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Sunday Sermon

  Learning Isaiah 50:4 The Lord God gave me the ability to teach so that I know what to say to make the weak strong. Every morning he wakes me. He teaches me to listen like a student. Aircraft amaze me and not because they are these great big machines that look cool or that they go fast but because of how they work. The basic concept of powered flight is that the speed of the air flowing around the wing keeps the aircraft aloft. For me the science and the math that is involved just captivates me. Objects that weight as much as some planes do should not be up in the sky and yet they are because the math tells us they can. Because we have learned a truth about how the universe works we can use it to make things fly in the sky and that amazes me. What is more fascinating to me is that this math and science directs me to the God who created the universe. By learning truths about the how the universe works we also learn there is this God who is the truth of all things and that i...
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Sunday Sermon

  Evil Isaiah 50:1 This is what the Lord says: “People of Israel, you say I divorced your mother. Then where is the paper that proves it? Or do you think I sold you to pay a debt? Because of the evil things you did, I sold you. Because of the times she turned against me, your mother was sent away. A central part of our hope and faith in Jesus is that we are joyful people. I have to confess that I have not always thought about joy in that way but over the years as I have spent time in scripture I have found that our God is profoundly joyful. What that means as believers in the living God is that we should be by our very nature joyful people. On more then one occasion I have talked about how the joy of Jesus’ birth seems contrary to what Jesus was coming into the world to do. Jesus was born to take on the sin of the world and yes He would be victorious in that but at a high cost. For me Christmas should be a somber time as we remember the cost of our sin is that God has to ...
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Shelving Issues

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 Shelving is always an issue for all of us.
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Dwarves

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Sunday Sermon

  Bow Down Isaiah 49:23 Kings will teach your children, and daughters of kings will take care of them. They will bow down before you and kiss the dirt at your feet. Then you will know I am the Lord. Anyone who trusts in me will not be disappointed.” A benefit of spending time in the Bible is that we learn about who God is and what God is all about. In short God explains Himself to us and makes His case for us to trust in Him. This always intrigues me because our God is the creator of the universe and does not have to explain anything to us. God could, if He wanted to, just demand we come and worship and serve Him but that is not the righteous and loving God that we have. This God we trust in wants us to know Him and to understand who He is. Instead of demanding we obey Him He explains Himself and then tells us what He offers. A central point that I have come to embrace is the place where God makes the covenant with the Israelites. There is no demand that the Israelites f...
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I like Hussite wargons

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Sunday Sermon

   Jewels  Isaiah 49:18 Look up and look around you.  All your children are gathering to return to you.  The Lord says, “As surely as I live, your children will be like jewels that a bride wears proudly.” A hobby of mine is all about pushing little plastic soldiers around on a table to fight battles both historical and imagined. We call what we do miniature war gaming and it is a great learning tool to help people understand decision making and to see the effects that those choices have in a non-substantial environment. When I teach new people about our hobby, I have a saying I use to help people learn about missing what is important. I say, “Sometimes we get so caught up in killing alligators that we forget that our job is to drain the swamp.” The idea is that we start doing something that might be helpful but misses the point. You don’t have to kill the alligators if you drain the swamp because the alligators will just leave. This of course leads me into ...
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