"Thank God For The Dirty Dishes" Poem

I decided to give full poem written by Cecelia Williams and shared by her Pastor son John Williams III on on the Sermon Central Illustrations section. This was used in the sermon I preached Sunday Oct. 14 on "Complaining".

Rev. John Williams III shares this:

"My natural mother once wrote a poem about being thankful that I have always treasured since I discovered it. She died in 1984 with s

kin cancer. But, all that I learned from her is still with me today. I thank God for every memory and every valuable lesson that she taught me about life.
Her Poem went like this…

Thank God for dirty dishes,
They have a tale to tell.
While other folks go hungry,
We’re eating very well.
With home and health and happiness
We should not want to fuss.
For by this stack of evidence,
God is very good to us.
(Cecelia D. Williams)

It is often that stack of evidence that we so often forget or slight because we are too busy fussing or complaining."

Think Again About Complaining

Today I preached from Numbers 11 on the theme of Complaining. In Numbers 11 it tells of a chain reaction that occurred related to complaining.

During the Exodus some fringe people complained about the food God provided, then the Jews themselves complained, Moses ,the leader, complained and wanted to die and God Himself became discouraged and angry at the whole situation.

The point--- be careful  about complaining- you could set off a chain reaction of negative responses around you.

More importantly - Complaining is often rejection of God's path for your life and rejection of God trying to fine tune your trust in Him.

Be careful- Complaining is a downward spiritual path.

Be thankful for the dirty dishes - it shows you had food to eat! (paraphrase- Cecilia Williams)

You Are Key to Improving Relationships - Home Improvement Sermon Series #2

Home Improvement Sermon Series #2– You Are Key to Improving Relationships

Love is foundational to all relationships:

-John 13:34 (NIV) “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  

1st.--_ACCEPT their uniqueness.

God made everybody different

Slide-    Romans 15:7 (NIV) “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

                                                                                         

I Corinthians 13:5a (TLB) "Love does not demand its own way."

Our children are not necessary a carbon copy of …..

On a Scale of 1-10 --How are you doing at accepting others as DIFFERENT?

                                                                                                       

|_______________________________|

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

          2nd.    Trust them with responsibility.

Did you know if you protect them too much it is  like rejecting them

The goal is to trust –to do that you have to be patient to build up their confidence

On a Scale of 1 to 10 ---What is your Trust level of  people ?                                                                    

|_______________________________|

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

     3rd.  Expect the best

Research shows students doing much better under teachers who thought the student was a higher IQ than average.  Why?

Because expectations make a huge difference in performance!

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT) “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”         

-  SO RATE YOURSELF

Which do you tend to do ?

What do you expect from people?

The Best or Worst? –

|_______________________________|

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Could you help improve this situation?

4th. AFFIRM their value.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) “Encourage one another and build each other up.”

People need to know “they  matter”

·       If you love somebody – find a way to show it !

·        GIVE THEM   ATTENTION

•        Show AFFECTION

•        Show Appreciation

The Apostle Paul knew how to do this- He would Affirm the people 1^st then go on to discipline them in love.

----Philippians 1:3 (TLB) “All my prayers for you are full of praise to God.”

Do you AFFIRM people by giving them Attention, appropriate levels of Affection and/or Appreciation?

How AFFIRMING ARE YOU?

|_______________________________|

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10

Stay encouraged in Loving People as Jesus did!

(*Resource and Outline based on Message by Pastor John Watkin of the Highland Avenue Community Church of the Nazarene)

The Church is Showing Signs of Growth

After an extended period of downturn in the Chandler Church of the Nazarene's numbers small but strong signs of health are returning. New people are beginning to show up at the events and a positve tone is beginning to talk hold. I praise God for the encouraging signs!

A New Year About to Commence - 2011

It is always good to check your baggage - to see if you are dragging something along that is dragging you down. It is a good time to let go of the failures of 2010 - give them over to God and vow to try better and stop kicking yourself.
This is a time to monitor how well we listen, how well we love and how much we could learn in the new year. We have so much information all around us that can be accessed for little or no cost.
It is also a time to re-evaluate current use of time. For example if we are constantly listening to or watching a program on radio or TV - maybe it is time to cut back on the time used for that program (or type of program) and find a new interest to broaden our horizons.
How much do you laugh? God did create laughter and we need to find ourselves laughing in the New Year. I am told it is good for us physically as well as emotionally.
Let the Word of God invade in your life this year -even if it takes weeks for one passage to filter its way through you.

Have a productive, blessed year!

God to Kenton-"It's Taken Care Of! -Now Can You Trust Me For That?"

I was having one of those days where the signs of epilepsy had showed themselves and I had wisely gone back to bed.
The Situation: Tim had a debate in a Political Science class at Olivet which I had helped him research for and had gone to bed at 12:30am after sending him my last research - and woke up at 6:30am worried(yes, the dreaded non- Christian "w" word) and researched more, sent more then the feelings of trouble showed and I went to bed after calling Cheryl and telling her I would not be able to be at the hospital for Ron's heart Cath at 11:00am. (May I add I just wrote a truly Pauline sentence!- ah lest I digress).
Occasionally I would awaken and pray for Tim and Ron- At one of those times it was as if God said,"It's taken care of - the debate and the operation--Now can you trust me for that?
For me it was a new twist to trust - I suddenly felt like a heathen who keep repeating the same prayer and I was supposed to listen and trust for that prayer and be thankful for a God Who answers prayers.
For me , a person who tells people to Trust God on a regular basis was being taught a new dimension in the wonders of walking with God!

Empty Tomb + Appearance = Many Believers

Today we celebrate - HE IS RISEN! A new perspective came to me as I studied the Emmaus incident recorded in Luke. The two disciples were "downcast" and yet had heard about the empty tomb that very day! It was only when Jesus broke bread, blessed it and disappeared instantly were there eyes opened and they went from downcast to excited. For them it was knowing about the Empty tomb+ the Appearance(or maybe better said the disappearance) that caused them to truly start to see Who He was and what He really wanted from us.

It is a very interesting thought that some of us need a show of God's power to believe while others can reach forth in faith and believe in the Empty Tomb and go on to serve. Yet some also need that Appearance after Salvation to verify His work and convince us of His greater power for us and others