Sandy's Sayings

Text-a-bration Holy Week Easter Sunday

Holy Week: Easter Sunday: He has risen! Read Matthew 28. See ya at church 8, 9:30 or 11:15 am

Text-a-bration Holy Week 6

Holy Week 6: Read John:19:38-42 & 1 Peter 4:1-19. Reflect: Have you suffered for the sake of Jesus?

Text-a-bration Holy Week Good Friday

Holy Week: Good Friday. Read Isaiah 53, John 19:1-37. Reflect: What does Jesus' death and suffering mean to you?

This Year's Devotional

We are teaching through the whole Bible in our youth ministry this year, so it has been fun reading through portions of the Bible I haven't read through in a while. Next week we will be in Judges. For my devotional time I'm reading through "Solo" by Eugene Peterson. I actually won this little devotional book at the youth workers convention at the "Th1nk" booth by answering some church history question. Th1nk is the youth section of The Navigators. They have some incredible resources that I've used over the years. So if you want to do something a little different with your devo's this year, check Solo out!

Good Friday

As I was making the announcments last Sunday during Jr. High I talked about our Good Friday service. One of our Jr. High students asked why we call it "good" Friday. To this student, she didn't really understand what was "good" about the suffering of Jesus. It's a great question. Without the death of Jesus, without the spilling of His of blood, there would be no atonement for my sin, there would be no celebration of Christ rising from the dead and the list could go on. Without "Good" Friday, we wouldn't have the "Good" News of Jesus, who came to seek and save the lost.

One of my favorite traditions our church does is the Good Friday service. People from the body have the opportunity to share their own personal reflection on one of the last seven phrases Jesus uttered from the cross. I thought I would post my Good Friday reflection from Good Friday 2000.

John 19:28-29 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

"Last summer I took a major road trip up and down the western coast. On my travels, I kept passing the Sprite billboard. On a large black background with white letters were the words, "Obey Your Thirst.” Every hundred miles or so, there it was, “Obey Your Thirst.” It was a stark contrast to what I had been studying over the summer. I was doing a study on Jesus satisfying our thirst. I focused my attention on John 7:37, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” What a stark contrast between what our Lord says to us in John 7:37 and what our world says to us today, “Obey your thirst.” I find it very comforting to know that my Lord was thirsty at the end of his life, so much so, it is recorded as one of His last phrases.

“I am thirsty,” what a bold statement, what an honest statement. There have been so many times, I wish I could just call it like it is, pure and honest thirst; thirsting after significance, thirsting after possessions, thirsting after family relationships and community. Ultimately I realized, I was doing what the commercial told me to do, “Obey Your Thirst.” Do whatever it takes to quench the thirst in your soul: be the best at what you do, earn that significance you thirst for. I find myself working my fingers to the bone, because of my thirst for the Silicon Valley lifestyle. I find myself doing whatever it takes to keep my family together and connected, knowing that everytime I wish for they way my family used to be, more hurt and more pain seem to follow. Over and over again, my thirst is left unquenched, unsatisfied. And over and over again, I hear the Lord tell me, leave those thirsts at The Well. Let me satisfy those deep thirsts within your soul. I cannot fully explain how freeing it has been over the last 8 to 10 years to bring those thirsts to the one who can fully satisfy and quench my thirst. Jesus was the one who promised in John 4:14, “ whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”

No matter how many times I am told to “Obey my thirst,” I know that Jesus is the only one who can really quench that thirst. I am so thankful that he recognized that thirst deep in our soul. And I am so thankful that he acknowledged his thirst on the cross, making him fully human, struggling with the same things you or I struggle with. I think singer/songwriter Chris Rice sums thirst up best with his song “Thirsty.” Let me read you the lyrics.

“I’m so thirsty, I can feel it
Burnin’ through the furthest corners of my soul
Deep desire, can’t describe this nameless urge
That drives me somewhere
Though I don’t know where to go

Seems I’ve heard about a river from someone who’s been
And they tell me once you reach it; oh you’ll never thirst again
So I have to find the river, somehow my life depends on the river
Holy River

I’m so thirsty
Other waters I’ve been drinkin’
But they always leave me empty like before
Satisfaction – all I’m askin’
Could I really be this thirsty if there weren’t something more?

Seems I’ve heard about a river from someone who’s been
And the tell me once you reach it, oh you’ll never thirst again
So I have to find the river, somehow my life depends on the river
Holy River

I’m on the shore now of the wildest river
And I kneel and beg for mercy from the skies
But no one answers – gotta take my chances
“Cause somethin’ deep inside me’s cryin’
“This is why your are alive”
So I plunge into the river with all that I am
Prayin’ this will be the river where I’ll never thirst again
I’m abandoned to the river and now my life depends on the river
Holy River
I’m so thirsty"

Holy Week Services

I'm really excited about our Good Friday and Easter services at CPC this week. Please feel free to join us to hear about what the risen Jesus is doing in the lives of people on the Peninsula. Our Good Friday service is at 4 PM and our Easter services are at 8, 9:30 and 11:15 am.

Bible Teaching in the Public School?

I just got my recent issue of Time Magizine and the cover made me want to open and read it immediatly, "Why We Should Teach The Bible in Public School." That headline will grab any Christian, Athiest or ACLU member. It was an interesting read. If you have some time take a moment to read the article. Being an English minor in college I took a course on "Bible as Liturature." It wasn't a bad class, but the teacher really had no clue about the Bible. I know some Christians are going to be "gung ho" about this possibility of the Bible being taught in the Public School, but just reading the few sentences they had about a teacher teaching the Beattitudes, I'm concernced about how they handle Scripture. In the article they talk about how our culture is Biblically illiterate and since the Bible has had so much influence in our country, our students should be educated about the Bible! They quote a Gallup pole of the churched and unchurched that studied how biblically illiterate our culture is. I look at our own students, those who have grown up in a church and they may know some of the "Sunday School" stories, but really have know idea where to find them in the Bible or how to use their Bible. In fact most of the time we only have a handful of students who bring their Bible to church on Sunday's. My concern is yet again, the public school system is going to carry another burden that really the family should be carrying. I believe it's the family's responsibility to educate their child about God and His Word and the church should be there to supplement that education. Granted, not every family believes in God or the Bible and that is where the church should meet the primary need. I don't deny that it would be exciting to have the Bible taught in a public school, but my concern would be who and how it would be taught. It will be interesting to see where this goes and what will come next.

A Crazy Sunday

Today was a crazy Sunday, let's say busier than usual. Some times I find myself laughing because growing up my parents never allowed me to work on Sunday! Now that I'm a pastor, well, Sunday is a work day. The day started off early. I attended the first service and got to hear our annual "Elders Report." It's kind of like the state of the union address except its about the ministry going on at CPC. I thought the guys did a superb job and I'm so excited for what God is doing and the future ministry that is going to take place. I do get bummed though when people specifically miss this Sunday because they think it has no benefit to them or they think it's boring. I don't understand this mindset. How can God's work be boring? The ministry at CPC has been exploding and we have a very exciting future ahead of us! Next was Jr. High Sunday School! We had a great morning, but attendance was below average, probably from all those parents who didn't want to listen to the Elders Report! It was a quick turn around because our Jr. High Director had The Edge Girls Day Out! Darcie did a fantastic job with this event. It's fun watching these 5th and 6th girls being nurtured in their faith. They had a great time making jewelry, playing DDR and eating! It was a quick clean-up and then off to Charter Sqaure to set up for high school and to be ready to meet one of our high school pastor candidates. High School went great. Our leaders are doing such a fantastic job and taking on more and more of the ministry. Our candidate spoke and seemed to connect with our students and our staff. I'm excited to see what God has for our high school ministry. After that, it was home to collapse at about 11:30 pm!

New Years Resolutions

With the new year fast approaching, many people will be thinking about their New Year’s resolutions. Most people make a resolution to lose weight or work out more or spend more time with the family.
How about making a resolution to take a sabbath? I’ve been taking some seminary classes through TEDS this year. In my Old Testament Survey class we spent a lot of time discussing what the Sabbath was for. If you are familiar with the creation account in Genesis you will know that God rested on the seventh day and made that day holy. Did you ever realize that our time is holy? God has set aside a time for rest and during that time He restores our dignity that is taken away from us throughout the week. I’ve heard the phrase and said the phrase, “I wish I had more time.” Yet the time that God has given us we often waste, we waste what He considers holy. It’s funny to me that in the Peninsula Culture, you often feel guilty for resting or taking time off. I know for myself, when I really rest, when I take time to be with my Father, life comes back into perspective. Things that are truly important come into focus and once again become a priority.
It makes me wonder what our world would be like if true followers of Jesus would actually take a Sabbath. Would we love our neighbors better? Would we treat people like Jesus did? Would our neighborhoods be different? What would our churches look like? Would we be more committed to preaching the Good News?
It makes sense that when we take a Sabbath our dignity returns. It is there, in that place of rest, that we find out who we are, a child of God. As much as our culture makes us think that our work defines who we are, really it’s our heavenly Father who defines us. So when we rest, when we take a Sabbath, we remind ourselves that we really are not in control, that our heavenly Father is. It is God who reminds us who we are, who gives us comfort, grace and of course our dignity as we go through a work week where so often those things are not present.
So as you think about the new year, set aside some time this year on a weekly basis to rest in the care of our heavenly Father. Make it a priority, say “no” to other things if you have to. I think you will be amazed at what Sabbath can do in your life.