Fourth of July Freedom.

When the puritans set sail in search of freedom they landed upon the ground which would become the future United States of America? Did they find freedom? No, they found a land. When they bent their knee and thanked God for bringing them to safety, did they find freedom? No, but they exercised it. Freedom is a place in the heart where God dwells with us. His glory fills the earth, and all of creation stands in awe of it. When He expresses his will for us, and gives us boundaries and parameters by which to operate, we find freedom within the lines. There is no freedom outside the lines. One might think that we are not free if God tells us what we cannot do. However, because of the reality of death and consequences of disobedience. Our freedoms are limited to protect us, but not so limited that we cannot enjoy them. it is an evil eye that craves things which God has not designed for us to enjoy. It is an evil person who criticizes the maker, or denies his existence on the basis that the creator will not allow us to do certain things. True freedom only exists where the sovereign Lord destines us to experience it. The Apostle Paul had this in mind when he wrote: "In Him we live, move and have our being."

The United states of America was created by a group of men who outlined the laws of our land. They understood that our rights came from God and that He was the ultimate protector of them. We as a country stand united, and indebted to God who revealed Himself to us through His word so that we might enjoy Him and know Him. We are indebted to the soldiers and civil servants who have given their lives to protect what God himself and endowed to us. This forth of July, let us thank our government servants, our workers and all who work to make this country the best on earth. And let us reflect on God, our country and our freedom.

Prayer: "Father God, the eyes of a watching world are upon you. Let us do our part to show them who you are and what you have done for us through our worship, our service and our love. Thank you for our country, our faith and our family. Thank you that you uphold our country with your might right hand. In Jesus name, Amen."

A Fathers love - Fathers Day reflections on the Lord's Prayer Matthew 6:9-13

As I was reflecting on my Fathers Day message for 2011, I was reminded that one of the most profound prayers ever prayed or written was one by Jesus, given to His heavenly Father. In His relationship with the Father, Jesus recognized the key elements which Fathers give to their children. In Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 - 13 we see what Fathers do for us in our lives.

Fathers give us a name (v. 9)
As son's of a earthy Father, the first thing we receive from a Father is their name. I am reminded of what sadness falls upon the fate of un-wed teenage mothers when the boy in their life does not or can not give their child his last name. That is because when a Father gives his name to his child he is declaring responsibility, relationship and protection. So too, a father gives his pledge to his children by giving his name. He pledges protection and a place in society as a son. As long as that child is a minor, he or she remains under the protection and tutelage of their earthly father.

Fathers give us a home and rules (v. 10)
When Jesus prayed, "thy kingdom come", He recognized the heavenly kingdom will be the place that he will ultimately live but that relationship continues even now. Our fathers provide along with a name, but a place, a city, state address to which we have been defined to dwell. It is within that realm that we experience the freedom to enjoy Him. In my fathers house there is for his children a place to belong, where it is safe and he provides his shelter.

Fathers provide food and shelter (v. 11)
"thy daily bread" is the most evident sign of a Father in the home. The dinner table is not only a place to eat, but also a place to share feelings, thoughts and experiences of our day. It is important that we eat and share together with our Fathers so that we know where our food comes from.

Fathers teach us to love and forgive (v. 12)
On the road to independence through maturity, our fathers teach us to forgive, which is the greatest gift they can give us. Fathers provide the example for us on how we view other people. I remember my father sharing with me about how he dealt with being mistreated, and the ability to forgive. I learned how it takes a real man to forgive and rise above being mistreated. Jesus reminds us that the relationship with the heavenly Father is maintained through forgiving others as He has forgiven us.

Fathers lead us to righteousness (v. 13).
Fathers are the greatest example of living right. We learn from our fathers what to respect. In fact, Fathers are the greatest examples for us of how to live. They are vital in maintaining core values which society cannot teach us. How many of asked why we do what we do respond: "Well, that's what I saw my Dad do.." The same is true with manners, behavior, respect and raw talent. We get these things from our Fathers.

As our relationship with our Heavenly Father is what Christ modeled for us, so too, the relationship with our earthly father is mirrored throughout our lives. The impact of a father to his children is beyond words. The experts are still studying the impact of earthly fathers upon their children and admit the profound impact of them upon society, but are not able to explain it. That is because the relationship is spiritual, it has dimensions which are not seen or heard, but felt. So too, with our heavenly Father.

This year, let's thank our Fathers for the joys and blessings of being in our lives and helping us to understand our heavenly Father just a little bit better.

Have a happy Fathers day!

Pastor Vince Gonzales

Work, Rest and Worship: Our commitment to honor the Sabbath

There are several misconceptions about work by too many Christians. Some believe that hard work is part of the curse and that if Adam hadn't of sinned, we would not have to work. A couple of problems with that is that God made Adam work before the fall of man to sin, second, before Adam was even created, God worked!
The creation story depicts for us the story of God, seeing the world in chaos, turning on the light of His work bench and beginning to create, organize and position the chaos in an orderly, self sustaining, beautiful work. The pattern was:

Day one: Turn on the light! Creating light and dispelling darkness.
Day two: Assess the problem and begin to correct it. Creating land and water.
Day three: Fix the land and water with tides, times and seasons: Create the moon,stars and outer space.
Day Four: Set up the ecological systems: Create the sea, and land habitation.
Day Five: Create animal and plant life so that human life can be sustained.
Day Six: Create mankind in His image and likeness.
Day Seven: Stop all work!

God gives us an example of what our work week should be like. Work is the process of taking chaos and making it orderly. Through creativity, ingenuity and diligence, God put order into the universe. So too, our work week should be the process of bringing chaos into submission into the order of the universe. Work is not sin, bad or a curse, it is a blessing! To work hard is to be God-like and the work of our hands should be glorifying to God.

But even in the process of creative, rewarding work, God gives us another example to follow, and that is to cease from labor for a time of worship. God stopped working on the Seventh day, so that He could worship Himself (since there was no one higher than Him to worship) and receive glory unto himself for His great work in creation.

The seventh day, the sabbath day, is a day of necessary rest, for the purpose of worship. Without it, men die. They day because their labor becomes enslavement, misery and ceaseless stress upon life. The day of rest must be a time where we stop, take a mental and spiritual day of rest and refocus our minds on what life is really all about. We were created to give glory with our heart, mind, body and strength to the our Holy and Sovereign Lord! Otherwise, we are merely hamsters, running around in a cage, waiting to die. Worship turns our eyes off of the earth and causes us to look heavenward where one day, all chaos will be brought completely into order when heaven will be brought down to earth.

The sabbath rest teaches us that work is good, when it leads us to rest(Exodus 9-10a)
Now some might get hung up on "Can I wash my car on Sunday?", "Is it OK to cut the yard on Sunday?" "Is it ok to go to church on Saturday?" These are all worrisome questions about what the sabbath rest is all about. It is not the day is holy because the "rest" is holy. You can be at church and not rest if your mind is still worried about the work you have to do on Monday. You cannot rest if you are worried about your finances and you cannot give unto the Lord your tithe because you are so worried about your work that you cannot share. You should go to church on your special day (Saturday or Sunday, whichever you choose) to rest, and cast all of your cares upon Him, because He cares for us! (1 Peter 5:7, Ps 55:22). That is what true worship is all about. It is not about just taking a day off of work, but it is stopping to put all our our work, life and love into proper perspective.
Rest is good, because it allows us to worship (v. 10b)
It you rest, it should be for the purpose of worship. Sleeping is not worship. It rests your body, but not your spirit. If your spirit is not rested in worship, you will never be able to sleep well or enjoy the fruit of your labor. Resting in the spirit is to rest in the forgiveness of our sins, to trust tomorrow in the hands of a living God and to be confident that our labor is not in vain. It is to sit, be still, and know that He is God (and that we are not.) We must also realize that rest, is hard work! It takes time to shut down the mind, body and work week in order for us to prepare to worship Him. We have to decide to designate a special time for our worship and be committed to not allow anything to disturb it!
Worship is the reason why we work and rest (v. 11)
Lastly, we must understand that it is the time when man and God meet together in worship is why God created us and the world in the first place. He created us to work, so that we might bring Him greater glory and honor through our work. We who work hard ought to glorify God through our hard labor! We must also work hard at our worship, which means that we are not to allow anything else interfere with our rest and worship.

A quick end note: I was reflecting on our college graduates finishing school this year and it dawned on me that we must really reinforce this truth to our children. That the purpose of college is not to get smarter so that we will make more money, but rather so that we can glorify God through more organization of the chaotic world we live in. Our purpose is not to make money, if that is the purpose of education we will destroy ourselves in the process and become extremely disappointed. As the scripture teaches: "You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24)." The purpose of all that we are to do is to glorify God, and that includes our work, our rest and our worship.

Stay committed.

Pastor Vince