Sunday March 1, God’s grace was sufficient (enough) for me to finish preaching, but didn’t leave me much room for interpreting the three questions that came in from the text line. I think I misread two of the three. Therefore, I’m going to take another shot:
Q1: I understood this one and answered the question about redemption/restoration cycles in a believer’s life.
Q2: “Since Jesus died and rose from the dead, isn’t He our one & only Ultimate Hero”?
This one threw me, and I bobbled it. I later remembered my “aside” during my opening illustration about the march from Normandy to Berlin.
One of the dangers of not manuscripting (writing down every single word of one’s sermon) is that one gets used to saying whatever pops into one’s head, trusting that it’s from God and one’s study. However, sometimes it’s just a strong memory that, as in this case, has absolutely nothing to do with the message. As I have mentioned, I came to Blue Ridge, now Word of Grace, in 1997, when a number of WW2 vets were still actively attending. They were in attendance when a guest speaker was introduced as a Vietnam Era “War Hero.” To a man, they each let me know, privately, that the heroes were the ones that were buried “over there”. The ones, like them, who came home to their families, were just vets. They were all quietly adamant, and that memory popped out on Sunday morning in a way that likely made zero sense. 🙂
Q3: “What is that to you? You follow me” Is it appropriate to co-opt this phrasing when parenting children?”
I feel like I missed the specificity of this one. I believe, after some thought that the texter was asking, is it okay if everything isn’t “even-steven” for the kids? I think consistency is very important in parenting. If you are talking about simply gracing (gifting) a child over another child, I think I would try to seek balance in the long-term. Now if it is a merit thing, or an age thing, I think the parent should put his or her foot down like Jesus did. (Just write the achievement or age down somewhere so you can reward the younger kids the same way if they achieve that same way – I say this not so much as a Bible scholar but as a counselor).
Thanks for letting me clarify,
Pastor Scott
Grace Notes 