Hopeful Instruction

Getting a drivers license is one of those rites of passage that make your fifteenth year seem to last about twenty months. I thought my sixteenth birthday would never come. It did, of course, and when it did I was ready. I had taken my driver's education class, practiced driving dutifully with my white-knuckled parents, and studied the driver's handbook from cover to cover. I knew how far it took to stop an 18-wheeler, the requirements for driving a school bus, and the correct lane location for a motorcycle - not that I was going to drive any of those things, but it was in the handbook, so I knew it. Nothing was going to stop me from a lifetime of standing in line at the DMV.

In Exodus 12, the nation of Israel was still a long way from the promised land. In fact, they hadn't even left Egypt. Still, God prepares them for a celebration they would teach to their children and grandchildren that would remind them of God's fulfilled promise. Join us this week as we discover in the description of Passover found in Exodus 12:24-28 a reminder that we can live in the promise of God, even when we cannot yet see its fulfillment.

See You Sunday!

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Best Laid Plans

The quote "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" comes from the poem "To a Mouse" written by Robert Burns. According to legend, Burns wrote the poem after plowing a field one day and inadvertently destroying the nest of a mouse. Burns' brother reportedly said that the poem was written while the poet was still leaning on the plow. Burns went on to become a world famous poet. No word about what happened to the mouse.

Moses knew a few things about plans going awry. His first attempt to free the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt didn't quite go the way Moses had planned. However, Moses was about to learn a valuable lesson we all need to realize - just because things don't work out the way we planned does not mean God is not at work (Exodus 5:22-23). Find out this Sunday how this important truth can revolutionize the way you approach life.

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Next Steps

I have two grainy videos in our vast family collection. I suspect you have some similar videos (maybe even some Super 8 movies) of the same thing - the first steps of our children. Families celebrate and grab the camera to record those first wobbling attempts to "come to Mommy" and rightfully so. It's an exciting day.

This Sunday, at our combined 11:00 service, National Heights will vote on Next Steps, the ministry strategy presented by our Ministry Study Team. This collection of twenty-one ministry strategies in six different ministry areas represents some opportunities and challenges that only God can do. You can find out more about Next Steps at  the web page NHBC Future. Join us this Sunday as together we begin this new journey of ministry. You might want to bring your camera!

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The Show-Me State

Missouri's unofficial motto is "The Show-Me State" (although it is on license plates - doesn't that somehow make it official?). No one is sure about the origin of the phrase, sometimes attributed to U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, and sometimes to miners in Colorado who were making fun of fellow miners from Joplin (as in "those guys don't know how to do anything until you show them"). The phrase, according to the Missouri Secretary of State website, now reveals "the stalwart, conservative, noncredulous character of Missourians."

Proof is important in life. It was for Moses. When God called him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses wanted proof that God would do it (Exodus 4:1). So God proves it.

God has proven his power to us. The question for us is the same as it was for Moses - what will we do now?

See you Sunday!

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Listen

A major wireless company used the slogan, "Can you hear me now" for nine years. Supposedly, if you used their company, you would be able to hear and be heard much better than if you use the other companies.

God calls us to hear the lost world around us. Many times their cries are obvious and loud, but sometimes, they are calling with merely a whisper. He also calls us to hear HIS voice each day.

As the old hymn states, "Open my ears, Lord, I want to hear Jesus." And, may our ears to the world be opened, too, so that when they call out, "Can you hear me now?" we are ready to listen, and to really hear.