Good evening on this Friday, March 30th. I am writing my blog on Friday evening instead of Saturday morning this week because I have such a busy schedule tomorrow. Sunday is Palm Sunday and with it begins Holy Week on the Christian calendar. After Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on a donkey, the recipient of recognition and adulation to cries of Hosanna, Hosanna, He began the road to Calvary.  He now prepared them for His death, celebrated the Passover with His disciples and instituted the Lord's Supper out of the Passover Feast. Then He took some of His disciples with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane where He prayed and waited for Judas to betray Him.

After His arrest He was tried before the Jews for blasphemy, then the Romans for treason whereupon He was sentenced to death. He endured the crown of thorns, being stripped of His clothing, a mock septre placed in His hand, being jeered as the Son of God, being spit upon, hit in the head with a stick, being scourged with the Cat of Nine Tails whip, carrying the cross, and ultimately being crucified as they nailed His hands and feet to the implement of torture. After dying on the cross, they thrust a spear into his side to ensure His death, removed his body from the cross and buried Him in a borrowed tomb. There He lay for three days until His resurrection on that first Easter morning. These are the events of the final week of His life.

He endured all this and more for us as our suffering substitute. "Greater love has no man than this than a man lay down His life for His friends," says John 15:13. That is what Holy week is all about. May we celebrate it with love and appreciation for ALL He did for us.
Hallelujah what a Savior!

Sunday we'll celebrate Palm Sunday together. I'll hope to see you there.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, March 24th. Have you ever wondered what goes into the preparation of a sermon? Occasionally someone asks me that question, so I thought I would share the process for those of you who are curious. First, comes seeking the Lord's direction for what to preach whether a series, topic, text, or book of the Bible to expound. After receiving that guidance comes the following steps.
(1) Carefully reading and rereading the text usually in various translations.
(2) Studying the exact meaning of the text in Greek (New Testament) or Hebrew (Old Testament). Knowing the exact meaning and usage of the words of a text provides clearer understanding of the meaning and application of the text.
(3) Reading a series of commentaries to get other Bible expositor's teaching about the text/subject. Usually I like to read about a dozen commentaries found in my library or online sites like "Studylight.com" or using software on my computer like the "Online Bible."
(4) I read other pastor's sermons on the text or topic. Other's sermons provide thoughts, illustrations and applications besides my own.
(5) Consulting sites providing illustrations on various Biblical topics and texts to find the right illustrations for the message. Scripture says that Jesus never spoke without telling a story and you can't improve on Jesus' methodology. Spurgeon said, "Illustrations in sermons are like windows which let the light in." After I sift through the illustrations I choose the best ones to use, those which are likely to have the greatest impact.
(6) Next comes putting it all together with the final outline of the sermon, and determining exactly what God wants me to say in the message. Included in the message's final form is always INTERPRETATION (what the text means), ILLUSTRATION (illustrating the text), APPLICATION (applying the text to people's lives), and EXHORTATION (challenging folks to put it into practice).
(7) Finally, it involves going over the message, making any changes, then asking God to put His words in my mouth, His thoughts in my mind, and the fullness of His Spirit in my Heart.
The final step is the delivery of the message. Occasionally God leads in a different direction and the message needs to be revised or even another message preached instead. If sermons/teaching are like bread from God's oven, it ought to be fresh and warm. The preparation and delivery are up to me, but the moving in people's hearts and lives is up to God. I need to prepare my heart but God must prepare the hearts of the hearers.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, often called the "prince of preachers" got it right when he said, "I don't want people to leave the church saying 'what a great preacher but rather saying what a great Savior.'"  
Tomorrow's sermon is from Ephesian's 4, The Walk of the Believer.
I hope I'll see you there.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, March 17th. Wow, I can't remember nicer weather this time of the year. To have successive temps in the mid 80s in mid-March is a bonus for us mid-westerners who usually don't get this kind of weather until May or June. I've noticed people taking advantage of the warm sunny days by doing all sorts of spring-type activities including cleaning up, painting up, and fixing up. Cleaning porches, patios and decks, cleaning up the debris from the lawn and other types of spring cleaning are underway in many homes. It is the traditional spring cleaning regime but is occurring a little earlier than usual.
Do you ever do a spring-type cleaning in your spiritual life? The Psalmist wrote, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 119:23-24). The New Testament in both 1st and 2nd Corinthians admonishes us to examine ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:28; 2 Corinthians 13:5).
If you will spend some time alone with God and pray Psalm 119: 23-24, asking God to search you and know your heart; to try you and know your thoughts; to see if there is any sinful way in you; and to lead you in the way everlasting, you will be surprised at how God will answer that prayer. He will most likely bring to your attention things in your life which need to be confessed and changed and show you things which you may not have realized have been detrimently lingering in your soul. Then comes the "cleaning" part where you come clean by acknowledging and confessing those things to God and allowing the Spirit of God to change you by overcoming those sinful attitudes and practices. Just as it is so satisfying to look at your lawn or porch after a good cleaning, you will find great satisfaction in examining the newly-cleaned version of you. Jesus reminded us of the blessing of having a pure heart in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." That is a promise well worth claiming, isn't it?
Tomorrow's sermon is an exposition of Ephesians chapter 3. I hope to see you there.
Mel Brown

Good morning on this Saturday, the 10th of March. Spring is right around the corner. We are to turn our clocks forward one hour tonight/early tomorrow and that is usually a sign that winter is ending. Soon buds will be on the trees and grass will be greening up. This is the ideal time of the year to put pre-emergence weed  killers down where needed. In fact there is a narrowing window of opportunity to get it in place because once the weeds emerge, the pre-emergence preventer will no longer be effective. There is a close preventive parallel with temptation in a person's life. The best time to deal with temptation is pre-emergence or before it unfolds. In other words - avoid the temptation if possible. There is an old and accurate saying, "The best way to avoid the sin is to avoid the temptation." "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is also a tried and true adage. Why needlessly put yourself to the test in harm's way if you can avoid the temptation and not risk the consequences. When I speak to young people I suggest that they not be in some isolated spot in a parked car where temptation and raging hormones can easily compromise their virtue. When I speak to alcoholics I suggest they avoid all situations where alcohol is available to prevent being tempted. When I speak to dieters I suggest that they avoid having foods not on their diet around the house to tempt them. If you love cookies and sweets and have a tough time entering your kitchen without indulging (or most likely overindulging) in them, keep them out of your house to avoid the temptation of the, "I'll have just one" syndrome. If you are sorely tempted with spending, get rid of your credit cards to remove the temptation of "whipping out the plastic" and carelessly spending money on unneeded items. Also avoid going to the places where the sins of Achan in the book of Joshua chapter seven can entice you (it says he saw, he coveted (strongly desired) and then he took. Isn't that the usual process, we see it, we want it, and then we take it. It is certainly good to resist temptation but it is even wiser to avoid it if possible.
Tomorrow's sermon is from Ephesians 2:11-22.
I hope you can be there to hear it.
Mel Brown

Today I'm writing my blog on Friday evening instead of Saturday morning. I'm in Chicago to see my grandson,Ryan, perform in his school play, "Jungle Book." Before I left home yesterday afternoon, I checked the weather forecast to see today's weather in Chicago and saw it was going to be 50 degrees with rain showers during the day. I packed a light jacket in light of the mild forecast. Guess what - they were wrong! It never got anywhere near 50 degrees and about 1:00 this afternoon the snow started coming down so thick and fast you could hardly see to drive. They are now forecasting up to 7 inches of snow throughout the rest of the day and night. I wish I had a dollar for every time the weatherman has been dead wrong in a forecast. Many times I have found myself shoveling the fair and warmer. I was thinking about the many predictions by many people in various venues over the years. Stock market forecasts by so called market mavens which have been dead wrong. Economic forecasts by economists which have been dead wrong.  Political forecasts by pundits which have been dead wrong. End of the world forecasts by diverse prognosticators which have obviously been dead wrong. But the forecasts which have proven 100% accurate is the Biblical prophets who have forecast the future with precise exactitude. Think of some 640 prophecies made by various Biblical authors, over many years, under various conditions over 400 of which have been exactly fulfilled with the remaining prophecies being yet future. If I were a betting man, I would wager a large amount in the light of past performance of the Biblical writers, that it is a sure bet they all will be exactly fulfilled in the future. Now that is a forecast in which you can believe.
Tomorrow's sermon will be from Ephesians 2:1-10. I hope you will be able to attend these services to hear this message.
Mel Brown