Amazing Grace
Our speaker this week was Mr. Dick Beech CEO of George Howe Co. He spoke on an interesting topic that certainly applies to certain people. He spoke of a "black" heart as opposed to a "white "heart. A black heart is how we often see ourselves; a white heart is how Jesus sees us. When many of us start to walk in the lighted pathway of Jesus we are burdened by things we did in the darkness. Mr. Beech carries this burden( he said so) a certain BLOG writer carries this burden and I think an amazing man also carries this burden, and that man is Gary Stembal.
Carl Stembal passed away last week. I did not know Mr. Stembal except that he was Gary`s father. A part, large or small, of what Gary is today is because of Carl. This legacy, in and of itself labels Carl a great man.
Higher grounds is a Christian fellowship and we follow Christ. We should never place any individual above Him. Yet, to not acknowledge the gift that is Gary Stembal would seem to be unfair. Gary, week after week, takes time from a busy life to study God`s words, to implant them in his heart and then to present them to us in a way that is deep, rich and understandable. I think that one of Gary`s most difficult aspects is to get past his "black" heart ie. that heart that only Gary sees within himself. How do I know? A certain greeter/BLOG writer has the same difficulty.
Jesus does not see it that way. By the grace of God we are whitewashed. All He sees is a white heart. He has forgiven us and if Jesus forgives us then truly we should forgive ourselves.
Thank you Carl Stembal for giving Higher grounds the gift that is Gary. Thank you Gary for allowing us to unwrap that gift.
And so 10,000 years will pass and Carl will still be alive in Jesus. So will Gary and me and you. We have just begun.Amen
Y`all have a great week.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
03/23/2008
A Man has risen!!
Jesus Christ is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. As the Son he was a man. Yes, a man like you and like me. As a man he could be tempted, feel sorrow and feel pain. When they placed a crown of thorns upon Him and the blood ran down his face-it hurt. When they scourged Him and the blood ran down His back-it hurt. When Peter denied Him three times-it hurt.
We are born as sinners and as sinners we have no way -nay no right to EVER be in the presence of God. We are doomed to eternal Hell. God in His mercy gave us a way to transcend this but it all depended on a man. One man-Jesus Christ. As a man, with free will He indeed had the possibility to tell us to shove it- that we aren`t worth a minor hang nail pain much less terrible affliction and ultimately death. Would you or I face derision, torture,death for a bunch of people who scorned us to the point of spitting in our face!!( Matthew 26:67)? What if He had acted like most men? Can we imagine a world without Christian ethics,guidance and love? A life of no hope after death? We can actually better understand God in the sense that He has the power to make everything okay merely by thought but to understand the way Christ the man had to do it by terrible terrible sacrifice??Jesus the man had to have faith just as you or I, to do what he did; to suffer and die. And for us, for you, for me-He did.
Then he arose. He had taken the risk. He had suffered pain. He had suffered humiliation. He had suffered a terrible death. A typical martyr like so many others now dead-but wait; it was different!!! He arose. He came back from death. It wasn`t possible!! -It happened.
Thru the centuries billions of people have accepted this fact; from the rich and powerful to the meek and poor.We get it. The reason we get it is because He was a man and we can understand His pain, His agony, His wish that it could be some other way but He went through it-for you, for me. His suffering-our eternal life.
As we venture forth from this Easter will we continue to spit in the face of a man who died for us? Will we just say "thanks guy" and move on. This "guy" suffered grevious pain, suffered grevious indiginity, DIED for you. We owe Him, oh brother do we owe Him!! All He asks is that we follow His teachings and accept Him for who He is. God, give me the courage to in this small way pay back the MAN who gave it all. Amen
Y`all have a happy Easter. Jesus Christ arose from the dead. He lives.
Jesus Christ is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. As the Son he was a man. Yes, a man like you and like me. As a man he could be tempted, feel sorrow and feel pain. When they placed a crown of thorns upon Him and the blood ran down his face-it hurt. When they scourged Him and the blood ran down His back-it hurt. When Peter denied Him three times-it hurt.
We are born as sinners and as sinners we have no way -nay no right to EVER be in the presence of God. We are doomed to eternal Hell. God in His mercy gave us a way to transcend this but it all depended on a man. One man-Jesus Christ. As a man, with free will He indeed had the possibility to tell us to shove it- that we aren`t worth a minor hang nail pain much less terrible affliction and ultimately death. Would you or I face derision, torture,death for a bunch of people who scorned us to the point of spitting in our face!!( Matthew 26:67)? What if He had acted like most men? Can we imagine a world without Christian ethics,guidance and love? A life of no hope after death? We can actually better understand God in the sense that He has the power to make everything okay merely by thought but to understand the way Christ the man had to do it by terrible terrible sacrifice??Jesus the man had to have faith just as you or I, to do what he did; to suffer and die. And for us, for you, for me-He did.
Then he arose. He had taken the risk. He had suffered pain. He had suffered humiliation. He had suffered a terrible death. A typical martyr like so many others now dead-but wait; it was different!!! He arose. He came back from death. It wasn`t possible!! -It happened.
Thru the centuries billions of people have accepted this fact; from the rich and powerful to the meek and poor.We get it. The reason we get it is because He was a man and we can understand His pain, His agony, His wish that it could be some other way but He went through it-for you, for me. His suffering-our eternal life.
As we venture forth from this Easter will we continue to spit in the face of a man who died for us? Will we just say "thanks guy" and move on. This "guy" suffered grevious pain, suffered grevious indiginity, DIED for you. We owe Him, oh brother do we owe Him!! All He asks is that we follow His teachings and accept Him for who He is. God, give me the courage to in this small way pay back the MAN who gave it all. Amen
Y`all have a happy Easter. Jesus Christ arose from the dead. He lives.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
03/16/2008
GOD IS LIGHT
God calls each of us to do his bidding and this can take many shapes. At Higher Grounds Ministry Gary Stembal has been called to be our main teacher. Dave Kuhlber and Debby Dennison take their time to prepare our beverages. Different callings-but both an intricate part of our Sunday experience. Ed and Leann Smith provide the backbone of our church and Beth Mattocks has been called to be our conscience. Just as Ed and Leann offers strength to our ship( to mix metaphors) Beth is the rudder to guide us and keep us on course. And what a job she does!!!
Beth spoke from 1st John 5:-10.
God is light and there is NO darkness in Him at all!!
If we live in darkness we are NOT living the Word of God( and thus not living His Truth)
If we ARE living in the light we are removed from sin and all its manifestations.
We MUST admit that we are not perfect and when we do sin we must admit and confess and God will forgive us.
As Christians we are held to a VERY high standard!! These standards are what separate us from others. We will look different. If we are not pure then others will correctly perceive that we are not walking in the Light. Its the so called small sins that make the difference. Walking away from a bigotry joke, never cursing, never listening to gossip never criticising- these are what make us stand out as Christians and spare us from being called hypocrites.
We have been implanted with a seed at the time of our being saved. We have all of God`s attributes within us. While God IS these things Light,Love ,Life and the Word we can only imbue them. If we do not nourish and protect the seed it will not grow. If we live the proper life then the seed does grow and only then can we radiate Christian love and joy. Others will be drawn to this. Light and darkness are opposites. If we allow the smallest shadow then the light dims; it looses its purity and dear brethern it DOES make a difference!! Matthew chapter 7 tells us of the trees that bear either good or bad fruits. We will be judged by those fruits both by others and by God. Its clear-we either walk in Gods Light or we are in darkness. There is no middle ground.
Jesus was given to us by God to brighten the Light; to give it glow. Jesus used this radiance to attract others and paved the way for all to follow his beacon. The Truth, the Way and the Life- all through Jesus. This is the time of the year that we both clebrate His death and His reserection. Jesus is the ultimate light( a reflection of God Himself) and we bask in His Glory. Please mirror that glow so that others might see in you the love and greatness that is our God. Amen.
Y`all have a great week as we wend our way towards Easter and the celebratrion of the greatest event of all time!!!
God calls each of us to do his bidding and this can take many shapes. At Higher Grounds Ministry Gary Stembal has been called to be our main teacher. Dave Kuhlber and Debby Dennison take their time to prepare our beverages. Different callings-but both an intricate part of our Sunday experience. Ed and Leann Smith provide the backbone of our church and Beth Mattocks has been called to be our conscience. Just as Ed and Leann offers strength to our ship( to mix metaphors) Beth is the rudder to guide us and keep us on course. And what a job she does!!!
Beth spoke from 1st John 5:-10.
God is light and there is NO darkness in Him at all!!
If we live in darkness we are NOT living the Word of God( and thus not living His Truth)
If we ARE living in the light we are removed from sin and all its manifestations.
We MUST admit that we are not perfect and when we do sin we must admit and confess and God will forgive us.
As Christians we are held to a VERY high standard!! These standards are what separate us from others. We will look different. If we are not pure then others will correctly perceive that we are not walking in the Light. Its the so called small sins that make the difference. Walking away from a bigotry joke, never cursing, never listening to gossip never criticising- these are what make us stand out as Christians and spare us from being called hypocrites.
We have been implanted with a seed at the time of our being saved. We have all of God`s attributes within us. While God IS these things Light,Love ,Life and the Word we can only imbue them. If we do not nourish and protect the seed it will not grow. If we live the proper life then the seed does grow and only then can we radiate Christian love and joy. Others will be drawn to this. Light and darkness are opposites. If we allow the smallest shadow then the light dims; it looses its purity and dear brethern it DOES make a difference!! Matthew chapter 7 tells us of the trees that bear either good or bad fruits. We will be judged by those fruits both by others and by God. Its clear-we either walk in Gods Light or we are in darkness. There is no middle ground.
Jesus was given to us by God to brighten the Light; to give it glow. Jesus used this radiance to attract others and paved the way for all to follow his beacon. The Truth, the Way and the Life- all through Jesus. This is the time of the year that we both clebrate His death and His reserection. Jesus is the ultimate light( a reflection of God Himself) and we bask in His Glory. Please mirror that glow so that others might see in you the love and greatness that is our God. Amen.
Y`all have a great week as we wend our way towards Easter and the celebratrion of the greatest event of all time!!!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
03/09/2008
Who was/is that Guy?
Gary spoke this week of knowing Jesus. We have heard this teaching before in different forms and I kinda figured I might be able to sit this one out as I figured that I have a pretty good grasp on who He was/is-WRONG!
This weeks text was Pauls Letter to the Philippians chapter 3: 9-13. In these verses Paul emphasis is on how he(Paul) wants to know Jesus better ; verse 13-" I do not consider that I have captured and made it my own" . Hmm, this was towards the end of Pauls life and he had dedicated that life to serving Jesus yet he STILL needed to know more of Jesus?! Where does that leave us? Surely we too need to know more.
Gary analagized it to a ladder. A ladder that ends at knowing Christ.
The first rung is knowing Jesus as History. We know where and how He was born,where He taught, about the disciples, His miracles and how He dies. This is information we might know about any famous figure( Gary offered Abe Lincoln). If we really ponder, we see that this is not a deep knowledge at all.
The second rung is Christ revealed. This is indeed deeper and means being saved. On the surface this may seem a deep understanding but again its really only another step( vital as it is) and although basic leaves us so much more to know.
The third rung is experiencing Him. Any time that the Hand of God has touched us, either to keep us from physical harm or to help our Spiratual life is a knowledge of Jesus and again a step higher towards total understanding.
Yet we climb higher to the fourth rung. This is the rung of prayer. Through prayer we gain even more understanding.
And....... well, time was up!! Next week Gary has promised us more steps up the ladder so those who couldn`t make it this week get to hear more of this really interesting and important topic!!
Y`all have a great week as we plow through the end of winter. As Spring reserects us from winter so too will we soon be blessed by celebrating the Reserection of Christ at Easter.
Gary spoke this week of knowing Jesus. We have heard this teaching before in different forms and I kinda figured I might be able to sit this one out as I figured that I have a pretty good grasp on who He was/is-WRONG!
This weeks text was Pauls Letter to the Philippians chapter 3: 9-13. In these verses Paul emphasis is on how he(Paul) wants to know Jesus better ; verse 13-" I do not consider that I have captured and made it my own" . Hmm, this was towards the end of Pauls life and he had dedicated that life to serving Jesus yet he STILL needed to know more of Jesus?! Where does that leave us? Surely we too need to know more.
Gary analagized it to a ladder. A ladder that ends at knowing Christ.
The first rung is knowing Jesus as History. We know where and how He was born,where He taught, about the disciples, His miracles and how He dies. This is information we might know about any famous figure( Gary offered Abe Lincoln). If we really ponder, we see that this is not a deep knowledge at all.
The second rung is Christ revealed. This is indeed deeper and means being saved. On the surface this may seem a deep understanding but again its really only another step( vital as it is) and although basic leaves us so much more to know.
The third rung is experiencing Him. Any time that the Hand of God has touched us, either to keep us from physical harm or to help our Spiratual life is a knowledge of Jesus and again a step higher towards total understanding.
Yet we climb higher to the fourth rung. This is the rung of prayer. Through prayer we gain even more understanding.
And....... well, time was up!! Next week Gary has promised us more steps up the ladder so those who couldn`t make it this week get to hear more of this really interesting and important topic!!
Y`all have a great week as we plow through the end of winter. As Spring reserects us from winter so too will we soon be blessed by celebrating the Reserection of Christ at Easter.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
03/02/08
WHY?
Gary taught this week from the book of Habbakkuk, Gotta admit that I wasn`t too familier with this text!One of the reasons God spoke from this book was because of a terrible fire in Grove City that claimed the life of a lady and left a firefighter in critical condition.
In chapter one Habbakkuk, like million of others have, cried out to God asking why He would allow tragedy in the world. We too,wonder why God allows terrible things to happen often to people who do not seem to deserve them. The answer is both complicated and simple.
In Habbakkuk 2;3 God answers that its all part of God`s Plan and we will understand it in His time, not ours. A terrible tragedy is a small piece of a very very large puzzle. Once all the pieces of the puzzle are put together we will see a gorgeous mosaic and in perspective that one ugly piece will be seen as a part of it.
This does not address the pain we feel in the meantime. We are admonished in Habbakkuk 3;18 to rejoice in the Lord and exult in God`s Salvation. Because of Jesus we know that in the end all will be well. We must cleave onto this belief in times of tragedy. God does not promise us a life of no difficulties, but through Jesus he DOES provide us with a way of dealing with them. Time heals all wounds and Jesus is the salve.
Bible study
A Thursday night Bible study has been started! We meet at 6 P.M. on the second floor of the Coffee Grove. A better in depth understanding of Gods word is the goal. Come one come all.
Y`all have a great week.
Gary taught this week from the book of Habbakkuk, Gotta admit that I wasn`t too familier with this text!One of the reasons God spoke from this book was because of a terrible fire in Grove City that claimed the life of a lady and left a firefighter in critical condition.
In chapter one Habbakkuk, like million of others have, cried out to God asking why He would allow tragedy in the world. We too,wonder why God allows terrible things to happen often to people who do not seem to deserve them. The answer is both complicated and simple.
In Habbakkuk 2;3 God answers that its all part of God`s Plan and we will understand it in His time, not ours. A terrible tragedy is a small piece of a very very large puzzle. Once all the pieces of the puzzle are put together we will see a gorgeous mosaic and in perspective that one ugly piece will be seen as a part of it.
This does not address the pain we feel in the meantime. We are admonished in Habbakkuk 3;18 to rejoice in the Lord and exult in God`s Salvation. Because of Jesus we know that in the end all will be well. We must cleave onto this belief in times of tragedy. God does not promise us a life of no difficulties, but through Jesus he DOES provide us with a way of dealing with them. Time heals all wounds and Jesus is the salve.
Bible study
A Thursday night Bible study has been started! We meet at 6 P.M. on the second floor of the Coffee Grove. A better in depth understanding of Gods word is the goal. Come one come all.
Y`all have a great week.
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