Pastor’s Thoughts: Lost

February 11th, 2008 admin

There have been two or three times that I have tried to get into the Television show Lost. My problem is that my schedule has made it difficult for me to watch the show every week. Lost is one of those shows that keeps you on the edge of your seat, moving the plot along at high speeds. You may watch every episode and feel a bit lost, but you miss one, and you are toast. So I have given up.
Perhaps life is not much different. The things that we face day in and day out move along at a high speed. We may feel a bit on the edge of our seat, a bit lost as we deal with the mundane, but then when we add a parenting challenge as a child enters a season, or our marriage hits a bump, or work gets hard or tanks, or the bills have mounted higher than we can see, all of a sudden we feel lost without a prayer.
God knows that we need some help. He knows that we need somewhere to turn. He knows we are Lost when it comes to life, but we are not lost without a prayer. We have a God that wants to listen, will listen, and will help us in our haze. Don’t give up. Talk to your Heavenly Father, for He has promised to listen!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

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Pastor’s Thoughts: The Big Game

February 5th, 2008 Pastor Dan

Three years ago, a huge man and his family moved in below our apartment in a 100 year old quad in St. Louis. He was 325 pounds, 6’5” and all muscle. I sheepishly went to meet him and asked what he did for a living. He told me he was an NFL player on injured reserve. He had a torn bicep muscle.
The next year, he rehabbed his arm and made it back onto the Seattle Seahawks team only to tear his ACL. He spent most of 2005 in St. Louis instead of Seattle. But Seattle made it to the big game that year. He never played a second in the regular season, didn’t do a thing to help the team make it to the Super Bowl, but Ron was still part of the team. He and his wife were flown to the game by the team, promised a ring if they won…
As believers in Jesus we are in the big game. We did nothing to get us there. We have added nothing to the team, but we are promised the prize. The amazing thing is that even while the game is still on, even when most are on the edge of their seats, we have peace. Peace that we will win! We will win the best prize, not a ring and a trip to Disney World, but Forgiveness from our failure and a trip to be with Jesus forever. A promise of the ultimate victory where our injuries, our scars, and our failures are no longer! We Win!

“Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home… And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.” Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me.” John 14:1-6 The Message

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Pastor’s Thoughts: I need…

February 5th, 2008 Pastor Dan

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I really need some Ice Cream.”  Or maybe, “I need a Cheeseburger and fries.”  I need, I need…  I need a new shirt, a new HDTV, a new corvette, a new 4,600 sq foot home.  I need.  But what do we need?  We may want those things, but we don’t need them.
We do have needs.  We need some food and water to survive, we need sleep, and we need air.  But we also have other needs.
I believe a very fundamental need is relationships.  We “need” a relationship with our Creator and Savior.  We need to know He loves, forgives, and cares for us.  But one of the main ways he carries out that love, forgiveness and care is through other relationships.  We need each other.  We need to get to know people who can help us remember whose we are.  We need others to keep us accountable, to remind us of God’s forgiveness, and to celebrate life with us.  God works through the Power of Wii, through the power of His church.

Ephesians 2:21-22 (Message) You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building… Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

Dan Hauser, Campus Pastor

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Pastor’s Thoughts: Fighting

January 16th, 2008 admin

It seems to me that fighting is always a reality when it comes to marriages and families. I am not a pessimist, just a realist. The fact is you are either fighting for or against something. If you try to be idle, you will almost always end up fighting against. But when together you decide what you value, what things are worth fighting for and go after them, it will keep you from fighting against each other.

As a family, as a marriage, it is time to fight. Do you know what you are fighting for? Try fighting for a marriage that is alive, that serves God and each other. Try fighting for a marriage and family that sticks together. Try fighting for a family that let’s faith in Christ impact their every decision. Fighting for will keep the fighting against to a minimum, and a fight with Christ at the center, lets grace reign.May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 15:5-6 

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