Be Refreshed!
Life can be a desert, so we need to be refreshed!
There is no better place to find real refreshment than at church. Here we meet Jesus, who is still the best answer to our questions and the only solution to our problems. It is amazing how a book written nearly two millennia ago speaks so clearly to our needs today. We invite you to take a load off your feet and your mind with us this Sunday.
Do look our website over, but there’s no substitute for seeing us in person. We are more than words and pictures. We are real people seeking to make a big deal about Jesus Christ. I hope you will do us the kindness of dropping by this Sunday. I understand that you have many choices in NW Tucson/Marana when it comes to worship, but I think you will find our church refreshing. We’re not about hype but about real hope in Jesus.
It would be easier to stay home this Sunday, but everyone who now attends is glad they didn’t.
Give us a visit this weekend. I’ll be looking for you!
Pastor Mike Read MoreMomma Wears Combat Boots
Molly was a true American patriot. During the Revolutionary War she had followed her husband’s company as they engaged the Redcoats. At the Battle of Monmouth, she could see the heat was taking a bigger toll on the Continental Army than the canon fire. Rolling up her skirt and grabbing her pitcher, she descended onto the battlefield to bring drinks to the heat-stricken men. When her husband fell behind his canon, not to injury but to heatstroke, she bravely manned his canon throughout the afternoon. Eventually, the sun began to fade and the British withdrew in defeat. General Washington seeing “Molly Pitcher” from a distant made her a Sergeant. Molly, less lady-like perhaps, did the dirty work that had to be done on the battlefield.
There have been women like her down through the pages of history.
The greatest history book of all time, the Bible, tells its own stories of female heroism. Two women were responsible for a great victory in Israel’s history. During the days of the judges, Israel had no king and no standing army. Her enemies exploited this and often oppressed her for years at a time. Deborah, a prophetess, received a word from the Lord, that He would give victory over the Canaanite oppressors. She just needed to find someone to assemble and lead an army. She asked Barak. He agreed somewhat reluctantly: “If thou wilt go with me, then I will go.” (Judges 4:8). Deborah agreed, but warned that he would forfeit the honor: “the Lord would sell Sisera into the hands of a woman” (4:9). Barak and his ten thousand troops went with Deborah to engage the enemy. They did prevail over a much better equipped army, just as the Lord said, but the honor went to a woman brave enough to lead an army into battle.
But that isn’t the end of the story. Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, managed to escape the battlefield and headed north to safety. Weary from the battle and from the foot flight he was making, Sisera eyed the tent of an ally and turned in for a rest. Jael gladly welcomed Sisera, gave him milk, and a quiet place to rest. Unsuspectingly, he lay down. When sleep overtook him, Jael took one of her husband’s tent pegs and drove it through his temple (4:21). Thanks to Jael, not one man managed to escape. Two women did the dirty work that won the victory.
The Bible does not discriminate against women or suggest their enslavement. In fact, belief in the Bible has engendered greater respect for women than they have known throughout history. Where the Bible is not respected in the world, typically women are not either. And when the Bible speaks on women, it reminds us that men and women were made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27); that women have just as much claim on the kingdom as any man (Gal. 3:28, 1 Peter 3:7); that women have equal access to God in prayer (1 Tim. 5:5); and that they have gifts essential to the health of the body, we call the church (1 Cor. 12:12).
It is doubtful that we would have a country if it weren’t for the contribution of women like Molly. And it is doubtful that we would have a church either. Would you do more than tip your hat in agreement? Would you do something to show the lady in your life, how much you appreciate her ability to strap on her boots and do the dirty jobs that have to be done? (Oh, and just for the record, my mother did wear combat boots. She served in the US Army.)
Read MoreWhere Was God on September 11?
You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news on September 11, 2001. Neither will I.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say, ‘Good-bye.’ I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, ‘Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK, I am ready to go.’
I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn’t coming home that night.
I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to Me for help. ‘I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!’ I said. ‘Of course, I will show you the way home – only believe in Me now.’
I was at the base of the building with the [man of God] ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend his flock in Heaven. He heard My voice and answered.
I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there, comforting and assuring them that their faith has saved them.
I was in Texas, Virginia, California, Michigan, Afghanistan. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me?
I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name – though not all knew Me. Some met Me for the first time on the 86th floor.
Some sought Me with their last breath. Some couldn’t hear Me calling to them through the smoke and flames: ‘Come to Me . . . this way . . . take My hand.’ Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.
I did not place you in the Towers that day. You may not know why, but I do. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me?
September 11, 2001 was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are ‘ready to go.’ I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.
-God
“Met in the Stairwell” written by Allison C. Coxsey.
Read MoreAre You a Cultural Christian?
“Cultural Christianity means to pursue the God we want instead of the God who is. It is the tendency to be shallow in our understanding of God, wanting Him to be more of a gentle grandfather type who spoils us and let us have our own way. It is sensing a need for God, but on our own terms. It is wanting the God we have underlined in our Bibles without wanting the rest of Him, too. It is God relative instead of God absolute.” (Patrick Morley, The Man in the Mirror. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989. p. 53.)
Read MoreHope for America
I still believe America is the greatest nation on earth and I am proud to be an American. But I share your concerns about our future, especially when I look at our leaders. Someone in Washington once quipped, “I don’t look at our country and pray for our leaders. I look at our leaders and pray for our country.”
We are watching as popularity “trumps” principle and charisma takes the “hill” over character. Daily headlines sabotage our hopes, that things really cannot be all that bad. More and more, those who believe the Bible share Solomon’s anxiety over leaders:
KJV Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
There is more than a little reason to mourn the present state of affairs, but perhaps there is a ray of sunshine to be found. Why would God bring our nation to this point? Just maybe it is His way to wean from us any hope we still have in parties, politics or personalities. The hope for America is not to be found in the leaders who run Washington. Instead, our hope must be set in God who still rules the world (Ps. 78:7). And He is always having a great day, no matter how gray it gets down here!
Read MoreThe Mystery of Faith
Can you define faith? Not the easiest thing to explain to another person, is it? The closest thing to a Bible definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I bet that cleared up the whole question for you, right? Honestly, faith remains puzzling for many people. As a result, we often wonder in our hearts whether we have any faith at all (or at least the right kind).
Paul was a prisoner on board a ship headed for Rome. But that ship was being battered by a storm. It seemed that none of the 276 passengers would survive the voyage. After 14 days, it looked as if they would be swallowed up by the sea. But then God spoke by an angel to His servant Paul.
KJV Acts 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
Notice Paul’s conclusion: “I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Did you catch it? Paul just defined faith for you. Faith is believing that what God tells me is true.
Are you taking what God says to be true?
- What about His word to remember your sins no more (Heb. 8:12)?
- What about His word not to leave you (Matt. 28:20)?
- What about His word that He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7)?
- What about His word to meet all your needs (Phil. 4:13)?
Faith may still hold some mysteries, but this is a great place to start: believe what God says is so!
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