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Central Family,
Last Sunday we gathered around Joshua 5:13 - 6:7. "Joshua saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?" He replied, "Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, and he said to him, "What do you command your servant my Lord?"
We heard the third word of counsel from Pastor Isaac and our sister congregations; "Hakuna Mtufkufu ila Mungu pekee," which means "there is no one who is Holy except God." How is the Lord King? One of the primary themes of God's Word is, "the Lord is King." In Psalm 93 :1 we read, "The Lord is King; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength." I wonder if the people of Israel ever scratched their heads and wondered about the Lord being King. Everything around them pointed to earthly kings. Through out the history of the people of God it seemed that they lived under the thumb of an earthly king, i.e., Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome, Assyria, Phoenicia or any number of other foreign empires. Does the Lord really reign?
YES! Of course the Lord rules and reigns we say rather piously. But as we look at the world around us we have to ask how does the Lord rule and reign. Did you note how the Psalmist began Psalm 93? The Lord is "robed in majesty, he is girded with strength." The Lord wears majesty and strength like clothing; God's true nature is beneath the surface, often hidden from the human mind and eye.
When Jesus came to earth, God shed his majestic clothing and revealed the true nature of his kingship. Jesus lay in a manger as opposed to a palace. Jesus surrounded himself with poor and disenfranchised people as opposed to the rulers and wealthy. Jesus rode a donkey instead of a stallion, Jesus' throne was a cross and he wore a crown of thorns not gold or jewels. No wonder Pontius Pilate asked; "Are you a king?" He commanded no armies, called down no heavenly powers to defend him but became weak, humble and lowly. In Christ Jesus we have a vision of the new kingdom. "The word of the cross is foolishness to the perishing, but to us being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor 1:18)
Do you want to see power? Watch Jesus wash feet and touch the untouchables. Watch Jesus forgive the very ones who spat on him and mocked him. Watch Jesus surrender his life to the Father. Watch Jesus breath his last and three days later miraculously show up again. As we move forward in our Joshua journey it is good to pause and reflect who our King is and what type of body does the Lord want to create at Central. It has nothing to do with earthly power but has everything to do with Jesus who stands before each one of us. How do you respond to him? This Sunday will you join your brothers and sisters and fall on the ground, worship the Lord and freshly surrender your life?
In closing there are just a few things that I want to keep in front of you;
- Have you contributed to the 2010 Building Improvements? All gifts received before the end of July will be matched up to $20,000. This is a great opportunity to double the size of your gift. Even if you have already given you might want to give an additional gift so we can receive the $20,000 matching gift.
- Thank you for your prayers for the staff as we were on the REVEAL RETREAT last Monday and Tuesday. Many hours were spent praying, planning, visioning and dreaming about the body of Central. We feel so blessed to serve amongst you and are grateful for the unfolding vision that the Spirit is placing before us. You will be hearing more about this in the weeks and months to come.
- Pray for your elected Church Council. On Monday night, July 19 we had our organizational meeting. Each Council member shared his or her response to the question; "What is one thing about your relationship with Jesus Christ that the body of Central needs and cannot live without." God has blessed Central with a marvelous group of leaders who are committed to following Jesus Christ into a new future. We welcome new Council members, Pat Hackman, Tom Tyler and Pam Wagner. In addition we elected our officers for this next year. Pray for our President; David Parish, Vice President; Tami Thoreson; Secretary; Brenda Shirley and Treasurer; Sherri Merkling.
- This Sunday we will be praying for VBS leaders and participants, commissioning the Guatemala mission team and hearing a report from the Haiti team. You will want to make sure you are in worship.
There is so much happening in our life together so make sure you visit www.clcelkriver.org on a regular basis.
In Christ,
Paul Johansson |
