From the Desk

 

of Pastor Ernie

From the Desk of Pastor Ernie

Quotes

WEEKLY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT: Sept 30

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means–the only complete realist.” … C. S. Lewis

WEEKLY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT: Sept 23

“[Matthew] lost a comfortable job, but he found a destiny. He lost a good income, but he found honor. He lost a comfortable security, but he found an adventure of the like of which he had never dreamed. It may be that if we accept the challenge of Christ, we shall find ourselves poorer in material things. It may be that the worldly ambitions will have to go. But beyond doubt we will find a peace and a joy and a thrill in life that we never knew before. In Jesus Christ a man finds a wealth beyond anything that he may have to abandon for the sake of Christ.” … William Barclay

WEEKLY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT: Sept 17

“Only the obedient believe. If we are to believe, we must obey a concrete command. Without this preliminary step of obedience, our faith will only be pious humbug, and lead us to the grace which is not costly. Everything depends on the first step. It has a unique quality of its own. The first step of obedience makes Peter leave his nets, and later get out of the ship; it calls upon the young man to leave his riches. Only this new existence, created through obedience, can make faith possible.” .. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

WEEKLY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT: Aug 5

“If your path had been smooth, you would have depended upon your own surefootedness; but God roughened that path, so you have to take hold of His hand. If the weather had been mild, you would have loitered along the watercourses, but at the first howl of the storm you quickened your pace heavenward and wrapped around you the warm robe of a Saviour’s righteousness.”... Thomas De Witt Talmage

WEEKLY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT: July 29

“We are very shy nowadays of even mentioning Heaven. We are afraid of the jeer about “pie in the sky,” and of being told that we are trying to “escape” from the duty of making a happy world here and now, into dreams of a happy world elsewhere. But either there is “pie in the sky” or there is not. If there is not, then Christianity is false, for this doctrine is woven into its whole fabric. If there is, then this truth, like any other, must be faced, whether it is useful at political meetings or no.” … C. S. Lewis

WEEKLY INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT: July 22
“Advent is a time of waiting. Our whole life, however, is Advent–that is, a time of waiting for the ultimate, for the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, when all people are brothers and sisters and one rejoices in the words of the angels: “On earth peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.” Learn to wait, because he has promised to come. “I stand at the door…” We however call to him: “Yes, come soon, Lord Jesus!”

“It is hard; but the sort of compromise we’re hankering after is harder – in fact, it is impossible. We are like eggs at present. And we cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad!” – C.S. Lewis

“…when a Christian realizes his citizenship is in heaven, he begins acting as a responsible citizen of earth. He invests wisely in relationships because he knows they’re eternal. His conversations, goals and motives become pure and honest because he realizes these will have a bearing on everlasting reward. …He gives generously of time, money, and talent because he’s laying up treasure for eternity. He spreads the good news of Christ because he longs to fill heaven’s ranks with his friends and neighbors. All this serves the pilgrim well not only in heaven, but on earth; for it serves everyone around him.” – Joni Eareckson Tada, in Heaven: Your Real Home,

“Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is ‘finding his place in it,’ while really it is finding its place in him.” – C.S. Lewis

“Almost all of us labour under two very different evils, too much impatience and too much laziness. In our impatience we snatch at the day of Christ as something expected imminently, but in our carelessness we push it far off. Therefore just as the apostle has earlier corrected our reckless ardour, so now he shakes our sleepiness off us, so that we may look expectantly for the coming of Christ at any time.” – John Calvin

“What men call training and preparation, God calls the end. God’s end is to enable me to see that He can walk on the chaos of my life just now; if we realize that obedience is the end, then each moment as it comes is precious. God is not working towards a particular finish; His end is the process – it is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.” – Oswald Chambers My Utmost For His Highest (as shared by Fran Harms)

Sermon Quote: New Heaven, New Earth, New Bodies -July 21

“This sense of being a stranger, which first came to me at the very beginning of life, I have never quite lost, however engulfed I might be in earthly pursuits…. The only ultimate disaster that can befall us, I have come to realize, is to feel ourselves to be at home here on earth. As long as we are aliens, we cannot forget our true homeland.” – Malcolm Muggeridge – “Jesus Rediscovered”

“Complacency is a blight that saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. “Good enough” becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new. Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course – downhill. They draw false strength from looking back.” -anonymous

Challenges

“Dirk Willems was a Dutch Anabaptist martyr who escaped from prison, but then turned back to rescue his pursuer, who had fallen through the ice. He was recaptured, as a result, tortured, and killed for his beliefs in May 1569” – (unexplained slide in Sept 29 message)

Prayer & Fasting Challenge

Join me, if you are able, as I pray and fast on Mondays. I will be in the sanctuary, or prayer room, between 12 and 1 on Mondays; you are welcome to join me!

Links

Resources

True Riches:What Jesus really said about money and your heart.

God and Money: How we discovered true riches at Harvard business school

“For those of you teaching S.S., leading bible studies, or teaching youth bible studies, this is an excellent resource, or abbreviated presentation, of every book of the bible. I trust that it will be a helpful resource to you! You will find it in the EFC library….

Alcorn, Randy. “Heaven” Carol Stream, Illinois, Tyndale House Publishing, 2004.

Wright, N.T. “Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church” Broadway, New York, Harper Collins Publishers, 2008.

Burke, John. “Imagine Heaven: Near Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You” Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Publishing Group, 2015.

Eareckson Tada, Joni. “Heaven: Your Real Home… From a Higher Perspective” Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 2018.

Youssef, Michael. “Heaven Awaits: Anticipate Your Future Hope, Your Eternal Home, Your Daily Reality” Carol Stream, Illinois, Tyndale House Publishing, 2024.