Theme:            The Fear of God is necessary to wisdom and healthy living.  This fear is not a cowering from the hand of an uncaring force, but is the respect and recognition of the importance of putting our relationship with Christ about and in front of distractions or destructive forces.

Scripture         Philippians 2:12-18     Work out Salvation with fear and trembling.

Psalm 19:7-14             The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge.

Questions:       What difference does it make if we commit ourselves to Christ if we do not commit our time, money, or attention to the knowledge of God?  What is the cost of not putting Christ and the knowledge of God first in our lives?  What will we lose out on if our relationship with Christ is secondary to other pursuits?

Other Activities:      Glory Gang (10:30)      ”Take off those rags, Lazarus”

Message from February 19th 2012 - Click here to listen to the message

“What is the Trinity?”  ”My mother has Alzheimer’s Disease, is it still her?” “Do I have to respect people who don’t respect me?”

So feel free to add your own questions.  You can add them to the question mark in the Narthex or reply on the comment section below, or email.  We want to have questions to last us through the summer and conversations to match.

The thing about fear is that it is not a bad thing in and of itself.  It is healthy to have fear in some situations.  All in all, a fear of large scary carnivores with big teeth is not a bad idea.  Fear of things that have a great deal of power is a good plan as well.  There is that concern when we know that a driver is over-confident in his or her ability to control the power and force of an automobile.  In these types of situations fear can be quite helpful, when it is used wisely.

Among the types of fear of God being taught in the Old Testament was form that was to bring control among violent people.  The fear of God was intended to preserve the fragile “community” that God was forming.  Among violent people there are times when power becomes the language that sets limits and creates space for growth of wisdom.  There are not a huge number of places where you have to post rules such as “Thou Shalt Not Kill!” and “If someone pokes out your eye, you can’t do more to him than what he did to you” (An eye for an eye …).  Generally those are not places where people are living out of compassion or understanding.  Power becomes the means of God’s grace among such violent places.

But this type of fear is not where God wants us to live forever.  Knowledge and understanding enables us to learn a more meaningful fear.  This fear is connected to the knowledge of God’s laws and precepts.  It is the kind of “fearful” response we might have staring out into the vastness of space, or seeing other overwhelming and awe inspiring events that cause us to reconsider our place in the universe.  This is the fear of the wise, the fear that reminds us that we are not the center of the universe, and that we need to accommodate the ways in which the universe works.

This is the beginning of wisdom, the opening of a door to living in joyful fellowship with God, the universe and all its workings.  If we choose to enter into a connection based on humility and appreciation, then this fear causes us to interact with God as one who seeks to enter into a joyful and healthy relationship.  If instead we seek to be god ourselves, then we will live in anxiety, hostility, and jealousy.

It is a lack of humility that leads to trying to “be” God.  We see power as a means to our own ends.  In the Church it has been the cause of disastrous attempts to establish the Kingdom of God through control and domination.  Among families it has been substituting force for love.  In other relationships it means substituting ultimatums and threats for acceptance and openness.  This belief in our own understanding causes us to think we know “what is right” and creates anger when our will is not able to be forced on others.  What power we learn becomes an ability to hurt those who do not agree with us and force that we will exert when we do not get our way.  There is no wisdom in this kind of living.

Living in awe, appreciation, and wonder become a powerful form of wise fear.  It is the knowledge of the power of Almighty God and the wonder of all that God reveals to us.  It is the love that coexists with Abba “Father” and enables us to trust in God’s steadfast love for us. To know that God has such power, and is willing to limit that power creates a basis for growing in wisdom.

Some time ago I remember seeing a documentary of the silverback gorillas in which a nursing mother gorilla was being filmed in the wild.  The commentator noted that this was being filmed with a particularly long lens because of the great danger of going near this mother gorilla.  She was capable of killing a human with a single blow and yet in the video was clearly very gentle and tender with her young.  At least for me, it was a moment of describing power and love similar to how a healthy “fear of the Lord” is intended to inspire our wisdom and knowledge of God.

Joyfully, perfect love causes us to not fear judgment, to anticipate God’s grace for ourselves and for all who are open to the knowledge of God.  It frees us to grip less tightly onto the things we think of as providing us security, and to see God’s presence even in the hard times we might face.  It is a gift of being smart enough to know what that kind of power can accomplish.

Peace,

Pastor Jack

Group 1:  Supply cakes, bars or cookies.

Group 2:  Set up tables, make sandwiches, cut cakes, etc.  (When this is done Group 2 can leave)

Group 3:  Serving coffee and assisting during the meal, clean up tables & the kitchen.

This is a great home mission for serving.   It is one way of paying forward!  Please contact Carol, Pam or Ruth if you can help.

Here’s what to do if you want to register for camp.  Pick up a brochure outside the church office.  Fill out the registration form and mail it immediately to the proper address with your deposit. There are extra discounts for early registration postmarked by March 15 or April 15^th, so don’t delay.  Information and registration forms are also available on the United Church Camps, Inc. website www.ucci.org

If you wish to apply for financial aid, please fill out the Presbytery Campership Application (available in the church office oron Presbytery website www.winnebagopresbytery.org/forms-and-policies/  Presbytery Forms-Camp Scholarship Form) leaving the “amount your church can pay” line blank and give to Jennifer as soon as possible no later that April 12^th.  The Presbytery may provide approximately one quarter of the cost and our church’s contribution will be determined based on the number of applicants.

1. Are members of this church.
2. Have demonstrated a commitment to the church.
3. Have completed high school with average grades or above.
4. Will enroll in an accredited college, university or technical college.

Students enrolling in a technical college, adult students enrolling with either part-time or full-time status and students who are in their first, second, third, or fourth year of undergraduate education may also apply. If you are, or know of, a person who fits these qualifications, but will not receive a mailed scholarship application as a graduating high school senior, please contact the church office for an application.  Applications are also available on the church website under Resources/Church Forms.

Application deadline for all the scholarships is April 15^th, 2012.  Application may be mailed to the church office. Applicants may be called for an interview at a time to be determined by the Scholarship Committee.

youth elder application 2011

scholarship-application-12

February 19:                “Fear: ‘Knowing What to Fear’”

February 26:                “Doubt: ‘I Have My Doubts’”

March 4:                     “Waiting: ‘I Want Patience and I Want It NOW!’”

March 11:                   “Failure: ‘That’s Not Me.’”

March 18:                   “Weakness: ‘When I Am Weak, Than I Am Strong.’”

March 25:                   “Acceptance: ‘Maybe This Is My Real Life?!’”