Our God is Awesome

Psalm 66:3 (NLT)

³ “Say to God, How awesome are your deeds! Our enemies cringe before your mighty power.”

Sometimes Christians live a ‘Roller-Coaster” Life.    On Sunday they’re on the top of the world—but by Monday they’re depressed and see no hope for the future.   How disappointed  God must be in their lack of trust in Him.

We serve an awesome God, every day, every hour. He is faithful and able to meet our needs, every day.    His faithful provision is not dependent upon how we feel.    He is in control, and we MUST trust him, always.

So friends, get off of the Spiritual Roller Coaster!  Trust in God and don’t rely on  fickle feelings.   Feelings will fail you, every time. Rest in the assurance that our God is awesome and HE loves you, all the time.

God will provide everything you need, in His time.

Love ya,  Pastor Phil      

Oh, the patience it must have taken for Dad to sit quietly behind the oars as he taught me to fish! For hours he rowed the rented boat close to the St Johns river bank as I made cast after cast trying to hook a lunker lurking under the lily pads.  Time after time my poorly cast lure landed in a tree or in the middle of a patch of water plants. Yet again he was forced to pull the boat close enough to disentangle my lure and likely scare away any potential victim of my budding skills.  The lessons learned in the bow of those rented row boats were many and varied.

It was when I forgot to bring the water jug from home that I learned others may be depending on you for something really important.  Dad had finished  the last of the coffee from his battered old green thermos and asked for a drink of water. I reached under the seat and came up with nothing. With a sinking feeling I remembered Dad asking me to be sure and get the water jug from the counter on the way out the door. We were forced to drink river water that day. Not too bad if you're thirsty enough. But I never forgot the water again.

Another day, nothing was biting on the big flashy bass lures we were casting. We had tried everything we had but they were just not interested. I learned the importance of being willing to go back to the basics when Dad suggested we stop at a small island and dig some worms.  We had an old coffee can into which we put a hundred or so big fat wiggly worms. Dad unrolled the long cane poles he always brought along and baited up with the worms we had dug. Soon we had a live well full of beautiful panfish. Simply by changing our methods we turned a day of frustration into a day of success.

But the best lesson of all was the patience I saw role modeled before me every time we pulled up to Highland Park Fish Camp. Dad would clamp his 10 horse Mercury outboard onto the transom of one of their moss encrusted wooden rowboats. In those days before trolling motors, if you wanted to fish slowly, you had to row.  Knowing the oarsman didn't get to fish much, Dad always volunteered to row leaving me free to fish. It was those countless tangles and mess ups Dad always solved that taught me the lessons of kindness and patience that stand me in good stead even today.

Thanks Dad for your excellent example. May I ever follow in your giant tracks.

Happy Father's Day gentlemen!

Pastor Rich Orrell

Rich Orrell

1 Corinthians 13: 12-13

¹²  “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

Last Sunday my friend Jerry Tate was in church and heard a wonderful message on faith and grace.    Jerry had struggled with health issues for some time and had prayed for healing.  Wednesday he went to be with Jesus.

Well Jerry, today you know, there is no more seeing things through a glass darkly: being in God’s presence you see everything perfectly clearly.   You see now what your human mind couldn’t completely analyze.

Every promise in His Book was true.  Enjoy eternity with Jesus Jerry, we’ll see you soon. :-)

Pastor Phil      

I don't recall knowing where they came from; those tiny toy cars I pushed around the narrow streets of my little make believe village. In the welcome shade of an old orange tree in our back yard the sand was cool and damp after the daily rain and could easily be fashioned into avenues, tunnels, houses and walls.  There were always plenty of weeds to use for trees and shrubs in my imaginary hamlets. And cars...lots of cars; well, at least five or six.

In my child's mind it never occurred to me to wonder how a poor family had managed to acquire such treasures.  Were they premiums in some product purchased for the home? Had a kind relative passed them on to me when their own little boy had outgrown them? Perhaps a good week financially had coincided with a birthday. Oh; and what happened to them when childhood's days were done? I have no answers to any of these questions I might pose as an adult. I just cherish the memories of those wonderful hours of make believe in the luscious shade of that old orange tree. 

Reliving childhood's idyllic times makes one wonder: What about today's blessings? Where did they come from? Who provided them? How can they be preserved for tomorrow? Should they be passed along to the next generation?

The mature believer has likely come to the accurate conclusion that, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights..." (James 1:17) One can only hope that our awareness of our Source will lead to a better appreciation of what we have and a willingness to preserve and share it. 

Stewards all,

Pastor Rich Orrell