Don't be Afraid
Hey, everyone!
Hang on…just a sec…
"BEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!
BEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!
The National Weather Service in Morristown has detected that this Sunday is our monthly fellowship meal at Triple C after the Worship Service!! Everyone head to the kitchen of your home to fix 2 extra-large dishes of something yummy to share with others, and we all stay to eat together.
Remember that these events can produce meatballs the size of golf balls.
Remember, if you hear praise music, you're close enough to stay for the fellowship meal.
Please remember when making your dishes that we invite any visitors to stay and eat, as well as we have a large, growing community of college folks who drive in from schools to attend church at Triple C (how awesome is that?!). They come on their own, and we want to make them feel welcome by sharing our food with them. SO MAKE EXTRA FOOD FOR ALL THESE FRIENDS!
The oven in the kitchen is always set on low to keep dishes warm while you attend Community Groups and Worship. We also have several fridges to keep food cold. So come on up Sunday and stay for lunch! We now return you to your regularly scheduled email…
BEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!
BEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!"
Wow!
The National Weather Service needs to work on that beep thing!
And that computer voice is a little creepy!
Speaking of weather…and creepiness...
I heard that, with night-time temps in the 50's and highs in the 70's, it's gonna be totally fall-like next week! You can feel it in the air…Ready, folks? It's that time of year when it's gonna be getting crisp!
And creepy!
Have you started to see some of that mess people put out in their yards for all to see? Like the song says, "It's the most creepiest time of the year!" Today's the 12th of September so that means there are seven weeks 'til that holiday at the end of next month that they love so much, but you can already see the plastic gravestones and bones some fill their yards and trees with! I mean, C'mon, folks! Sometimes I'm driving by those yards with little kids in my car! And they didn't think I could handle "How To Train Your Dragon 2"! They went with their grandmother but thought there were moments that were a little too intense for "Pop" ("See what we mean, Mimi?"). What if they know I have to drive by and see that stuff hanging from people's trees?!
I don't mean to be all "Scrooge-y" about folks getting in the holiday spirit but…Wait! Maybe I DO mean to be Scrooge-y about it!! One night of fright was all it took for Ol' Ebenezer to have a new, kinder heart but he was totally over scary stuff for the rest of his days! Me, too! One look into one of those yards, and I've had all I want of that!
While I'm just lettin' my opinions fly today, I'll go ahead and say it- I'm not a big fan of the corn maze craze either! It's not the tiny bug bites, the admission prices, or the respiratory problems that are tough on me. My problems are "where, which, and when"…as in, not knowing where you are, which turn to take, and when (if ever!) you're getting out of there! In your heart, you know it's a field of rickety, old corn stalks and not the jungles of the Amazon, but still…
I remember reading about this family in Massachusetts who got turned around, confused and scared in the corn maze on a farm in Danvers, Mass. In fact, they totally freaked!! Thankfully, they had…TA DAAA! Cell phones! They called 911 from within the maze! The recording was released to the public…
Pretty dramatic stuff!
Police dispatch...6:39 pm:
Woman: "Please, help us! We're stuck in the corn maze at Connors Farms. I don't see anybody!!. I am really scared!! It's really dark and we've got a 3-week-old baby with us!!!"
Dispatcher: "Just relax. Calm down. Your husband is with you, right?"
Woman: "Yes, but my baby!?"
Dispatcher: "OK. I understand and the police officer is on the way."
Ol' Farmer Connors said it was a busy day and he left the farm about 6:20 p.m. Monday, only to return a short time later. when he received a phone call from a friend who told him about police squad cars at the family farm at 30 Valley Road…
The cops rushed into the end of the maze with their humans-stuck-in-the-corn-maze-sniffing dogs and found the terrified family just twenty five feet from the exit. Almost made it out and didn't know it!
Once they were rescued, the wife told the police, “"We thought this would be fun. Instead it's a nightmare!"
Reminds me of a night I read about recently. Some guys didn't know where they were, which way to turn, and when it'd be over…
Jesus told His friends to get in a boat late…in the dark!… to cross the lake. Without Him. They watched Him walk up a mountain trail as they drifted from shore. They thought the sea at night was, well, creepy! And it got scary! Storms come at night out there! And one done did! In the middle of the night, as lightning flashed and waves crashed, they were having a tough time just keeping it afloat! Mark 6 says they were "straining at the oars". But Mark lets us in on stuff they didn't know!
"Jesus went on the mountain to pray" for them…'
"Jesus saw them" out there on the sea…
"Jesus came to them, shortly before dawn, walking on the waves…"
"They thought He was a ghost!" (Probably that time of year when people put that kind of junk from the trees in their yards!)
"He said, 'Take courage! It is I! Don't be afraid!!!' "
Once they let Him in the boat, "The waves died down…" and John tells us, "immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading."
Wherever you are...whether in the middle of a corn maze or the middle of tough days…
He prays for you!
He sees you!
He'll come to you at just the right moment!
And that fright…that night…that seemed like it would never end, will suddenly be over!
You're safe!
Always were!
I guess some folks like to be afraid.
Our Lord said, "Don't be!"
I think I'll listen to Him!