From the Pastor's Desk

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of my favorite desserts is cheesecake.  But, since I am a below average baker, the only cheesecake that I can make and enjoy for myself is the “no bake” cheesecake.  Just mix the ingredients together, pour into a crust and refrigerate.  After an hour or so, the liquid has set up and hardened and you simply cover in whatever topping you desire, and eat. 

But, what happens when our hearts harden like a “no bake” cheesecake?  What happens when in the course of our Christian journey, the world stirs things up and our hearts set up and harden?  If you are like me, of course you say to yourself that isn’t me.  But consider this: do we really feel like praying after working all day at our job, coming home to a list of chores and kids needing taxied to their after school engagements?  Some of us are retired and their kids have moved out, do we really feel like studying the Word of God when the golf course calls us by name, when the bridge club meets?  What if you don’t participate in those activities, do we really trust God completely, when we hear the news about the economy, the environment, the school shootings in Cleveland, the sudden death of a loved one?  Are there not circumstances and situations in all our lives that threaten to turn our hearts to stone with doubt, worry and anxiety?

Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.  (Hebrews 3:12-14) 

What is a hardened heart but a heart that the world pulls away from God?  We all have forces at work on us and in us which seek to pull us away from the Grace of God.  Worldly cares, worldly desires, worldly influences, they all seek to pull us away from the life God gives to us and to deaden our hearts.  When hardships or tragedies strike, we are pulled away from God, and our hearts harden like a “no bake” cheesecake.

But thanks be to God, that even though the world pulls us away from God, it is then that in the power and mercy of Jesus Christ, that God draws closer to us.  It is then that Jesus goes to work as the partner of our hearts, minds and souls.  When the world pulls us away, our partner uses the power of his cross and resurrection, to overcome the world and pull us back where we belong, God’s house.

Therefore, if Christ draws nearer to us when the world strikes, let us not be pulled back into the world, but let us seek shelter under the cross.  When trouble hits, let us not run away from God in doubt, let us run toward the cross in faith.  When difficulties hit, let Christ soften our hearts in faith.  If faith is the door we enter into God’s rest, when chaos befalls us as it most certainly will, let us believe in the tender ministrations of Christ and enter into the peaceful rest which passes all understanding.  If Christ stays with us, let us learn to stay with Christ.

In Christ,

Rev. Mark