New Philadelphia News
W
e have got to live our lives forward, not backward.
Lot’s wife looked backward and turned into a pillar of salt. Don’t be so caught up in the transformation that you miss the cause of the transformation — looking backward, not forward. Any of us who live our lives in the past are in danger of drying up. Most people would say that St. Paul is one of the most important figures in scripture. Certainly no New Testament figure is more important, with the exception of Jesus himself. In Philippians 3, he list all his achievements according to the flesh: Circumcised on the 8th day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. He goes on to say that whatever gain he had, he counted as loss for the sake of knowing---that is, of belonging to, Jesus Christ. He talks about what that mean to him for a sentence or two then he talks about our orientation.
to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. “Forgetting what lies behind.” Not just the bad stuff, not just our failures, and our disapointments, but the good stuff, too. Paul was talking primarily about the good stuff, because it is the good stuff that makes us want to live in the past. The truth is we can’t. The past is a foreign country we can never enter again. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a one hit wonder. I don’t want to spend what is left of my life talking about what Bruce Springsteen called “Glory Days.” I want to move on, and up, and believe that what I am doing right now may be the most important work of my life. There is a reward, and it is more than heaven. St. Paul says that the prize is “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The reward that God promises is not all pie in the sky by and by. It is the joy of serving God and one another, right now. What is your orientation?
The Pastor
He says: Forgetting what lies behind, and straining forward
Church Family in Care Facilities:
(Please notify the church office if there is a change in residence)
Sarah Bricker (Elms @ Tanglewood) Ruby Byrd (Golden Living Retirement) Kathleen Coble (Clare Bridge/Peace Haven) Margaret Cooke (Trinity Glen) Lorene Crater (Bermuda Village) Clarence Gabard (Salemtowne-119 Phillips) Lib Greene (Homestead Hills) Betty Holcomb (Homestead Hills) Sue Hughes (Homestead Hills) Robert Johnson Carolyn Robinson (Brian Center) Mary Steinkopff (Homestead Hills) June Smith (Salemtowne) Delphine Thompson (Homestead Hills)
Plan now to join the Funtastics on Thursday, August 21 when we tour the Richard Childress Racing Museum located in Welcome, NC. After the tour we’ll enjoy a delicious lunch at Zoe’s Southern Grill. We will leave the church that morning at 9:30AM. No RSVP required; all are welcome and please bring a friend!