F.E.E.D. #4

F.E.E.D. is an acronym for “Family Emphasis Enrichment and Development." From Mother’s Day through Independence Day Weekend we will be focusing our sermons on how we can be better parents, a better spouse, a better son or daughter, how we can be more connected to our local fellowship, and many other virtues which should improve as we grow in our faith. A secondary purpose is to remind the congregation that we need to focus inward for a portion of our yearly messages and activities. You often hear the term personal development, F.E.E.D. will speak to this growth dynamic, so each of us should be prepared to evaluate where we are in our growth process.

Renae Pilsing was a good launchpad to seeing ministry within our local fellowship. We did advertise our Spring Revival meetings, regretfully almost no visitors attended. This is not uncommon in the world we live in, but it should not be this way. We need to believe that God will bring people into our circle who we can help bring to Him. Even as I was writing this article, someone was knocking at my front door looking for my neighbor. I had a chance to pray with him, he desperately needs a breakthrough in his life. He kept saying “I don’t know why I drove down the wrong driveway”. Just maybe it was the right driveway. (Back to my main thought)...

As we continue our series of messages on “Family Reunion” my personal challenge is for me to live up to everything I am asking you to consider. Today's message is about leaving memory stones for our loved ones to follow. This message does speak to us about the decisions we make having potential long-term effects. Effects which can be good or bad. Typically I share one message a year about memory stones, even though the main underlying thought remains the same. I see the great importance of leaving markers (memory stones) for others to observe and hopefully follow. Key markers in my life are my time, my talent, and my treasure. All of these areas can and should have Godly history attached to them, which is not hidden from others to observe. Towards the end of your life, you don’t want someone sharing with you that you never had any time for them. Don’t let Family Reunions be the only place where you connect. Never let it be said that you were too busy with work, toys, other friends, or yourself. Yes, we all need a reasonable amount of “me time” while balancing what the scriptures say about considering others' needs more important than yours. Your epitaph should not be, “Wow, what a wasted life, so much potential, so much talent.” Let words like those never be said about us. Just imagine if we do everything with “Eternal Significance” as it relates to our God-given time, talent, and treasures. Never forget the title of my weekly article is, “Eternal Significance”. Right now I am looking out my window and the weather is wonderful, most of the day is ahead of me. And yes, I’m thinking about how I can get everything I need to get done and still enjoy a few minutes of this great day. But the temporal pleasure of today should never take priority over the eternal significance God wants us to accomplish here and now. Today is the day of salvation, and when our selfish desires keep us from fulfilling the call of God, we need to do some serious soul searching and find out which path involves eternity. A memory stone was left in the man’s life who knocked on my front door. Listen carefully, at first I thought this guy was another distraction to my day, but as I yielded my will to God’s will a new soul may be moments away. Let the following verse resonate in your heart this week, “Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!” Final thought, what is the most recent marker left behind which someone has mentioned to you? And was it a memory stone worth keeping?