What does it mean to be a success? This week two articles were published that draw our attention to what it means to live the good life, and I encourage you to read them.

Mark Zuckerberg and the Biblical Meaning of Success

Looking forward to your 28th birthday? Or remember what you did? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will never forget his special day. Today, four days after his 28th birthday, Facebook open to public investors and begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It’s expected to be worth $100 billion.

Twenty-somethings could respond to this new in at least two ways. Either they can be inspired by his entrepreneurial spirit and hard work or discouraged that they will never reach the heights of his success.

Most will be discouraged. By age 28, many face what’s called a “quarter-life crisis,” thanks to the two great lies our culture promotes among children in school, students in college, and professionals in the business world. The first great lie is, “If you work hard enough, you can be anything you want to be.” It is often sold as the American Dream, expressed in sayings such as, “In America, anyone can grow up to be President.”

The second great lie is like the first one, yet possibly even more damaging: “You can be the best in the world. If you try hard enough, you could be the next Zuckerberg.”

These lies are accepted by many Christians as well as non-Christians. They have catastrophically damaged our view of work and vocation, because they have distorted our biblical view of success.

To read more click HERE.

The second article from the Racine Journal Times was written about some of Sue Hobach’s relatives.

Everybody’s mom’: A mother’s heartbreak spills love to nearly 60 children

Fritzie Sawasky cries openly and unashamedly.With her heart on her sleeve and a box of tissues next to her, she recounts in vivid, agonizing detail the devastating heartbreak that led she and her husband to open their hearts and their home to some of the most special, needy children in Racine County.Elfrieda Sawasky, known almost immediately as “Fritzie” by everyone she meets, estimates that in the past 30 years she and her husband, Dick, have taken care of about 60 children, most of whom were foster children. Many had severe medical issues, fatal conditions, extensive disabilities or were removed from their own homes for their protection.

This is one of the more thought provoking films I have come across in a long time… please watch it and tell me what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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480 South Pine

A few years ago I stumbled into the office of my physician, Dr. David Taylor, and told him that I needed to go to a psych ward because I was suffering from paranoid delusions. At this point, Dr. Taylor gently reminded me of something every therapist should know, namely, that paranoid people don’t think they are paranoid. He then mentioned that I looked terrible and he asked me how I was sleeping. Within a half-hour I was scheduled for a sleep study in which I found that I had a bad case of sleep apnea. Within a few days of receiving a CPAP machine, I was renewed in body, mind, and spirit. When thinking about the lack of sleep it’s easy to see how it affects your physical health and your sanity. What is often lost in the discussion of sleeplessness is the way in which it affects our relationship with God. The noted New Testament scholar DA Carson spoke to the issue of sleep and faith in his recent book Scandalous: The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Doubt may be fostered by sleep deprivation. If you keep burning the candle at both ends, sooner or later you will indulge in more and more mean cynicism—and the line between cynicism and doubt is a very thin one. Of course, different individuals require different numbers of hours of sleep: moreover, some cope with a bit of tiredness better than others. Nevertheless, if you are among those who become nasty, cynical, or even full of doubt when you are missing your sleep, you are morally obligated to try to get the sleep you need. We are whole, complicated beings; our physical existence is tied to our spiritual well-being, to our mental outlook, to our relationships with others, including our relationship with God. Sometimes the godliest thing you can do in the universe is get a good night’s sleep—not pray all night, but sleep. I’m certainly not denying that there may be a place for praying all night; I’m merely insisting that in the normal course of things, spiritual discipline obligates you get the sleep your body need. (Scandalous, 147)

Dr. Carson raises an important issue that all of us need to address in our lives, but especially those of us for whom a good night’s sleep is not something to be taken for granted. One of the  issues I’ve had to struggle with over the years is that I would wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about people in the congregation who are suffering, and end up spending several hours praying for them. In some ways this is a wonderful thing, in that it allowed me to faithfully carry out the ministry of intercession that is such an important part of our calling as Christians. The downside of course is that it’s very easy for my mind to get caught up in all the sorrows that people are experiencing, and my prayers become less and less about intercession, and more and more about endless, non-productive, rumination. And of course, these late-night dialogues ended up stomping on the experience of re-creation that is such an important part of God’s gift of sleep. This is a pattern I’ve seen in the lives of many people  who spend time supporting people during difficult times.

Our natural inclination is to tell people that when they are thinking about something too much that they should simply stop thinking about it. This is terrible advice. Let me explain:
Please take a look at this picture of a pink elephant.

Now I want you to stop thinking about that pink elephant. Whatever you do, don’t think about the elephant, or the fact that it is pink. Just don’t think about it.

The point I’m trying to get across here is the fact that the more you try NOT to think about something the more you WILL think about it. So what are we called to do in those sleepless nights when the pink elephants of our lives threaten to trample our bodies, minds, and spirits into the dust? Well, here are some ideas that may help you have a more peaceful, God honoring, night’s sleep:

1. Remind yourself that God is in control and that he can handle 8 hours without your input. (Romans 8:28)

2. Remind yourself that when the apostle Paul calls us to rejoice WITH those who rejoice, and weep WITH those who weep (Romans 12:15), he is commanding us to do these things WITH people and not FOR them. When we find ourselves dwelling on all the bad things that are happening in people’s lives we can remember that our laughing and weeping are best reserved for those times when we are actually in their presence. We can receive this word as an invitation to go see the people who are on our minds, be with them in person, and offer up our laughter, tears, and prayers then and there.

3. Worship God and put your trust in the Him by acknowledging negative emotions, meditating on what is good, and being silent.  I recently preached a sermon on Psalm 4, a song that has been a regular part of the evening devotions for over 2000 years, and I have found that the words in verses 4 and 5 make for some pretty good advice

• Be angry, and do not sin: The apostle Paul echoes the Psalm when he says, Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath (Ephesians 4:26). Unexpressed anger leads to many a restless night. However, if we look at the Scriptures we are reminded that God Himself is angry at sin. Since anger is a divine attribute, it is to be respected. When we in turn express our anger against sin we identify with God’s holiness.When our negative emotions have been expressed, we are ready for the next step…
• Meditate within your heart on your bed: As we turn from all of the sadness and sin in our world, our hearts are open to actively consider how God’s word is related to all that is happening around us. Psalm 1:1-2 reminds us that: Blessed is the person whose delight is in the teaching of the Lord, and on His teaching he meditates day and night. The apostle Paul reminds us: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Philippians 4:8). The key here is to gently move our focus FROM the many sources of sadness in our lives, TO the one source of truth, goodness, and beauty. We graciously move our attention FROM pink elephants, TO GOD, and TO what God has done, and especially TO what God has done in JESUS. As Jesus himself said: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).
• “and be still.”: After our minds have been active in meditation, we must stop and be silent. Too often our prayer is one-way. We tell God what we want, we think over our problems, and then we complain that the Lord never speaks to us. The problem is that we often spend so much time complaining to God, that we leave little or no time for God to say anything in return.

• Acts 8:26-40
• 1 John 4:7-21
• John 15:1-8

Service Positions

• Reader: Connie Sweeney
• Communion Assistants:
• Counters:

Color: White

Let me know if you have any questions.
Sue Hobach

Friends Living out Our Discipleship
Grades 9 – 11
Cost: $425
A servant event in Milwaukee. Come with your church group and experience a life-changing servant event. We’ll stay at the Tommy Thompson youth hostel and commute to work sites every day. Will serve meals at shelters, sort food in the food pantry, play with community kids, and help out with a small yard projects and spend time learning from people who every day reach out for those in need.

The council has approved a $2000 budget for mission trip by giving $200 to each participant toward the mission trip. This would allow 10 youth to take advantage of this.

Last Sunday I preached on 1 John 3:16-23, focusing on the theme, “God is greater than our heart”. In the sermon I focused on the fact that it’s so easy for us to be dominated by the inner experience of doubt, despair, and selfish-pride. These negative thoughts and feelings often lead us to be paralyzed in the face of the challenges of the day. The confidence we need is not dependent upon our own perception of ourselves, and of our worthiness before God and other people. The confidence we need is based on God’s faithfulness, revealed in His decision to send us Jesus Christ. When we are mired in self absorption we need to hear the Good News about the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us. When our lives are organized around the sure and certain promises of Jesus Christ, we will receive the confidence we need to face the challenges of the day. Below are some reflections on what it looks like when the Gospel frees us up to really love others, and show the truth by our actions.

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From C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters : The senior devil, Screwtape, gives the following advice to the junior temptor, Wormwood, in the matter of how Wormwood should attempt to undermine the faith and repentance of a young Christian.
It remains to consider how we can retrieve this disaster. The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance. Let the little brute wallow in it. Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilizing the seeds which the Enemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.

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From Luther’s Works Volume 30:278–79

17. He who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need.

If one must die for the brethren, there is far greater reason to expend one’s goods. …. Furthermore, there are several degrees of love: an enemy must not be offended, a brother must be helped, a member of one’s household must be supported. You know Christ’s commandment concerning love for one’s enemies. But you owe more to a brother who loves you in return. He who has nothing to live on should be aided. If he deceives us, what then? He must be aided again. But you owe most to those who are yours. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever,” says 1 Tim. 5:8. It is a common rule that he who has goods and yet is not moved does not have love.

18. Little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue.

Here John concludes his exhortation concerning love. He goes back to where he began, in order to summarize the main points, namely, that we should love, not indeed in word or with the tongue, but that the whole man should love, as you have Christ’s explanation in Matt. 22:37. There are many who feign love. But Rom. 12:9 says: “Let love be genuine.”

19. But in deed and in truth.

“For the kingdom of God does not exist in talk but in power,” 1 Cor. 4:20. Therefore John calls every Christian a brother, because there is a brotherhood among Christians. Moreover, brethren should share the same inheritance. But to love a brother who is kind and pleasant in return—this is a trivial matter. This is the way the world also loves. “The crowd judges friendships by their usefulness.” Accordingly, John does not say: “Let us love those who are saintly, agreeable, and rich.” No, he says: “Let us love the brethren,” in such a way that then nothing but the brotherhood is loved and regarded; for a brother is loved out of a sense of duty, not because of usefulness and not because of praise. All the gifts we have should serve those who do not have them. For example, he who is learned should serve him who is not learned; he who is rich should serve him who is poor; he who is sensible should serve him who is foolish, etc. it is easy to love Paul and other apostles. They serve you even after their death. But to love those who are weak, troublesome, and unlearned—this indeed is to love truly. Otherwise there is no brotherhood, but there is carnality. In short, it is the duty of Christians to serve, not for their own advantage but for the advantage of the brethren.

• Acts 10:44-48
• 1 John 5:1-6
• John 15:9-17

Service Positions

• Reader: Ken Christensen
• Communion Assistants:
• Counters:

Color: White

• Acts 2:1-21
• Romans 8:22-27
• John 15:26-27; John 16:4b-15

Service Positions

• Reader: Jennifer Muffick
• Communion Assistants:
• Counters:

Color: Red