It doesn't have a lot of theology (much to Martin Luther's dismay). Nor does it have the lovely stories of Matthew, Luke, or Acts. What is DOES have is practical advice on a whole variety of topics: prayer, service, temptation, envy, and lots of other things. I call it "The Believers Tool Kit," and I'll be describing several of those tools in my Sunday Sermons during the next few weeks.

The next one's called "How to Stretch Your Faith" (James 2:14-27). I'll preaching it this Sunday, January 13, when we will also install church officers. This is a very special day for those whom God has called into church leadership, so I hope that you will come and encourage them.

Happy New Years!

• While Randi Bender is on "Baby Leave",  Todd Bender-Walter will take the lead.   Please contact him or  Karen with Youth concerns or needs.

• January copies of The Fisherman are going fast.  Get yours today.  Copies can be found in the narthex.