The Anabaptist Voice 08

The Anabaptist Voice
08/16/2010

Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.

Dear family and friends,

     Our last letter to you was July 21^st. We pray you are well. We left for an 8 day trip on August 4^th early in the morning, and came back on 11^th late at night. We visited four Hutterite colonies.
     God has blessed us with a new grandson, Isaiah Don, who was born on June 26^th. It was a joy to be with Patrick and his family. They are living in James Valley colony in Manitoba, Canada. James Valley is a wonderful place for the children to grow. They are protected and well loved by everybody. We were blessed to visit our grandchildren there, they are very happy children.
     The weather was very nice and beautiful all the time we were there with the temperature in 70s.   In Arizona, we were used to around 100 degrees and we did enjoy the cool beautiful weather. When we came home on the evening of the 11^th, the temperature inside our house was 95degrees!
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     On Saturday, August 7th, we left the James Valley with Patrick, and flew to Spokane, Washington , to visit Hutterian colonies there. Two ladies from the Schoonover colony picked us up at the airport and took us to Schoonover.
     We have known the Hutterites in the Washington colonies for 27 years but haven’t seen them much recently as we’ve been down here in Arizona for the past six years. Some of them we didn’t recognize right away because they have grown older but we had good visits. We enjoyed the singing that the young people did for us after the meals and in the evening at the house.
     Down here in Tucson we have very little fellowship so it was wonderful to visit old friends up in Washington. We are praying about moving back up north to a Hutterite colony so we were asking about that. Please pray for us. We want to go where God guide 068 (2)

s us. (Above is a photo of Don with grandsons, Elizabeth and Paul are in the middle photo and below is a photo of Michi with friends.)
We are slowly recovering from the trip as we stayed up late each evening fellowshipping and had to make six airplane flights to get up there and back (Tucson to Denver, Denver to Winnipeg, Winnipeg to Chicago, Chicago to Spokane, Spokane to Phoenix, Phoenix to Tucson).

Your brother and sister in Christ,

Don & Michi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org

“Christ in you, your hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)

Our Sunday Service
08/15/2010 10 am
(present were Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy)

Songs: O God is Love (August Rische, 1819-1906), O Christ Our Lord (Michael Sattler, 1527), Abiding and Confiding (A. B. Simpson, 1843-1919)

Introduction: Abiding in Christ – the parable of the Vine and the Branches

     “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I will abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must abide in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me.
     “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
     “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide in my love. If you obey my commands, you will abide in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and abide in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:1-11)

Sermon: Experiencing God’s Love

     The most wonderful experience that a person can have is to experience the love of God. This amazing experience is available to everyone because God created everyone, everyone, to be His children and to live in His love on a daily basis.
     God is love. God wants everyone to be aware of love, His love, and experience it in a wonderful way every day. If we can experience this love we will live a life of peace and joy, with happy faces and not a care in the world.
     Love is a key theme in the Bible; it is mentioned 258 times in the New Testament. It states that God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16) This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
     Much is said in the Bible about our need to love God and to love one another and not to love the world or worldly things. However we are not able to do this very well unless we are experiencing God’s love in our lives and resting in His love.

Resting in God’s Love

     Jesus teaches us about experiencing God’s love in a number of parables. He tells us that being in the kingdom of God is being in His love.
     Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
     "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Mt 13:44-45)
     When we are experiencing God’s love we find it to be more valuable than anything the world can offer so we are willing to give up everything to continue experiencing it.

Loving God

     When we are experiencing God’s love we are loving God, pleasing Him, and living in obedience to His teachings and commands just as a loving child lives in obedience to his father’s instructions. We cannot be really loving if we do not show it in our daily lives.
     Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
     "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me."
     "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching."
     "He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” (John 14:15, 21, 23, 24)
     "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Experiencing God’s Love

     If God is present in all places at all times, which is what the Bible teaches, then God is part of our surroundings each and every moment – or as the apostle Paul says, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) The question is, Are you aware of God surrounding you? Are you awake or sleep to God’s presence?
     The only thing that is real is this present moment, and the only thing that matters is waking up to God’s presence – now. Become aware of God’s presence all around you. Be aware that God is closer to you than the air that you breath.
     The most fundamental truth a person can ever embrace is that the present moment is all that is real. The past is gone. The future is not yet. Reality is always now. And the single most important aspect of reality is that God is present in it every moment. To forget that God is present in any given moment is to forget the most important aspect of that moment.
     God is the God of the living, not the God of the already-past or the not-yet-present. He’s the great “I AM”, not the great “I was” or the great “I will be”. He’s been present in every moment in the past, for which we can be thankful, and he’ll be present at every moment in the future, which gives us great hope. But he’s only alive and active now, in the present – which is, once again, the only thing that is real.
     You need to become absolutely convinced that remaining aware of God’s presence is the single most important task in your life.

Practicing the Presence of God

     We need to surrender to God’s presence every moment. To remain aware of that presence implies yielding to God’s will.
     Whatever else may be going on in our lives, the ultimate goal must be to consciously obey the Lord’s command to “seek first the kingdom of God”, submitting to God’s reign in each and every moment of our lives. When we do this, we transform ordinary moments into sacred moments.
     God loves us so much that he sent his beloved Son to teach us how to love God and how to love one another. Then he died on the cross to show his great love for us. We each are beloved and of very high value to God. He loves us and calls us to return that love.
     The simple practice of remaining aware of God’s presence each moment, being aware of his love, brings us to a vibrant relationship with God and the key to transformation into the likeness of Christ.
     No spiritual discipline is easier or more accessible to everyone than this one, for waking up to God’s present requires nothing more than remembering God’s presence each moment. So remind yourself that you are submerged in God’s love. That is the practice of the presence of God. Could anything be easier?

Song: So Many Times (Naomi Murphy, 2001)