We welcome Rev. David Van Brakle.             Just like the  Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room, are your homes cluttered?  Your offices and  desks?  Maybe even your “lives” are cluttered?  Clutter becomes easier to live with, the longer we live around it.   Jesus saw clutter in the Temple.  Not a dusty curtain, but a mess that was holding people back from God.   They were more interested in being served than transformed. No wonder he overturned some tables.  Are there some tables in “your” life that need overturning?  Some messes needing a spring cleaning?      matthew 21:12-17

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Our indulgence, arrogance and ignorance can create a big OOPS in our lives! The apostle helps the indulgent, arrogant and ignorant Greeks see that relationship with Christ can transform them. Acts 17.22-31 (portions)

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OOPS

One of the things Aron Ralston realizes when he caught ‘between a rock and hard place’ is that he is responsible for each step he took. The wilderness tests our wills and often puts us in a position of discerning the will of God. How can we tell the difference between Satan’s voice and God’s and our own? Matthew 4.1-11

The Raven scene on 127 hours is not available on YouTube.  Dialogue from the movie clip is written below.

“8:15 and there is no Raven; 8:20 / 8:30 and my Raven didn’t come (a pause as he plays back images of family and friends in his life from the previous scene).  I’ve been thinking. Everything’s just comes together.  It’s me.  I chose this.  I chose all of this. This rock – this rock has been waiting for me my entire life.  In It’s entire life.  Ever since it was a bit of a meteorite- a million/billion years ago – up there in space it’s been waiting – to come here, right here.  I’ve been looking towards it my whole life, ever since the day I was born. Every breath I’ve taken, every action has been leading me to this crack of the earth’s surface.”

Pastor Gary Hindman calls what the 10 spies had “The Grasshopper Complex.” What can we do to prevent this dreadful thing that most of us deal with from time to time? How can we bolster our perception and self-esteem so that we can pursue our dreams? God’s dream for us is that we will NOT be afraid but that we would, with humble confidence march into our promised lands!    Numbers 13:1-3, 17-33, 14:1-9

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127 hours

Ron Parks states that the ‘wilderness is our spiritual assignment.’ When Paul talks to the church at Rome and says that we are not to conform to this world it is a call to be in the wilderness…with its ability to make face our mortality and limitations. What does it mean for us, like Aron Ralston, to ‘not lose it’ when we are in the wilderness?    Mark 1.9-15

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Due to copy copyright laws, the individual clips cannot be posted.  Please enjoy the YouTube trailer which includes the scenes.

127 Hours

Even if we have mountaintop experiences we often don’t know how to share them…at the same time folks who hear our stories may not know how to receive them. The fact of the matter is: our experiences in life are linked with God’s story unfolding in the world and this can be reassuring!     Mark 9.2-9

Don't Let Me Miss The Glory by Gordon Mote

This is the account of Joshua being commissioned to succeed Moses. What lessons on leadership are here?  What does it take to ‘fail forward?’    Numbers 27.12-23

Tired of pushing prompts to speak to a ”real” person?  Ever have a funeral service using Skype?  There can be no “real” love without relationships, face to face.  How much do you engage in “conversation” with people you meet?   Philippians 4.1-8