Living God's Passion in your life (repreach of 8/27/10)

11th Sunday After Pentecost Jeremiah 1:4-10 Living our God’s Passion in your life Blessing of the Back Packs Year C Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship ONE: Calling all children of the Living God: the gospel is good news for every age and every stage. ALL: Let us worship together, the young and the old. ONE: The good news is proclaimed in God’s words, and also with crayons, silly songs, snacks, and rest time. ALL: Let us worship together, every generation. ONE: We come together with different abilities and disabilities, learning in a rainbow of ways and styles. ALL: Let us worship together, with our family of faith. ONE: All are welcome in the arms of Christ who proclaimed, “Let the children come!” ALL: Let us worship together, united in our eternal hope. Opening Prayer Let us pray: God our teacher, who helps us to understand the world around us, Thank you for the privilege of education. You have blessed our communities with teachers who take new skills and concepts and pass them along to each new class of young people. God who came as a child to show us how to be fully human, to show us how to be children of God, You have given our children minds that grow and develop in unique ways, at unique speeds, and we are astounded by that miracle. You speak to us through the words, actions, play, and feelings of children. You call us to listen to the Spirit speaking through our young siblings in Christ. We celebrate the beginning of this school year and ask for your blessings upon the children, the educators, and the families who support them all. But in this celebration of education and learning, we do not forget there are children and families and teachers who do not have the resources they need. When systems are unjust, the outcomes are unacceptable. Today we remember those who are beginning school this year: those who have what they need to learn and grow in safety, and those who lack supplies, teachers, safe buildings, and accommodations for all needs and abilities. We come to worship together, to lift up our young people and all those who care for them and teach them. Open our hearts to what you are saying to us today. Amen Song Lord of the Dance UMH 261 Scripture Jeremiah 1:4-19 Sermon Living out God’s Passion in your life Gordon McKenzie worked for the Hallmark company for over 30 years, one of his ways of giving back to the community was to go into the schools and to give creativity workshops. Over the years he says that he noticed a pattern that never seemed to change. He would work with the first graders and ask who was a artist – and every hand would go up. He would go to the second grade and notice that when he asked that same question, only about half of the kids would raise their hands – by third grade it was down to ten, and in the six grade only about 2 would be brave enough to raise their hand just because they asked. I would think that there is just something about life, about peer pressure, about the way we relate to one another that holds down our creativity. Once we start to get rational and think- we also start to limit ourselves and our opportunities. We start to think that we have an obligation to do somethings, so we put aside that creative side, that exciting side of ourselves, the side that is willing to take risk and to step out of our comfort zone. Because that spirit of being stifled is not just in the schools – it is in the church. If I were to ask you all how many of you are called by God – I would get the same response. We have made up in our minds that those words mean something specific, and whatever it means it does not apply to me How many of you feel that you have a calling from god on your life? Every hand in the room should go up- but it doesn’t for some reason. Why is that, Mr Makenzie concluded that there was a time in our lives, perhaps when we were very young when each of us believed that we could do anything. We were genius at everything and we were not afraid to show it. We were also not afraid to be wrong, to make a mistake, for someone to tell us that we did not know what we were talking about. We were willing to take risk at what we wanted to believe we were called to do. But something happened in life. He said that we were waiting for the authority figures in our lives to validate us – to tell us that we were the best, that we could indeed make our dreams come true – and for some reason the validation never came- no one cared, no one patted us on the back and we gave up on our dreams. We assumed that maybe we were not a genius, and that perhaps the world did not need us – and we gave up on our call. That is devastating for that to happen to anyone in the schools – and perhaps that is a wonderful back to school message to think of as our children go back to school – to do everything that we can to encourage them, to tell them that they are genius – and that the world does indeed need them. We need to give all of the opportunities that we can to express their creativity and their willingness to grow and to learn. We need to do that in the schools and in the homes, but more importantly we need to do it in the churches – where else can you encourage a relationship with the divine, the unknown, the new, the ultimate creator. Where else do we get our inspiration to do anything in the world, if we don’t get it from God. Where else do we get our instructions from God to go out into the world and do anything – unless it comes from God? That’s what I want to talk about this morning – is being called by God – exactly what does that mean anyway? What special qualities do you have to have in order to have that relationship with God? What qualities do we need in order to do the special work of God – to perhaps be a prophet? Jeremiah was a prophet of god – I like him the best, because he seems to be the most grounded. Prophets did a lot of strange things in order to get the attention of the people – Hosea gave his kids strange names like – bad luck or something really unfortunate, Isaiah was willing to die by being stretched apart, Amos constantly criticized the government. People even criticized John the Baptist for wearing strange clothes. Jeremiah got the attention of others, by living with them, by addressing the issues of his time, and by giving hope to the people. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Jeremiah considered himself to be a prophet of the people, his message was not to the leaders, but not the people, it was not his job to preach gloom and doom to a sinful people who did not listen – but to preach walk with a people in trouble an distress and to give them hope by encouraging them to stand strong until things changed. Most prophets were concerned with only saving the chosen people. Jeremiah realized that in order to save them, that he had to save everybody – he reached out to the rest of the world. Many of the prophets and others talk about how they came to be “called” by god – how god gave them a special task to reach out. Many didn’t start their jobs until they became adults, some as children, Only Jerimiah says that his story started way before he was born. That his relationship with God started with god, and not with his awareness that there was a God. When we read the prophet section of the bible, I will tell you a secret. The books are ordered from longest to shortest. Jeremiah is the first prophet, with the longest book and the most important message. Jeremiah was afraid to speak up, because all of the popular prophets were telling people that no matter how threatening things look that everything was going to get better. Jeremiah’s message was that before things got better, they were going to get worse. But God would be present in both the challenges and the rewards. The lectionary will deal with the book of Jeremiah for nine weeks. I think I only chose it as our scripture for this week. So today, we start with chapter 1 – how he came to have this special relationship. He didn’t do anything t was given to him. He talks of being that young boy – full of ideas and creativity waiting for an adult to validate his call – he talks of being too young to really make a difference in the world. As I read the verse this year, that is one thing that stood out to me – when Jeremiah says I can’t be a prophet because I am only a boy. The Hebrew word that the writer uses is the word for a young boy not old enough to join the army and bear weapons. That would have been a boy about the age of 14. But then I thought about the world of our churches, where many times the youngest person in the room is 40-50 years old and they still don’t feel that they have to power to speak and make a difference. God’s message to Jeremiah – that his age does not matter when God gives him a job. He also talks of god’s response to him and his need and his fear – that he was not to be afraid of what people would say to him, how they would shoot him down and tell him that he was too young to make a difference. God says that if I give you something to do you are not too young to do it, as a matter of fact- you have an obligation to listen and to respond. God calls all of us to do something. We have a calling to do something – to be a prophet, or a writer, or a teacher, or a carpenter, a bus driver, or a preacher or something to further the world and the kingdom of God. But as Christians, we also have a calling to be something in the world – something that the world needs. A doctor speaks of god calling him to be a plastic surgeon, why a plastic surgeon – changing your appearance, what does that have to do with building the kingdom ? most of his clients could care less about God. But he was also called to pray and to start prayer groups for those who worked in the hospital and to reach out to other plastic surgeons to encourage them to live a life of faith. In his call to be a faithful Christian in the workplace – he made a difference in the lives of others. To be called could mean doing a specific job, but it can also be to respond in a Christian way to life, it can be to encourage and support others in what they are trying to do, most importantly it means being willing to listen to God at all times in all circumstances. That is our biggest and more important calling – to obedient to the will of God. And we are all a part of that. Every body is called, not everyone has the ears to listen attentively. If we listen, we may not get that validation from the world – but we always get it from God. The bible is full of the stories of God calling people to a certain task. In each story, God approaches them, gives them a task that they are afraid of, and then gives them a sign or symbol that it is really God talking to them. Most of the stories of being called also have another thing in common, the response that they are not the right person for the job. Moses said that he couldn’t really speak, Isaiah said that he was not from the right family, Jeremiah said that he was too young. Each of them resisted God, and yet God gave each of them the assurance that it could be done. For me, my call was a lot like Ezekiel, I didn’t resist, I accepted the call. But one thing that all calls have in common, they are a challenge beyond anything that you can expect. God always says it is okay – I will help you. The Borden family is from Chicago – the company that makes milk and other products. I do believe that the factory is on the Westside. But anyway – William Borden was being groomed to take over the family fortune. He worked hard, he went to school, and a graduation present was a trip around the world. But as he went around the world and learned the conditions of most of the people in the world – he wrote a letter to his parent explaining that God was leading him to be a missionary to those in need. He wrote two words in his bible – no reserves. Through prayer he realized that he wanted to go to China to work with people there. His parents convinced him to go to graduate school and get more education – he went to yale and started several bible studies. He was offered several high paying positions, but turned them down. He needed to in China - he wrote in his bible – no retreats – and he left. He went to China, he also went to the middle east to learn Arabic to talk with the Muslims. A few months later he contracted spinal meningitis. He died from it at age 25 – a few months before is death he wrote in his bible – no regrets. No reserves, no retreats, no regrets. That was his answer to gods call in his life. What are your responses to gods call on your life? The question is not have you been called, the question is are you listening? Jeremiah want us to know that the need to be creative starts way before we are in the first grade.- it starts before you were born, it starts in the circumstances that you were born into, it starts in your willingness to listen and to say yes. The good news is that when god calls, he commissions – he tells us what we have to do and why – he tells us what we are up against and what we have to overcome. We are also always given validation – an assurance that you can do this, an assurance that others recognize gods call in you. A test that in the midst of circumstance, your work will not be in vain. No reserves, no retreats, no regrets. So what is it that you need to do now? This is a new day for us all – we all have to face challenges in life that we did not expect. None of us have ever faced this moment – and yet we have been called to move forward. The most popular phrase in the bible – is be not afraid. When we encounter the holy – that is the first thing that we hear – be not afraid. If be not afraid is the most popular command of the bible – do you know what the most popular promise is? Be not afraid, because I will be with you. Whatever challenge that you must face, you never face it alone – God is always there with you. As we step into a new day, new challenges you are called to face – know that God is with you. Amen. Song Here I am, Lord UMH 593 Prayer God, we praise You for who You are. We give You thanks because You created us in your own image. Also we pray for knowledge and understanding for us all this new school year. We pray that you will be with each of us at the start a new school year. We pray that you will give us endurance as we seek understanding and new revelations in our pursuits and studies. Father we also pray for families as we support students, by building a closer working relationship with teachers and staff and all those involved in the learning process. This we ask in Jesus Name. (Inspired by Pray Ray Prayer Journal) Lord’s Prayer Blessing of the Back Packs ( See Insert) PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE ONE: With you, every transition and new start is a reminder of your goodness, for you are always creating fresh, amazing things in us and through us. Though we are sad about the summer ending, we are grateful for this school year. We appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow, knowing it is one of the biggest privileges we have. With thanks and love, we now offer everything we are to you, asking for your blessing. ONE: We pray as and for students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. We pray for our hearts and all they hold—excitement and nervousness, disappointment and hope. We give you all our loves and fears. We pray for steady self-esteem and deepening resilience. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We pray for our minds, that they will expand in wonder and celebration, learning not just from the books studied but the people beside us. Open our minds with a willingness to be changed in unexpected ways, and settle our thought loops in peaceful places. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We pray for our hands, that they will reach out to help welcome and care. Bless our hands with patience and dedication as they grip pencils and type on keyboards, swish paint brushes and clap in song, grip monkey bars and lunch box handles, spin wheelchair tires and basketballs. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We pray for our mouths, that they will speak words bringing life and connection. Help us use our mouths to honor the dignity and belovedness of all. Remind us to open our mouths for deep belly breaths when we’re feeling anxious or afraid. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We pray for our feet, that they will move toward those different from us and help others in safe ways. Plant our feet next to those who feel alone, and bless our steps down hallways and sidewalks. We know you are with us wherever our feet go or stay. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We pray for our eyes, that they may see ourselves and others with compassion. Point our eyes toward those who are forgotten or struggling. Grow us in flexibility to see from all kinds of angles. Bless what and how we see, whether we’re looking at a screen, a whiteboard, or the beauty of a person’s face. And help us see with the most important eyes—the eyes of the Spirit within us. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We pray for our ears, that they will genuinely listen to all voices, especially those that haven’t been listened to much. When things get noisy, help us listen extra carefully for your voice. Help us hear with the most important ears—the ears of the Spirit within us ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We say a special prayer for parents, as the start of a new school year is always another leap of faith. Wrap them with your reassuring love as they entrust their children and trust in you. When questions remain unanswered, and the realm of control is finite, bless them with peace and the promise you are right there with their child, whether heading to preschool or driving to college. ALL: Loving God, hold us and our prayers. ONE: We also pray now for teachers, staff and administrators. Bless these faithful servants with courage and confidence, knowing you are in their classroom with a steady hand on their shoulder. Give them peace, patience, and balance in the pressures they face, and bravery to build structures and systems which justly serve all your children. Give them delight in the young ones before them, and recognition of the sweet ways children are also teachers. ALL: Loving God, hold us all and our prayers. ONE: We pray for health and wholeness, fun and growth, surprise and amazement, for this school year ahead, knowing you will hold us all the way through. ALL: We thank you, God, and love you. Amen. Blessing of the bench Dear God, We ask for your blessing for this park bench and all who make use of it. We now consecrate it for holy service. May it provide rest to those who are tired, may it be a seat of inspiration for those who sit and seek your presence. May it even be a support for the squirrels and other animals who play upon it. Lord as the rays of the Sun and the drops of rain fall upon it, may your blessings continue to flow upon all who come in contact with this bench. We thank you for the opportunity to do our part in building your kingdom. Help us to use this project and others to do all that we can to clean up the earth and make the world a better place through our service. Let this bench watch over the play of our children, support teachers and parents, and bless our church. Just as Jesus upholds us in all that we do, may this bench uphold all who sit upon it and honor it. Amen Stewardship Moment Luke records the story of Jesus healing a crippled (bent over) woman on the Sabbath, in the synagogue. What a gift! When the one in authority griped about Jesus “working” on the Sabbath, Jesus responded with an appeal to ordinary actions everyone took on the Sabbath (leading animals to water), and an acknowledgement of the woman being set free from bondage as a similar action. Jesus gave what he had: both the capacity to teach, and the capacity to heal. Today, each of us is invited to give what WE have. Some of us may offer the work of our hands, perhaps on a Sunday, or perhaps on another day of the week. Some of us may offer to share a talent: creating new banners, playing an instrument for worship, visiting in the hospital, reaching out to visitors, cooking for our neighbors (list specifics which are part of YOUR particular setting). And all of us are invited to share from our finances. Whether your gift is $25 or $2500, we invite you to make an offering to support the work of this congregation and to confirm your understanding that ALL we have is a gift from God…so we return a portion of that gift, as our way of saying “thank you”. As we make our offering, may each of us experience being set free from the bondage we’ve known (particularly from the bondage of such addictive attachment to our time, our talents and our treasure that we’re loathe to share). Prayer of Thanksgiving Release us, God, from the bondage of holding too tightly to “our stuff”. Receive these gifts, and help us use them wisely. Receive the intention of our hearts to model our lives on the life of Jesus, who poured out his time, his talents and his love, always seeking to lift up the least, the lost and the left-behind. AMEN (Disciple’s of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Loving God, Coat the year before us with miracles of your mercy and strength, and help us appreciate most of all the bedrock miracle of your presence with us in every single ordinary, sacred moment. Lead us this school year into life-giving rhythms of grace and light, where our regular routines become the framework for worship and blessing. Amen. Community Time Benediction Children, families, and all who love them, go out into the beautiful world that God has made! Go and play! Go and learn! Go and love others! May you be filled with lovingkindness for yourself and everyone around you. May the prayers of your faith community keep you safe, healthy, and full of joy. Amen. Blessing of the Back Pack and Back to School Liturgy provided by© 2022 Illustrated Ministry, LLC. All rights reserved. illustratedministry.com This content is provided under a limited license. May not be reproduced outside of license terms. See copyright page for license terms. Children’s Sermon(not included in service) To emphasize the pencil parables, start by giving each child an unsharpened pencil and piece of paper. Ask them to do something simple, like write their names. Why doesn’t the pencil work? It has not been sharpened! Well, how can that be fixed? Talk about how we can sharpen a pencil quite easily, whether we use a handheld, hand-cranked, or electric sharpener. Then we can use the pencil in various ways—writing, drawing, filling in bubbles on a test sheet… Explain that our lives can be sort of like these pencils. God wants to use us in all sorts of wonderful ways to serve Him and His people. But we first must be “sharpened” for His purposes. How does this happen? Well, most importantly, we can sharpen ourselves through the sword of the Bible and the power of prayer… (Ministry to Children.com by Kristin Schmidt) Additional Illustrations

A look into your future

February 1, 2015 Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Year B Fourth Sunday of Epiphany We seem to have an obsession to be able to predict the future we need to know the outcome of everything. I noticed that there have been more predictions about who is going to win the superbowl than I have ever seen. I have seen all kinds of stories about how dogs, tigers, and crocodiles have been given a choice between the patriots and the seahawks. And that the animal made some choice. What Amazes me about these stories, is not so much that they were able to make a choice, but people start to brag about the record of these arbitrary events. This particular tiger has predicted the winner of the superbowl for the last 4 years…really? A tiger being able to predict the future? Tomorrow is ground hog day, where we watch to see if the ground hog will see his shadow. This arbitrary ground hog has the power to tell us what the next six weeks will be like? Really? Desperate and lonely for female company, a frog telephoned a psychic telephone service to find out what his future held. The person on the other end of the line said, "You will meet a beautiful young woman who will find you very interesting and want to know all about you." Excited and amazed, the frog asked excitedly, "That's wonderful! Where will I meet her? At work? At a party?" "No," said the psychic. "In a biology class." We are not frogs, we are children of God. So why would we leave something so sacred as our future up to tigers, and ground hogs, and arbitrary guesses of other people. Personally, I can appreciate John Wesley’s belief on the future. What we will become, or what happens to us has not been determined yet. We learned last week, that God knows our future, God knows what will become of us. But even God can change God’s mind. Prayer, faithfulness, and repentance can change things. Who I will be, and what will become with me, is not stored up for me in a book. My ultimate future is contained in my relationship with God. The bible says that eternity starts today. It starts with my ability to have a relationship with God. Our obsession with trying to predict the future stands in the way of us understanding what a prophet is and what a prophet does. When we think of prophecy, we think of it as a word about our future. It is about what is going to happen to us in the future. Deuteronomy 18 says that one way to test whether a prophet is true, is to see if what they have to say comes true or not. But Deuteronomy is not talking about the future, it is talking about today. In Hebrew belief, all there is is the here and now. Life is not so much about what it going to happen tomorrow, it is about today. All that we have any control of is what we are doing today. That is why it is called the present. We cant do anything about what happen yesterday, we cant do anything about what will happen tomorrow. All that we have is the present. A prophet is not someone who can predict the future, a prophet is someone who speaks for God about the conditions of today. In Deutoronomy, God says that he will send someone who can speak God’s word in the present situation. A prophet is someone who is able to listen to God. To have a relationship with God. And who is able to speak God’s word to the people. Deutoronomy says that the mark of a prophet is someone who God chooses, they don’t choose themselves. Someone who is a mediater between God and thepeople, and who speaks god’s words and not what comes to his own mind. Moses was the ultimate model of what a prophet should be and what a prophet should do. If we look at Numbers 12- Moses says that God speaks clearly to him face to face, and not in riddles. Moses was one of the few people who had a relationship with God, as if he was talking to a person. Moses has a relationship with god that was so intimate, that he was able to talk to God in a conversation, and to get answers, not just for his life, but for the lives of all of his people. As a matter of fact, in the story of numbers, Moses brother and sister criticize him for being so close to God. God gets mad at Miriam, and punishes her. Moses prays to God to be merciful to Miriam and she recovers. But it is her own encounter with God that changes her. She repents of her ways, and is allowed to be restored, so that she can begin a new relationship with God, with a new understanding, and a new respect. How many of us have had those encounters with God, that have challenged you, and caused you to have a new respect for the power of God in your life. I have those encounters each and everyday. The meaning of prophecy changes with each revelation of God. Moses is known as the founder of the jewish religion. Moses was known as the redeemer of his people. He was known as the one who had such a close relationship with God that he was able to bring the law of God to the people. But since then, we have a clearer example of one who has a relationship with God. We have someone who God chose, who god mediates with us, and who says and lives the words that God gave him. That person is Jesus Christ. And today, we cannot have a relationship with God without having a relationship with Christ, and a relationship with God’s word. Just as Moses sat on the mountain and had a lively conversation with God. We have to sit with our bible everyday and have a lively conversation with God’s word. How do we know what will become of our future, how well do we know that bible? How well do we do the will of Christ? How well do we live in the situations of today- according to the life of Christ? When we went to Malaysia in 2002, my son and I bought an electric shaver each. One of the good things about the shaver is that it has a rechargeable battery, meaning you can use it unplugged. But when you do, it gives off a low buzz. But if I plug it in it immediately steps up the revs and emits a high buzz. Unplugged it does a passable job. But plugged in it does a very good job - it works the way it was meant to. If you don't know Jesus, you can get along in everyday life without ever acknowledging Him. You can be an atheist, and get along fairly well. Before I knew Jesus Christ, I thought I was fine - but that's because I didn't know any better. I was like the unplugged shaver. I could never really do what I had been designed to do, fulfil my full potential, the plan of God for my life. There are lots of people who are getting by, but they don't realise they're not plugged into the power source. To plug into the power source, you have to be connected to God Himself through Jesus Christ. To be connected to Jesus, you have to be connected to the word of God, for today. Your today determines your tomorrow. Amen. Children’s Sermon: The Glue of God's Love by Thomas A. Pilgrim Passage: Mark 1:21-28 • Lectionary: Epiphany 4 Item 7 of 15 | Back to Results Object: A bottle of glue Lesson: Good morning boys and girls. I am glad you are here. Today in the Scripture lesson we will be reading about Jesus going to a town called Capernaum. Today I want you to look at this bottle of glue. They call this "School Glue." This is the same kind you use in school. As you already know this is really good glue because you can stick anything together with this glue. You can glue paper, plastic, wood, cloth, and just about anything else you can think of and it will stay together. Another good thing about it is that you cannot glue yourself to the floor. I was using some really strong glue one time and I actually glued myself to the floor. But you will not do that with this glue. Also, this glue will wash off your hands and clothes. So it will not make a mess you cannot clean up. Your mother does not have to worry when you use this glue. Now, let me ask you this question. Have you ever heard the expression, "I'm stuck on you?" Do you know what that means? It means, "I love you." It is something one of you boys might someday say to one of these girls. There is a glue in life that joins us together in the church. It helps us stick with our friends and our family members. Who knows what that is? It is God's love. God's love is like glue. It will hold you together when nothing else will. Jesus said to his disciples one time, "Children, love one another." He loved each one of them. And he wanted them to love each other. Everywhere Jesus went he called people to come follow him. And in doing that he was teaching them to have the same love and concern for other people that he had. Still today he wants us to be people who love him, love God, love each other and love other people, who more than anything, just need someone to love them. I am glad you came here today. May we pray: O God, help us to love each other and to love you. Help us to share your love with others. Amen. Extra Illustrations…….. There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father. On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers. Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, p. 13. Asking for Help The early church asked for the Spirit. They acknowledged His power and His way. Sensitive souls have always turned to the Spirit for help. The Spirit does not add qualities of life we do not possess. Those qualities are not something poured into us from the outside. They are inside humans and respond to the Spirit, developing every potential to its fullest. John Milton asked the Spirit to aid him as he began his epic poem, Paradise Lost. But it would have been of little help had he not possessed the genius of a poet. John Wesley declared that the success of his work was due to the Spirit, but we must remember that Wesley was a born leader. The Spirit used him. There was something in Wesley that responded to the Spirit. A legend is told of how Moses once heard a shepherd praying, “O God, show me where you are that I may become your servant. I will clean your shoes, and comb your hair, and sew your clothes, and bring you food.” Moses rebuked him with the words: “God is Spirit and needs not such ministrations.” Thereupon the shepherd rent his clothes in dismay and fled to the desert. Then Moses was rebuked by God, saying: “You have driven away my servant … I regard not the words that are spoken but the heart that offers them.” —Eugene A. Hessel Dealing With Difficult People Earl Nightingale told how on one National Secretaries Day he gave his secretary some flowers. She remarked how beautiful they were, but wondered why they didn't have any scent. He informed her that the flowers came from a hothouse and explained that because these flowers were raised in an isolated environment, they didn't attract insects (bugs) to pollinate them. As a result, they lost their scent. In the same way, fruit raised in a hothouse, because it doesn't need to attract insects to scatter its seeds, doesn't taste as good as fruit grown in its natural environment. (Weekend Encounter, Oct. 28, 2010). When we withdraw and isolate ourselves from people who "bug" us, it might make us feel safe from harm, but it affects us in other ways. We lose a part of what God created us to be, like a rose loses its fragrance and fruit loses its taste. God uses those people who bug us to bring out the best in us. Rather than running away from those people, let Jesus live His life through you, and the fragrance will come out. (Kent Crockett, www.kentcrockett.com)