Too busy to give thanks? Ever found yourself rushing through life without giving thought to how blessed you are? Who has time to stop and count his blessings?

When Jesus healed ten lepers their first thoughts raced to the future – going home and reentering society. Captivated by what was to come, nine of them failed to give thanks for what had already happened. Isn’t this just like us? So focused on the future we fail to live in and appreciate the present.

Remember the word “nowhere” and break it down into two words. NOW and HERE. If we did a better job of living in the “here” and “now” we could also do a better job of counting our blessings. We might even be able to name them one by one.

One leper took a deep breathe and lived in the moment. Doing so, he retraced his steps and praised God in a loud voice until he located Jesus again. Once there the Bible says, “He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” (Luke 17:16) This leper was living in the here and now. It seems like a nice place to spend some time. Let’s join him this week!

***Important: Be sure to sign-up today so that your name will be at the guard gate when you arrive at Litchfield-By-The-Sea! We also need to know what you are bringing, so check the list!

A few weeks ago we looked at the Jewish leaders’ response to both Lazarus’ and Jesus’ resurrection. In each case they did not deny the truth about these events. Instead they attempted to suppress the truth and destroy the evidence which supported the historicity of each resurrection. Faith consists of more than an intellectual dimension. Faith also has an ethical dimension too. The real story about faith in the gospels describes people who were willing to lie and kill in order to get rid of the evidence which pointed to Jesus as Lord because they did not want to believe. Why not? One reason made clear in Scripture is because they did not like where faith in Jesus leads. The same story about faith is being played out today. Recently a woman was executed in North Korea. Her crime? She was guilty of distributing Bibles. Over the centuries the forces of darkness have sought to discredit the existence of God, to rid the earth of the Bible, and to wipe the church off the map. None of these efforts have succeeded. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) You cannot get rid of him! “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Pet. 1:24-25) God’s word will always be with us! You cannot destroy it. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Mt. 16:18) And it hasn’t in spite of valiant attempts to destroy her. The suppression of the truth about Jesus has failed. Nevertheless, there are still people who do not put their faith in Jesus because they do not want to follow Jesus. It’s an ethical issue. This is the real story about faith.

I don’t know who designated Sunday, September 13 as National Back To Church Sunday. I’m fairly sure it wasn’t Congress, but I could be wrong. Instead, maybe a slick marketing group thought this up as a way of selling lots of marketing tools to churches. The skeptic in me believes this. The optimist in me believes some good people who love God and love people thought this was a good idea that could bring people back to one of the core principles of Christianity – the church. Regardless of the motivation, we can use this idea to preach Jesus to our community. Church attendance use to be a staple in our nation’s culture. Today, most Americans have been to church and yet only 20 percent are regular attendees. So what can we do to reverse this downward trend? Invite the unchurched to attend church with us. 82 percent of the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to attend church if invited. However, 73 percent of people who don’t attend church were never invited. So, the least we can do is invite people to come, right? How hard is that? In the next two weeks we are going to make it easier for you to invite people to church on September 13 by providing you with some professionally printed invitations to give to your friends and neighbors (business cards and door hangers). Only 2 percent of church members invite a unchurched person to church. We want that number to be 100 percent for our church members! But starting today I want you to pray daily for our unchurched community – that they will get connected to the Lord and his church on Sunday, September 13!

Is your spiritual battery getting weaker by the day? Have you lost touch with what was once most dear to you? Do you feel like life is draining you of Spirit-filled energy? If so, you probably need a jump. The book of Hebrews was written to do this for a group of first-century Christians who were growing dangerously weak. Beginning next Sunday I will begin a sermon series from the message of Hebrews, applying its spiritual battery cables to the heart of this church. The following areas are ones we may need a jump in:

August 23: “God” September 06: “Faith” September 13: “Church” September 20: “Family” September 27: “Finances”

I hope you will be present for every study. I hope you will invite a struggling believer or an unbeliever to come with you. Pray with me that God will use these five weeks to “Revive us again: Fill each heart with Thy love; May each soul be rekindled with fire from above!”