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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-11-29, Page 20By Pastor Ernest Dow,Living Water ChristianFellowship (EMC), BlythDid you know Jesus had a sideline? Besides being an itinerant rabbi, he was also a financial adviser. He counsels us, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.” (Lu 12:33) This world’s material goods, and life itself, are so temporary. On Oct. 18, a man who attended the Fellowship Baptist Church in Abbotsford BC was at a Surrey apartment to do scheduled maintenance on a gas fireplace. Ed Schellenberg, 55, told his brother- in-law and nephew, who worked with him in the family business, that they could go home early that Friday afternoon. Not long after that, Ed became one of two innocent bystanders killed during a gruesome multiple murder at the apartment that claimed a total of six lives. There would be no weekend for Ed to enjoy with his wife and two children: his life was suddenly cut short. How do we respond in a world where threats and the unforeseen attack our sense of security? The ‘consumer’ answer seems to be to surround ourselves with more and more ‘stuff’. But the Bible warns us that looking to material possessions for security is folly. Jesus teaches us that real security comes from valuing God rather than material goods. In Luke 12:15, Jesus warns, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Or as NLT puts it, “Life is not measured by how much you own.” If that’s not life, what is it supposed to be about? Jesus tells a parable about a farmer with a happy problem. His fields were so fertile they produced a good crop. He’s faced with the predicament of not having enough room to store his crops. Following standard business practice, he decides, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.” It doesn’t even occur to him to be generous. He’s blind to any need that there may be around him. He dialogues with himself: “And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’” Other people are so far out of his frame of reference that he degenerates to conversing with himself. He presumptively andselfishly gives himself permission tobe greedy, gluttonous, complacent,and ignorant. Farmer Fred talks to himself rather than turning to God in grateful prayer; nevertheless, God interrupts his daydream with an undreamt-of rebuke. “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” The farmer’s presuming to assure his soul of perpetual satisfaction, while within hours God is going to ‘ask back’his soul from him. Life is a trust, not something to take for granted. We don’t want to be like the fool in Jesus’story. What should he have done instead? A first step would have been to offer God the first fruits of the fields’increase. Offering reminds us that all we have is from God, a trust to be managed for Him. But what we give externally is meant to reflect our orientation to God, our passion for what He wants, in our heart. Luke 12:31 says we’re not to set our heart on whatunbelievers run after, but to “seek[God’s] Kingdom, and these thingswill be given to you as well.” Jesus insists that the Father “has been pleased to give you the Kingdom” (32). Knowing that, experiencing His grace and death- shattering security, frees us to sell our possessions and give to the poor (33) - converting earthly perishables into “treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted...” Farmer Fool left no real legacy, just some assets to be re-distributed. But there is another kind of legacy that, though intangible, is much more impressive. At the beginning I referred to Ed Schellenberg’s untimely death as an innocent bystander. ChristianWeek reports some very interesting observations people made at his funeral and in the days following. (Over 1,000 people attended the memorial service.) Someone from the Bible College where Ed had served as a janitor described him as a man who “quietly modeled his Christian faith with dedication to his work, warm humour and kind spirit.”Through tributes to him at theservice, “the name of Jesus Christwas put on the national news broadcasts, and the faith and trust that Ed had in Him was spoken sincerely.” Sounds like he trusted in God rather than wealth. The associate pastor at Ed’s church notes his death seems to have hit the men of the church especially hard. He expects a renewed commitment and, as he puts it, “involvement in the things that matter, the important things, as we’ve seen this touch so close to home.” He adds, “We’ve already had a number of men come up and say, ‘We need to get something going together as men, because we need to be men like Ed was.” Ed didn’t have multiple barns and granaries overflowing like the rich fool; but what he had was real, it was most important, it mattered. His kindness and trust in Jesus causes others in retrospect to want what he had, to ‘be men like Ed was’. That’s life that’s more than just the abundance of possessions! PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2007.From the Minister’s StudyPastor’s message advises be Ed, not Fred at Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Sunday, December 2 Pastor Brent Kipfer 519-887-6388 God loves you! Your proof is in the manger. Come celebrate the Advent of Jesus Christ 9:30 am Worship Service 10:45 am Coffee Break 11:00 am Sunday School Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street Blyth United Church Office: 519-523-4224 Communion & White Gift Worship Service and Sunday School - 11 a.m. Guest Speaker: Gwen Nichol-Macdonald Sunday, December 2 All Welcome Sunday 9:30 a.m. - Family Sunday School 10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service 7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship Service Wednesday 6:30 p.m. - Olympians (JK to Grade 6) 7:00 p.m. - Youth and Adult Bible Study HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH Auburn - 519-526-1131 PASTOR DAVE WOOD Please join us for worship SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00am Evening Service 7:30pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Pastor John Kuperus Hwy. 4, Blyth 308 Blyth Rd. E. ~ Pastor Les Cook 519-523-4590 B l y t h C o m m u n ity Church of God C H U R C H O F G O D ,ANDERS O N , I N D I A N A “The Church is not a building, it is people touching people Sunday School 9:45 a.m. - Christian Education for all ages 11:00 a.m. - Worship Service Mid-week Bible Studies See you Sunday! BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Sandra Cable, Worship Leader Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca Sunday, December 2 Ethel United Church Worship Service - 9:30 a.m. Brussels United Church Worship Service - 11:00 a.m. Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, December 2 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 519-887-9831 11:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School 9:30 am - Sunday Belgrave Service THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA Welcomes you to come and worship with us SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2 Trinity, Blyth 9:30 a.m. 519-523-9595 St. John's, Brussels 11:15 a.m. 519-887-6862 getlivingwater.org Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 Living Water Christian Fellowship at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School 1st & 3rd Mondays - Women at the Well Tuesdays - Wingham Small Group Youth: Mondays - Senior - Fridays - Junior “When Jesus Comes...Be Ready” Dec. 2: Mt. 24:36ff Advent I Communion Evangelical Missionary Church Take control of your arthritis Call the Arthritis Information Line at 1.800.321.1433 or visit our website at www.arthritis.ca to get the support and information you need. You can join the FREE Arthritis Registry to get updates on Society programs and events. 1 in 6 Canadians have arthritis Commit to a world without arthritis September is ArthritisAwarenessMonth That’s nearly 4.5 million people living with the pain and disability of arthritis