Services every Sunday at 7:00 P.M.
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Services every Sunday at 7:00 P.M.
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"Birthday Reflections" 7/16/2006 Birthdays! Can you remember the day when you always wanted to older than you were? I can't wait till I'm five and can go to school. I can't wait till I'm thirteen I can stay up till ten o'clock on the weekend. I want to be sixteen so I can get my learner's permit to drive. When I'm eighteen I'll graduate and be out on my own. When I'm 21 I can drink legally. Then things started to change in the twenties birthdays start to come around and you started to say and think things like I'm going to be thirty soon. Then some of us hit the thirty mark and it was, "Oh! I'm going to be forty... middle aged." Funny thing happens when you get to be forty: middle age is fifty. Then when some of us hit that time when our age starts to regress. I was 21 again. That was 21 summers... I forget how many winters. Well you get the picture. Birthdays are times of great joy, times to gather with loved ones, and at a certain age time to reflect. So tonight I want to share some birthday reflections with you (having turned 21 again!) Life can be a great adventure when we live it to the fullest. There are the high times in our lives -- those times when we celebrate the joy of being alive: a first kiss, a child coming into our lives, finding our soul mate, the first promotion, the sense of success of a job well done, celebrating a 25 year anniversary -- you fill in the blank of those high times in your life. Then there are the low times in life: the loss of our first love, a major disappointment of a dream that didn't come true, the loss of a parent or someone we loved dearly, losing a job. Loss can be a very painful time in our life's journey. And then there is the rest of our life -- the times between the peaks and valleys and that's where we live most of our days. But it's also the place where we can find fulfillment and contentment and a life lived in the fullest. The moments when we share an ordinary dinner with a loved one, watch a sunset and be filled with awe, read a good book, enjoy a fine piece of music -- the contentment that comes from working at a job or doing a project that gives us joy and a sense of accomplishment. One of the secrets of life is living in the ordinary as we discover the extraordinary. Trying new things. Taking on a new challenge. Going down a different road. Life is an adventure when we live it to the fullest enjoying all the moments that God has entrusted to us. Secondly, life lived with God is the best treasure we will ever find. To know that we will never be alone, that God is with us 24/7 is a wonderful gift. To trust that whatever happens in the future God will be there through the good times and the challenging times. To know that God loves us when we're doing our best and when we make mistakes and experience God's grace and mercy. The God of our lives has created us and knows all about us. When that sinks into our bones and our heart we know the peace that indeed passes all understanding. We are not a mistake. We are who we are meant to be in the time and place that we find ourselves. Once we can fully accept God's love -- we can learn to love others as well. To treat each person with respect and dignity knowing that they are who God created them to be. As we "do unto others as we would have them do unto us" we shall indeed build that nation Jim sang about. Thirdly, to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls is our life's direction. I can remember being a young teenager at church camp and having this feeling deep within me that God wanted all of my life for all of my days. And I can remember going to the chapel and saying a prayer that I would do whatever God wanted of me. Way back then I had no idea what that would really mean for the long haul. But what a wonderful journey it has been. To love God with my whole being means serving others. It is lived out in the way I treat myself and other people. For me it ended up being my career and vocation -my call in life. But for all of us it can be our purpose and guiding light. When we have a passion to love God we can't help but make a difference in our world. God's presence empowers our actions and our words. We want to seek justice and peace. We want to see the hungry fed and the lonely befriended. We want a world were everyone experiences freedom and can live there life to the fullest. Each and every day gives us the opportunity and responsibility to the touch the lives of those people who we meet. One person at a time. One chance to love the presence of God who comes your way. To love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls is our life's direction and defining goal. Birthdays come and birthdays go and life passes more quickly than we can imagine. So live each day entrusted to you to the fullest. Tell those people in your life that you love them. Do those things that make you happy. Make all those ordinary moments extraordinary by knowing that God is a part of them. Each step you take, each breath that gives you life is full of God's loving care. May you always remember your God given purpose to love God with your whole being. In serving others we find true fulfillment and happiness. May all your days be blessed. |
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