I am speaking tomorrow at chapel Lord willing. I have had a desire to share this sermon for quite some time, and the time has come to share this message with the saints at our assembly tomorrow. It seems like the last month or two have been the slowest times in memory. We have been busy, things have been changing, and all along the way we have seen the Lord at work.
Last weekend we helped Bible Baptist Church in Hancock with their float in the Christmas parade in Ellsworth. They had a well decorated trailer, singers caroling, and we passed out candy bars, tracts, CDs, and a few other things. It was terrible weather, but we made out all right. The tow vehicle hauling the parade float got stuck at the end of the parade route, but otherwise it went off without a hitch.
We then met with Heap and Jennifer Him, our friends serving the Lord with CRM in Cambodia. We were able to hear more about their lives, their ministry, and got a great DVD from them about the mission they work with. What a work the Lord is doing there!
Saturday was our first trip with our new camper in tow. We left the house in overcast weather, but dry roads and within 15 miles from home were engulfed with 4" of snow and ice on the road with not a sand truck in sight. We prayed a lot that day, and felt that God would have us continue on, and we made it safely. Praise God!
Sunday was a whirlwind day, visiting 3 churches in 1 day. We visited Family Bible Church in the morning, and Matt Valarik filled in preaching. The sermon he gave was spirit led, as evidenced by the fact that the sermon I had prepared(in case I was asked to speak) was in essence the exact same message was the same as the one presented by our brother, Matt. Please keep that church in prayer as they heal from problems of the last few months. There are many saints there with a heart for the Lord. I have no doubt they will overcome whatever comes their way, leaning on God for the strength necessary to fulfill His work for them.
That afternoon, we visited Bible Baptist, the folks we did the parade with. We were missing the remembrance time in our own assembly, desiring to come around the Lord's supper table. Not knowing how things worked in this meeting, the Lord worked through the pastor there as he read Scriptures and led hymns(chosen by whoever felt led to a certain song) to bless our hearts. Being in the habit of taking the Lord's supper weekly, we notice the different atmosphere in some churches where the work of Christ on our behalf is not taken reverently or given a place of prominence. This meeting was glorifying to God, uplifting Christ for His work on our behalf, and spirit led.
I gave testimony of my salvation experience and was able to share a passage from Ephesians 2 about Jesus work paying for my salvation. I believe a church that takes the time to appreciate and publicly remember our Lord regularly will have less problems with pride, sin, and religiosity. This focus on Christ should not be an oddity, but according to Colossians 1:18, that in all things He(Christ) will have the pre-eminence. He is the focus of our worhip and it is one of my favorite times of the week, and one that I miss when I am not able to be gathered in such a way.
In the evening, we headed to Maine Coast Baptist in Ellsworth, but due to terrible driving conditions, the meeting was cancelled. We did stay the night there in the parking lot in the camper. It was blowing and cold, and we learned a bit about how things work in camper living. We needed to insulate(just did it) and found a few other things to fix.
I did have to tear out and reframe the back end of the camper, replace the wiring harness, and replace the vent lid that I broke while working on things in the middle of our recent ice storm.
So, I quit for now. We have a few more things to do, mostly cosmetic, not structural, that can wait until later. We are planning a trip in January or February, and are waiting on scheduling details to see how things go.
The house was shown to 2 couples on Monday evening, shortly after returning home. Both went OK, but no offers yet. We continue to wait on the Lord in this area. Speaking of waiting on God, we lost power for about 21 hours. We were told we would be without power for 3-4 days, so we were pleasantly surprised then it came on much sooner. When the power came on, we noticed that the internet was out, and were told we would wait until Thursday. It was back on 6 hours later.
I think the key to waiting is not to become impatient. I have had major problems with patience, or my lack thereof. I have spent much time in prayer about it, and have seen how the Lord has led me through various trials and felt the peace in my heart when I stopped thinking about the circumstances, and instead counted the blessings that we take for granted. We take electricity, internet, heat, food, shelter for granted many times. In fact, having a wood stove, I have heat, ability to cook, and so much more that I don't have to worry about. The only real worry we had about the lack of power was that the food in the freezer would go bad. God has provided, and supplied all our needs. He has also seen fit to give us so much more. What a great God we serve. He cares about us and loves us. We need to take a step back from time to time and realize how good we have it.
That is all for now. I have more preparation to do for tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on us.
mark
