VBS By Pastor Joe

VBS By Pastor Joe

Next week it will be our privilege to host “Outlaws for God,” our weeklong Vacation Bible School led by Pastor Scott and Brandi Tintes. All of us clearly understand it takes many volunteers for VBS to be successful. If you haven’t committed to helping, please consider doing so today and connecting with Pastor Scott or Brandi. This morning‘s message is one of my top 10 favorites which I shared in 2017, entitled “possessed by our possessions”. Before you assume my fingers are pointed at you, there are four fingers pointed at me in addition to the Holy Spirit telling me how my earthly attainments distract me from my eternal calling. Often the reason we can’t volunteer (such as for VBS) or do other Kingdom activities is we have so much on our own plates; which is directly related to our possessions. Allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart and see if there’s any truth in my previous statement. One of my personal goals in 2022 is to get everything out of my life that hinders my walk with God, my relationship with my wife, my church and the world around me that I love; especially for those of us who have heeded the call of planting a garden which takes extra time and effort. So, how possessed are you by your possessions? This message does speak to all three parts of us, yet the greatest level of challenge comes in the area of our flesh (body). We can sing, “I surrender all” to Jesus and “Amen” the message this morning, but walking into your home and packing up stuff is tough! Who doesn't like their stuff? I like my stuff. The “pull” of possessions on me at times is daunting and so is the continual effort required. This stuff needs too much of my time, talent and treasures, whether it relates to upkeep, upgrades, or up-charges. So much energy is required! It is very challenging to let go of stuff which we have invested much into it bringing us pleasure. A reasonable amount of clothing, food, transportation, shelter and recreation is to be expected. Personally, in the areas of clothing, recreation, and just stuff, much of it just takes up valuable space in my life. A few years ago, a TV program filmed a family who chose to live a very basic lifestyle. Their trash on a monthly basis could fit into one plastic grocery bag. The mother purchased the majority of their “bulk” groceries from a whole food store. They did this so they would have limited cleaning, limited trash, limited upkeep, and maximum family time. Sadly, the program never touched on a faith component as they interviewed this family. Imagine if they had done everything so they could focus more of their time, talent and treasures on eternal things. Never forget that the title of my weekly article is “Eternal Significance”. Meaning the temporal pleasure of today should never take priority over the eternal significance God wants to accomplish through all of us here and now. Today is the day of salvation, and when selfish desires keep us from fulfilling the call God has placed upon us, we need to do some serious soul searching and find out what has gone wrong. Quite often it seems to fall back to possessions, and the control they have over our decision-making. Let the following verse resonate in your heart this week: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6: 19-21 NLT. Wow! this verse and reading it a few times reminds me that the struggle is real! Now thieves like to break in, Janet and I know the feeling all too well, 2015 was memorable, yet those possessions we lost pale in comparison to the souls lost here in Douglas County. Let’s help VBS be the greatest success it can be as we consider the theme Outlaws for God.