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No Regrets

William Borden was the son of a Chicago millionaire who dedicated his life to world missions. His biographer, Mary Taylor, wrote that he joyfully gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars from his inheritance to Christian ministries.

After graduating from Yale University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Borden went to Egypt to study the Arabic language and Islamic culture. His intention was to live among the Muslim Kansu people of northwest China to bring them the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sadly, after only four months in Cairo, Borden contracted  cerebral meningitis and died at the age of twenty-five. The epitaph on his grave marker describes some of the sacrifices he made to  bring the message of Jesus Christ to Muslims. The inscription ends with the phrase: “Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.”

One does not have to be wealthy to have a generous heart for God’s mission in the world. If we have the same concern as the Lord Jesus, we will share his desire that people may be brought out of spiritual darkness into God’s light. We can help accomplish this by giving money to support world missions.

The Bible promises rewards for giving. Paul told the Philippian believers, “Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account” (Philippians 4:17). Apparently, God is keeping a record in heaven which takes into account our financial investments in his work here in this world.

I have a friend who has reached the stage in life where he could retire to a prosperous life, enjoying the American dream. He chooses to keep working, partly for the fulfillment it gives him, but mostly so that the wealth he is able to generate can be invested in world missions. His generous giving is funding important gospel work in Africa.

Don’t get me wrong. He and his wife are enjoying life. They have many interests. They live comfortably and well. But as he put it to me, their greatest source of satisfaction comes not from accumulating but in distributing the wealth God has entrusted to them. They are investing in eternity, or as Jesus put it, they are laying up treasures in heaven.

One way for you  to obey the commission of our Lord to spread the gospel around the world is to designate a portion of your planned giving to world missions. This can be through your local church’s missions program or directly to a mission agency. If you are unsure about how best to do this, consult with your pastor.

By all means pray about this. Pray about how much the Lord wants you to give. Pray about where the Lord wants your gifts to go. There are hundreds of worthy missionaries and projects that depend upon the faithful support of Christian people. If you ask him, God will guide you. Generous giving to support world missions is a normal way for Christians to express their faith in Jesus.

When Bill Borden said he was going to be a missionary, one of his friends expressed surprise that he was “throwing his life away.” In response Bill wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.” Upon graduation from Yale he turned down high-paying job offers. He then added the words: “No retreats.” When he died, friends opened his Bible to find that he had added the words: “No regrets.”

When we see our Lord face to face, we will not regret our investments in spreading his good news around the world.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Abraham’s God

Connie and I have been reading and discussing the saga of Abraham in the book of Genesis. We have been impressed by the man’s faith in the Living God. Responding to God’s call, he left his homeland and family and migrated to a new land which the Lord promised to give to him and his descendants.

One of the striking features of the story is his awareness of a personal God who spoke to him, guided him, corrected him when he was wrong, who blessed him materially, and who made an eternal covenant with him. We are told that Abraham believed in the Lord and the Lord “credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). He will do the same for us (Romans 4:23-24).

God revealed himself to Abraham as a living person. He has names by which he reveals himself. These names teach us about his nature and his purposes for Abraham and for us.

In Genesis 12 Abraham built altars of worship, “calling on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 12:8, 13:4). In the new land, among people who did not know the Lord, Abraham demonstrated his faith in Yahweh, who would later explain the meaning of this name as “I am who I am,” the eternally self-existent God, the one who is the only God (Exodus 3:15).

After a successful military rescue mission to save his nephew, Abraham worshipped the Lord as God Most High and Creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:19, 22). By these names and titles, Abraham testified that he was devoted to the supreme God who provided for all of his needs.

God identified himself to Abraham as God Almighty in Genesis 17:1. He intended to fulfill his promise to Abraham in spite of appearances to the contrary. Despite a long delay God Almighty would give Abraham a son through whom he would fulfill his covenant promise to bless all nations of the earth. The stress is on God’s power in the face of human helplessness.

Abraham’s prayer of intercession for the city of Sodom has much to teach us about approaching God. It was respectful and humble. Yet at the same time it was bold in expressing his desires. Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 18:25 was based on an understanding of God’s character, God’s authority and God’s willingness: “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Abraham did not get what he asked for, but he trusted God to always do the right thing, even in judgment.

The name Eternal God is used in Genesis only in 21:33. Abraham invoked this name in worship, remembering that the God who made his unconditional covenant would keep his promises to him and to his descendants after him forever (Genesis 17:8-9).

Abraham’s God was, and is, the God of heaven (Genesis 24:7). He is also the God of earth. I think Abraham’s faith in this God is a beautiful and compelling example to us. He shows us that the transcendent God of heaven is not a remote abstraction beyond the stars, but he is also the God of earth who takes an active and personal interest in his people here.

As Connie and I have been reminded of Abraham’s faith, I have been praying for a greater faith in this living, personal God. Romans 4:20-22 says of Abraham: “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Come to the Table

Billy Graham related the tender story of the Scottish theologian John Duncan of Edinburgh. As Communion was observed in the church on one occasion, the elements were passed to a teenage girl. Duncan saw her turn her head and motion for the elder to take the cup away — she couldn’t drink it. John Duncan reached over, touched her shoulder, and whispered, “Take it Lassie. It’s for sinners!”

To receive the Lord’s supper is to confess that God has made provision for our sins in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The ordinance of communion is a way for us to say “yes” to Jesus, “yes” to his sacrifice, “yes” to his forgiveness, and “yes” to our ongoing fellowship with him and with his church.

Jesus specified the concrete, visible symbols of bread and wine to picture his body and blood. These common physical elements are sanctified and become what Michael Horton called “visible signs of invisible grace.” We need God’s grace for salvation and we need it to continue to be faithful to him. Communion draws us close to him.

We are weak. Our love for Christ grows tepid. We face temptations. We are susceptible to doubt, fear, and spiritual depression. Inwardly we sometimes rebel against the will of God. Like Adam and Eve, we try to hide from him. When the Father sees us in that condition, he says, “Come to my table. Take it. It’s for sinners.” Communion restores our souls.

Communion strengthens our fellowship with Christ and with his church. An old liturgy has these words, “For out of many grains one meal is ground and one bread baked, and out of many berries, pressed together, one wine flows and is mixed together, so shall we all who by true faith are incorporated in Christ together be one body.”

Communion strengthens believers’ confidence in the forgiveness of sins. It strengthens believers’ worship of Christ as the crucified, risen, glorified and returning Lord. Communion strengthens believers’ separation from the sinful practices of the world and of the devil. Communion strengthens believers’ confidence in the gospel because it proclaims the gospel of grace.

Recent months have forced the limitation of normal church activities for many people. One of the most precious and important of these is the Lord’s Supper. Those who have been unable to meet for corporate worship because of the restrictions of the pandemic, are eager to return.

They know the Lord is calling them to his table. They long to receive the bread and the cup which in a mysterious way brings us near to the One they represent. The great thinkers and teachers of the church have always felt a sense of awe before the overwhelming mystery of the Lord’s Supper. So should we.

But that should not keep us away. it is for sinners like us.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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It’s Time to Pray

The word to Christians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), assumes that God wants to hear from us. Any time is a good time to pray.

Perhaps we can identify with the sentiment of President Abraham Lincoln who famously said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.” We know we need to pray to God, especially now, at this consequential time in history.

The Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, is on Monday, September 28. It concludes the ten days of repentance that began with the Jewish new year (Rosh Hashana). Yom Kippur is a day dedicated to prayer, meditation, and confession of sin.

Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians, the  anointed priest would bring the blood of a sacrificial animal into the Holy of Holies. He would sprinkle the blood on the atonement cover (mercy seat) that rested atop the Ark of the Covenant, thereby making atonement for his sins and for the sins of the nation.

This was followed by another sacrifice. Two goats were selected, one for sacrifice, and one to be a scapegoat. The blood from this sacrifice was spattered on the atonement cover in the Holy of Holies, and also upon the altar in the outer portion of the sanctuary. This was to make atonement for the sins of the people.

The priest then laid his hands on the head of the second goat, thereby ceremonially transferring the people’s sins to the innocent animal. That goat was taken out into the wilderness and released. This pictured God’s willingness to forgive and release us from our sins (Leviticus 16:1-34).

These and other preparations, ritual washings, and additional sacrifices are explained in the New Testament book of Hebrews. There we learn that now, because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, believers may come “with the full assurance that faith brings” into the very presence of God. Those who trust in Jesus Christ for salvation are invited to “draw near to God” (Hebrews 9:19-22).

The author of Hebrews contrasts the obsolete ritual baths, special clothing, and animal sacrifices of the Day of Atonement with the freedom and confidence we enjoy through our Lord Jesus Christ. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Our observant Jewish neighbors will observe Yom Kippur on Monday. But they will celebrate this holy day without  the necessary sacrifices for their sins, as required by the law of Moses. They have no Temple, Holy of Holies, Ark of the Covenant, or altar of sacrifice. Oh, that they would recognize the complete sufficiency of the sacrificial death of Jesus the Messiah. He is our High Priest, Passover lamb, and “the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1John 2:2).

I am glad for the reminder the Day of Atonement gives us of the need to confess our sins and meditate on God’s gracious willingness to forgive. I want to follow the example of President Lincoln and to pray. Any time is a good time to pray, but I intend to let Monday be a reminder to pray for our nation.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Not Me, God!

One of the great privileges of serving the Lord, has been for me to be a member of the executive board of ABWE International. This mission agency provides opportunities, resources and services to over one thousand missionaries in 71 countries worldwide.

I have just returned home from a board meeting at our international headquarters in Harrisburg, PA. We engaged in three days of prayer, strategic planning and receiving reports of what God is doing through his missionaries around the world.

The Lord is still calling out workers for his spiritual harvest. These people are being sent by their churches eager to do evangelism, discipleship,  and church planting. Mission boards such as ABWE support those sending churches by enabling their missionaries to accomplish God’s mission.

They are being called by God to proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ through relationship-building, medicine, education, literature, youth ministries, leadership development, and a host of other creative initiatives. They are being called to incarnational ministry.

That is what I spoke about when I addressed the board in a devotional message on the first day of our meetings. My talk was based upon Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was informing his disciples that they were being sent into the world on the same mission and with the same motives as his own(John 20:21).

The Lord used the title “Son of Man” for himself to identify with humanity. In the same way his missionaries seek to identify with the people to whom they go, learning their language and immersing themselves in their culture, yet without sacrificing their personal identity and authenticity.

The Lord Jesus came to serve, not to be served. Likewise his disciples are called to ministries of servanthood. The word “serve” Jesus used was the word for the lowliest household slave. I wonder how many of Jesus’ 21st century disciples see themselves this way? Someone has said that the test of whether a Christian has the attitude of a servant is how he reacts when he is treated like one!

Then the Lord spoke of his death. In my talk I reminded the group of the sacrifices of missionaries like Adoniram Judson who, when he proposed marriage to Ann Hasseltine said, “Give your hand to me, and go with me to the jungles of Asia, and there die with me in the cause of Christ.” We remembered together the deaths of missionary Roni Bowers and her daughter Charity whose missionary flight was shot out of the sky in 2001 in a case of mistaken identity. It was a drug interdiction gone wrong and our ABWE missionaries died.

What a tragedy, we say! But isn’t that what missionaries sign on for when they say “yes” to the Great Commission of Jesus to give their lives for the gospel? In fact all Christians are called to die to the world, to die to self, to die to sin, with the real possibility of dying physically for Christ.

Several years ago I wrote the following lines, imagining a response to the call of God.

Not Me, God!

Not me. Surely you don’t mean me when you say “pray.” After all, you’re the Lord of the harvest. What can my prayers do, when it’s all up to you?

Not me. Surely you don’t mean me when you say, “share.” After all, you own it all anyway. What can my giving do, when it’s all up to you?

Not me. Surely you don’t mean me when you say, “go.” After all, there’s so much to do here. What can my going do, when it’s all up to you?

Not me. Surely you don’t mean me when you say, “tell.” After all, I am shy and ungifted. What can my speaking do when it’s all up to you?

Not me. Surely you don’t mean me when you say, “love.” After all, I have only so much love. But wait — I think I see, the word I speak, the place I seek,  the wealth I share, the act of prayer, the love I give … is what you gave to me.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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A Pandemic Prayer

Dedicated to all who are grieving,  unemployed, or fearful. “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

 

Jesus, in this moment, are you here to sense my pain?/ Jesus are you listening to these thoughts I can’t explain?/ Jesus, do you hear it — this pulsing, choking cry?/ Jesus, are you present as this night is dragging by?

Every word you’ve spoken, friend, is one I’ve heard before./ Every ache and longing, every loneliness, and more/ is a feeling I have felt before, a sorrow I have known./ Come to me with anything; you’ll never be alone.

Jesus, do you mean it when you say your load is light?/ Jesus, this dark heaviness is turning day to night!/ Jesus, do you matter now, or is this just a game?/ Jesus, in this sadness now, I want someone to blame!

Lay your blame on me, good friend; the nail has pierced my hand./ Thorns were on my head. (I don’t ask you to understand.)/ I felt the lash; I heard the curse (and you speak of blame!)/ In the dark I freely took your weight of guilt and shame.

Jesus, are you real, or not, and are you truly there?/ Jesus, can you answer when I try this thing called prayer?/ Jesus, are you God, or not, and if so why not speak?/ Jesus, why is my believing so unbelievably weak?

Once I spoke, I’m speaking now, to show you that I care./ If I’m silent, friend, it doesn’t mean that I’m not there./ I call you “friend,” not slave, so you’ll know that you are free/ to question, rage, to ask, to doubt; come share the yoke with me.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Old Testament Lessons for Today

I recently read a book review in a religious magazine. The book’s author, a prominent pastor, claimed that the Old Testament is not as authoritative as the New Testament. Perhaps he meant to say that it is not as applicable, or relevant as the New Testament. But to say that it is not authoritative is to question its truthfulness and value, something no Christian should do.

The New Testament plainly says that Christians should study the Old Testament and apply its lessons to our lives. Romans 15:4 says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

In 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul based his teaching to New Testament Christians on the experiences of Old Testament people. In verses 6 and 11, he repeated the phrase, “These things happened to them as examples, and were written down as warnings for us.”

When Paul wrote to Timothy that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching” (2 Timothy 3:16), he was not saying that every Old Testament Scripture is equally useful or applicable to Christians today. But he was saying that it is useful and practical for what it teaches about God, his will, his mighty acts in history, and how he worked in the lives of his people in the ancient past.

One example might be the life of King David. When he was at his best, David provides a model for us in how to live with a heart for God. When he stumbled morally, his story is a solemn warning about the consequences of sin.

David provides an example of a warrior spirit, courage and boldness. He discovered that if he obeyed God’s will, the Lord himself would be with him (1 Samuel 16:18). When the youthful David fought the Philistine hero, Goliath of Gath, he recognized that he was facing more than a military problem. This was a theological problem. Goliath was insulting the Living God! And you know what happened to Goliath.

We are tempted to think of our problems as financial problems, or psychological problems, or interpersonal problems, or health problems. And to us they are. But on a deeper level they reveal our opinion of God. If we, as David did, recognize God as “the Living God,” then we are in a position to entrust our problems to him, as David did.

On the other hand, when David sinned, his story is a warning to us about the terrible cost of disobeying God’s moral law. Even though David confessed his sin and repented, the natural consequences of his failure brought devastation to his family and to the nation of Israel. Hundreds of lives were lost in the civil war that ensued. David’s sons fought among themselves and brought grief to the heart of the king.

One of the timeless lessons from this part of the Old Testament is that God’s children cannot get away with sin. Our heavenly Father disciplines his children. His correction is always because of his love (Proverbs 3:11-12).

Another lesson from the Old Testament story of David is that it is possible to be forgiven and restored to fellowship with God. David’s psalms teach us that, especially Psalms 32 and 51. The sorrows that followed David’s great sin changed him and prepared him to resume his role as the anointed king of Israel. He passed along a legacy of faith to his son and successor, Solomon.

The theme of David’s life was that he was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Psalm 89). I think this means that at the core of his being, David’s heart was compatible with God’s. Surely this is what we want to be true of ourselves. We learn these lessons from the Old Testament.

It is truthful, trustworthy, practical, applicable, divinely inspired, and, yes, it is authoritative. These lessons from the life of David are proof of what our Lord Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4). Every word, the Old Testament as well as the New.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Death Is All Around

Here in Oklahoma, as of yesterday, 763 people have died of the COVID-19 virus. According to the White House Corona Virus Task Force, our state has the twelfth-highest rate of new cases per capita. One can only speculate as to the reasons for the increase in new cases and deaths. Super spreading events such as the return to university campuses, off-campus parties,  and political rallies have been blamed. What will happen when football season gets underway?

At the same time, nationwide, almost 180,000 people have died of the virus. Medical researchers are predicting that the number of deaths will exceed 200,000 by the end of the year.

My wife and I are concerned for college classmates of ours who are hospitalized with the virus. We are praying for their recovery.

This week I heard a university instructor say that for the students of this generation, the current national health emergency will be the psychological equivalent of the Great Depression. This generation of young people will be marked for life by the specter of death.

In a sense, death has always been lurking. During the thirties, for many, it was the threat of starvation. In the forties, it was war. In the fifties the possibility of nuclear destruction threatened civilization. In succeeding decades, if it wasn’t civil unrest, it was terrorism that prompted the fear of death.

Does the Christian message offer any consolation? For every generation, including our own, the New Testament offers words such as these: “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we belong to the Lord” (Romans 14:8). Paul lived under a cloud of foreboding and he faced the possibility of martyrdom when he wrote: “Christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. … I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:20-21, 23).

When he said, “to live is Christ,” he was declaring his purpose in life. It was Jesus Christ who gave meaning to his life and a mission to fulfill. When he said, “to die is gain,” it was his assurance that he would gain heaven because of the saving grace of God. To depart this life to be with Christ is better by far, Paul stated with confidence.

I have not kept count of the many funeral services I have conducted. In forty-seven years of pastoral ministry I have stood with grieving families at hundreds of gravesides. At committal services it has always been my practice to remind the living that their loved one is not in the casket. For those whose trust is in the Savior, to be absent from the body is to be immediately present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).

The “dead in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) are not extinguished. They are not annihilated. They are as alive as he is. They are with him in heaven. When the early martyr Stephen was dying, he prayed, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Jesus stood to welcome him to heaven (Acts 7:56). When the thief on the cross prayed to Jesus, the Lord answered, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

The spirits of those who have been justified through the blood of Jesus are with the angels and with all whose names are written in the Book of Life in heaven. They are there with Jesus the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 12:22-24). Promises such as these take the sting out of death.

The other day Connie and I were reading in Revelation about the return of Christ and the final judgment. There is a beautiful scene in Revelation 20:4. The apostle John saw in a vision of heaven, the souls of those who will have given their lives for their faith in Jesus. They are described as having been faithful in their worship of Jesus and rejection of satanic counterfeit religion. They will have taken their stand for the testimony about Jesus and the true word of God.

They will have died on earth. They are seen as alive in heaven. They will fulfill their mission for Christ on earth. Their identity and destiny will be preserved in Christ in heaven.

These days, death is all around us and is on everyone’s mind. Those whose faith is in the Son of God can say, even when life here is uncertain, “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Moments of Truth

Several things happen in authentic Christian worship. Each of them can be, and should be, a moment of truth.

There is the gathering. When people come together for worship, it is based on the common understanding that Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life. Meeting with other people in his name testifies to a belief in the truth as it is revealed in Jesus. The assembly supports this.

Private prayers of preparation before entering into corporate worship accord with the fact that God knows the intentions of our hearts. We commit ourselves to him and ask for the grace to worship him in spirit and in truth.

Hymn singing reinforces our understanding and love of God and the gospel. The texts that are sung in the music of the church should always be true to the doctrines of Holy Scripture. Many times I have been moved to tears as I have rejoiced in the truth as I have sung a hymn text that expressed the majesty and beauty of the Christian faith.

Churches that recite the historic creeds of the Christian faith discover that they share a common confession of truth with all believers everywhere. Reciting a creed can have the same effect  as the singing of a hymn to God, encouraging reverence,  and strengthening faith.

The teaching ministry of the church in sermons and small group Bible studies is for the purpose of teaching the truth. The Bible is true, and the church’s teaching ministry explains the meaning and relevance of Holy Scripture, showing the way to fellowship with God.

Corporate confession of sin and the declaration of forgiveness are moments of truth. God desires truth in the inner being of our hearts. In confession there is no room for pretense, only truth before an all-knowing God. In confession of sin, fellowship with God is restored.

The Lord’s Supper is an act of remembrance, witness, thanksgiving and anticipation. In receiving the bread and the cup, believers are reminded of the truth of the gospel, that Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures. We bear witness together to our faith in him. It is a Eucharist, or thanksgiving, for his sacrifice. The Lord Jesus also said that his people should think of his second coming every time they receive communion.

From the very beginning of the church in the first century these have been expressions of Christian belief. They are moments of truth. They are encounters with Jesus who declared himself to be the truth.

“We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Alternatives to Worry

People are worried. Parents are worried about sending their children to school. Teachers are worried about the health risks of being in the same classroom with children who might carry infection. Many people are worried about unemployment. Everyone seems to be worried about the economic consequences of the pandemic.

Here in Oklahoma there is considerable worry about whether or not there will be football on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. Ryan Aber, writing in our local paper said, “A fall without football, or even more a full school year without football, could be devastating to college athletics in the short term.”

Speaking of devastating, the effects of worry itself can be devastating. I am privileged to serve on the board of directors of  a faith-based counseling ministry. Throughout the last several months, our therapists have been busy caring for many clients who have been struggling with the emotional effects of anxiety.

Jesus’ words have been on my mind. To those who trust in him as savior, to those who call themselves his disciples, he said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” (Luke 12:25) In other words, if we do not have the power to control a few minutes of time or a few inches of stature, it makes no sense to worry about the great issues (such as a global pandemic) that lie beyond the scope of our control.

In  a few sentences in this discourse, the Lord Jesus Christ repeated the statement “Do not worry” three times. As an antidote to worry, the Lord told his followers to think about God and to acknowledge his ultimate control over our lives. If we do this we will recognize that the God who feeds the birds and gives the flowers their beauty, is perfectly capable of caring for those who trust in him. “How much more valuable you are than birds!” Jesus exclaimed.

This is a reason to be thankful. “Your Father knows” (v. 30) what you need. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, commenting on the Lord’s Prayer, reminds us: “The preface to the Lord’s Prayer, which is ‘Our Father which art in heaven,’ teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.”

I need this encouraging word from Jesus.  “Your Father knows.”The collection of prayers called Valley of Vision has a simple prayer that is meaningful to me: “Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal.” That is a prayer worth praying, especially when life is full of distractions, disappointments and disruptions. “Your Father knows.”

So today I invite you to read Luke 12:22-34. Read it again as if for the first time. Our Lord’s words offer real alternatives to worry: meditating on God and his loving care for his children and thankfulness for his faithful provision for our daily needs.

“Thou hast given so much to me/ Give one thing more — a grateful heart;

Not thankful when it pleaseth me;/ As if thy blessings had spare days,

But such a heart whose pulse may be: Thy praise.”  (George Herbert)

Pastor Randy Faulkner