Isn't it amazing that God who could cast us off like yesterday's leftovers allows for the near constant reboot of repentance? He could simply start over with a new Garden and a new couple.
But He would rather that WE begin again at some altar somewhere. He constantly brings us back around to face battles we have a history of losing. Ever the Optimist, God comes alongside us at the very interchange where we made the wrong turn. If we just pay attention we can feel His gentle nudge into the narrow way that leads to life everlasting.
Watch out for the broad and well lit super highway. Just because it is such a popular avenue doesn't mean we will like the destination. The straight and narrow might not be the route of choice for many these days.
But song writer Robert Lowery was onto something wonderful when he asked, "What can wash away my sins?" And then gave the eternal and accurate answer, "NOTHING but the blood of Jesus!"
As the New Year dawns upon us there is no better place for us to meet than at the foot of the Cross.
Join me at the altar!
Gently,
Richard Orrell, Lead Pastor
Posted by: Pastor Rich Orrell AT 06:15 am
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We were sitting around our small fire that night swapping yarns as usual. The hillside was draped with the living wool factories that were our very lives. The steady hum of murmured conversation began to be punctuated with lengthy lulls as the sheep settled down and sleep claimed us one by one.
Confession they say is good for the soul. Some of us screamed like children when that light burst upon us! One moment it was dark except for the twinkling stars overhead. The next instant the heavens were ablaze with the light of a thousand suns. Suddenly, a powerful voice rang out.
"Fear not!"
And with those two words our natural terror subsided to be replaced with an excitement we had never known! Oh, we had all been saying maybe this could be the year of Messiah's appearing. But we had been hoping and praying for so many years, no one really believed much anymore. We just said what we thought we were expected to say as Jewish people. Imagine our shock when that incredible Voice announced the birth of Messiah that very night! And wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, of all places! Now that's our kind of Messiah!
Later we were nearly overcome with joy as we crowded into that tiny barn to see our newborn King.
He won our hearts that night so long ago with his humility and simplicity. Maybe that's why we were so eager to hear His gracious words years later when He finally started preaching and teaching.
We are all getting on up in years now. But we still remember that powerful moment when God let us know the Savior had been born a common man...one of us.
Crucified but resurrected three days later, He told us He had to go back to His Father. But before He left us that day on the Mount of Olives, He said He would return. He mentioned we wouldn't know exactly when but that He would surely return. Even after all these years we still hold onto that promise.
"Even so Lord Jesus, come quickly!"
Merry Christmas!
Richard Orrell, Pastor
Posted by: Pastor Rich Orrell AT 06:45 am
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“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
God’s Gift to us this Christmas season is HIS peace. We should not fret. Relax and enjoy family and friends and God’s blessings to America.
God knows exactly where we are and what we are facing. Whether physical problems, loss of loved ones or jobs, God is our source and an ever present help in time of trouble.
My wish for you this Christmas is that you’ll experience God’s Peace, the perfect gift He has wrapped up for us this Christmas!
God’s got you, your needs, your family, your future in His hands. What more could we wish for?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Love ya, Pastor Phil
Posted by: Pastor Phil Illlum AT 06:00 am
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We never did know exactly who was killed in the cave-in or if it really happened but the prospect of suffocation looms as a very real memory.
You see, there was a sand pit near the elementary school we attended as children. We could see banks of inviting yellow sand sticking up above the palmetto scrub as we jostled along the highway headed home in the school bus after the final bell of the day. There was some sort of fence between DeLeon Springs Elementary and the forbidden sand pits. But it wasn't the fence that kept us out. It was fear. The legend of the kids who ditched school and went exploring in the sand pits, never to be seen alive again was often repeated. Tales of how they dug into one of those banks of sand and how it caved in on them were vivid and quite real to children with powerful imaginations. We were being protected from very real dangers by an underlying drive for self preservation.
Perhaps something like that is being hinted at by the scriptural statement, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". If we respect the possibility of eternal retribution from Someone absolutely in charge, we may well be motivated to research His requirements and comply.
Perhaps not for love of His sterling nature, but in simple self-preservation we begin our search. As we discover He is real, we learn that His character and nature deserve our love, praise, worship and devotion. The relationship that began with, "thou shall NOT", developed into, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest". As we learn the truth of His terrible sacrifice for each of us on Calvary's cruel cross, we fall hopelessly in love with our real, warm, loving, wonderful and forgiving Heavenly Father.
Lovingly,
Richard Orrell, Lead Pastor
Posted by: Pastor Rich Orrell AT 07:02 am
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Growing up in the balmy Autumn weather of central Florida, there were many things we never got to experience. Not once did our schools close down for snow or ice. Hooded parkas and mittens were things we barely knew about. And If we ever actually wore a sweater or light jacket to the bus stop it was hanging on a coat hook before noon. But even in the South things can change. One year, my older sister and I had helped Dad bring in a supply of wood for the Daisy pot-belly stove that was our sole source of heat. The fact that we had to get wood must have meant it was cold. But in the drafty old farm house we called home, anything below 70 degrees meant extra blankets on the bed and a fire in that old stove.
I don’t remember who added the extra wood. Likely it was one of us children who got carried away with the pine knots we had loaded into my little red wagon and stacked carefully in the wood box. Daddy knew better.
Soon, the sides of the chubby little stove were cherry red as the pitch in the wood made it burn fiercely. Daddy dutifully dampered it down and used our carelessness as a teaching moment. As he remonstrated with us, no one noticed our toddler niece getting close to the stove until she tripped and fell onto the blistering hot stove. Her tiny arm bore the brunt of the impact and came away with the word, “Daisy” branded into the tender flesh of her forearm.
I wouldn’t characterize us as remarkably religious people. We were just a family who loved each other and knew that if it mattered to us…God cared. Instinctively, Mother and others prayed even as old home remedies were hastily applied. It has been so long. I do not remember what those remedies might have been. I just recall vividly the relief when a few months later someone noticed how quickly the “Daisy” faded from her arm as the terrible pain vanished from her mind.
As we approach Thanksgiving let us remember things like this from our own past when God’s amazing Grace was applied in some marvelous way in our lives.
Lovingly,
Richard Orrell, Pastor
Posted by: Pastor Rich Orrell AT 06:42 am
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“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
God’s people prayed. If we believe Scripture, He answered our prayers, the elections are over. Praise the Lord we had a peaceful election cycle. NOW, let’s trust the last of His promise, that He will now RESTORE OUR LAND.
Democrats, Independents, Republicans: Now let’s all unite and pray for our newly elected leadership and pray that God will direct our nation’s path. As we’ve said many times, GOD IS IN CONTROL, HE has our future in His hands.
“God is good, all the time, He’s good ALL the time.” Thank you Jesus for your care.
Love ya, Pastor Phil
Posted by: Pastor Phil Illum AT 09:00 am
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Reading the book of Ruth in the Bible is a refreshing experience. It is short enough to be easily read in one sitting and the content is heartwarming. Many applications for our modern day lives can be made of the timeless truth found in these few short pages. One of my favorites is simply the loyalty between Naomi and Ruth. There were others who made the choice to go with what seemed more logical. But even when her own sister turned back, Ruth plodded relentlessly after her mother in law. Bereft of her husband and childless in a society that looked down on the married woman with no offspring, Ruth allowed her love and loyalty for Naomi to propel her into an uncertain future that unbeknownst to her would include her in the ancestry of Messiah.
How amazing that God reached into the life of a refugee Gentile, Jewish by choice and by loyalty, to find someone to cooperate with His plan to bless the entire world with a Savior! Did she have any comprehension of all God had planned? Not in a million years. All she had was her ironclad declaration of intent: "Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."
May the Lord bring us to a similar place in our commitments. May friendship and loyalty once again draw us away from the fickleness promoted by the self centered entertainment industry.
May we be courageous enough to stand by those we love even though we may disapprove of their behavior. May we faithfully exert the influence God has given us to change them (and us!) for the better. Remember; God placed you in their lives for a reason.
His purpose may not be readily seen nor easily grasped. But given time and proximity His will is made clear. If we remove ourselves from someone's life the influence God intended for us to exert becomes difficult if not impossible.
Lovingly,
Richard Orrell, Lead Pastor
Posted by: Pastor Rich Orrell AT 06:02 am
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The lyrics to Thomas A. Dorsey's old gospel song say, "Precious Lord take my hand. Lead me on help me stand". Written at a crisis point in his own life, Mr. Dorsey's thinking has helped shape the feelings of many who are troubled by events out of their control.
Each time I hear that dear old song I'm reminded of the security I felt as a child crossing the busy downtown street of our home town with my hand in daddy's calloused hand. To use his colorful turn of phrase, the boulevard was often "running bank-full". In those days US 17 highway was routed right through the middle of our small town and carried much of the North/South traffic as the cold sensitive populace ebbed and flowed across the Mason-Dixon Line with the change of seasons.
There were only two kinds of pedestrians; the quick and the dead. But the dangers of crossing the street were of little concern to me. The capabilities of my stubby little legs were superseded by the length of Daddy's adult strides. My hand in his guaranteed he would lift me above my own inadequacies. And should I fall, he would pick me up and carry me to safety.
So it is for us as believers. There is so much of life that eludes our control; so many challenges able to crush the life out of our dreams. But we have placed our hand in God's great hand. His compassionate heart senses our every concern. His capabilities tower over all our fears. His power fills in the blanks for our inadequacies. His strength shores us up at our weak points.
Tommy Dorsey's great lyrics become our daily prayer: "Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on, help me stand. I am tired. I am weak. I am worn. Through the storm, through the night. Lead me on to the Light. Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home."
Let God pick you up, then try again!
Lovingly,
Pastor Richard Orrell
Posted by: Pastor Rich Orrell AT 06:00 am
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