Every Tuesday morning the pastors gather with the office staff to pray for our church, the week and and needs we are aware of.  We also love to send out a  little card to everyone we prayed for to let you know that you were on our hearts.  This past Tuesday, one of the ladies led us in  prayer for all of the dear moms in our church.  We prayed for God’s grace on your life, your work and your family.  We prayed that you would see God’s hand at work in you and through you.  We prayed that you would have faith to believe that God is accomplishing greater things than you can imagine as you go about the hard work of training your children, teaching their hearts, and influencing their lives.  We also prayed that He will fill your heart with faith no matter what challenges you face with your children today.  Instead of mailing  a card to all you moms, we thought we’d send one over the blog!

We are grateful to God for you and pray you experience the deep and rich grace of God today!

The Pastors and Staff

PS:  Two encouraging thoughts from “Spiritual Parenting” by Charles Spurgeon

“O dear mothers, you have a very sacred trust reposed in you by God! He hath in effect said to you, ‘Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages.’ You are called to equip the future man of God, that he may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. If God spares you, you may live to hear that pretty boy speak to thousands, and you will have the sweet reflection in your heart that the quiet teachings of the nursery led the man to love his God and serve Him. Those who think that a woman detained at home by her little family is doing nothing, think the reverse of what is true. Scarcely can the godly mother quit her home for a place of worship, but dream not that she is lost to the work of the church; far from it, she is doing the best possible service for her Lord. Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty. Christian women, by teaching children the Holy Scriptures, are as much fulfilling their part for the Lord, as Moses in judging Israel, or Solomon in building the temple.”

“The grace of God in a child is a very lovely thing, and it draws forth general approbation (approval / delight).  Youthful piety is a very touching thing to me.  I see the grace of God in men and women with much thankfulness, but I cannot perceive it in children without shedding tears of delight.  There is an exceeding beauty about these rosebuds in the Lord’s garden.  They have a fragrance that we find not in the fairest of earth’s lilies.  Love is won in many a heart by these tiny arrows of the Lord, whose very smallness is a part of their power to penetrate the heart.”

A friend of mine, an accomplished guitar player and worship leader, once told me that good songwriters write out of their own experience.  In other words, they’re not singing about somebody else, they’re sharing a part of themselves.  I was listening to a song the other day by John Mayer.   He laments,

I’m dizzy from the shopping mall
I searched for the joy but I bought it all
It doesn’t help the hunger pain
And a thirst I’d have to drown first to ever satiate…

His conclusion to this unsuccessful search is expressed in the sad refrain,

Something’s missing
And I don’t know how to fix it
Something’s missing
And I don’t know what it is
At all.

John Mayer is singing the song of this generation.  Our culture is one of abundance and affluence.  While the recession is undoubtedly having an effect on us all,  the shopping malls haven’t closed.  I-Pods, I-Phones, and Wii continue to fly across the sales counter as soon as they’re upgraded.  Once-popular bands launch “come back” tours to sold out audiences despite the high price for sitting on the lawn.  Spirituality has experienced a resurgence.  It doesn’t matter what kind of spirituality you pursue because truth is malleable and easily adaptable to an individual’s tastes and desires.  Many espouse the mantra that “knowledge is power” and essential for competing in the global village.  It’s important that you get little Johnny in the “right” kindergarten and little Suzie reading the “right” books if they have any chance of getting into the “right” university.  Don’t like your body?  Want to stop the aging process?  We’ve got machines, pills, creams and oils to change all of that.  And for those who can afford it, there’s always surgery.  We live in a noisy world that’s open 24 hours, racing in the HOV lane, in an unending quest to find relief from the stress, “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth”.    Something is definitely missing.

Brothers and sisters, while the world may not “know what is” — we do!  The lasting joy and peace that continues to elude those all around us is only found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:4   the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. While spiritual blindness is fatal, the enemy of our souls is no match for the power of God!  The reason why Jesus came in the first place was “to destroy the works of the devil”.   At the cross Christ paid the price, in full, for our sinful rebellion and our addiction to choosing anything and everything over God.  The resurrection is the sure sign that Christ has destroyed the stranglehold that Satan had on humanity.  The ascension reminds us that hope lives because Christ is now ruling and reigning over our world!

One of the main reasons why people enjoy certain songs is because they identify with them.  John Mayer isn’t the only one who’s singing about something missing.  It’s your neighbor across the street.  The classmate sitting behind you is singing this song.  The co-worker who regularly asks you what you did last weekend is humming this tune. The next time you go to your hairdresser listen for the melody.  Most of these folks don’t sing it with their lips but their lives give them away.  God loves each of them.  The only hope for them is the Gospel of Jesus Christ because there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).  This is the message we’ve been given and Christ has called us to deliver it to our world.

The truth is,  it’s not that some thing is missing it’s some one is missing.  Every day we as Believers have an opportunity to begin to introduce those around us to this one who takes away the sins of the world. We can share the story of our own search. Our particular quest may have involved different terrain and characters but in the end we aren’t that different from anyone else —- all of us need a savior.  When they meet this Jesus,  God will give them a new song to sing!  I’m no songwriter but I think I might write John a note and tell him what’s missing.

Grateful to be found in Him,

Brett