LaCroix Church Blog

LaCroix Church Blog http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/default.aspx?forumid=14 en-US FuseTalk.Net (http://www.fusetalk.com) Rob Mehner Camp http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1351 2010-07-26 6:46 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1351comments -1 I just returned from a week of camp at Blue Mountain Retreat Center outside of Fredericktown. The camp is for kids going into 6th, 7th and 8th grades. The last night is an opportunity for the kids to "say so." Twenty-four kids gave a first time confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For the counselors there, this makes the week of heat and exhaustion worth it. Consider these two bits of scripture. But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." - Romans 10:8-11 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. - John 12:42-43 What a thrill; 24 kids for the first time confessed Christ because they were more interested in the glory of God than the glory of their peers. And over 40 others recommitted their faith to Christ. That's a good week! - Rob Angela Beise Never Alone http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=179&threadid=1323 2010-07-19 10:49 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=179&threadid=1323comments -1 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Have you ever felt hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted or struck down? We were never promised that we would not experience those things in this life. Being followers of Christ does not exempt us from pain and suffering. The bigger question is this: Have you ever felt crushed, experienced despair, been abandoned, even destroyed? The very good news is this; Christ came to walk with you and give you strength through hardship so that you will never be crushed or in despair. You are never abandoned and nothing can destroy you because of who He is! Are you aware of what an amazing God this is? I pray that you will find His strength to be sufficient for you no matter what you face today. If you have not yet accepted Him as your Savior, I pray that this would be the day for you to find Him to be all that you need! -Angela Rob Mehner Free http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=181&threadid=1313 2010-07-18 4:44 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=181&threadid=1313comments -1 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. - Galatians 5:13 Chapter 5 of Galatians is all about a paradox of freedom. We want to be free, but the truth is we human beings will be enslaved by one thing or another. Paul, in this letter, is encouraging the people of Galatia to choose Christ as master rather than sin; these really are the only two choices. Our freedom comes when we submit to Christ who in turn gives us our life and and sets us free from all unrighteousness. In this particular verse, though, I wanted to point out Paul's prescription for us when we are tempted to use our freedom to indulge in the sinful nature; it is to serve others in love. I found that quite interesting that it is not to fight temptation by trying to "be better and more holy." No, it is very practical - take the focus off of yourself and put it on another by serving him or her in love. Been struggling? Who could you serve in love today? -Rob Rob Mehner Sent http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1239 2010-07-11 9:47 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1239comments -1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. - Galatians 1:1 My small group is starting a study of Galatians. The very first verse hit me harder than it normally would because we have commissioned two mission teams this weekend (a youth team to Toronto and a group of over 40 to Swaziland, Africa) and have another one in Russia. These teams originate from La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau, just like Paul originated from the blossoming church in Jerusalem. But Paul reminds us and our mission teams who really sends us out - not men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. - Rob Angela Beise Amazing http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1231 2010-07-06 5:58 PM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1231comments -1 I was sitting in the room with my son, Michael, recently as he was watching the movie The Incredibles. He likes to listen to a line over and over (part of his autism) and the line he kept playing that day got my attention. Mr. Incredible drives into his driveway and a little neighborhood kid sits there staring at him. Mr. Incredible, who was not in a good mood, says, "Well, what are you waiting for?" The kids says, "I don't know, something amazing I guess". Mr. Incredible hangs his head and says under his breath, "Me too, Kid". I think many of us, like Mr. Incredible, can become disillusioned by life. We're waiting for something amazing to happen. Life doesn't look like we imagined it would. We are sure we were meant for more than this! What we don't realize is that God works right in the midst of the ordinary. We watch for "amazing" and we miss magical moments. We expect God to do huge things in us and through us, and we miss the everyday ways that He blesses and uses us. We can miss opportunities to love and to be Christ to the world because they weave in and out of our everyday experiences. Jesus walked among normal people. He seemed to do extraordinary things on normal days. He taught life-changing lessons on normal walks from place to place. He poured into and left His message in the hands of ordinary people. He was amazing. He was amazing on normal days with normal people. Maybe we don't have to be "incredible" to be "amazing"! -Angela Angela Beise He is faithful http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=180&threadid=1228 2010-07-01 9:31 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=180&threadid=1228comments -1 "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 Whew! I read that this morning and thought; "What a relief!!" He will keep me strong. He is faithful. I don't have to be strong or figure everything out. My bringing Him glory to the very end has more to do with how faithful He is than how faithful I am. I simply have to abide in Him, hope in Him, rest in Him. That brings me a lot of peace! -Angela Rob Mehner Being a "Nay-prayer" http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1227 2010-06-28 10:05 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1227comments -1 Perhaps you've heard the term "nay-sayer" and know that it refers to someone who doubts and is contrary to pretty much everything that is presented. Today I'm coining a new term, "nay-prayer." By this, I'm referring to anyone who doubts or is contrary to anything regarding prayer or for whom praying seems to do nothing but increase doubt and negativity toward God. Pretty much describes all of us at some times or in some ways, doesn't it? I believe that God intends prayer to be communication between us and him that is anchored in an established relationship of trust, love, and knowledge of one another. However, the opposite is very often true; prayer is borne out of a need or desire we have for a specific outcome and our trust, love, and understanding of God is formed from the results. In other words, instead of trusting God and knowing his character before we pray and regardless of the outcomes, we judge God's character and faithfulness by whether or not we get what we want. This creates "nay-prayers" for sure. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus, who was not hindered by sin nor a lack of faith, did NOT get what his heart desired - he did NOT get the cup of suffering he was about to drink taken away from him as he asked. He did find the strength and peace to carry out God's will, and he found it in the Faithful One he already knew loved him. His relationship with his Father was not at stake with the outcome of his request to be spared that deep suffering. - Rob Angela Beise Sealed http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=179&threadid=1224 2010-06-22 6:56 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=179&threadid=1224comments -1 Do you feel like your fate is sealed? Does it seem that your situation will never change? On Father's Day we heard differently. In Daniel 6 Daniel's fate also appeared to be sealed. 17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. As we read on however, we learn that God had more to say about Daniel's situation. 19 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. 20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?" 21 Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king." Could it be possible that God has more to say and more to work out in your situation as well? The same God who saw Daniel's sealed fate is still at work today and is still able to rescue. Serve Him continually, regardless of how your circumstances look, and watch for Him to be faithful to you. Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -Angela Rob Mehner Unshackled - A Poem by John Wade http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1223 2010-06-21 10:42 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=178&threadid=1223comments -1 A heart to offer A soul to give An old life to die to A new life to live Our ransom is paid Freed from the past Called to God’s service Equipped for the task Armored with boldness, With faith, truth and right Conquer the Darkness And Walk in His light “… Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do, it is already happening. Don’t you see it? …” Isaiah 43:18-19 Angela Beise Anxiety http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=179&threadid=1222 2010-06-17 9:48 AM -05.00 http://blog.lacroixchurch.org/blog/messageview.aspx?catid=179&threadid=1222comments -1 When my children were pre-schoolers, I had them all in the van one day and my 4 year old said from the back of the van, "Mommy, does the Bible say not to worry?" I told her that it did, feeling very spiritual as I quoted: "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 Then she said, "So does that mean that worrying is a sin?" That's when I stopped feeling so spiritual and realized that God had just used my 4 year old to point out my sin to me. In the women's summer class we're doing the book Respecatable Sins: Confronting the Sins we Tolerate. Today I'm reading about anxiety. Here I am, almost 20 years later, and I'm once again aware of my tendency to worry and my lack of trust in God to take care of me and the people I care about in every way. "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything, tell God what you need, thank Him, then you will experience His peace. I will experience His peace, not because He will do everything exactly they way I ask Him to in my prayers. But the asking and then thanking reminds me of how He has already been faithful to me and that I can trust Him to continue to be faithful. I want the peace of God to guard my heart and my mind. But I have to choose to lay down my anxiety and trust that He is good and able to care for me! -Angela (recovering worrier)