Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
SSH – 20 IC
Imperial Walkers – 20 IC
Four Count Freddie’s – 31 IC
Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC ( 6 Count)
The Thang
Pax paired up to complete as many Burpees as time allowed. One PAX Nurs up the hill to Mill Street from the flag pole pad area at the fire station and runs down while the other works on his burpees. Pax rotate positions upon completion of each Nur and run down the hill at approx. .14 miles for each lap. When all Pax reach 50 Burpees a break for the F3 message took place. Pax continued the evolution for a second set of 50 Burpees.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
There’s a mountain in northern New Jersey that has an intriguing view. It’s called Garrett Mountain, over the city of Paterson, New Jersey. In the 1980s, Paterson happened to be the fourth poorest, middle-sized city in America. Now, if you had driven around that city then and that’s all you saw, you would think the whole area of north Jersey was poor. But just beyond Paterson on the horizon, you can see some of the wealthiest communities in America.
If you drove around some of those towns, you’d think the whole area was well-off. If all you saw was Paterson, you’d say, “There’s no countryside around here.” If all you saw were the suburban communities, you’d say, “There’s no city here.” See, I like Garrett Mountain, because it gives me a bigger view than I can get when I’m right in the middle of things. Up there, you can see the bigger picture. Maybe you need a mountain like that right now.
1 Samuel 8:4 says, “All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel. They said to him, ‘You’re old and your sons don’t walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have.’ But when they said, ‘Give us a king to lead us’ this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they’ve rejected, they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now, listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.’ Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.”
Samuel has a frustrating situation. The structure of the judge ruling Israel on God’s behalf is coming unglued. He’s being unappreciated by the people he has given so much for. Does that sound familiar? These people are off on a total tangent that he knows is wrong. They’re trying to get a king, when all they really need is God ruling through the judges. Maybe you have some frustrating people in your life. Different issues, but frustrating.
What did he do when the people frustrated him? It says, “So, he prayed to the Lord.” What they did displeased Samuel, “So he prayed…” He didn’t tell them off or blow up. He takes the people and his feelings straight to the Lord when he’s frustrated. Do you?
There are two good results when you do that. First, the Lord gives Samuel the big picture. He says, “This isn’t against you. It’s part of a pattern.” And he defuses the emotions. It’s like being on that mountain overlooking both the suburbs and the city. You can see the whole picture when you take the frustration to the Lord. You can see where things are coming from, and where things are going. You’re above that limited view you have when you’re right in the middle of the aggravation. When you take the frustrating people to the Lord, He gives you the big picture instead of you just reacting to an incident.
Secondly, He gives you a balanced response. He told Samuel to listen to them and then warn them. Listening to frustrating people gives you credibility. They’ll listen if you’ve listened to them. Then warning them fulfills your responsibility to tell them the results of the way they’re going. Some people listen without warning people; some people warn people without listening to them.
When people’s actions displease, frustrate, and hurt you, would you go to God first? You know what He’ll do? He’ll take you up on a mountain where you can see the whole picture, and help you respond in a balanced way. When people frustrate you, go over their head. Go straight to the Throne Room of the King.
18 Seal jack i/c 18 Imperial walkers i/c 18 Mountain man pooper i/c 10 Hip circles each direction oyo 18 Seal waves i/c 18 Plank jack i/c
The Thang Each HIM grabs a coupon and woseys to bank parking lot.
1 HIM pushed sled as timer as rest of PAX AMRAPS the following exercises
Sprawl and curl w/coupon Pess jacks /w coupon Block chop R w/coupon Block chop L w/coupon
3rd F Jesus led with intention and so should we.
Your team needs your hard skills; that’s a given. You wouldn’t be able to do your job without a professional understanding of the equipment and principles of your role in video, audio, and lighting. Chances are, you’re a generalist or perhaps an expert in just one of those categories, but either way, you have you “know” what you’re doing to develop your process and your team into an excellent, competent production.
But hard skills only get you so far as a production leader. You’re not just a tech anymore, but rather a steward of your house, and your team needs more than your technical expertise.
Your team needs your intention.
This means that you can’t simply show up to work and hope for the best, and it probably starts the night before your Monday office hours. In a recent chat I had with Justin Firesheets, a co-contributor here at Church Production and the head project manager for production at Church of the Highlands, he mentioned that his work day actually starts the night before. He sits down for just a few minutes and plans out his day so he can hit the ground running the next morning.
That sort of intention shows great wisdom, friends. Now, it might look a little different for each of us. Perhaps that means you spend the first few minutes of your office day doing the same thing, but whatever it looks like for you, it means that you don’t fly by the seat of your pants.
You might not think so, but Jesus lived this way. It’s a mistake to think that he was more of a hippie than an intentional leader, that he just followed the whimsical notions of the Holy Spirit in a happy, flowery hopscotch across Judea for three years.
Jesus was much the opposite of that. His parables were full of the thoughts of an intentional leader, so much so that scholars now believe Jesus was not a carpenter, but a stonemason business owner, something akin to a modern subcontractor. He knew what it meant to run a business and have people rely on him for their livelihood. He didn’t work in a haphazard manner.
For that matter, it’s a mistake to think that the ways of the Holy Spirit are whimsical. The intentions of Jesus were driven by an unfathomable connection to the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked into his desert fast with intention, driven by the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked from city to city with intention, driven by the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent his disciples to find a donkey and an upper room, driven by the Holy Spirit. Jesus intentionally embraced his torture and excruciating death, driven by the Holy Spirit. The pattern is unmistakable.
It Only Takes a Few Minutes
This is the crazy r and a great leader is about five minutes. Intention doesn’t take much time; it just requires a simple pause to gather tasks and priorities and organize them on paper (or tablet) into a workable plan. Ten minutes, tops. That’s a lot of bang for buck
Mosey to playground behind library
15 swerkins 5 pull ups 10 screaming lunges per leg
Mosey back to bank parking lot
Sled rounds x 2 Sprawl and curl Curls for the girls Merkins Pretzel sticks L Pretzel sticks R American hammers Flutter kicks Lbcs Press jacks Gas pumpers
Return Coupons
Fireplex made his 100th beatdown today
Number Rama Name Rama COT
7 HIM showed today: Semi, Probe, Fireplex, Chattahoochee, Streudal, Toy Soldier, Quattro
Pax: Deez, Bunt, Ruxpin, Toy Soldier, Probe, Streudel, Fireplex
QIC: Fireplex
Warm up
SSH – 30 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 20 IC
The Thang
PAX completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the exicon. We modified the sprint portion to a straight line up the Chestnut Street Hill stopping at Mill Street for Stopping Points #1 & #3 of each round. Sprint back down Chestnut Street to Front Street for Stopping Points #2 & #4 of each Round. Plank it up until all PAX have completed the exercises at each stopping point. Rinse and repeat until all 6 Rounds are complete. Round # 1 – 10 Burpees, Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg). Round #3 – 30 Imperial Walkers. Round #4 – 40 Merkins. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats. Pax completed the rounds through Round #5 as time was a factor. We ended strong with 50 plank jacks and 60 squats.
F3 message –The 3rd F was shared after completing round #4.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
They keep it under glass that seals out any air getting to it. And when it’s not on display, it’s kept underground in a vault – actually a bomb proof vault. It’s the most important document in the history of the United States. Yep, the Declaration of Independence.
The men who signed it on that hot July 4th in Philadelphia knew it was very important, but I wonder if they could have possibly conceived what a sacred piece of paper it would become to the nation that it birthed. Here were subjects of the English king, daring to declare their independence from their king. It changed their lives forever. It changed the world forever. And once a year, every Fourth of July, America stops to remember that Independence Day.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Dependence Day.”
Now, for America’s founding fathers, it was a Declaration of Independence from their king that changed everything. But for you, as a child of God, it’s your “Declaration of Dependence” on your King that changes everything.
Now, when it comes to God running our lives, you know what? We’ve all declared our independence. Even if our theology compels us to officially say we trust God, we are, for the most part, “Sinatra-ites.” Yeah, you know Frank Sinatra’s signature song? I’ll sing it for you. No, I won’t. “I did it my way.” Yeah, even for us Christians, that’s often how we really live, I’ll do it my way. We’ll figure this out by ourselves, we’ll find a way, we’ll make it happen, we won’t wait, we’ll get it done now. We tend to depend on our plans, our schemes, our cleverness, our talent, our experience, our persuasiveness, our hard work, our connections. We’ll count on our programs or our own strength.
That’s why we need to declare our dependence daily! It’s in our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus makes it very clear how anything that matters in our life really happens. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” In other words, the fruit of your life doesn’t come from you, it comes from Jesus, through you, like the life of the vine comes through the branch.
Then He goes on to say, “If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Or nothing that matters, nothing eternal, nothing that really works over the long haul – nothing. He doesn’t say, “Without Me, you can’t do much.” No, nothing! He says it all comes from Him.
So the size of your life depends on how big your dependency on God is, as opposed to cranking it out yourself. Joni Eareckson Tada once said that when she went to Africa, she was greeted by believers there who said, “Welcome to Africa, where our God is bigger. He is bigger because we need Him so much more!” Actually, we need Him every bit as much. We just have other things we can depend on. So our lives are smaller because our view of God is smaller, because we don’t depend on Him desperately for each day’s needs, each day’s choices, each day’s strength, and each day’s answers.
You know what the language of dependency is? Prayer. You can pretty much tell how dependent you are on God by how often you feel the need to cry out to Him in prayer. There is so much more waiting for you if you’ll only learn how powerful it is to recognize your powerlessness before God.
Look at the frequency and the fervency of your prayers in any given day, and you’ll be able to tell how dependant you really are on Him. Each new morning, in the presence of Almighty God, you need to sign it again – your Declaration of Dependence on your King, because that signature will make all the difference.
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 15 IC
Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC (6 Count)
Mosey from the AO to “Oh Hill No”
Over the Hill Set – Modified Burp Back Mountain
Split Pax into two groups or if it is a smaller group you can complete it as one unit together.
1st round the 1st group Nur’s up the hill and mosey back down while 2nd group completes clock merkins on the incline completing 5 reps each at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, & 9 o’clock. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Switch stations and repeat.
2nd round the 1st group bear crawls up the hill and mosey back down while 2nd group completes the same evolution of clock merkins. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Switch stations and repeat.
3rd round the 1st group completes the inch worm up the hill and mosey back down while the second group completes the same evolution of clock merkins. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Break for the message
F3 Message
Final round the 1st group completes the crawl bear up the hill and mosey back down while 2nd group completes the same evolution of clock merkins. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Switch stations and repeat.
All Pax Nur up and moseyed down the hill Twice to complete the set.
Toy Soldier Set – 100 LBC’s, 50 Y2K’s x2, 25 Big Boys OYO
Mosey back to the AO for the Circle of Trust including announcements, prayer, the Count-O-Rama & the Name-O-Rama. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
It’s important for fathers and sons to do things together – like when my son helped me with the yard work so we could bond. I remember one day when my oldest son was about five. It was a hot day. I was mowing and my son was following around after me clipping. I looked over to him and I smiled. About five minutes later he came over and yelled over the mower, “Daddy, could you please do that again?” I said, “Could I do what again, son?” He said, “Daddy, could you smile at me again? Your smile keeps me going.”
Ephesians 6:4 has some great parenting instructions: “Fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” God says, “Don’t tear your children down. Bring them up.” A father has incredible power to be either one – to make your son or daughter feel inadequate and small, never good enough, or to make your son or daughter feel competent, worthy, appreciated, and valued. It’s clear which one God expects from a father, and from a mother.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, Paul is likening the lives of believers to a positive father. Here’s what he says, “For we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God.” Do you see the verbs there? Three words that are the godly ways of a father – to encourage your child, comfort your child, and urge him or her to live a godly life.
How are you doing? Did I just describe most of the conversations you have with your son or daughter – you’re encouraging, you’re comforting, are you urging? Think about the comments, for example, made years ago by one of President Clinton’s most impressive advisors, a man named Bill Galston. The news article I read back then said he was at the peak of his career when he resigned from his position. No one could believe it! Why?
Well, Bill Galston had worked hard trying to balance time with his ten-year-old son and his hugely significant job. He took his son to his White House office so they could talk while he worked. He even woke up at 6:00 in the morning so they could spend a few minutes together. But Bill was at the breaking point. He couldn’t do both. His son wrote him a letter saying, “Baseball is not fun when there’s no one there to applaud you.”
There’s just no substitute for a father. In the moments that matter to our children: the proud moments, the hurting moments, the amusing moments, the arriving home moments, the serious moments. And there are few sources more influential on earth than your approval of your son or your daughter. Could it be that there’s been too much emphasis on what’s wrong with your son or daughter, on what you want them to improve, on their weak points rather than majoring on the positive?
So much of the sense of security and sense of worth comes from knowing that Dad is pleased with them, that Mom is pleased with them. Focusing on the encouraging, on praising what’s good about them, on noticing even the slightest improvement, on building up not tearing down, concentrating on the things that matter to them. Realize what your most important job is. Bill Galston told the President of the United States, “You can replace me. My son can’t.”
Does your son or daughter need to hear your applause again, see your smile again? Maybe you need to make a new beginning by asking their forgiveness. Or start now to make it your daily mission to build them up, focus on their good points, and give them all of you sometime during that day. Your son or daughter is looking your way for something only you can give them; the smile that keeps them going, because a father’s smile is powerful, life-giving encouragement.
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Imperial Walkers – 15 IC
Windmills – 15 IC
The Thang
B.O.M.B.S. – 50 Burpees, 100 Overhead Claps, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Sit-ups, 250 Squats. After every 25 evolutions of each exercise, PAX will NUR up to Strawberry Alley from Front Street and mosey back approx. .02 miles. Time limited the Nur and Mosey and affected the last 250 Squats. They were completed without the Nur/Mosey “break”. When all was completed, Pax Nur’d up the grade & moseyed down approximately .5 miles.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
The tornado sirens went off near our daughter’s house a few nights ago. She knew what to do. She and our son-in-law quickly herded their three children into the basement until the danger passed.
Unfortunately, Nikki Carpenter lived outside of town where she couldn’t hear the tornado sirens. She and her three young sons had no time to prepare, and there was no basement in the trailer where they lived. For me, Nikki’s story seems especially moving on this Mother’s Day weekend.
When part of the storm system that hit our area moved on to Yazoo County, Mississippi, Nikki Carpenter was getting Austin (1), Ethan (2), and Layne (7) ready for their day. The tornado was a monster – an E-F4 packing up to 170 mile per hour winds and measuring 1.75 miles wide. As the tornado bore down on their trailer, Nikki grabbed a mattress, threw it over her boys, and lay on top of it to protect them.
It took neighbors more than two hours to work their way through the debris to get to that trailer – or what was left of it. Those three little boys were pulled out alive. Mom didn’t make it. Her mother said: “She saved those kids and gave her life.”
Here was a mom, doing what mothers do on a daily basis – sacrificing herself for her children. In this case, letting all the wrath of a tornado fall on her so it wouldn’t fall on the ones she loved.
And for me, a moving reminder of the One who covered me so I wouldn’t die. My Jesus let all the wrath of all my sin fall on Him, so it would never fall on me. He died; I lived.
That’s what happened on a cross on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. Strip away all the religion and all the ritual, and that’s what Jesus is all about. The only Son God has, choosing to lay down His life to save you and me. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:11, 18).
There’s no way anyone could take the life of the Son of God. He made the tree He was nailed to and the men who put Him there. The only way He could die was if He gave His life. And that’s what He did: the brutal ripping of His body with Roman whips, the crown of thorns jammed onto His head, the spikes driven into His hands and feet, and the spear thrust into His side. Worst of all, the hell of being totally cut off from the Father, because He was carrying our sin. Nobody did all that to Him. He let it happen, because it took that dying to pay the death penalty for my sin.
That’s how much He loves me. That’s how much He loves you. He loves you too much to lose you.
So like a loving mother taking the brunt of that tornado, Jesus put Himself between you and the eternal death penalty of your sin. “God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9). Jesus’ sacrifice removes all your sin from God’s book the moment you tell Him, “Jesus, You are my only hope. I’m resigning from living my life my way, and I’m pinning all my hopes on what You did for me on that cross.”
One day I chose to give my life to the One who gave His life for me. Things have never been the same, because Jesus didn’t just die for the world. “He loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20)…and for you.
PAX: Deez, Bunt, Ruxpin, Toy Soldier, Chattahoochee, Probe, Fireplex
Warm up
SSH – 20 IC
Cherry Pickers – 15 IC
Bolt 45’s – IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Streudel Claps – 15 IC
Windmills – 15 IC
The Thang
Beginning at CHOP, all Pax will mosey to Wharton Street and complete Aiken legs – 20 squats, 20 box jumps, 20 lunges (10 each Leg), 20 split Jacks (10 each Leg). Then Mosey to Federal Street and complete 20 Burpees, 20 Squats, 20 Merkins, 20 Big Boys. Then mosey to Front Street by the PD and complete Aiken legs – 20 squats, 20 box jumps, 20 lunges (10 each Leg), 20 split Jacks (10 each Leg). Finally, a short mosey to CHOP and complete 20 Burpees, 20 Squats, 20 Merkins, 20 Big Boys. A break was taken for the F3 message. All Pax will mosey to Wharton Street and complete Aiken legs – 20 squats, 20 box jumps, 20 lunges (10 each Leg), 20 split Jacks (10 each Leg). Mosey back to CHOP and complete 20 Burpees, 20 Squats, 20 Merkins, 20 Big Boys. Approx. 1.03 miles were completed for the beatdown.
F3 Message – see below
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
As a New York Knicks basketball fan, I’ve had some victories and some play-off games to cheer for. But I’ve had my share of disappointments, too. And too many of them have come at the hands of one particular opponent – a player named Reggie Miller. This man has done more to stop my team than just about anybody I can think of because something happens to this man in a close game, when there’s suddenly just a minute or two left. He’s on fire! He may or may not have had a lot of points earlier in the game, but somehow he seems to save his best for last. With time running out, Reggie suddenly becomes a scoring machine, making fantastic shots, often scoring enough points to send my team home for the season. Any player is a powerful force when he knows the end is near and lights up to makes a difference!
Well, I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about “Lighting Up At The End Of The Game.”
You may be at a point in your “game of life” when you feel as if most of the game is behind you. You’ve scored just about all the points you’re going to score. You’re just sort of coasting from here to the end of the game. Well, that is no way to finish your game!
Consider Caleb from our word for today from the Word of God. He was one of those 12 scouts Moses sent ahead to check out the Promised Land before the Jews were to enter it. Ten came back saying, “Giants there! No way!” Two came back saying, “God is with us! Way!” But because of the unbelief of the people, a whole generation wandered in the wilderness for 40 more years until all the adults of that unbelieving generation were dead – except those two believers, Joshua and Caleb. Now, with the new generation taking the Promised Land, Caleb is 40 years older than his first visit there. But is he ready to hang up his sneakers and call it a game? No way!
Here it is. Joshua 14:10. “So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as He said.” Not bad for 85, huh?
Here is one of God’s players who is near the end of his game – but he wants to light up the scoreboard. He says, “Give me that mountain! I’ll take on those giants if they’re in the way of what God wants!” That’s the kind of fourth quarter players that God is looking for! Yes, your body may slow down some, your energy may not be what it once was, but you aren’t dead yet! God wouldn’t be leaving you here if He still didn’t have work for you to do, lives for you to touch, a difference for you to make! In the Holy Spirit’s great outpouring just before Jesus returns, God says in Acts 2:17, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.”
Maybe you’ve allowed yourself to slip into a survival mentality, or maybe you’ve become self-absorbed or self-pitying. In the fourth quarter, some people just settle into a reward mindset. “Well, I’ve worked hard all these years. I’ll just settle back and relax now. It’s time just to reward myself for what I did in the first three quarters of the game.” Wait a minute! The game isn’t over yet! We’ll rest in heaven. We’ll get rewarded in heaven. But, for now, we can’t waste any of the all-too-few days we have to serve Christ. As the Apostle Paul neared his finish line, he said he was “poured out like a drink offering.” He wanted to cross the finish line having given so much for his Master that he had nothing left when he collapsed into Jesus’ arms! Don’t you want to do that?
That’s the kind of four-quarters heroes God is looking for. So make up your mind that you’re going to finish your game well. For, as Amy Carmichael said, “We will have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only a few short hours to win them.” And we are in those few short hours.
PAX: Bunt, Chattahoochee, Drago, Fireplex, Probe, Ruxpin, Toad, Toy Soldier
Warm up
SSH – 20 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats
Windmills – 20 IC
The Thang
Hindenburg BLIMPS from the Exicon
Modified version of Blimps. Perform exercise at corner #1, mosey to corner #2, perform exercise, mosey to corner #3, perform exercise. Then mosey to corner #4, perform exercise, and then mosey back to corner #1. Plank it up until all PAX are in. That completes one round. Round #1 – 10 Burpees. Round #2 – 20 Lunges each leg. Round #3 – 30 Imperial Walkers. Round #4 – 40 Merkins. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats.
Each round consists of @ .25 miles – Mill Street was the block of choice. All Pax completed four rounds through the round of 40 Merkins at each corner. One evolution of the 50 Plankjacks and one evolution of 60 squats was completed in the COT to finish the morning strong.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Our friend Mark grew up on the farm; actually on an Ozark Mountain farm. And that means rocks in your fields! One local grandfather used to say, “Every time it rains I grow rocks in my field.” Mark knows all about that. Over a period of time, his mother made him clear hundreds of rocks out of one of their fields when he was just a little guy. Well then, Mark bought some land from his mother as an adult. And as he started to work one of those fields, he was really pleasantly surprised by how amazingly rock-free it is. Then it dawned on him, this was the field he had made rock-free when he was a boy!
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Harvest of Doing Good.”
Mark was reaping the good work he did many years ago, enjoying the benefits of those efforts. That’s a reminder of one of the wisest laws in the Bible, “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). We usually think about that in terms of the bad consequences of the bad seed we sow, but there’s another side to that reaping equation.
In Galatians 6:8-9, our word for today from the Word of God, it says, “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life.” So you don’t just reap the bad you sow; you reap the good you sow. Paul goes on to make a very practical application, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Why do we sometimes give up on some of the good we’re trying to do? Well, because of the nature of harvesting. If a farmer plants corn on a Tuesday, he doesn’t go out and pick it on a Wednesday, or maybe for many, many Wednesdays after that. There’s a time lag between sowing and reaping, and so it can look like nothing’s going to come from it. So we quit sowing in the lives of our children, our church, our coworkers, our friends.
But we end up living today in the life we built yesterday – the relationships we built – good or bad, the reputation we built. We’re living in it today. The ways we’ve treated people. Well, you did some sowing today and you’ll ultimately get back the kinds of things you sowed. So spend the time that person needs from you. Consciously do random acts of kindness each day. Give a gift when there’s no occasion for your appreciation; just giving it for the person themself. Send those thank you notes. Give that compliment; that word of encouragement. Use the money God’s entrusted to you to lift people’s burdens and people’s spirits. Don’t be afraid to be generous. After all, Jesus said, “You lose your life by trying to hang onto it, but you find your life by giving it away” (Luke 9:24).
Scripture is full of encouragement to keep sowing good seed. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more” (Mark 4:24). “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25). Don’t be afraid of what you’ll lose by giving. God has promised that you’re going to gain so much more. You don’t become richer by keeping what you’ve got. You become richer in your life in some way or another by giving it away.
So, keep scattering good seed wherever you go. Make it a daily thing, because when you do, somewhere down the road there’s an awesome harvest coming.
First round break 10 Pretzel sticks per side Not so easy lazy boy
Second round Toy Soldier set 50 lbcs 20 E2Ks per side 10 big boys
3rd F Hit on United’s men’s night. The pastor talked about what is you scoreboard? Money, promotions, success? It should be: Legacy, relationships, family
Third round 15 gas pumpers 15 American hammers 15 big boys
Mosey back to AO
Bolt 45
Number-Rama NAME-A-RAMA COT
5 HIM showed today: Semi, Toy Soldier, Trex, Mr. Mom, Hump day