“Don’t follow me, I’m lost.” said the sign on the back of a car. The word “lost” is often used to describe a situation where folks don’t know where they are. Or it can refer to being lost at sea. But the most important and most serious use of the word “lost” was used by Jesus Himself in Luke’s gospel when He said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He was not referring to something lost physically, but of the spiritual condition of every human being. While the intellectually challenged and infants are not accountable for a sinful nature, the rest of us must stand before our maker one day to give account for how we have lived. The only way to prepare for that all-important inevitable meeting is to come into a proper relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus. Or as Paul put it, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

A recent article in MacLean’s magazine entitled “death by sugar” revealed some startling information about that sweetener. The average Canadian eats nearly 100 pounds of sugar each year. Of 600,000 food items sold in the U.S. grocery stores, 80% have added sugar. Eating sugar stimulates the same parts of the brain as drugs or alcohol. Sugar is not only linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes, but possibly Alzheimer’s disease as well. So what do we do with this information? We keep on eating sugar! While ignoring proven facts about our physical health can lead to disease, ignoring proven truth about our spiritual health can lead to disaster. Isaiah urges us to “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near….He will have mercy and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” God’s Word has all the answers to our questions. Have you read it?

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Heidi Connor, a suburban Chicago woman and her four children are safe after a 200 pound deer “fell from the sky”. It had leaped from an overpass, landing in the middle of her minivan as it traveled along a highway. This certainly was an unexpected and bizarre event. And as we travel down the highway of life, we can all encounter the unexpected and unusual to happen. Friends, whom we trusted can turn against us. The security of our marriages can disappear. Unemployment or sickness can knock on our doors. But in the midst of uncertainty, there is one comforting assurance- God never changes. He said, “I am the Lord I change not.” He always keeps His Word, and His promises. For example- Jesus said, “Him who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out.” And He also keeps His promise, “I will never leave your nor forsake you.” You can take that to the Bank!

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Corrie Ten Boom, famous heroine of the Second World war suffered unspeakable horrors in a Nazi Concentration Camp during Hitler’s reign of terror. Her story of triumph is told in her book “The Hiding Place” she wrote, “Dear Jesus, how foolish of me to call for human help when You are here.” Most of us will never be called upon to suffer as Corrie did, but in every life some hardship and sufferings will come. Instead of blaming God for our trouble, let’s turn to Him for forgiveness and comfort, claiming the Bible promise in the book of James, “Draw near unto God and He will draw near to you.” But James was inspired to add in that same verse, the following condition for our coming near to God and He to us- “Cleanse your hands …and purify your hearts, you double minded….humble yourselves in the sight of God and He will lift you up.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a brilliant American poet, philosopher and essayist. He attended the Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard and the Harvard School of Divinity. Although the death of his 19 year old wife caused a crisis in his faith, he later wrote, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”Emerson’s strong faith is a testimonial to the fact that faith in God need not be limited to the uneducated or average intelligent. If you are one who believes that faith in the Bible and trust in Christ is only for the elderly and superstitious, Ralph Waldo Emerson should cause you to re-think your philosophy of life. Perhaps he was thinking of the New Testament book of Hebrews -“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith in the Bible, God’s inspired Word is for people of all ages, including you and me.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He contributed to many areas of mathematics. Many brilliant quotes are attributed to him. Such as the following: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man that cannot be filled by any created thing, but only God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” In that, Pascal is in line with the words of the Bible, God’s inspired Word. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father except through me.” In spite of this, some try to reach the Father by doing good works, religious practices, or a human mediator. Timothy wrote “… there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…” Only those properly related to Jesus by faith will ever see the Father.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

The world’s tallest free standing structure is the Burj Khalifa ((burge kaleefa) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates which stands 2,722 feet. Its foundation of concrete and steel is 164 feet deep. Without that foundation, the massive structure would topple over. Foundations are vital in buildings, but also in people. Jesus warned that we should not build our lives on sand, but solid rock. And Paul wrote, “…no other foundation can anyone lay that that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Clearly we should not build our lives on the useless sandy unstable philosophies of this world, but on the solid rock-like truths which Jesus proclaimed -we are all sinners by nature and by choice and only He, by His death at Calvary, can take us successfully through this life and open the door to the next life. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell

An old Dutch fable tells of a spider who spun a single thread of web from the high roof of a barn to a lower level. There he spun a web, caught flies, lived well and grew fat. One day, he decide that the thread was useless, so he snapped it. But the web collapsed the spider fell to the ground and was stepped on and crushed Jesus told a parable with a similar truth. He told of a prosperous rich man who thought only of this life, saying, “I will say of my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease: eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided.” Then Jesus added, ‘So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Is a word to the wise sufficient?

Pastor Alex Rockwell

In many cities across the land, offices have no seats. Workers stand up to do their work. Sitting is being described as unhealthy by medical professionals, who point out the perils of a sedentary lifestyle. According to the Mayo Clinic, 50-70% of Americans spend six or more hours a day sitting. If this could be cut in half, two years could be added to the life span. There is a definite relationship between sitting and thinking. Busy as we are, there is need to be still and think. The Bible, says it well-“be still and know that I am God.” In other words, God, our Creator wants us to stop in our busy lives and think about the most important part of our lives- our relationship with God our maker. When we do, enlightened by His Word, the Bible we will see ourselves as He sees us, be drawn to a recognition of our true spiritual needs (“all have sinned”) and to inviting His Son into our lives.

Pastor Alex Rockwell

Now that the pleasant summer days are here, most of us ha e forgotten the harsh winter past that some have called, “The winter that never ended.” But God gives each season just as He gives the seasons of life, childhood, youth, adulthood, old age. Time passes quickly and no one can know for sure how much time we have left on this earth. But we can be sure of one thing. God reassures of His love and extends an invitation to all who will listen. The famous John 3:16 passage says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” When we acknowledge our wrong-doing, ask God’s forgiveness and accept His gift of eternal life, we can say with confidence, “My times are in your hands.” Corrie Ten Boom reminds us “Never be afraid to trust and unknown future to a known God.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell