I worry about others: the abuse of power, the inconsistency of character, the dismissal of truth or grace. As a brother constantly reminds me, I have control of two things: my “actions and reactions.” I cannot make the choices of other people. I can speak the truth in love and grace – and often fail to meet one of those or the other. But, I continue in my faith daily. Seeking those who speak truth and grace into my life, receiving rebuke and encouragement, and releasing that which I cannot control. I often weep for our culture and our church, for the way the Gospel has been twisted and manipulated by those who seek only to fulfill themselves or control the masses, for those who have been pushed away from God or outright walked away from Him. But I do not lose hope. The redemption in Jesus Christ, the hope and reality of reconciliation by the power of His Holy Spirit, remains too great a truth.

We live in a world of soundbites. If you’ve made it this far, and you’ve had similar feelings to my own, I encourage you to read Romans 12 below. God is good. God is near. Practice just one of the statements below this week – not for some kind of eventual reward, but to see His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. If you follow Jesus, you are a citizen in the Kingdom of God, an ambassador and mouthpiece of His on earth. As much as you are able, be at peace. The Kingdom of God is near.

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another. However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith; if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching; or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12

Doug Hinton

Pastor

Hempfield Church of the Brethren

717.898.0181

www.hempfieldcob.org 

                                                Doug Hinton

In the beginning, the earth was formless and void; there was nothing but darkness;

            In Him, all things hold together.

Though all creation was made good, and man made in His image, man still ate the fruit;

            In Him, all things hold together.

When Abel died out his own brother hand, when water covered all the land..

            In Him, all things hold together.

400 years of slavery and oppression, 10 plagues in succession, delivery through a watery grave into the promise once made.

            In Him all things hold together.

Kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord, Prophets who called out to the sinning horde.

            In Him all things hold together.

Psalms and wisdom, praise and lament, rebellion and repentance, suffering or content.

            In Him all things hold together.

Then one faithful night, a promise made to Mary, a young virgin teen, promised to Joseph who beheld an angel in a dream…

The boy’s birth found not in a palace or even in an inn, but in a manger where shepherds would come in…

            In Him all things hold together.

He was visited by foreign kings not of God’s chosen people, and sought after by King Herold who killed the baby boys in the land younger than two…yet,

            In Him all things hold together.

Baptized by His cousin who was later beheaded

            In Him all things hold together.

He healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, raised Lazarus from the dead…

            In Him, all things hold together.

Threatened, tempted, and tested, He often slipped through the crowds and into the wilderness…

            In Him all things hold together.

He was praised when He entered Jerusalem, yet some sought to kill him

            In Him, all things hold together.

They feared losing their position, their place of worship, the favor with Rome…

            In Him, all things hold together.

In Him, all power and authority were given…and he knelt down to wash his disciples’ feet as a servant

            In Him all things hold together.

Betrayed and arrested, accused and beaten, yet, no deceit was in His mouth, no sin had He committed.

            In Him all things hold together.

Cool weather, school buses fully loaded, football games on the TV, and pumpkin spice everything. Fall is here. If you are like me or my wife, you are loving everything about this time of year. However, the thing that I love the most about this time is the youth group meeting together again. location might be different, but we are gathering, we are talking, and we are growing together again. with everything that changed in the teens’ lives, it’s good to have something stable again. though there are a lot of things missing from our year, we look forward to making the most of the time we have. A lot of people might look at this time with pessimism, saying that things are going to go backwards, schools are going to all shut down again, and we will lose the progress we’ve made. However, Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). Solomon also writes, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up” (Prov. 12:25). So, continue to encourage one another to keep their gaze fixed on Christ. Keep His truth in your heart and on your tongue, and when you are discouraged, look to the blessings we have, for we have everything we need in Christ! We have Him, each other, and the Spirit dwelling within us!

So, pray for the youth, pray that the schools continue to stay open, and that we can continue progress towards life without fear. Pray that we can continue to meet, find new ways to serve the Lord, others, and to have fun. Lastly, pray for unity as the body. As all the issues in the world vie for our attention, we must remain focused on our first love: Christ Alone!

Imagine with me a sleepy summer morning where the sun is up, but it’s not too hot yet. Where the world is still waking up, except for that early bird. Where the only place you have to be is out in your flower bed to do some light pruning. A day where you can’t wait to get the grill going later today for the burgers and brats you got at Market. The kids are asking to set up the slip n Slide today, and the dog is laying in front of the fan (which reminds you to schedule his grooming appointment).

Do you have that morning in your head? Isn’t it a beautiful picture of the perfect summer day? Maybe yours involves a pool, some iced tea, or a campfire with S’mores. Whatever it may be, there is one thing to remember with it: that day should be just as valued as the worst possible summer day. You know the one, where it’s thunderstorms all day, the same day you planned on mowing the yard, the kids wanted to go by the creek, and the whole family was going to go for a picnic in the park. On top of all that, the dog left a mess inside because the thunderstorm scared him.

No matter what the day is, it is a blessing from the Lord. Why? Because even on days where we are afflicted – not simply days that don’t go according to plan, but the days where it seems the world is falling apart – God’s mercies are renewed every day.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:21-24

There is a lot of distress in the world right now. Racial injustice, the waning pandemic, and whatever personal issues that might be going on are proof of this. Yet God has not abandoned us. Rather, He continues to provide for every need of ours. The biggest reminder of that for us is found in the Gospel, where Christ died on the cross for our sins. Our transgressions were placed on Him, so that we may be the righteousness of God. So, on the mornings that are perfect, and the nights where we don’t know what to do, we must remind ourselves constantly of the Gospel. Let us remind ourselves today of God’s unending mercies.

Pray for our teens, as they face uncertainty with what the school year will look like. Pray that we, as a youth group, will come together soon and continue in communion with one another. We hope to continue alongside the church in the study of the 10 commandments, and look forward to the upcoming series for our teens over the school year!

As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

1 Corinthians 12:20-26

One body, many parts. The human body remains a fascinating thing in my mind. I have a memory from childhood of sticking my arm under the corner of the table, so that I saw my hand but not my forearm. I moved my hand this way and that, moving my fingers in different ways and twisting my wrist from the palm of my hand to the top of the same. It fascinated me that though I could not see what my hand was attached to, I knew exactly what it was doing because my mind sent it directions. Of course, other times that communication would get mixed up somewhere along the way and I would…trip up the stairs, fall over my own feet, or bang into a door jamb that I misjudged. Through bruises and broken bones, my body would recover with scars and memories and I often shifted my behavior to better care for the vessel given me.

In the passage above, Paul lets the Church know that they (we) are Christ’s body, put together by God to provide one another with what we ourselves may lack. Today, the truth remains the same: we need one another – now more than ever.

The left cannot say to the right, “I have no need for you,” nor vice versa. The younger cannot say to the older, “I need not see or call you,” nor vice versa. We have been called to one body under one baptism, One Lord, and One Holy Spirit. If one part of our body suffers, then we all suffer. Have you ever stubbed your toe in the middle of the night? Your body will surely react and respond until the pain is gone. As the body of Christ, we need to continually call, check up on, visit (as able), send cards to, and message one another. In this time of isolation where depression and anxiety can run high, connecting with a brother or sister in Christ can ground those emotions and remind us: we are One in the Lord….I am not alone.

My challenge to you: Grab your directory, call, message, send a card, email five (5) people a week for the next month. Give them a call, identify yourself and let them know you attend HCOB, and see how each other are doing. How can you pray for them? How can they pray for you? Do either have a physical (food, a ride, etc) need to be met? We need each other. Let’s be the body