The story of Jesus healing the woman with the “issue of blood” (Matt 9:19–22) is quite mysterious. Why did the woman think that the fringe of Jesus’ garment would heal her? She very well could have thought that if his shadow passes over her, she will be healed (see Acts 5:15). What is so special about the fringe of his garment? The explanation may come from the Hebrew Bible. Our Old Testament ends with a prophecy about the coming Messiah, “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall” (Mal 4:2; NASB). The word for “wings” (kanaph) is also the same word used to describe the fringes (or tassels) on the garments that all Israelite men were commanded to wear (Num 15:38). Thus, in Matthew, when the woman touched the tassel of Jesus’ garment, she may have thought of Mal 4:2 and identified Jesus with the “sun of righteousness.” Thus, while her faith was indeed great, it was also a faith informed by the Holy Scriptures.

Let us strive for our faith to be as informed and great as this woman!

I read an old quote the other day from legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holts that said, “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”

In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, we learn about the “thorn in the flesh” the apostle Paul was tormented by and how he responded to it. While we do not know what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was, it seems it was a hindrance to him and his ministry and could have been responsible for some of the insults or hardships he experienced.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NLT) “⁸Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.⁹Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Although Paul prayed three times for healing and did not receive it, he received things far greater. He received greater grace from God and experienced God’s power because of it. Paul then developed a stronger character, created a sense of humility, and produced an ability to rely on God.

God does not intend for us to seek to be weak or passive and at times we all have experienced enough hindrances and setbacks that has created weakness in our lives. As Christians, our response should be to recognize our limitations, to pray, to rely on God’s power, and to trust that He is at work in our lives.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus invited everyone who is tired from carrying heavy burdens of life to come to him for rest.  That is among the most comforting scriptures in the New Testament.  What he says next, however, has confused me for most of my Christian life.  “Take my yoke upon you”.  I thought he was going to lighten my load, not add to it.  Even a light load on top of what I’m already carrying sometimes seems like too much. I must be missing something.

It turns out, I was missing the point entirely.  The yoke is not used to cruelly chain an ox to a burden.  Instead it is a means to join the strength of two oxen together when a load is too heavy for one to bear alone.  Instead of adding to my burden, Jesus is providing the means to share the load between us.  When a farmer selects the oxen to pair together as a team, he must use great care to match them by size and strength.  If one is significantly stronger than the other, the stronger one will end up with most of the load, leading to injury.  When we bind ourselves to Jesus, he takes on most of the load, even though it cost him his life on the cross.

The other use of the yoke was to allow an experienced ox to train a young ox as they worked together against a load.  Every subtle move of the experienced ox is felt by the young one as they work together.  Without a word spoken between them, the young ox learns from the experienced one.  As we join our lives to Jesus, we are gently guided in the way of life by our older brother.

Now is a good time to reflect on how well you are walking with Jesus. Straining against the yoke robs you of the strength to carry the loads of life and keeps you from learning from Jesus.  But comfortably sharing the load with Jesus leads to peace and progress in life. 

Serendipity has been defined as an unexpected fortunate discovery. I have found this to be true of our Daily Devotional, “My Life in Him”. I never imagined all the hidden gems I would discover.

In the space of 10 minutes, I connect with a few of the finest souls this side of God’s green earth. We smile, laugh, check-in, and pray together. We are challenged by the Devotional thought and a deep desire to spread His Word. In a time when COVID has pushed our community into loneliness and isolation we have found new ways to rewire our connections.

By saying this I am not downplaying the real damage that has and is being done. As a result of COVID our lifestyles have been altered.

· We cannot even greet one another, according to custom, in worship (Rom.16:16).

· Four in 10 jobs will not return.

· Cruises, concerts, and conferences may never pick-up momentum again.

· We also can no longer attend funerals, weddings, and graduations the same way.

· And Bill Heralds’ favorite “eating trough”, Golden Corral, may never return to their open buffet.

But what I am saying is that you are missing out on many blessings if you are giving up. Hopelessness will rob you of your sleep and that will lead to stress, anxiety, and destructive coping mechanisms.

The path back is not hard. It does not start with a tough New Year’s resolution like:

· Forgiving someone who has wronged you (Mt.5:7).

· Stopping a pornography, gambling, or substance addiction (Mt.5:8).

· Being an agent of peace (Mt.5:8).

No, quite the contrary, it starts by realizing I am a poor, wretched individual with no strength of my own (Mt.5:3).

As Mahalia Jackson says:

Just as I am, without one plea –

but that Thy blood was shed for me.

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee

O Lamb of God, I come! I come.

Do you need some extra “sunshine” in your life? Then join me every morning, Monday – Friday from 9am for just ten minutes. All you need is access to a phone or internet connection. Who knows what you might serendipitously discover?

How do you say thank you to a community that loves so much? Over the last decade, Douwene and I have been overwhelmed by Summit’s love for us. At the end of every year, we are presented with a gift that puts “Nesting Dolls” to shame. To abide to social distancing this year it was at the end of our morning service. The gift was professionally wrapped by www.nancycarnes.com.

Many years ago, Fredrick Lehman wrote a hymn about this love (“The Love of God”).

The love of God is greater far … Than tongue or pen can ever tell.

It goes beyond the highest star … And reaches to the lowest hell.

The guilty pair, bowed down with care, … God gave His Son to win.

His erring child He reconciled … And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure! … How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure— … The saints’ and angels’  song.

Friend, if you do not have this love in your life let me recommend a community called the church of Christ.

Psalm 107:1 (ESV) — 1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

I love heroic stories. If well told, they provide great enjoyment as well as behavior that ought to be emulated. While there are different types of heroes, one standard type of hero is one who vanquishes chaos and disorder from the land and returns life to its inhabitants, usually at a great personal cost. There are many stories in the Bible that tell this heroic narrative. Creation is an account of God ordering the chaos and bringing life to it. In Ruth, Naomi’s life is a wasteland, bereft of a family, but Ruth and Boaz bring her life through their selfless devotion. Furthermore, Jesus’ entire mission was to turn the sin-scape that is this world into a world that is full of life (ζωή, zōē).

As Christians, our mission is to be God’s image-bearers along with Christ. Our quest is a continuation of Christ’s quest: we are to be heroes who bring life into the world. We do this by conforming to his image and by spreading the good news of Christ and doing good to others. We cannot accomplish this quest by remaining in our comfort zone. It involves going to the darkest places in our community and spreading God’s love to everyone. We must heal the land and rid it of the chaos and destruction of sin. My challenge to you is for you to view your life in this way: as a hero on a divinely ordained quest to spread God’s light and love to the most barren places on earth.

Today is the third Sunday of 2021. While we are glad to have 2020 behind us in many ways it is time to look forward.   Have you made any new year’s resolutions? Are you planning a diet or a change in eating habits?  Have you lined up a new exercise program or joined a gym?  I know someone had plans to go back to the gym from our morning devo this week.   Is this the year you retire, change jobs, increase your saving and reduce your spending?  Is this the year you make those upgrades on your house? 

We put a lot of thought into improving our everyday life but how much thought and planning do we put into our spiritual life?  What are your Spiritual Resolutions?  How about starting your morning out with coffee and a scripture?  We are meeting on zoom every morning at 9am for about 10 minutes to read the daily devotionals from the book “My Life In Him.”  If you’re not free at 9:00 you can replay it on Facebook.   It’s not too late to get started.  

Do you plan to improve your prayer life? Prayer is so very important to living a Christian life.  Pick a friend to pray for this week.  We now have 4 of our members with COVID who appreciate all your prayers.  Are you setting a goal to read your Bible more?  You can put an app on your phone that will remind you to read your Bible.   Is this the year you will talk to that coworker, neighbor or family member about your Lord?

2020, believe it or not, was a very good year at Summit.  The Lord blessed us with eleven souls who were saved through baptism and several new members.  We have prayed for the Lord to continue to send us new families who want to work for His kingdom, and he has.  They have talents and gifts that will be used to help glorify God here at Summit.

May He make all your plans succeed.  Ps 20:4

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you says the Lord.  Jer. 29:11

Brothers and sisters, let’s make 2021 a Great year for you personally, and for the Lord’s work at Summit. If you have not been baptized, what are you waiting for; why not make this the year? If you have not been living the life of a faithful Christian, make today the day to rededicate your life and have one of the Elders pray with you. If you have not been the Christian husband, wife, parent, or grandparent that you need to be, make the changes to make 2021 the best year yet.

Forget what is behind and strain forward toward what is ahead. Phil 3:13

Don’t look back – Look forward to 2021 and “Seek The Lord”

I recently saw an image of the Queen of England next to 13 of the past 15 United States Presidents. And I thought if you think that is great let me introduce you to the story of my King, Jesus Christ.

From Genesis to Revelation His desire is that God’s image should be universal. He does this by creating man and woman in God’s “image” after the Lord’s “likeness” (Gen.1:26) and then by commanding mankind to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen.1:28).

And, in Genesis 6:1, indeed, “man began to multiply on the face of the land”. But, like the moral deformity that comes from Hollywood to every part of the earth “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen.6:5).

So, our Lord hits the reset switch on creation via a flood. And once again He says, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Gen.9:1).

Friend, for Christ’s “chosen ones” (Col.3:12) the Elections ended in AD 30. Since that day Jesus Christ has been our King. So, it is His image that we seek to spread.