Thanking God

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

January 2, 2014

Giving Thanks To God

Luke 17:18

My last Sunday’s message didn’t make it because my house was without power for four days. By the time power returned, it was too late to post a message. And so I began thinking about a topic for this week’s message and the answer came in a totally unexpected form.

One of owners of the convenience store where I regularly trade dropped a letter into my bag, telling me it was a message from them to me. I got home, put away my groceries and then read the message. Here is a paragraph from the message:

“Often in today’s busy world we seem to have less and less opportunity to perform the simple, decent and very important task of letting you know that we appreciate your business. Although it isn’t the same as being face-to-face with each other, we wanted to sincerely thank you.”

The message was signed by the two owners and their family.

This message, with some simple changes, could very well serve as a message from us to God.

“But that’s silly, sending a message to God. God knows everything anyway,” some might say. And certainly, God does know everything. But he still likes for us to thank him. Consider the words Jesus’ spoke after healing 10 lepers. After Jesus healed them and they went away, only one of the men, a Samaritan (a foreigner in the land), turned back to thank Jesus. The Samaritan prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet, thanking Jesus and praising God. Jesus said, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?”

Then Jesus said to the Samaritan, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Perhaps God hasn’t cleansed us from leprosy, but surely he has done countless wonderful things for us during the course of our lifetime. And when He acts in our life, do we always thank Him?

How about when we pray for something, even a small thing, do we thank God when he hears and answers our prayers? Or are we so happy with the good result that we forget to give thanks to the Lord?

God tells us to pray to him in every instance, even in the small things. And so we do. We pray for safety, for relief from adversity, for our cars to start on a cold morning, for Him to keep our water pipes safe and unfrozen during a sub-zero night. And when our prayers are answered, do we stop and give thanks?

It’s so, so easy to just accept answers to prayer and then move on, make our way down the road as the nine lepers did, without stopping to thank the one who made our happy situation possible. So today, when you ask God for some small blessing, be sure to take time and thank him. Don’t be like the nine ungrateful lepers. Instead, be like the one leper, the Samaritan, who turned back and worshiped God, thanking Him for his wonderful gift of healing.

Maybe something like the letter the store owners gave me, written on our hearts and sent gratefully to God, may be in order.

Christmas Message 2013

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

December 22, 2013

Advent – Colors: Purple or blue

Matthew 5: 44 – “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

God is a gentleman. He does not force himself upon anyone, but instead gives a gentle knock on the door. We can choose to open that door or not. It’s up to us.

Likewise, we, as Christians, must not try and intimidate unbelievers. God sends his offer of love and reconciliation through faith in Jesus Christ to everyone. We are to be God’s representatives, so to speak, and be there for people when needed. We are to offer support and spiritual uplifting. And we need to have a workable knowledge of scripture so that we can speak God’s word rightly, from a position of conviction based upon knowledge.

But what happens when we face those who not only don’t want to hear God’s message, but spend their energy in trying to discredit the Lord. We see this more and more now, especially at Christmas time.

This age of political correctness has many Christians afraid to speak the truth or even mention God or Jesus for fear of offending someone.

So here’s the problem. We know that we are commissioned by Christ to spread the gospel. But what do we do, how do we act, toward those who disparage the gospel? Some of us take a strident attitude, going out of their way to emphasize the word “Christ” in Christmas when greeting others. What can that do but inflame tempers of those who reject Christ? Sure, such actions serve the purpose of identifying us as believers. Other believers may nod in affirmation, but we are not directing our energies at believers.

Indeed, Christian writers and even radio talk show hosts make it a point to loudly proclaim, “Merry Christmas. Here again, instead of drawing the unsaved to the Lord, it only pushes them further away.

On the other hand, we must not deny our faith, because Jesus said that if we deny him on earth, he will deny us before his father in heaven. What do we do, then?

Well, as always, we must let our actions and our lives be a light for the world. People need to see God working in us. We need to be as Christ-like as we possibly can.

Next, it’s a mistake to center our energy on retaliating against those who make anti-Christian political statements. Remember, they have as much right, under the laws of our nation, to proclaim their beliefs as we do to proclaim ours. It amounts to nothing more than head-butting when we become filled with righteous anger and confront these people. Bear in mind Jesus’ admonition to turn the other cheek.

We do have ways to counter these attacks and we have already discussed one, that of letting our Christianity show through our actions. The other, and a powerful one it is, is prayer. We need to pray for the people who remove nativity scenes from town centers, who push for legislation to ban crosses and who want to erect plaques commemorating the devil in public places.

We can’t change anyone’s mind with words, especially if those words are spoken in a holier-than-thou manner. We must remember that God deals with everyone and even if people don’t believe in God, God takes notice of them.

So put on a cheerful face this Christmas season. Don’t become embroiled in useless confrontation. Instead, spread the simple message of the gospel in a soft, gentle voice. And if someone doesn’t want to hear it, don’t persist.

And remember, here in America, nothing at all happens to those who proclaim their Christian beliefs. In other countries, people get thrown in prison or even executed, murdered, for their belief in Christ.

This Christmas, try and look at the good things that people do and leave the bad things for God to deal with. He is, after all, the final arbiter.

Merry Christmas to all and my best wishes for a happy, prosperous and spirit-filled New Year.

Third Sunday in Advent - color pink   

Unbelief

Life must be lonely for those who don't know Jesus Christ. What makes this worse, is that the brightest and best among us find it easier to discount and discredit God altogether. That accounts for today's homily. I call it "Mascons."

Mascons. That’s what scientists call areas of higher-than-normal gravity on the moon. Mascons are formed, they say, when an asteroid or other object strikes the moon’s surface in an area where the crust is thin, allowing shock waves to radiate to the core. The molten core, they say, then sends material to the surface, material so hot that it takes millions of years to cool.

What’s wrong with this hypotheses? Well, these same scientists who use a molten core as their rationale for mascon formation, are the same people who tell us that the moon was formed by the accretion and eventual compacting of dust and debris spewed out into space after a large asteroid pummeled the earth.

So how does an aggregate of cold matter get a molten interior? Both of these theses can’t be right. One disallows the other. It is far easier to believe that God made the moon, along with everything else in heaven and earth. But in the mind of science, the idea of creation has no place.

Constantine’s Vision

Roman emperor Constantine was responsible for bringing the Roman world to Christianity. On the eve of a major battle, Constantine saw a flaming cross in the sky, along with the legend, in Latin, “In Hoc Signo Vinces,” which means, “In this sign, conquer.”

Constantine directed his troops to paint crosses on their shields. They won the battle, Rome became Christian and the cross and the legend, In Hoc Signo Vinces have become two lasting signs of the Christian faith.

Modern dreamers, scientists, now conclude that a comet hit the earth and that was what Constantine saw. Constantine then, they say, concluded that the comet was a divine messenger. Now consider this. How many comets come emblazoned with the words, “In Hoc Signo Vinces?”

Reconciling science with religion continues to be a difficult and often impossible task. But it needn't be so. True science requires verifiable and repeatable experiments, experiments that are carried out in the exact same way every time and yield the same results every time. But theories, such as those few I have offered here, are not science, they are only theories, ideas. 

As an amatuer astronomer, I love watching the heavens with my telescopes. I read scads of magazine articles on astronomy and also check out interesting data online. And yet I still have my faith. I read fantastic-sounding theories of physics and wonder how the human mind can even conceive of such things. Multi-dimensions, other universes and so on. 

But far-flung theories do not dominate science. True science is a God-given process and it has helped to elevate our standard of living and even our length of life, to previously-unheard of levels. 

So believe in God and in his son, Jesus Christ. And accept science for what it is, an ongoing process of searching. Some day, all will find the truth and that day will be when Christ returns to claim his kingdom on earth. 

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

December 7, 2013

Advent Begins – Colors: Purple or  blue, pink on third Sunday

Mark 28: 18-20 – “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Did you know that of all the states in the union, Maine is the least religious, or as some might say, “the least churched?” Even worse, Waldo and Hancock Counties are home to the least religious people in Maine.

These statistics are nothing new, nothing that just happened. I recall this being the case well over 30 years ago and it probably was the same way before that. So what is the answer? What can anyone do? And should we even try and do anything? Well, if you believe that the great commission (Mark 28:19) applies to you as well to the 11 disciples, then the answer is yes, we should do something.

But where might we start? How would we go about it and to whom should we direct our efforts? Well, it might be good here to look back on my message posted on Tuesday, November 5, “Long As I Can See The Light.” That points out how believers should serve as a light to the world. If your faith, and accordingly your actions, is strong and Christ-based, then your light will shine and it will attract others.

Some people feel the need to go abroad as missionaries to foreign lands. That is laudable. But missionary work needn’t remain limited to far-off places. Rather, it can begin right here at home. It can begin in the church. That’s right, even righteous churchgoers may not have responded to Christ’s calling.

For instance, some people attend church and participate in church ritual. But they have not taken God’s word and internalized it. Many, too many, feel that the haven’t even sinned. But did you know that it’s a sin to hear the word of God as given in the bible and to scoff at it, or to “tweak” it for modern-day use. It’s a sin to think that just because something was considered wrong or sinful 2,000 years ago, the same doesn’t hold true today. God’s word does not change. The way we respond to it might change, but His word does not.

Esdras tells us that God surely made all things and searches out hidden things in hidden places. He tells us that God will examine our works. And he says “woe to those who sin and want to hide their sins.”

So the first step in doing God’s work is to begin with yourself, your neighbor, the one who sits in the pew next to you, your family and even the pastor who peaches to you if that pastor does not preach the word of God as presented in the bible.

God created heaven and earth and formed his people from the dust of the earth. Then he imparted his spirit to that newly-formed creature and we became living beings. If your pastor does not preach that, then you should first try and reconcile that pastor to the word of God. And if that fails, then find a new pastor.

So you see, we can fulfill our commission without going far at all. It begins with ourselves, with self-examination of how we adhere to and promote the word of God. And it extends to those around us.

Perhaps the best way to convince people, including yourself if needed, is to share the words of Esdra 16: 76 – “You who keep my commandments and precepts, says the Lord God, must not let your sins weigh you down, or your iniquities prevail over you.”

We know that the one born on Christmas Day is the one who takes away sin. All we have to do is believe in him. It is only those who have not a love for Christ who are weighed down by their sins.

So as the old song says, “Take a load off Annie, and put the load right on me.” That’s Christ talking and it behooves all of us to take his advice.