This sermon is the prologue to an important new series on the Book of Job. While this Psalm is challenging, we can take encouragement from it. There is only one God and the Psalmist knows it. Though he is despairing, though abandoned, he never stops trusting God. He knows God is personal and that only God can bring the salvation he needs. Right in the Middle of It 20120513BA

1. The Path to Wisdom (Job 28:1-28)

The book of Job is part of the Bible’s wisdom literature. The purpose of this literature “is not merely observation, but actually how to live life!  Job 28 takes us on an epic jopurney along the path to wisdom.  It takes us from the deep, dark places of the earth, through a market place, the depths of teh oceans, the place of the dead to the very presence of God himself. The Path to Wisdom 20120520BA

On Sunday June 10 there will be no services at LBCBC. We will be gathering at Millstream Bible Camp and Retreat Centre at Omemee for our great annual picnic day.

At 10:00 a.m. we will meet in the Chapel for our Worship Service. This will be followed by a delicious lunch in the dining room. After lunch we enjoy all the facilities – the intrepid canoe,  the brave swim, the athletic play basketball, volleyball, baseball, ball hockey. The more contemplative go for long walks or take to fishing. Others socialize and enjoy long talks under the trees. Some of us love the tuck shop!

Join us for this great time of worship, fellowship, recreation, fun and food!

Check out Millstream at  http://www.millstream.ws/index.html

About fourteen years ago Lauri and I moved to Little Britain with our three children. Lauri, being a Christian, quickly found this church as a place of worship for our family which I attended off and on. You see, I wasn’t anywhere close to being committed to the Lord as Lauri and the children were. About six years ago I stopped attending. Sunday service altogether, coming up with every excuse imaginable not to attend.

During these years I diligently pursued what I thought was true happiness and fulfilment: money and personal possessions. I became obsessed with accumulating as much money and as many toys as was humanly possible and was doing a pretty good job of it too. My bank account was getting fatter and fatter, our house was the biggest in the neighbourhood. I was driving brand new vehicles, had an ATV in the garage along with pretty much every other toy you could imagine. I had them all. I even bragged about it. I adopted the motto, “He who dies with the most toys wins” and I was pretty sure that if I had kicked the bucket right then and there, that if I didn’t win, I would surely be in the Hall of Fame.

Through this time, two things remained constant: Lauri and the children never gave up and continued to encourage me to come back to church but, more importantly, back to the Lord. But, by this time I could have written a book on excuses – and besides, I was completely blinded by self-gratification and greed. Secondly, there was this pesky guy, and he was proving to be a bit more of a challenge to shake. It seemed that almost every month I would get a phone call: “Hello Rick, Tom Callan here. There’s a Men’s Breakfast on Saturday. Would you like to come?” I mean, this guy just wouldn’t quit! I really don’t think Tom was buying any of my excuses.

It was around this time I suffered a heart attack. Prior to being sent to Sunnybrook Hospital for surgery, Pastor Andrew visited me in the local hospital, prayed for me and assured me that everybody from my church family was praying for me. Wow! People I hadn’t seen in years were praying for me! You’d think that would have woken me up, but as I recovered, time went by and I slipped back into my self-destructive ways.

Well, I thought things were going great. I was on easy street and times couldn’t possibly get better – until about a year ago. That’s when thing began going South and my whole world seemed to be falling apart around me. Our bank account went from fat to overdrawn. I watched as one by one my toys were being taken away: the new vehicles, the ATV, pretty much everything I had bragged about. We were even losing the “biggest house I the neighbourhood.”

Through all this, Lauri and Amber were doing their best trying to convince me that I should get back to the Lord. And then the phone rang. Guess who? Yup, Tom Callan. I don’t know why, but this time I found myself saying, “Ya, I’d like that. I’ll see you Saturday.” Well, I went to the Men’s Breakfast that Saturday morning and really enjoyed myself. But, before I could exit, Tom grabbed me, leads me to a private room, sits me down and says, “Rick, I want to know right now – where are you with the Lord?” Man, talk about not pulling any punches! We spoke a little, ending with Tom asking, “Will I see you tomorrow?” The next day I found myself sitting in church with my family for the first time in many years. I thank the Lord for never letting Tom or Lauri give up. If not for the Holy Spirit working in them, I might not be standing here today.
A short time later, Lauri decided that I wanted to attend the Christianity Explored course and that we would go as a family. I found myself actually looking forward to it. At the time I didn’t know it, but my life was about to be completely transformed. I was truly blessed because I had been put in a group with Pastor Malcolm and his wife Ruth as leaders. Week after week I was learning the true meaning of Christianity, hanging on every story Pastor Malcolm told. I found myself gnawing at the bit, wanting to learn more, getting more and more excited as I looked forward to the next session. Man, I was pumped!

Without me realising it, the Holy Spirit was hard at work in me. My faith and trust in the Lord was being renewed. During a session near the end of the course something came over me. All of a sudden, it dawned on me that even though I had never made an effort to change my way of thinking, and even though I had lost nearly all of my personal possessions, none of it seemed to matter any more. My desire for all those things was completely gone and my faith and trust in the Lord was at an all time high. It was then that I realized I wasn’t going to the “Toy owners Hall of Fame” . . .I was going to heaven!!

Thank you, Malcolm, for all the stories that made such an impact on my life during those weeks. I know that, as with Tom and Lauri, the Holy Spirit was working through you to bring me back to the Lord.

In a recent sermon about baptism, Pastor Andrew read this quote: “The idea of an unbaptized Christian is simply not entertained in the New Testament.” I couldn’t wait to see Pastor Andrew after that service to make absolutely certain my name was on the list for this evening. Thanks you.

Eight studies providing individuals and groups with an overview of the Bible story, from creation to consummation, adopting the whole-life perspective. Led by Pastor Andrew. Sign up in the church lobby or call the church office at 705-786-2200.

• Session 1: Where are we? (Genesis 1)                                   
• Session 2: Whole life, abundant life (Genesis 2:1-20)
• Session 3: Whole-life together (Genesis 2:20-5)
• Session 4: Paradise lost (Genesis 3)
• Session 5: Whole-life breaking in (Luke 2)
• Session 6: The revolution has begun (Luke 8)
• Session 7: Can things really change? (Luke 8)
• Session 8: The triumph of whole-life (Luke 24)

LBCBC youth is a group for students (grades nine to twelve) where everyone can feel safe and welcome. It’s a group in which they can connect with friends and make new ones. A group where everyone feels they belong and can have a lot of fun together.  A group in which they can be introduced to the person of  Jesus Christ and in which the embers of faith can be fanned.

Along with our regular Friday evening activities,  we have some other exciting things on our radar in the coming year. For example, WonderJam at Canada’s Wonderland (June 23rd), or our annual Snow Camp in the winter and LBCBC camping trip in July.  All these are huge on our LBCBC Youth calendar!

So, come on, hang out, meet new people and learn about true friendship and build your relationship with God our saviour into one that is real and relevant. I can’t wait to meet you! Listed below are some dates that you can copy to your own calendar. Please feel free to contact me through our church office at any time (705-786-2200).

I look forward to talking with you,

Blessings! Al Cavers

UPCOMING YOUTH ACTIVITIES

• Youth night at the church – April 24, 2012

• Antics – May 4, 2012

• Youth  night at the church – May 11, 2012

• No Youth activity – May 18, 2012

• TBA  - May 25, 2012 (Share the Flare)

• Youth night at the church – June 1, 2012

• TBA June 8, 2012

• Soft Ball with Bottomline Ministries – June 15, 2012

• Share the Flare – June 22, 2012

• WonderJam at Canada’s Wonderland –  June 23, 2012 (call church office or see Al cavers for tickets)

• LBCBC Youth Camping Trip – July 27-29, 2012

“Let the church remember this: that every maker and worker is called in his profession or trade–not outside it.” – Dorothy L. Sayers

Note: Part 1 is in ”Sermon Archive.”  Christians in the Workplace – Part 2 20120422BA