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I Will Be Really Honest - I Could Not Figure out What to Write for This Newsletter Article

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I Will Be Really Honest - I Could Not Figure out What to Write for This Newsletter Article I will be really honest - I could not figure out what to write for this newsletter article. It’s amazing how writer’s block hits at the same time the newsletter article is due. Every time - right on time. So, I thought I would share an article that made me stop and rethink the power of silence - especially times of quiet and still- ness before the Lord. The article is so simple, yet so counter-cultural. Here it is. I hope it stops you in your tracks and forces you to think - as it did me. Leave the Noise and Listen to God by Scott Hurst Silence is hard to find. Can you remember the last time you were around complete silence? My first experience of noise-canceling headphones a few years ago was a rare experience. I was in Best Buy and grabbed a pair of Beats by Dre noise-canceling headphones. Sounds of shopping carts, chatting customers, checkout counters, radios, and the hum of electricity surrounded me. Putting on those headphones made it all disappear. It was the quietest I ever heard. In the company of so much noise, a quiet moment is almost impossible to find. Even while writing about silence, I am surrounded by noise. I have music in the background; I can hear bags crinkling, the fridge opening and closing as my wife puts the groceries away, and our boys are playing downstairs with all the normal noise of a two-year-old and a five- year-old. In a world with this much noise and many obstacles, is it worth pursuing time in silence? Biblical characters like Moses, Joshua, and Elijah show the gain of escaping the noise and being still before God. Moses went up the mountain to hear from God and returned with the Law, blessing all of Israel with God’s will in writing (Exodus 24). Joshua returned from his time alone with God’s marching orders to defeat mighty Jericho (Joshua 5:13-15). Elijah, the most influential prophet in Israel at the time, retreated while depressed and ready to quit. He returned refreshed and hopeful because he heard the “low whisper” of God’s voice, which he could not hear on a noisy street (1 Kings 19:8-19). These men illustrate what Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “Silence is the simple stillness of thein - dividual under the Word of God… nothing else but waiting for God’s Word and coming from God’s Word with a blessing.” This is the joy and goal of pursuing silence: retreating from the noise to be with God and receive his word, returning to bless others. We hear the voice of wisdom when we retreat from the noise of folly (Proverbs 1:20-21 and 9:13). Silence is a habit that cuts across the grain of cultural expectations. It shows the gain of disconnecting from technol- ogy to connect with God. We practice silence to pursue God as Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Our phone habits, for example, can feed an unhealthy fear of disconnecting. Fear that we will miss life’s most important post by tuning out for a day or even an hour. When keeping up on Instagram causes us to miss out on communion with God, we gain nothing. Silence subverts this expectation by prizing time in silence before God over the noise of Twitter. Planning time in silence when you are most likely to be on social media intentionally subverts these expecta- tions. Choose five minutes of silence with God when it forces you to sacrifice; scrolling on social media helps the bibli- cal story and not cultural narratives shape our lives. Silence is something we learn to do. You may only get two minutes the first time you try, but that is okay. Every habit requires patience. Training programs start small and build up gradually, and training for godliness is the same. Stay patient. A good place to start is with Psalm 23. Set a time for quiet reflection over verse one (The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want) this week. Quietly repeat it over and over, asking God to show you how he Shepherds you, prayerfully laying all your wants at his feet. Then, do the same thing with verse two next week. I once attended a pastor’s retreat where the speaker started his talk with this reminder; we retreat to refuel and return to battle. Silence is a way of being equipped for the fight of the Christian life. It is a way to turn off the noise and listen to the voice of wisdom (Proverbs 8:1), returning with a blessing from God for others. Chase down the time to be still in silence before God so you might spread a blessing to others for God. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to Intercessory Prayer Team the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the Phone: 244-4544 second death.” email: [email protected] Revelation 2:11 In the last couple of issues of the emphas!s, I have talked about the importance of Bible study. Our primary avenue for that, though not an exclusive avenue, is our Sunday School program. The goal is for everyone in our church family, from Preschool through Adults, to have an opportunity to interact with God’s Word in a system- atic, age-appropriate way. Good Bible study should always lead to application, but the focus is knowing and under- standing the Bible. Our grow program seeks, primarily, to help our church family figure out how to build on our knowledge and under- standing of God’s Word and put that to practical use in everyday life. We do that in a variety of venues, but mainly on Sunday evenings. After a long pause in ourgrow program due to COVID-19, we will restart on Sunday evening, September 12 at 5:30 p.m. along with AWANA for children and EQUIP for students. Here are the topics. Please register online (go to edwardsroad. org/growfall21, use the bulletin insert or watch your e-mail for links), but plan to join us even if you don’t preregister: • Bible Study for Women: With Us in the Wilderness, an in-depth 7-week study of the book of Numbers; Sunday evenings, Tuesday mornings and evenings, Wednesday morning and evenings, by Zoom, or Independent study. • Bible Study for Men: Dare to Be a Daniel, an in-depth look at the book of Daniel; Sunday evenings for 12 weeks, led by Chuck Staab. • Makers of the Modern Revolution, an analysis and evaluation of Western culture from a biblical perspective; Sunday evenings for 8 weeks, led by Matt Staab. • Crisis 101, how to deal with life when life doesn’t make sense; Sunday evenings for 10-11 weeks, led by me, Pastor Bob. • Evangelism - Three Circles, a simple, non-threatening way to have a gospel con- versation with other people; Sunday evenings for 6 weeks (September - October), led by Pastor David. • Revelation Revisited, a deeper dive into the book of Revelation; Wednesday eve- nings, led by Pastor Aaron. Reminder: The church has an account with RightNow Media that is available for everyone. There are hundreds of videos on dozens of topics that can be used for personal or family discipleship or for outreach. If you have not set up an account (free for your unlimited use), you may do so at this link: rightnowmedia.org/Account/Invite/EdwardsRoad God always gives us what we need, not what we deserve, and that includes His goodness. I love the song we sing, “Goodness of God,” that reminds us that all of our lives God has been faithful and so good to us! What a great idea to realize that His goodness keeps running after us! “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our sins and wrongs. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our sins from us.” Psalm 103:10,12 There is no end to east and west. God takes our sins and just wipes them out because of His goodness towards us and His forgiveness given through His gracious hand! God forgives us not because we are good or we deserve it but because He is good. We can never be good enough to merit forgiveness, yet He offers that to us anyway and that is the amazing grace of God on full display! When we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful to forgive our sins and that forgiveness is immediate and com- plete. That’s a big deal! Whatever we have done, God doesn’t reject us when we sin, He receives us with loving and open arms. This is amazing to us because it is the exact opposite of what people do. When we sin against someone, do they eagerly and openly want to receive us back? Absolutely not! They want to be distant and hold grudges and push us away. They have been hurt by us and they usually don’t want to openly receive us back with eagerness and all the warm fuzzies. But God IS love and He is full of goodness! He loves us because love is His nature. His goodness and love are the reason why we get what we need and not what we deserve. We don’t deserve grace and forgiveness - none of us do. But thank God He gives it to us anyway! So we can sing that song with gladness, “With my life laid down, I’m surrendered now.
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