Author: pastor.gerooney@gmail.com

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the LORD Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:15-16

Paul wrote this letter/sermon from house arrest in Rome. The church was becoming divided over prejudices among Jews and Gentiles. Paul set out to bring every nation and background together through love and true Gospel.

Ephesus was a funnel of commerce that rioted when new converts quit offering homage to the Greek goddess Artemis. They thought they had beaten back and annihilated the new Christians, but no! The faith of friends strengthened the persecuted and the church grew, flourished and showed love and generosity toward others less fortunate.

From the bondage of men, Paul prayed and praised. His life’s work was to see these people find spiritual victory. Their perseverance and love in action for all men was reason to be thankful.

Lend the strength of your faith when others are are exhausted and can’t go on. They really do need it!

Love,

Gretchen

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. Ephesians 4:4

The fabled King Croesus called Ephesus home. It was originally a Greek city but by Paul’s time a Roman province. The temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the world, was a source of tourism and trade even in ancient times. Paul was beaten when converts quit buying miniature likenesses of the goddess, thus creating an economic downturn.

In this city where demons, spirits, dead ancestors and gods were all recognized as danger wielding beings, the occult was alive and well, Paul teaches that there is only one body, the Body of Christ. He is the head and we, His followers, are the eyes, hands, feet, ears and heart. There is one hope, the hope of a resurrected Savior who has all power of Heaven and earth.

Unity, loyalty and common purpose meant spiritual survival. It remains the same today. Christianity fights the exact same forces it did two thousand years ago. There is so much that draws us away from our singular purpose and hope. Stay connected.

Love,

Gretchen

These were the sons of Noah, and from them came the the people who were scattered over the earth. Genesis 9:19

Early in the Biblical narrative sin is on the rampage, but God finds one faithful obedient man, Noah. He saves him and his family while destroying everyone else on earth. Noah descended from Adam, and now again humanity is reminded: We have one common ancestor, Noah. Genetic history is complex, yet very much the same. Sin determined the destiny of Noah’s sons, but obedience always brought redemption and restoration and changed the course of history, nothing else.

Differences are important. We put great emphasis on individuality. It is a gift from God. We long to be recognized for ways we are unique, not how we are the same. But then there is the issue of social order. We use all ways, commonality and diversity to justify power and authority over each other.

God designed all things for His glory, never to give one man the right to marginalize or hate another. We were made to love.

Let There Be Peace On Earth and Let it Begin With ME!

Gretchen

Learning to Read

When I was twelve my family moved to Greenbrier, Arkansas. I left a very small country school with 10 to 12 students per grade and enrolled in a much larger school with three classrooms full of of sixth graders that changed classes per subject. It was traumatic because I had a secret……….I could not read. Not a word and no one knew. It never occurred to me that I had been clever to cover-up or disguise my crisis, I was just deeply aware that everyone around me could decipher the mystery of written language except me. So I discerned that I was horribly, irreparably stupid. At my old school I had means of surviving. If there was a reading assignment I asked a friend to tell me the story. I was proficient in creating diversions and excuses.……and then I lost it all!!!!

Somehow I survived and completed the sixth grade. I joined band, continued with piano lessons and moved across campus to junior high school. I made a friend who asked me to attend a sleepover at her house. Her parents had purchased a video playing machine (a very rare item) and we got to watch Gone With the Wind. This civil war era story is epic in length and depth, but that didn’t prevent me from falling asleep half way through the four hour film. Shortly after I awoke the next morning my mom arrived to take me home and there I was, mentally anxious over the outcome of Scarlett O’Hara’s quest to survive against the odds. When I arrived home I found mom’s copy of the 1200+ page novel, started on page one and began teaching myself to read.

That year our school was getting a track installed around our existing football field and our math teacher used this as an opportunity to encourage a little critical thinking. She gave us formulas for circumference, perimeter and area along with the measurements of the field, the anticipated width of the new track and the cost per square foot. Our task was to find the exact area and calculate the taxpayers contribution to our new physical fitness opportunities. After instructing us she left the room and went to the teacher’s lounge for a cigarette. (Yes really!)

Mrs. Math returned and collected our work. Shortly she announced that only one student got the correct answer, ME!!!!! No one was more surprised than that teacher and myself. Then a beautiful, wonderful thing happened. She asked me to share how I arrived at my conclusions. On this day, seventh grade year, Greenbrier Junior High, I stopped being stupid. It took me twelve months to finish the first book I ever read, but I did, with comprehension. Soon I was reading everything. I continued to excelled at math and began to love school.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault I made it all the way to seventh grade as a non reader. I could play a Mozart piano sonata, I functioned well socially, became a cheerleader and hid my secret well. The curriculum of that era, used to its greatest effectiveness, would not have detected my delays or helped me overcome them. But God had a plan. He took away all my life preservers and threw me in the deep end of the pool.

Psalms 139 says, “You hem me in behind and before, and You lay Your hand upon me.” Yes indeed. God knew what was best. He didn’t toss me into the water to drown, but to swim and swim I did. He created me, knows me best and I can trust because He is good!

No Floaties for Me!

Gretchen

For He says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. II Corinthians 6:2

Salvation is available by God’s favor. His grace and mercy are gifts born of His love and the sacrifice of His one and only Son. Salvation is simple, but as a sinner saved by grace there is more work to do. A world is lost, hurting and seeking something they think is illusive and mystical. It is God’s favor, miraculous, not mystical, easy to acquire not illusive.

Christ did not give His life in vain.  When we bring the Gospel and His love to others we show great and reverent acknowledgement of God’s favor bestowed on you and me.

Love,

Gretchen

The LORD has said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

Abram was called by God to leave his home, all that he knew and set out into the great unknown. There was no GPS, or travel show to prepare him for what was ahead, but that didn’t deter Abram’s faithful obedience. God called and Abram headed toward a destination to be named later.

A divine promise followed Abram’s call. Childless, 75 year old Abram was told his descendants would become a great nation, a blessing to ALL people. The gospel, long before Bethlehem or the cross, was told by God to Abram in Genesis 12. The Good News and God’s love are for all. It is not exclusive.

Obedience powered by faith becomes a blessing far beyond the boundary of human imagination.

Love,

Gretchen

 

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. I Corinthians 15:1

The Jews and Greeks were struggling with conflicting ideas of resurrection regardless of religion. The Jews believed the original you became the eternal you. (NO Thanks!) In contrast, the Greeks knew only of an immortal soul. What is the true Gospel? The resurrection of the Christ!!

We can get very bogged down in insignificant details and miss the big picture. The Gospel is about a death that has been defeated, sin’s prison bars opened and satan’s threat forever silenced. All because God loves us.

The people of Corinth took the step of faith and believed. Their sins were washed away, and then…..cultural and traditional questions minimized their spiritual victory. Get the big picture! When we stand in the presence of the LORD, we will be like Him: Eternal, immortal and free.

Love,

Gretchen

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” Genesis 9:1

In the beginning of time God made order out of chaos. He separated the water from land. As a result of man’s sin, the forces of destruction are let loose and water completely covers the earth destroying all life except…..…

The big picture of Noah’s story is God’s saving power. Against the backdrop of judgement, God provides a place of safety and refuge.

Noah knows and trusts God. Through obedience God prepares him for this moment in time. A man that never saw an ocean, never heard thunder or saw a raindrop, faithfully followed. His blind faith led to blessings. It would have been hard to see success while building a boat on dry ground. The logic of loading smelling, hungry beasts was lost all while Noah’s family stands loyally beside him expecting his leadership to amount to a life worth living.

Faith begets obedience, obedience begets blessing. That’s all!

Happy Half Way to the Weekend!

Gretchen

And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was crippled in both feet. II Samuel 9:13

David and Mephibosheth’s story is one of my favorite. It is the story of grace and mercy lived out in living color between two men who had every right to fear each other and do whatever was necessary to survive. King David choose mercy and grace, and Mephibosheth returned to his original state, the child of a king.

Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, David’s best friend, and the grandson of Saul, David’s foe. It was customary for new kings to seal their throne by annihilating the former king’s family. David, in honor of his loyalty to Jonathan, found Mephibosheth who had been crippled on the very day his father and grandfather died as his nurse ran from invaders and dropped him.

Hiding in a dry and barren place, fear was all this former prince knew. It was magnified when David’s emissaries arrived. But instead of the dreaded judgement and death, this crippled, orphaned young man returned to a place he had lost, a home he believed was forever out of reach. He always ate at the king’s table!

The feast is waiting for you too!!

Pass the Butter Please,

Gretchen

Today is the one year anniversary of my blog. Thank you for reading and leaving encouragement and comments. It has been an amazing year and I have been blessed by you.

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3:24

Sleep is something the human body cannot do without. It restores the physical body and allows our minds to process and reset so our mental state can remain healthy too. For many, sleep is elusive. Bad things happen in the night, or dreaded things await when we awaken. The wise writer knows this and has probably experienced a worry and exhaustion that goes beyond reason and rest.

I find it interesting that just a few verses above you find the words, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” 5a. I know this isn’t a simple sleeping pill, but if you read verses 23-26 you have the knowledge that God is taking care of the universe while we slumber. From the huge picture of world affairs to the most minute details of our personal life, God’s got this.

Seek God’s wisdom because it offers the things money cannot give us: Peace, happiness and security. Remember, He is never wrong so everything is going to be alright.

Love,

Gretchen