GRACE on Carpenter

The testimonies of three men imprisoned for their faith.

ZOOM Church tomorrow morning (no gathering on Carpenter because of snow again... sorry!) Prayer and scripture Face-to-face (online) fellowship A special song (written by Don Koller, music by Yours Truly)... A Marlett missions update (sent from Steve and Kathy today) A message (and discussion) from God's word JOIN US IF YOU CAN ZOOM Link will be posted here, as well as emailed to others, tomorrow morning at 9:45. Online service begins at 10:00

THE CARPENTER COURIER A Word for the Week We are Christ’s couriers, his messengers, his ambassadors!... We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 Before the roadside mailbox became an American staple, young male teens (usually under 18) braved the wind and the wild and the Indian tomahawk to deliver mail across the miles of the American Western frontier. To ride for THE PONY EXPRESS was no easy occupation! Advertisements for the job read, WANTED Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week. The owners of the Pony Express paid well (by comparison, the average wage for a cowhand on a ranch was 10 bucks a week with bunk and board), but they were calling for young men who were willing to die! You’d think they’d be out of business pretty quick with that sort of retirement package! but adventurous, horse-savvy boys signed up and rode. The rest (as we say) is HISTORY. We are the Lord’s ambassadors. We are His messengers. We are called to deliver His mailhis Good Newswherever we ride. And the job is no less dangerous than if we rode for the Pony Express. We have an enemy (Satan) who steals, kills, and destroys (John 10:10), who prowls around like a hungry lion looking for someone to tear apart and devour (1 Peter 5:8). Some preachers promise all kinds of perks when you come to Jesus. But Jesus promises problems and persecution (John 15:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus actually advertised much like the Pony Express did, calling us to orphan ourselves for His message, and die to ourselves so that we (and others) may truly live: He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. Let the dead bury the dead, he said. But you, go and preach the Kingdom of God (Matthew 10:37-39; Luke 9:60)! Following Jesus means we live (or die) to deliver his message of love to those around us. Sometimes it means riding hard through dangerous territory, sometimes it means simply picking up the phone to comfort or encourage a friend. But life on planet earth is ALWAYS dangerous territory (1 John 5:19)and though the roads may be dusty, and savage enemies may be skulking just over the hills, Jesus promised to go with us wherever we go, even if we ride through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4; Matthew 28:20). Jesus promises the Kingdom of Heaven, yes, but it’s for those willing to humble themselves (Matthew 5:3). He promises comfort for the soul, yes, but it’s for those willing to mourn (Matthew 5:4). He promises an earthly inheritance, too, but it’s for those willing to be gentle in the midst of a barbaric age (Matthew 5:4). He promises to fill us with all that we need, but that’s for those willing to hunger and thirst only for what is right. He promises mercy (sweet mercy!),yes, but only to those who show mercy to others. He promises that we will see God, but only if we let him wash our dark hearts clean of our own sin. He promises to make us children of God, but we must make peace with those who hate God and offer peace to those at war with God. We must be ambassadors, riding into the front lines of the battles of this world and offering the water of eternal life to the wounded and dying. He promises joy, absolutely, but that joy is reserved for those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, those who are slandered and reviled for no other reason than that they follow Jesus. Are we willing to put up with all of that for $25 a week? Probably not. But for ETERNAL LIFE? Yes for eternal lifeand for a life of joy and fullness of purpose here and now, even in the shadows of the valley of death. Because in all of this Jesus promises PEACE real peace! Only hours from his own crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that he was going away. They didn’t understand what he was talking about or where he was going, but he promised to leave something for them that would help them with all of their questions, all of their problems, all of their fears: he said, I am leaving you my PEACE! I am giving you my peace. The world can't give you anything like itand the world can’t take it away. Don't let your heart be troubled, and don't let it be afraid (John 14:27). Paul the apostle (a man who braved death many times as a messenger of the Good News) wrote this about the peace that Jesus gives us: Don’t worry about anything at all. Tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which is beyond human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.

MONDAY MANNA (A Word for the Week... all the way from Ukraine) (On Friday Ken Sears and the congregation he helps serve in Ukraine had a funeral in their church..., for a very dear brother of theirs, Alexei Yegorovich Zolotaryov. For the following devotional, Ken chose to pick up on certain thoughts that pastor Vladimir Gorbenko shared with them... and to add some thoughts of his own.) ................................................................................................................... SEEDS OF ETERNITY I want to extend a bit the thoughts that brother Volodya [pasdtor Gorbenko] shared with us here at the church on Friday after the funeral of our dear brother Alexei Yegorovich. Volodya spoke about how none of us in fact are "home". We're all on the way there, the way home. It does happen that, along this earthly life, we enjoy "cozy" moments, so pleasant that we could wish time itself would stop, or at least take a pause, so we could enjoy the moment longer. But no. It's such an obstinate thing, Time, and it isn't going to slow down for anybody! All moments, both grievous and joyful, are passing, fleeting, BUT--take note--they're not "ephemeral." Their meaningfulness doesn't evaporate, but remains and compounds and all goes into that SEED which our life in Christ is becoming. The seed that will be planted in the earth in expectation of the great day of the resurrection of God's saints, all those who in Christ have completed their earthly course. But of course it's not the soul that's planted in the earth. The apostle Paul wrote (read 2 Corinthians 5:8, about "away from the body is with with the Lord"). Nevertheless, the buried body of God's child serves, in its way, as a pledge on that eternal treasure that God has invested in the soul in grace, in the redemption won by the very life of God's Lamb, Christ Jesus. (Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-49) God's power to raise His children doesn't depend on our understanding. Sometimes some ask, "But what if the body of the believer was burned to ashes? Or what if the body has completely returned to the earth and become part of other living organisms? What then?" But wasn't the apostle Paul perfectly aware of these things? That's why he writes, under the leading of God's Spirit, that God's intention to raise His own on that great day surpasses all human, and all physical, explanation. When we plant a seed--say an apple seed--what happens to the seed? Does it stay there forever just as it was when we planted it? If I dig up an apple tree so that all its roots are exposed, will I find the seed, the seed that the tree grew out of, somethere there among the roots? Of course not. (Read John 12:24, where Jesus talks about the seed that must die in order to produce fruit.) So here's a paradox: the seed is gone, it disappeared, it "died"! Yet, in fact, it hasn't disappeared because, look: there it is, the apple tree! The seed fell to the earth and died. But look, it's alive, as an apple tree; it wasn't lost. "Everything has become new." Just like the body of the Lord was planted in the earth and three days later appeared, the same but different, the same one but glorified. Not a ghost, but physical, living. Yet no longer limited by the physical laws of this fallen world. It is a paradox beyond our understanding. The risen body of the Lord Jesus is a victorious body, the body of the conquering life of the Father's eternal Son. The conquering LIFE located within shines through the glorified body, in the unity of perfection. This is what Paul means when he writes (read 1 Cor. 15:42-45 again, emphasizing the difference between the "natural" [in Greek "psychic", i.e., "soulish"] body and the "spiritual" body). The risen body of the Lord Jesus is a spiritual body. NOT in the sense--let me underline that, categorically NOT in the sense--that it isn't physical (which would be heresy). It's physical, as the Lord Himself plainly asserted (read Luke 24:38-43, where the Risen Christ invites the stunned disciples to touch Him and see that He's no ghost, and then asks for something to eat...not because He was hungry!) But it's a SPIRITUAL body, according to Paul's explanation. Spiritual in the sense that it has completely transcended the limitations of this passing, decomposing world, and now belongs utterly to the principles, the power, and the might of His Father's kingdom in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, in the eternally abiding perfection of love and righteousness. "Spiritual body" isn't the opposite of "physical body." Paul says it's the opposite of the "natural" body we now possess, the corruptible body that can never enter that realm. The spiritual body is a body that will never again suffer the least alienation from the fullness of God's presence. The spiritual body is the body able to experience and "soak in" the raptures of God's unveiled kingdom just as much as, and in absolute harmony with, the spirit within that body. Which is impossible for us on this side of the resurrection. This exceeds all human understanding, but it's God's promise to us in Christ. This glory is to be found only ahead, on the horizon, where it awaits and summons us forward. Time itself is eagerly rushing there, so don't bother asking Time to hold up a bit and slow down. It won't listen! Our destiny in Christ: (read, in conclusion, 1 Cor. 15:50-58).