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Men-
If there is enough interest we can reserve camping spots at Moab Valley Campground the weekend of April 30-May 2.
(Or April 29,Thursday, to arrive a day early and set up.)

Price will depend on the number of nights and number of people.  And cabins cost a bit more, of course.
It should cost around $100, give or take.

If you are interested or already want to reserve a spot please write george@myconnections.church or call me asap at 720-355-9571. I need to get some interest and an estimate on numbers by FEBRUARY 14 to secure early rates.

 “When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”

~ Psalm 4:4

Psalm 4 begins with a cry for help in distress. Verse one, “Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God.  Give me relief from my distress;  have mercy on me and hear my prayer.”

It ends with rest from the distress. Verse eight, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Who happens in the middle to bring about this change?  The Psalmist does what some many of us have failed to do in difficult moments: he chooses his response instead of reacting, and regretting his reaction. 

What if in the moment of distress- an emotional conversation, a betrayal, hearing disturbing news- what if we did like the Psalmist and got some perspective.  He goes to his bed.  He gets alone.  He gets quiet.  He chooses his response.  He gains some valuable persepctive. Today many will call it “Getting on the balcony.”

I heard a helpful process of gaining perspective when we are in distress:

First, review what happened? Not what you think happened or wish had happened. What really happened.  This is your impartial, unbiased analysis. Just the facts.

Second, what are you feeling?  Here’s you get personal.  Are you feeling shame or guilt about something you did?  Are you feeling hurt or wronged by something someone else did?  Get honest about what you are feeling.

Third, what story are you telling yourself?  Let’s be honest- chances are your telling yourself a story that makes you the hero.  You were unjustly wronged, or justly reacted to something or someone.  Really?  No, really?

Fourth, what does the Gospel Story say?  Yeah, you’re basically asking, “What Would Jesus Do?”  Jesus, the perfect son of God, took the death you deserved for sins he didn’t commit, to give you the gift of his righteousness.  What does the Gospel demand of us who are saved?

Fifth, what story will you tell?  Here is where you start to write the rest of the story.  How will you respond and what will you do?

One last thing about part five-it will be counter-intuitive.  That means it will probably go against your nature and natural inclinations.  You probably already know the counter-intuitive response.  It’s not difficult to figure out.  It’s just difficult, or counter-intuitive, to follow through. 

Whatever the Psalmist did when he went to his bed, alone, and got quiet with God.  He worked it out, and things ended up working out.  And he got a good nights rest!

When your distress has you up at night, pacing and pondering, get alone. Get quiet.  Ask yourself these five questions as you take it to God.  And chances are you’ll find peace too.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you 

except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2

We’ve been talking about resolutions for five weeks!

We started with the invitation to a “redo.”  New year, new you.  Born again, new creation!

But there is one aspect of resolutions that we haven’t addressed.  And interestingly it’s the most obvious one.   So obvious I almost missed it!  At the heart of this word, of this whole concept of “resolution,” is the search for a solution.   It is literally to “re-solution” a problem.

Going back to some of the top ten resolutions that people make in North America- if you want to get into shape, there’s a solution- exercise.  If you need to lose some weight there’s a solution- calorie restriction.  If you want to get closer to family or friends, there’s a solution- prioritize the relationships that matter most.  

Today we are going straight to the capitol “S” solution.  The big solution to all the big problems.  In Lord of the Rings speak, this is the “One Ring to Rule them all” resolution:

1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Paul is telling them, and’s telling us, that to get this right, to understand, embrace, embody this, is the solution to all of life’s problems.

If you get Christ right, you get life right.  

If you get Christ crucified right, that is, to understand what happens through his death, burial and resurrection, that is the solution.

He died on a cross to atone for the sins of the world, including yours.

He rose from the grave.  Resurrection!  He secured victory over sin and over death.

Therefore he is Lord.  And therefore we can be saved!

If you think your biggest problem in life is being single, you’ll think the solution is getting married.

If you think your biggest problem in life is poverty, then you’ll focus all you attention and energy on making money.

If you think your biggest problem is weakness, you’ll tell yourself the solution is strength, power, influence over others.

If you think your biggest problem is obscurity, being unknown, unseen, you’ll put all your energy into being seen and celebrated.

We will focus on best energy and effort on that which we think is our biggest or most pressing problem.

The problem is disconnection.

We are disconnected from God and community and the world and even ourselves.

And the solution is Christ, who connects us to God.

Who connects us to one another as the gathering, the church.

Who connects us with our very self.

Who sends us out into the world to make more connections!!

The problem is disconnection.

The solution is connections.

And connected means to know, to truly KNOW Jesus.

To know in this context wasn’t simply knowledge of or about something or someone.  I know of Joe Biden, but I don’t know him, and he doesn’t even know of me.   But I know my friends, I know my family.  I know intimately and personally and experientially and relationally my wife.  Our knowledge of and about each other runs deep.  We know the good and bad things about each other.  We know and are known by one another.

You might know about God, but do you KNOW God as your heavenly father?

You might know about Jesus, but do you KNOW Jesus as your savior.

You might know about the Holy Spirit, but do you know the power of the HS living in you?

Today I simply invite you to “re-solution” your life.  Discover, or rediscover the solution. To make the resolution to know Jesus Christ, and him crucified.  To know Jesus, the Son of God who came to live so that we might know him, know him so that me might live.  Jesus the son of God who was crucified so that we could be free, and  sets us free so that we can die to ourselves.  Resolve to know Jesus.  

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

I love the New Year.
And I love New Year’s Resolutions.
But sometimes, if I’m honest, I hate New Year’s Resolutions.

Some of us have made a resolution that has changed our life.  Someone started exercising, and never stopped.  You quit smoking and never started again.  I have a friend, Kathy, who recently posted that she is now 34 years clean and sober!  God saved her life, changed her life, and has continued to faithfully strengthen her life!  That is awesome.

Some of us have  had more failures than success stories.  We started working out… and then stopped.  We stopped eating junk food… and then started again.  We started something for all the right reasons… but it just didn’t stick.

I’ve made some resolutions that have stuck and have changed my life.  The big one, the resolution to give any life to God, that’s stuck!  I’ve made some resolutions that have vastly improved my life.  Last year I made the resolution to work on patience, and God gave me a pandemic to put that into practice!  And of course I’ve made many resolutions that have fallen flat on their face, bringing me guilt and shame.

Whatever your past successes or failures, our God is the God of new things!  As we move into 2021 my prayer is that, like Isaiah, we forget the former things- the things that bring us guilt or shame or just hold us down.  I pray we look forward to a new thing- a new thing in our world, our church and in all of our lives!

Our God is doing a new thing.  He can make you a new creation and give you a new life through Jesus Christ.  If you’ve given your life to Jesus- confess your sin, received forgiveness, declared that he is your Lord and savior- the bible says you’ve actually been born again.  And the bible says that you can demonstrate and seal this new life by baptism.  If you’ve never been baptized before I invite you to consider making this next step in your faith.

If you have been born again and have been baptized, but you are wanting that “new thing” in your life, you can reaffirm your baptism.  This too can be a celebration and a turning point in your life.

I pray that in 2021 we will find our way through the wilderness with Jesus, who declared himself to be the way, the truth and the life!   That we will drink deeply from the stream of living water, who is Jesus, who promises us a spring of eternal life!  I pray that we will forget the things of the past that are holding us down, and that we look to the new thing that God is doing- he is offering us a new life in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit!