God’s Patience Towards Me

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What a remarkable Sunday. As I wrote to our group leaders, if anyone predicted what happened on Sunday, they need to get me the winner of the 2023 World Series. You’re prophetic! I’m not sure if it was my lack of faith or my knowledge of who was preaching, but I was not anticipating what I experienced on Sunday. I actually didn’t sleep well on Sunday night because I couldn’t shut my adrenaline off. My mind kept thanking God, marveling at His kindness towards our church, and celebrating His work.

God’s “Bow”

You probably noticed that I did not mention the rainbow as the logo for the LGBTQAI+ community in my sermon. That was intentional. I felt strongly that we should spend our Sunday gathering marveling at God’s patience, grace, and mercy towards all people. The Lord was kind to show us that on Sunday.

I’ve had many of you reach out to me about the rainbow being God’s inverted archer’s bow and telling me how you won’t look at a rainbow the same again. I’m grateful for that. It was interesting to me in the study of that text to see how often many commentators picked up on that point. God’s bow in the sky is a true sign of God’s patience towards sinners and His common grace at work in all of us.

God’s Patience

I am not naturally a patient person. I’m sure my family would agree. But, one of the things has changed my impatience has been an awareness of God’s patience towards me. Several years ago, I began to ask God to help me treat others with the patience that He has treated me. When I’m tempted to impatience, I’ve stopped and asked, “is that how God treated you?” It’s helped me quite a bit.

But it’s also helped me in not being impatient with God as I await the fulfilling of HIs promises. The rainbow is a reminder that God is patient. And think how long a rainbow has been seen in the sky. God is not slow about His promises. He’s not quick to anger and He’s very deliberate. He is never in a hurry but He’s always on time. This should remind us to not be impatient or rushed in our thinking about God’s work. We want God to do His work…now! We don’t think long-term or generational. God thinks in centuries and decades. We think in minutes and days. The rainbow is a reminder that God will be patient and He calls His children to do the same.

Every generation of Christians have struggled with this. Even in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the martyrs are asking God “how long?” before He pours our His wrath. Every generation has asked, “how long, O Lord?” I think the lesson to be learned in all of this is that we, as God’s people, are to represent Him today and in our time and leave the timing of God’s final works to God. It’s ok to rest in Him and be patient as we wait for a country not made with human hands.

Surprised by Jacoby

There were a few things that surprised me on Sunday and I wondered if you would share with me what surprised you (if anything did).

I was surprised how “at home” we felt there. In our family devotions on Monday night, our kids said that at Jacoby, they didn’t think about our church building one time. They felt at home. I felt the same way. I was expecting it to feel like we were visiting.

I was surprised at how smoothly everything went. Yes there were hiccups and things to improve. But our team was remarkable and the entire day went way better than I expected. Not that I expected disaster but I didn’t expect it to go that smoothly.

I was surprised how easy it was for me to preach on that stage. I like seeing the people in the church. It’s one of the ways I connect to our people. So, I was grateful that we go the lighting correct and I could see people. I was a bit nervous that being that far away would make me uncomfortable, but the Lord was very kind to help it feel normal.

Finally, I was grateful and not the least bit surprised that our church turned that place into a worship center. Our church loves Jesus and loves to sing to Jesus. It was awesome. Can’t wait until this Sunday!

Upcoming

This Sunday, we will be back at Jacoby at 10:00 a.m. We will have communion this Sunday and it should be fun. We will do things a bit differently because the rows are different. So, we will pass the communion plates down each row, so be careful! 😂

March 12th, our Sunday services will be at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. at the CLF building. Our marriage retreat is the same weekend and most of our team will be at the retreat. Speaking of the marriage retreat, Sunday, March 5th is the last day to register. Click here to get that done: https://clfroseburg.breezechms.com/form/35d55c.

Things went so well at Jacoby that we think it’s going to be our home for while. We have 2 more “test” Sundays coming: March 5th and 19th.

From the Cheap Seats

MLB has instituted a new pitch clock. This short video will show you the difference between a game last year and a spring training game last week: https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1630329080477253632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1630329080477253632%7Ctwgr%5Eed7746620f99c2a5742f372bc97cb8d822b7ad58%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2F
How does the University of Portland go into College Station, Texas and take 2 of 3 from the Aggies?
And then there is the University of North Carolina Tarheels basketball team…the team my dad grew up with and the team he taught me to love. The same team that Michael Jordan played for. My oh my how a year makes a huge difference.
Here’s a rare feat. A hockey goalie scoring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8dz1THmiFM.