Magnets and Steel

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, July 26, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Magnets And Steel

Don't Hide Your Happiness

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, July 12, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Don't Hide Your Happiness

Appetite For Reconstruction

A message by Pastor Jeremiah Vik at Remnant on Sunday, July 5, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Appetite For Reconstruction

Do As I Say (Not as I Do)

A message by Pastor Jeremiah Vik at Remnant on Sunday, June 21, 2009. Part of the series, "You Can't Say That In Church"

Do As I Say (Not as I Do)

Can't Get No Satisfaction

A message by Pastor Jeremiah Vik at Remnant on Sunday, June 7, 2009. Part of the series, "You Can't Say That In Church"

Can't Get No Satisfaction

99 44/100% Pure

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, May 31, 2009. Part of the series, "You Can't Say That In Church"

The Naked Truth

View From The Pew: Soren's Reflection

I feel pretty sad for my grandson, Soren. His picture was in the Imperial Valley Press Tuesday, and it was an amazing picture of a cute kid. Truth be told, he is probably the cutest baby on the planet. And that is not just Grandpa bias, it is documented truth! Check out the picture and tell me I’m wrong. You can’t!
What I feel bad about is that people keep telling me that he looks just like me. That is a truly frightening prospect for him. I have spent my whole life knowing that I could stick my face in a bowl of dough and make monster cookies. I wanted better for him.
At this point in our lives, Soren and I do have a few things in common. We both have blue eyes, but so did Frank Sinatra, so that’s not much. We are both chubby and cuddly. Neither one of us has much hair, but he has potential. Neither one of us has much of a neck. I did find out that a neck is one of the last things to develop on a baby, so maybe we’re both just late bloomers.
The differences are staggering. I am six feet tall, he is one foot nothing. My beard is gray, his beard is too faint to see a color so far. I have most of my teeth, he has none of his. A fact I am sure his mother appreciates right now.
While I am an adult in the later stages of my life, Soren literally has his whole life ahead of him. It is so hard to believe that I was once where he is, but I was. It was a loooong time ago, but I was!
It is flattering that people see Soren in me. Or see me in Soren. He is my grandson, my cool little buddy, and I love him to pieces.
As cool as Soren is, I really want people to see someone else in me. When people see me I want them to see a positive reflection of Jesus. Just like the moon can only reflect the sun’s light, I want my life to reflect God’s light.
Last Sunday at Remnant I read a portion of a letter from a new Christian to the person who influenced her to Christ. She ended the letter by writing, “And for those reasons and a whole host of others, I found myself really wanting what you had. Now that I’ve become a Christian, I wanted to write to tell you I’m grateful beyond words for how you lived out your Christian life in front of me.”
If you’re a Christian, who in your life could write that kind of letter to you? When people see us they are supposed to see a life that they want, a peace and comfort in our lives that makes them want what we have. It is so easy for us to get so caught up in our day to day lives that we forget that people are watching us to see if what we have is real. It is imperative that people see Jesus, not our faults.
If you aren’t a Christian, take a good look at the Christians in your life. Hopefully, you will see something valuable in them, in the way God helps them through their trials and tribulations. Just like Soren is not a perfect representation of me, so Christians can fall short of being perfect mirrors of Jesus. No excuses, just the way it is sometimes.
Hoping Soren outgrows my reflection… Jerry

View From The Pew for this week

I feel pretty sad for my grandson, Soren. His picture was in the Imperial Valley Press Tuesday, and it was an amazing picture of a cute kid. Truth be told, he is probably the cutest baby on the planet. And that is not just Grandpa bias, it is documented truth! Check out the picture and tell me I’m wrong. You can’t!
What I feel bad about is that people keep telling me that he looks just like me. That is a truly frightening prospect for him. I have spent my whole life knowing that I could stick my face in a bowl of dough and make monster cookies. I wanted better for him.
At this point in our lives, Soren and I do have a few things in common. We both have blue eyes, but so did Frank Sinatra, so that’s not much. We are both chubby and cuddly. Neither one of us has much hair, but he has potential. Neither one of us has much of a neck. I did find out that a neck is one of the last things to develop on a baby, so maybe we’re both just late bloomers.
The differences are staggering. I am six feet tall, he is one foot nothing. My beard is gray, his beard is too faint to see a color so far. I have most of my teeth, he has none of his. A fact I am sure his mother appreciates right now.
While I am an adult in the later stages of my life, Soren literally has his whole life ahead of him. It is so hard to believe that I was once where he is, but I was. It was a loooong time ago, but I was!
It is flattering that people see Soren in me. Or see me in Soren. He is my grandson, my cool little buddy, and I love him to pieces.
As cool as Soren is, I really want people to see someone else in me. When people see me I want them to see a positive reflection of Jesus. Just like the moon can only reflect the sun’s light, I want my life to reflect God’s light.
Last Sunday at Remnant I read a portion of a letter from a new Christian to the person who influenced her to Christ. She ended the letter by writing, “And for those reasons and a whole host of others, I found myself really wanting what you had. Now that I’ve become a Christian, I wanted to write to tell you I’m grateful beyond words for how you lived out your Christian life in front of me.”
If you’re a Christian, who in your life could write that kind of letter to you? When people see us they are supposed to see a life that they want, a peace and comfort in our lives that makes them want what we have. It is so easy for us to get so caught up in our day to day lives that we forget that people are watching us to see if what we have is real. It is imperative that people see Jesus, not our faults.
If you aren’t a Christian, take a good look at the Christians in your life. Hopefully, you will see something valuable in them, in the way God helps them through their trials and tribulations. Just like Soren is not a perfect representation of me, so Christians can fall short of being perfect mirrors of Jesus. No excuses, just the way it is sometimes.
Hoping Soren outgrows my reflection… Jerry