Pastor Chuck’s Blog

1-11-2023

For many of us, January is a time when we reflect on our lives. We do some review of the past and we contemplate the future. And if you’re like so many people, it’s also a time when we question whether we’re fulfilling God’s purposes for our lives. Although often worded in different ways, most people have asked this question, “Why am I here?”

You may not know this, but the Bible is actually quite clear on why we’re here. You and I were created to worship and bring pleasure to God. Many people tend to think of worship as “the songs we sing in church”, or perhaps the experience of going to church itself. But worshiping and bring pleasure to God is so much bigger than the songs we sing and bigger than the hour or two we spend in church every week. Church services can be worship experiences, but worship actually takes place throughout our entire week – because God says worship isn’t what you do with your lips; it’s what you do with your life. You can sing the most beautiful songs about Jesus and about God and still not actually worship.

So let me give you 4 ways you can worship God and make Him smile:

1. You bring pleasure to God when you love Him above everything else. The two most important things in your walk with God are faithfulness and obedience. Notice I didn’t say the two easiest, I said the two most important. These two things let God know that you love Him.

2. You bring pleasure to God when you trust Him completely. You trust God completely when you recognize that He knows what’s best for your life. Proverbs 3 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5, NIV) When you do that, you begin to trust God for the impossible.

3. You bring pleasure to God when you obey Him wholeheartedly. You and I can’t earn God’s forgiveness by doing good deeds, but just like your parents smiled when you obeyed them, God smiles when we obey His commands. Obedience isn’t easy. There will be times when it’s inconvenient, even for those who have been Christians for decades. Obedience will cost you. But with obedience comes the smile of God.

4. You bring pleasure to God when you fulfill His purposes. Too many people think that the only time God is smiling on their lives is when they’re doing something religious. But nothing could be further from the truth. God smiles when we do what He created us to do. It’s like the words of the Olympic runner, Eric Liddell, who was the subject of the movie Chariots of Fire. He said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

So as you reflect on your life, reject the idea of being a “people pleaser” in this world and choose to be a God pleaser……or as I often say, “Choose to live your life for the approval of an audience of One – God Himself.”

I love you, church…….let’s put a smile on God’s face this week!!

Chuck

1-4-2023

I have no idea what 2023 holds for you. But whether it’s a year where you reach your goals or not has nothing to do with your circumstances. It’s all about your perspective.

The economy might tank. You might struggle at your job. Your family may face challenges. Yet the most important question you’ll face in 2023 is, will you look at the year with faith rather than fear? The choice is in your hands.

The Israelites had the same choice in Numbers 13, a story most of us are familiar with. Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt, where they had been slaves for 400 years. They had already spent two years in the desert. Moses then sent 12 spies, one from each of the tribes, into the Promised Land to see what was in store for the Israelites when they arrived.

Ten of the spies came back with reports of fear. They told the Israelites the land was full of enemies the Israelites couldn’t beat, whereas, in reality, the Promised Land was as incredible as God had promised, truly a land “flowing with milk and honey.”

Only Joshua and Caleb returned with reports of faith. The Israelites chose to believe the majority of the spies rather than the two who looked at their future in faith. Because of those responses, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones of their generation who were able to enter the Promised Land. The rest of Israel would die in the wilderness.

Just like the Israelites, you are heading into the unknown. None of us know what to expect in 2023. We can either look at the future in faith or in fear.

Maybe you have people in your life you love dearly who are constantly making bad choices and walking further and further away from God. You’ve been praying for them for years, and you’re afraid they’ll never turn to God. Maybe your marriage is falling apart. You don’t dare let anyone know, but you’re afraid divorce could be around the corner. You’ve got the same choice as the Israelites in 2023—look at your future in faith or fear.

When we look at our future through the eyes of fear, we can expect to have a miserable year. Or you can choose to be like Joshua and Caleb. You can look at your future in faith and not fear.

How do you get started? One step at a time. We defeat our fear with movement. You can’t argue away your fears. You can’t discuss them away. But you can take a step against your fears. Take the step forward. Refuse to let fear dictate. Decide right now, “I’m going in to take the land!” That’s the first step. Then, keep putting one foot in front of the other and watch what God will do.

Moving forward with you, church!

10-19-2022

As a teenager, Luciano Pavarotti had more than one good idea about his future, and more than one option to pursue. He loved sports, and dreamed of being a football goalkeeper (what others would call a soccer goalie). He loved teaching, and was attracted to the security this profession offered.

And, of course, he loved to sing.

When an elite professional tenor offered to take him as a student without cost, Pavarotti faced a decision: Which future should he choose? His father said to him, “Luciano, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.”

Pavarotti later told Guideposts: “I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book — whatever we choose — we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.”

Of all the words written by the Apostle Paul, perhaps his most powerful phrase is: “But this one thing I do.”

Everything about Paul’s life pointed in one direction. Everything he did led him to one chair. His prize was doing what God had called him to do — to know Jesus and to make Jesus known.

Life is a reverse of the game Musical Chairs, in which there are more players than places to sit. You have lots of chairs to choose from. Those who live life best are those who have the courage to choose one chair.

Have you chosen yours?

10-5-2022

On November 13, 1946, a plane took off from the Schenectady County Airport with a rather unique payload—six pounds of dry ice. Its mission? To seed the clouds with solidified carbon dioxide, in hopes of creating enough condensation to cause precipitation.

Upon takeoff, the pilot flew his single-propeller plane into a cumulus cloud and dumped the dry ice. Eyewitnesses on the ground said that the cloud seemed to explode. The subsequent snowfall was visible for forty miles.

The science of seeding clouds may be a modern-day marvel, but the idea is as old as the prophet Elijah. After a famine that lasted three and a half years, Elijah seeded the clouds with a brave prayer. Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed.

When was the last time you found yourself doubled over in prayer? The posture that Elijah assumes indicates profound humility and extreme intensity. He’s not just praying; he’s believing God for a miracle. I have no issue with short blessings before meals because I believe in eating food while it’s hot. That said, there are moments when we need to press in and seed the clouds with deep prayer.

We tend to be good with the simple prayers, “God, keep the light green for me,” “God, I’d really like for him to call me again,” “God, help me get this new job.” We should pray those prayers, but we shouldn’t stop with the simple things. The Bible tells us that, “God is the same yesterday, today and forever”. That means He still does miracles today just like He did way back then. So pray, because the more you pray, the bigger you dream. And the bigger you dream, the more you have to pray!

Let me double back to Elijah one more time. At first, there was no visible evidence of God answering his prayer for rain. That is when most of us give up, but Elijah doubled down.

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

The greatest tragedy in life is that prayers go unanswered because they go unprayed. God won’t answer 100 percent of the prayers you don’t pray! While we’re on the subject, you won’t accomplish 100 percent of the goals you don’t set. But let me flip that script. Prayer is the way we write history before it happens! It’s the difference between letting things happen and making things happen. If you want to win the day, you can’t wish upon a star. You have to seed the clouds with brave prayers!

Don’t underestimate the power of a single seed, a single prayer! It has the power to change anything, change everything. The same goes for the seeds of faith, hope, and love. Don’t worry about the outcomes; focus on inputs. We plant and water, but God gives the increase!

Never despise the day of small beginnings or clouds the size of a man’s hand. God can move mountains with a mustard seed of faith!

9-28-2022

If you’re familiar with history you know that pioneers made their way westward in covered wagons. There were no roads to travel on (yet), so they had to make their way slowly and cautiously. As more and more pioneers and wagons made the journey, the trails became more worn. Because the wagons were built to a standardized width, eventually, there were ruts where the wagon wheels rolled along the path. Finally, someone put a sign up at a particularly rugged point. The sign read:

“Choose your rut carefully. You’ll be in it for the next 50 miles.”

Perhaps you know exactly what I’m talking about. Whether in a job situation or a relationship or even in a hobby of some kind, many of us have had seasons in our lives where we found ourselves “in a rut”. Though I’m not fond of the word rut, the somewhat snarky words of the sign are actually good advice for life. We might change it a bit though:

“Choose your routine carefully. You’ll be tied to it a while. It determines your future, so make sure you’re ready for it.”

Most of us have some kind of daily routines that we follow. Perhaps we’re following a pattern that we saw in our parents or maybe it was something we saw in the life of someone we admire. Many people refer to the daily routine as a negative thing, as if it’s something you need to break in order to fully live. But what if your daily routine was designed to make your life everything you’ve dreamed it could be? Wouldn’t this be a routine worth living for?

Israel’s King Solomon said this: Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3, NIV) And his father, Israel’s King David said this: Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12, ESV)

If I can paraphrase what these two were saying it might sound something like this: “Help us understand that life is short, and what we do every day really matters.”

Our challenge is to organize our days in such a way that we create a routine that includes time for everything important. And who better to help us with that than God himself?

We all have the same amount of time every day. If you’re like most people, you want to make the most of the time you have. So doesn’t it make sense to ask God what his plans are? If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that God’s plans are always better than mine.

There’s a reason God said, “I know the plans I have for you……”

Do you know the plans God has for you? Take a look at today’s to-do list. It will lead you either somewhere good, or nowhere good. It depends on whether you’ve chosen a rut or a routine.