Stand UP

Today in Sunday school I taught a lesson on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and how they stood up (literally) to this evil king that killed people for not bowing down to worship an idol. They were thrown into a fiery furnace where they came out untouched. The reason they were thrown in…wasn’t cause they didn’t like the king, but because of their faith in Christ. You see a 4th man appeared in the furnace with them that protected them from the flames….3 men walked out, not burned, not even smelling of smoke…..the furnace was 7 times hotter than it ever was just because the king was angry with these men who stood up for something against the odds. I tried telling my children that there will be times in their lives that they are going to have to go against the crowd or their friends…because it is the right thing to do. I tried to explain that it isn’t an easy task…and that as you get older some times it gets harder and harder to do. “Jesus Freaks” by Dctalk is a great book about those that gave up their lives in the name of Christ. Persecution still goes on today all over the world. People are reading their Bibles page at a time, hiding their devotionals, in fear. While others our imprisoned, beaten, threaten by those who want them to renounce the Lord Jesus Christ. Could you do it….could you stand up for your faith. After the Columbine shooting there was a book that came out I think it was call “She said yes” and it was about a girl telling the gun men that she believed in God and was then shot. If a guy walked into the church and said if you don’t believe in Christ…or God….then you are free to go….would you walk out that door….if it meant loosing your life…would you stay? I have often thought about this question….would you stand up and say “yes…I believe?”
Today’s sermon talked about this area a little too….in a way…cause it asked us why we are here? Also asked us why we were at church this morning…reasons being::: are you trying to set a good example for your family? Are you trying to develop this into a good habit? Did you come to meet a friend here? Are you here because you were brought up this way? Are you here to be forgiven? While we are asking about being here, then why are we anywhere on earth…if we await eternal life with God in heaven? Why shouldn’t we just die now an go to heaven? (side note…I talked about this earlier this week while walking with a friend after class…this discussion came and then here it is on a Sunday service…I just like to sit back and go wow)….So why did I go to church this morning….? Well my mom gets really mad when I go home and don’t go to church with her….my reason behind this is that I don’t like our congregation. I go to church to help strengthen my faith…it is a time where I can take in the spirit and be around fellow Christians. When I go home and go to church most of the time we don’t have a pastor…or we had a pastor that couldn’t preach…our congregation is older and they are mainly there because it is a routine for them…they come they sit…they don’t realize that the church is there to strengthen their faith…it doesn’t matter what kind of building a church is ….it is the people that make up the church…and the people that break the church. When I was a sr. in high school I bounced around from church to church. I was at a point where my mother wasn’t telling me to go to church and I wanted to see where my place was. I was happy with my religion and my beliefs…but I needed something to help me continue to grow in it…people or a congregation to help me stay afloat. That is one of the reasons I’m at memorial…every time I go up for communion I hear my name…the Lord is forgiving me for my sin…and with pastor saying my name that is a great reminder it is personal to me…. I meet a lot of people each week…I met one this week who put down on her application that she was Lutheran, but when we stopped to say hello as a peer minister she didn’t seem to want to know about church…she didn’t even go to her one back home….it was really hard to get her excited about it…like I’m excited about it. There are so many people who force their children to go to church…then when the child is out of school they don’t want to go they are confused about what they believe….do I think it has to do with the church…you bet…they need to educate more…make a child understand and let them know how to grow in their faith….let them know that it is different than their parents faith…that their faith is just as important….help them understand why they are their to begin with…so when they get out on their own they find a place to call home with a congregation that is welcoming. So back to the question why are we here…? We are here according to Psalms 105 “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; make known among the nations what He has done.” We are here to serve…Serve Him who has made us…Serve others….Serve so that others will come to know Him. How does this link to martyrs? Well we all have a purpose and some of us God chooses to take our lives for a reason…and others not..we came here to serve and serving means letting others know of the love of God. If those three men would have died it wasn’t because of anything that the king did….the men said they would understand that it was their time…that that was the way God wanted it…but it just so happened that God wanted them alive…they were not to become a martyr…they were to proclaim the word of God and serve others with their message.

Looking back at my blog I really bounced around….sorry if I lost ya at any time

God Bless
Kris