“A Time to Laugh”
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4a “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven…a time to weep and a time to laugh…”
Laughter is woven into the fabric of life; may I suggest that it is an ordained part of life as it should be lived. Who here has not enjoyed a time to laugh?
Now I know what some of you are thinking…
Just great-I come to church to worship in song and giving and hear God’s Word preached. This is serious business! And Amato is going to preach on laughing? Or
Just great-That Amato, he’s Italian and Italians are always laughing. But I’m not Italian, so who does he think he’s preaching to? Or
Just great-That Amato, he’s sanguine and sanguine people are always laughing.. But I’m not sanguine, so who does he think he’s preaching to? Or
Just great-That Amato, he’s oblivious to reality. “When you become an adult, you need to be responsible…and we live in a world of reality which includes difficulties…and therefore, we have no business laughing and enjoying life.” (Swindoll) Everyone knows the old expression: “Life is no laughing matter.” What does Ecclesiastes also say? “There is a time to weep”, so who does he think he’s preaching to? Or
Just great-That Amato is going to preach on a topic that finds no place in the serious works of theology. Who here has ever heard a sermon on laughter? So why is he preaching on it?
Now before you force me to close in prayer, why don’t we start with Scripture? Do you know what Scripture says about laughter?
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“A Church Between Senior Pastors”
In the past, it was said, “There are two things certain about life: death and taxes.” Can I suggest a third thing that you are certain to encounter in your life? Change.
Change is part of a church’s life as well. Possibly the biggest change a church can face is the departure of its senior pastor. And when the pastor has been around for 21 years, it is change with a capital “C”. MBC in its 50 years has had four senior pastors. Sherrie and I have been attending MBC since the late 70’s and have experienced the departure of Pastor Higgs, Pastor Norris and now Pastor Peacock. Looking back, how have you responded to the departure of Pastor Peacock? We as humans react in a variety of ways (physically, mentally and emotionally) and are, with regard to Pastor Peacock’s departure, on a spectrum from “This is the end of MBC church life as we know it” to “No big deal”. Where are you on that spectrum? How are you reacting? What are you feeling? What are you thinking? What are you saying? What are you doing?
Let me take a different perspective? How do you react spiritually to change? How should you react from a spiritual perspective?
Now, let me change the perspective again-from reacting to preparing. Are you individually ready for our next Senior Pastor? Are we corporately ready for our next Senior Pastor? Are there any “clues” in Scripture about how we should be responding to our current “Senior Pastor-less” circumstances? Individually? Corporately? I believe there are “clues” and that’s where we’re headed
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Last Words and the Last Word
“Rosebud”
“Citizen Kane”-Most movie critics list this 1941 movie as one of the best, if not the best film ever made. The story of a rich newspaper owner. Remember the start of the movie which depicted Kane’s deathbed scene and his last word: “Rosebud”, with a glass figurine with a snowy, winter scene, dropping from his hand to the floor. The rest of the movie is a depiction of his life story, but focused around attempting to decipher the meaning of his last word, “Rosebud”.
Last words are significant and many times by the conscious choice of a dying individual, last words reflect what was most important to the speaker, maybe even reflecting that person’s essence, the most intimate clue as to what made that person tick.
My birthday was yesterday-another of the annual milestones, that keep coming at me with what seems to be increasing speed. When I stop and think the number of years, months, days, hours, minutes I’ve logged…Well, I stop and think. More often, these days, I have been thinking about last words, or in a more general sense, finishing life and finishing it well.
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Brent is a family man, married to Sherrie since 1976 and father of two adult children, Jason and Kristin. While he has practiced business/corporate law in the Chicagoland area since 1976 and currently serves as Vice President, General Counsel of Heritage-Crystal Clean, a publicly-traded company based in Elgin, Illinois. He has journeyed on a parallel ministry path for over thirty-five years. Brent has served his local and other churches and through the Christian Legal Society and Peacemaker Ministries. He has sustained his "love affair" with "children of all ages", serving for six years as Chairman of a Christian Elementary and Junior High School, leading for ten years a college/career Bible Study in his home, teaching Business Law for four years as an Adjunct Professor at Judson University and teaching in churches for over thirty-five years in classes ranging from Junior High through Senior Adults. Brent is a free lance writer for Standard Publishing. He has served as a church moderator for over twenty years. His ministries have been sustained and expanded through God's grace and the exercise of the spiritual gifts of teaching, administration and encouragement. Brent strongly believes that God continues to call him to these ministries.