This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday October 4, 2009, the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today we also celebrate World Communion Sunday.
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
Psalm 26
Hebrews 1:1-1, 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Often, I wonder if the Lord doesn’t put his face in his hands and ask “what in the world are they thinking?” This reading and several more from the gospel readings coming over the next few Sundays produce that attitude from me. Maybe it’s “Why ask these questions?” “They just don’t get it some days.” Or the ever popular, “It just goes to show you…” Today, Jesus is given a test “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” We often think of this as a test to draw Jesus into the web of the Pharisees and trap him into a controversy so to hasten his way to the cross, but it may not have been that at all.
The controversy the Pharisees attempted to draw Jesus into was less about the Word of God and more about the way people thought about the Word of God. The Pharisees were trying to draw Jesus into an argument between rabbinical schools of thought, which are kind of like Judaism’s version of denominations, and their views on divorce. Evidently, controversy over divorce is as old as marriage itself.
Regarding divorce, the position taken by the Shammai School was very strict, while a more lenient stance taken by the Hillel School. Somewhere between the two fell the teachings of the Aqiba School.[1] If Jesus takes one position over the others, then the uproar begins. Sit on the fence and everybody gets upset. The Pharisees have set an argument before Jesus hoping he would fall into the controversy, dividing the people of God.
You know, it might actually have been better if this trap had been set to snare Jesus toward the cross. If the argument had really been about human relationships then it would have been more worthy than what the Pharisees were trying to get Jesus into. Then at least the controversy would have had some merit in the sense of eternal life. But no, this controversy is being used to divide people and set earthly powers and principalities; it’s about whose Rabbi is right. Instead of the argument going to answer the great spiritual questions of life, the universe, and everything; it becomes a contest to see who’s right and who’s wrong.
We know the game the Pharisees are playing, the gospel tells us that they came and tested Jesus. It doesn’t say whether Jesus knew they were coming to test him or not, but our Lord is more than wise enough to see the snare that was being laid out. Jesus knows the game that they are playing and he knows the truth is the only way to answer their question.
They ask “Is it lawful?” Jesus asks them back, “Well, what did Moses command you?”
Always willing to answer their own questions, the Pharisees said “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” With just a word from Moses, the woman becomes eligible for a pink slip. I imagine the Hillel rabbis were happy to hear this from the Pharisee. I am just as sure that those who sided with the Shammai were dismayed, ready to make their point before the Lord.
But Jesus will have nothing to do with their arguments over the interpretation of the law. Jesus, the Word Incarnate, turns away from interpretation and shares the Living Word with all who will listen. The reason Moses said this was not because of marriage, but because of the people who married. Moses said a man can write a certificate of dismissal not because marriage is hard, but because of the hardness of human hearts.
This word, hardness, has a specific meaning for the Rabbis and the Pharisees; it doesn’t describe something hard like a rock or difficult like ruling the people or perilous like crossing the desert. In this case, Jesus meant that the people of God were as stubborn and unyielding as they were when Moses used this word in Deuteronomy 10:16 summing up the essence of the Law saying to the people “Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.”[2]
In this passage he stands more against adultery than for marriage. Jesus stands for what God wants. Jesus stands for the better way. Jesus stands up for people who are married more than he stands up for marriage. He stands for people sharing life together in the love of God rather than institutional wedlock. He stands for grace and love over law and certificates of dismissal. Jesus stands up for loving and caring relationships, not legal documents that either bind or unbind a couple. Jesus stands up for something more, something better, the things that make life worth living.
A life constrained by legal bonds and contracts is hardly a life worth living. Life was never meant to be lived in court; it is meant to be lived in the unconditional love of God. A love we are given not despite who we are—despite the fact that there is divorce and remorse—but because of who we are—because we are the children of God. It is as the children of God that we become who we are meant to be.
Jesus knows that this connection, this untainted love is best shown by children; children who do not know what we grown-ups horribly call real life. Children who in the best of circumstances could never imagine shattered relationships. Children who inherently trust; trusting and loving so graciously that Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs to such as these children. Jesus says “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
We live in a complicated world, and it just keeps getting more complicated everyday. The things that don’t get more complicated get bigger and faster. If I told you that it is easy to live in our world like children you would probably laugh and rightfully so. Yet no matter how hard this is, we are given what we need to live in the kingdom in our day and in our time.
About twenty years ago a nationwide poll asked, “What word or phrase would you most like to hear uttered to you, sincerely?” The number one thing the respondents most wanted to hear was “I love you.” The second is as glorious as the first, “You are forgiven.” The third seems removed from the others. It’s “Supper is ready.”[3]
Today, in worship, we hear all of these things. Today, the Lord our God tells us these things. Today we have heard God’s love, and we respond to God’s love sharing God’s peace and love with one another. We have confessed our sins against God and against one another and have heard “Christ who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.”[4] Soon we will hear the words of invitation to the table, the call that supper is ready as we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
By the grace of God we are given what we need to live mature God loving lives, lives worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and the hard cold world we see all around us. We are given the blessings of God’s love, God’s forgiveness, and God’s nourishment. We have received love and grace, plate and cup; and we have received them from Jesus.
Earlier I asked if the Lord doesn’t wonder what we’re thinking. We keep trying to draw Jesus into our controversies when he keeps trying to draw us closer to his, the controversy of his incarnation, the controversy of his death, the controversy of his resurrection. We try to twist the law and the Lord into our wrangling while he made us for something more, something better, something holy.
The psalmist writes:
I will wash my hands in innocence, O Lord,
that I may go in procession round your altar,
singing aloud a song of thanksgiving
and recounting your wonderful deeds.[5]
We are called to come together and rejoice. We are called to come together and share. When we ask what we have to give one another, we must give from what we received. We must learn the songs of God in our own lives so that we may sing aloud our song of thanksgiving, recounting God’s wonderful deeds.
We are called to share what we are given with the world. We can spend all the time we want lamenting what we don’t have with one another because we live in a world where the Word does not seem to be in the world, not yet. But we must be willing to share what is here all ready, and in Christ what we have to share is everything that’s worth sharing.
By this, we share the gospel. By this, we build relationships. On this World Communion Sunday, we join with Christians around the world and celebrate what brings us together instead of what tears us apart. And today, to nourish all creation for this task, we are fed by the sacrament. Come, taste and see that the Lord is good.
[1] Williams, Lamar, Jr. Mark, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1983, pages 175-177
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1193, With thanks to James A. Harnish, "Walking With Jesus: Forgiveness," Tampa, Fla., March 22, 1998.
[4] Kirk, James G. “When We Gather, A Book of Prayers for Worship.” Louisville, KY; Geneva Press, 2001, page 233.
[5] Psalm 26:6-7 from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship
Showing posts with label Five Love Languages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Five Love Languages. Show all posts
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Sunday, February 03, 2008
A Simple Touch
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday, February 3, 2008.
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Failure to thrive is a medical condition which can affect new-born children and infants. Not a disease per se, it is a general diagnosis with many possible causes. What is common in all cases is the child does not gain weight as expected. As a result of poor weight gain, these children often experience poor height growth too. With so many possible reasons for this diagnosis, treating a child who fails to thrive focuses on identifying any number of underlying problems.[1]
Common causes of this condition include gastro-intestinal disorders. Some of the possible ailments which could trigger this include gastroesophageal reflux, chronic diarrhea, cystic fibrosis, chronic liver disease, and celiac disease. With reflux, eating can become coupled with painful gas and vomiting. Chronic diarrhea prevents nourishment from staying in the body long enough to be absorbed. Cystic fibrosis, chronic liver disease, and celiac disease can all make the body unable to absorb nutrients from food.
Issues of poverty can also contribute to failure to thrive. The children of women unable to breast feed who cannot afford formula may show the symptoms of this condition. In young children, a family’s inability to purchase nourishing food when a baby goes off the bottle can also lead to failure to thrive. But there is another possible cause for this condition.
One of the factors that can lead to failure to thrive is emotional deprivation as a result of parental withdrawal, rejection, or hostility.[2] As dire as poor health and poor nutrition can be to the physical development of a baby, the attitude and behaviors of the parents can be just as influential.
A couple of years ago, there was a TV documentary about the conditions of Eastern European orphanages.[3] This was at a time when poverty was so extreme that many children were being abandoned to orphanages. Of course the orphanages themselves were understaffed and overstretched. But one of the things the people noticed is that the babies in the orphanage who were held were far healthier, far more attentive than those who were left alone in their cribs. With all other things being equal, it was a touch from another that helped these babies thrive and gave them a chance to live.
Today we read one of scripture’s greatest miracles of the revelation of Jesus to his apostles, the transfiguration. This word, transfiguration, literally means “to change face” or as we would understand it “to change appearance.” And on the mountain Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
His face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white, as white as light. Suddenly, this simple Palestinian carpenter wasn’t engulfed by light; he was the source of a light as bright as the sun. His clothes were whiter than alabaster, whiter than the palest moon. And then appearing not to him but with him were the two greatest heroes of the faith, Moses and Elijah. And they were talking with Jesus. They were giving Jesus honor and praise.
This was when a voice suddenly came from a bright cloud that came over them like a white fog saying the words last heard when Jesus was baptized, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.”
These apostles were fishermen; they probably weren’t at the Jordan to hear the words of the voice that declared “This is my Son.” But I can imagine two things, first is that they had heard the story, these men knew these words and they knew the power and authority of the one who spoke them. Further, overshadowed by the bright light, what ever they had thought of the story before, now, in this moment, the story has new presence, intimacy, and authority for their lives.
And they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.
Well of course they fell to the ground! Of course they were overcome by fear! The sight of God’s perfect glory is a frightening thing. Such power, such authority, such joy and delight and fear come together so that there is nothing left to do but fall to the ground worshipping God. And the posture they took is a posture of worship.
These men had grown up knowing the story of Moses at the burning bush. They knew that they could not see God and live. And suddenly here’s Moses, with Elijah none the less, chatting up the man they had just followed up the mountain. Then just as suddenly they were swallowed by a bright cloud that told them who their Rabbi truly is, the Son of the one true God.
“Overcome by fear” might begin to describe how they felt.
But Jesus came and touched them saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” He touched them and he reassured them. This is what Jesus did. He didn’t give them the secret to life. He didn’t tell them what Moses and Elijah had been saying to him. He didn’t give them a way to clean their robes so theirs would be as white as snow. He touched them and with a word he reassured them. This is what Jesus did.
Now, imagine how they might have responded if Jesus had not touched and reassured them. Imagine the fear that would have continued to overwhelm them. They would have been scarred by such a terrifying experience. Their terror would change them, and how we know them. They would have failed to thrive. But this is not what the Lord does; with a simple touch he reassured them.
As the Body of Christ on earth, our challenge is two-fold. We are to carry on the work of Jesus; going to those who are overcome by fear, those who are terrified. And we are to touch them saying, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” We are witnesses to the grace and the peace and the glory of Jesus the Christ who walked the earth as a Palestinian Jew two-thousand years ago and continues to walk with us today; empowering us through the Holy Spirit for the work of the church for all of creation. We are the ones who are called to gather and welcome the broken people of the world and through God’s love make us one.
Gary Chapman is an author who wrote “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.”[4] Chapman writes that our relationships strengthen as we show our mates love in ways they value. He explains that every person feels most loved when love is expressed through one of five modes: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch.[5] (Oh, and physical touch is more than just sex.)
Using Chapman’s model, Jesus showed the three apostles his love through physical touch and words of affirmation. Of course I’m sure Jesus didn’t have Chapman in mind when he reached out with his hand and his encouraging words. Still, Jesus knew his disciples needed his simple touch; and he knew how it would change their lives. He knew that his words, “do not be afraid,” would save them from their terror.
And this is one of the great lessons of the transfiguration; the power and glory of God are wonderful, and joyous, and terrifying. In the raw presence of God we have no real choice other than to be overwhelmed. As we are overcome by the glory that surrounds us, there is a hand and a word calling us not to be afraid.
The song Ken[6] sang today is by Bill Gaither. The chorus goes like this:
He touched me,
Oh he touched me
And oh the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole.[7]
The Lord Jesus touches us and makes us whole. As the body of Christ on earth, we are called to continue to offer this touch. Does this mean we are to physically touch everyone we see? No, that would get us kicked out of Wal-Mart in a flat second.
Jesus makes it clear in the last verse in our reading that one size does not fit all when he tells the three to tell no one about the vision. Why didn’t Jesus want them to tell the world what had happened? Why didn’t he bring everyone up the mountain to see the transfiguration? Perhaps it is because this vision was meant just for the three of them. And based on the Word of the New Testament, they overcame their fears becoming great leaders.
Does this mean that the other apostles were second class disciples because they did not experience this image of God’s glory? No, it just meant that what they needed was different. Chapman would say they had different love languages. And if we give love to someone in a language they don’t understand, it’s like we don’t give them love at all.
When appropriate, yes, we are to touch. And we should also consider Chapman’s love languages. We can give a smile, or a word of encouragement. We can spend time with someone. We can give gifts of ourselves and our works. We can do service for others who need our help, who need to see the light of God in the world. We can give a school child a back pack. We can give a thirsty person cold water. We can offer a prayer on their behalf. We can visit people who are alone and frightened.
And no matter how we share the message, to coin a phrase from Chapman, regardless of the love language we use; we are to share the message Jesus shared with his disciples on that mountain top so long ago. “Get up and do not be afraid.” In this word, Jesus reminds his disciples that he is with them. In this word, Jesus reminds us, his disciples, that he is still with us.
It’s funny. One of the things most young people learn on overseas mission trips is the depth and breadth of the faith and devotion of the people they have come to serve, the people they have come to bear witness to the glory of God. Often people who go on overseas mission trips receive far more than they give. For God, results like that aren’t uncommon. It is wonderful and joyful and glorious and sometimes more than a little bit frightening.
This is our call, this is our vocation. We are the hands of the body of Christ in the world, offering the touch of his love and his peace to a terrified world that is showing its own symptoms of failure to thrive. We are to be the voice of God in this world saying “do not be afraid.” And it’s also one of the glorious aspects of this giving, when we give through the power of the Holy Spirit, we tend to receive more than we could ever hope or imagine. Jesus tells us, the disciples of two-thousand years, “get up and do not be afraid” so that we may share the same message with the broken people of the world.
[1] Failure to Thrive, http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/failure_thrive.html, retrieved February 1, 2008.
[2] Failure to Thrive, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000991.htm, retrieved February 1, 2008.
[3] Actually Marie saw this documentary and told me about it. Yet this is what I remember of what she told me.
[4] Chapman, Gary, “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.” 2nd Edition. Chicago: Northfield Press, 2004.
[5] Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages; Learn the Languages, http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/learn.html, retrieved February 1, 2008. Chapman has also published versions for singles, families, military personal, counselors, ministers, and co-workers.
[6] Ken is our Worship Leader and has a wonderful voice. His wife Lee Ellen plays piano for the church too.
[7] Gaither, William, “He Touched Me” 1964 William J. Gaither, Inc. ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management, First Presbyterian Church CCLI license number 2719984, accessed February 1, 2008.
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Failure to thrive is a medical condition which can affect new-born children and infants. Not a disease per se, it is a general diagnosis with many possible causes. What is common in all cases is the child does not gain weight as expected. As a result of poor weight gain, these children often experience poor height growth too. With so many possible reasons for this diagnosis, treating a child who fails to thrive focuses on identifying any number of underlying problems.[1]
Common causes of this condition include gastro-intestinal disorders. Some of the possible ailments which could trigger this include gastroesophageal reflux, chronic diarrhea, cystic fibrosis, chronic liver disease, and celiac disease. With reflux, eating can become coupled with painful gas and vomiting. Chronic diarrhea prevents nourishment from staying in the body long enough to be absorbed. Cystic fibrosis, chronic liver disease, and celiac disease can all make the body unable to absorb nutrients from food.
Issues of poverty can also contribute to failure to thrive. The children of women unable to breast feed who cannot afford formula may show the symptoms of this condition. In young children, a family’s inability to purchase nourishing food when a baby goes off the bottle can also lead to failure to thrive. But there is another possible cause for this condition.
One of the factors that can lead to failure to thrive is emotional deprivation as a result of parental withdrawal, rejection, or hostility.[2] As dire as poor health and poor nutrition can be to the physical development of a baby, the attitude and behaviors of the parents can be just as influential.
A couple of years ago, there was a TV documentary about the conditions of Eastern European orphanages.[3] This was at a time when poverty was so extreme that many children were being abandoned to orphanages. Of course the orphanages themselves were understaffed and overstretched. But one of the things the people noticed is that the babies in the orphanage who were held were far healthier, far more attentive than those who were left alone in their cribs. With all other things being equal, it was a touch from another that helped these babies thrive and gave them a chance to live.
Today we read one of scripture’s greatest miracles of the revelation of Jesus to his apostles, the transfiguration. This word, transfiguration, literally means “to change face” or as we would understand it “to change appearance.” And on the mountain Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
His face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white, as white as light. Suddenly, this simple Palestinian carpenter wasn’t engulfed by light; he was the source of a light as bright as the sun. His clothes were whiter than alabaster, whiter than the palest moon. And then appearing not to him but with him were the two greatest heroes of the faith, Moses and Elijah. And they were talking with Jesus. They were giving Jesus honor and praise.
This was when a voice suddenly came from a bright cloud that came over them like a white fog saying the words last heard when Jesus was baptized, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him.”
These apostles were fishermen; they probably weren’t at the Jordan to hear the words of the voice that declared “This is my Son.” But I can imagine two things, first is that they had heard the story, these men knew these words and they knew the power and authority of the one who spoke them. Further, overshadowed by the bright light, what ever they had thought of the story before, now, in this moment, the story has new presence, intimacy, and authority for their lives.
And they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.
Well of course they fell to the ground! Of course they were overcome by fear! The sight of God’s perfect glory is a frightening thing. Such power, such authority, such joy and delight and fear come together so that there is nothing left to do but fall to the ground worshipping God. And the posture they took is a posture of worship.
These men had grown up knowing the story of Moses at the burning bush. They knew that they could not see God and live. And suddenly here’s Moses, with Elijah none the less, chatting up the man they had just followed up the mountain. Then just as suddenly they were swallowed by a bright cloud that told them who their Rabbi truly is, the Son of the one true God.
“Overcome by fear” might begin to describe how they felt.
But Jesus came and touched them saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” He touched them and he reassured them. This is what Jesus did. He didn’t give them the secret to life. He didn’t tell them what Moses and Elijah had been saying to him. He didn’t give them a way to clean their robes so theirs would be as white as snow. He touched them and with a word he reassured them. This is what Jesus did.
Now, imagine how they might have responded if Jesus had not touched and reassured them. Imagine the fear that would have continued to overwhelm them. They would have been scarred by such a terrifying experience. Their terror would change them, and how we know them. They would have failed to thrive. But this is not what the Lord does; with a simple touch he reassured them.
As the Body of Christ on earth, our challenge is two-fold. We are to carry on the work of Jesus; going to those who are overcome by fear, those who are terrified. And we are to touch them saying, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” We are witnesses to the grace and the peace and the glory of Jesus the Christ who walked the earth as a Palestinian Jew two-thousand years ago and continues to walk with us today; empowering us through the Holy Spirit for the work of the church for all of creation. We are the ones who are called to gather and welcome the broken people of the world and through God’s love make us one.
Gary Chapman is an author who wrote “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.”[4] Chapman writes that our relationships strengthen as we show our mates love in ways they value. He explains that every person feels most loved when love is expressed through one of five modes: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch.[5] (Oh, and physical touch is more than just sex.)
Using Chapman’s model, Jesus showed the three apostles his love through physical touch and words of affirmation. Of course I’m sure Jesus didn’t have Chapman in mind when he reached out with his hand and his encouraging words. Still, Jesus knew his disciples needed his simple touch; and he knew how it would change their lives. He knew that his words, “do not be afraid,” would save them from their terror.
And this is one of the great lessons of the transfiguration; the power and glory of God are wonderful, and joyous, and terrifying. In the raw presence of God we have no real choice other than to be overwhelmed. As we are overcome by the glory that surrounds us, there is a hand and a word calling us not to be afraid.
The song Ken[6] sang today is by Bill Gaither. The chorus goes like this:
He touched me,
Oh he touched me
And oh the joy that floods my soul
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole.[7]
The Lord Jesus touches us and makes us whole. As the body of Christ on earth, we are called to continue to offer this touch. Does this mean we are to physically touch everyone we see? No, that would get us kicked out of Wal-Mart in a flat second.
Jesus makes it clear in the last verse in our reading that one size does not fit all when he tells the three to tell no one about the vision. Why didn’t Jesus want them to tell the world what had happened? Why didn’t he bring everyone up the mountain to see the transfiguration? Perhaps it is because this vision was meant just for the three of them. And based on the Word of the New Testament, they overcame their fears becoming great leaders.
Does this mean that the other apostles were second class disciples because they did not experience this image of God’s glory? No, it just meant that what they needed was different. Chapman would say they had different love languages. And if we give love to someone in a language they don’t understand, it’s like we don’t give them love at all.
When appropriate, yes, we are to touch. And we should also consider Chapman’s love languages. We can give a smile, or a word of encouragement. We can spend time with someone. We can give gifts of ourselves and our works. We can do service for others who need our help, who need to see the light of God in the world. We can give a school child a back pack. We can give a thirsty person cold water. We can offer a prayer on their behalf. We can visit people who are alone and frightened.
And no matter how we share the message, to coin a phrase from Chapman, regardless of the love language we use; we are to share the message Jesus shared with his disciples on that mountain top so long ago. “Get up and do not be afraid.” In this word, Jesus reminds his disciples that he is with them. In this word, Jesus reminds us, his disciples, that he is still with us.
It’s funny. One of the things most young people learn on overseas mission trips is the depth and breadth of the faith and devotion of the people they have come to serve, the people they have come to bear witness to the glory of God. Often people who go on overseas mission trips receive far more than they give. For God, results like that aren’t uncommon. It is wonderful and joyful and glorious and sometimes more than a little bit frightening.
This is our call, this is our vocation. We are the hands of the body of Christ in the world, offering the touch of his love and his peace to a terrified world that is showing its own symptoms of failure to thrive. We are to be the voice of God in this world saying “do not be afraid.” And it’s also one of the glorious aspects of this giving, when we give through the power of the Holy Spirit, we tend to receive more than we could ever hope or imagine. Jesus tells us, the disciples of two-thousand years, “get up and do not be afraid” so that we may share the same message with the broken people of the world.
[1] Failure to Thrive, http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/failure_thrive.html, retrieved February 1, 2008.
[2] Failure to Thrive, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000991.htm, retrieved February 1, 2008.
[3] Actually Marie saw this documentary and told me about it. Yet this is what I remember of what she told me.
[4] Chapman, Gary, “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.” 2nd Edition. Chicago: Northfield Press, 2004.
[5] Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages; Learn the Languages, http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/learn.html, retrieved February 1, 2008. Chapman has also published versions for singles, families, military personal, counselors, ministers, and co-workers.
[6] Ken is our Worship Leader and has a wonderful voice. His wife Lee Ellen plays piano for the church too.
[7] Gaither, William, “He Touched Me” 1964 William J. Gaither, Inc. ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management, First Presbyterian Church CCLI license number 2719984, accessed February 1, 2008.
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