Morning Star and Mother’s Day

First of all, Mother’s Day is a very special day for many women in our church. We like it that way. It’s a great family day and there are many women who will be pampered by their loving families. At least, I hope that families one way or another take advantage of this holiday to show appreciation for their mothers. Nonetheless, at Morning Star Church we are discreet about Mother’s Day because it is also a very rough day for many people.

Having been married to an infertile woman for ten years, I know that Mother’s Day was an especially difficult day and I began to dislike the fact that churches totally ignored the pain of the barren woman on that day. I started realizing that Mother’s Day is a sentimental holiday, but Sunday is the Lord’s Day for ALL of God’s people. Mother’s Day is often difficult for single women also, knowing that they will probably never have a chance to be a mother. Having been in ministry for twenty years I have witnessed how Mother’s Day also conjures up bad memories of bad mothers for many dear Christian people or how it becomes an especially painful time for people who have lost their mother recently. In fact, my cousin will be taking his seven children from ages 14 down to 3 to the graveside of their mother this Sunday; the first Mother’s Day since she’s gone to heaven. Interestingly enough, we have found over the years that some women get offended if we do not hand out flowers or make a big deal on Mother’s Day so I thought that it would be a good thing to remind our core people (the ones that actually read this letter!) that we are thoughtful about the day and believe that we are most Christlike if we make Sunday primarily about the Lord and His Church where no one feels disenfranchised or inadequate or unloved.

Honoring mother is a commandment; one of the Ten. We should do it all the time. Therefore, we do encourage families to make a day of it. We do honor motherhood and we do want you to spoil that dear lady grandly. We have pared down our normal Sunday schedule to make that possible for you and we hope you take advantage of it.

For all the brothers and sisters that are not made happy by Mother’s Day, please know that our greatest joy is a shared joy: it’s Jesus Christ and Sunday is your day as much as it is anyone else’s.

- Pastor Bixby

Related Post

Mother’s Day is not Joyful for Everyone by Johanna Hanson

Some Pictures from Last Week’s Service

Jeremy, Valentin, Jason and Andrew gave us a report on the Together for the Gospel conference they attended.

 

Wednesday Evening’s Liturgy (04-04-12)

The Self-Giving Servant

We are called to be Christ-centered.  Ironically, the only One who was not Christ-centered was Christ Himself, how came into the flesh only to serve, both the Father and us,  ”For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

The Servant Paradigm:  John 13:1-17, 31-35
The Promised Servant:  Isaiah 42:1-9
The Condescending Servant:  Philippians 2:4-8

Prayer

The Servant in the Mundane:  Luke 2:39-40; 52
The Self-Denying Servant:  Luke 4:1-12
Our Servant in Life:  Philippians 3:8-9

Prayer

The Servant, the Son (Our Adoption):  Matthew 3:13-17
The Servant, The Husband (Our Sanctification):  Ephesians 5:22-23
The Suffering Servant:  Psalm 22:1-8, 14-18; Psalm 88, Isaiah 50:4-9; Isaiah 53

Prayer

The Curse Bearing Servant:  Galatians 3:10-14, I Peter 2:24-25
(Song – “Jesus Thank You)
The Servant of the Everlasting Covenant:  Psalm 89
The Self-Giving Servant:  John 15:13; John 6:48-59

Receiving the Self-Giving Servant constitutes a self-giving response (I John 4:10-11) and an exaltation of the the Servant (Hebrews 1:8-14; John 3:30).

Closing:  Psalm 116:12-19

Rices For The Harvest – In Slovakia!‏

We’re Here!

We arrived in Slovakia at about 11:00 p.m. on March 21st (6:00 p.m. EST). The trip took a little longer than originally planned, but we did make it safely.

So far we have spent most of our time in Nové Zámky, with our ABWE teammates, as we are trying to get situated in Slovakia. However, we have made several trips to our home in Bernolákovo as we try to prepare for the coming of our container. At this point, the container’s estimated arrival date is April 17.

The Roller Coaster

Up and down.

This describes our last week as we have been preparing our paperwork to obtain a “residence permit.” This has proved to be very challenging as Slovak laws have recently changed and we are trying to change, re-do, or obtain verifications for documents that are needed to apply. One day we found out that we needed some more verification and that will take some time. Another day it looked like we would be able to finish the process in time. Then yesterday came the news that there is another issue with some of the papers that we have. This is all complicated by the fact that nothing can be older than 90 days on the date our application is submitted.

We have 90 days from March 21st to obtain our permits, so our window is closing as time goes by.
We remain convinced that none of this is a surprise to God. He knows what is best and is working out His plan. We are praying that God will teach us through this situation. Part of the struggle is wanting to settle into our new home and to begin establishing our routines and we have not been able to do that. Instead our time and effort is being spent attempting to resolve our paperwork issues.

Big Prayer Requests

Would you pray with us…

• That the 4 documents needing verification from the States would come back in a timely manner.
• That we would be patient and learn from what God has planned for our family.
• That we would be able to obtain our permits so we can settle in and begin our language learning.
• That our container would arrive safely and clear customs.

Thank You

Thanks for your prayers and for your partnership! We are very encouraged knowing that we are thought of and prayed for on a regular basis!

Our Latest Members (Posted a Bit Late)

Valentin and Dasha Tokarchuk are our newest members here at Morning Star.  You can check out Valetin’s photography website here.

Pastor Bixby Preaching on Forgiveness

Some Recent Visitors…

A few Sundays ago Keven Brownfield gave us a surprise visit. Evangelist Brownfield is a college friend of both Pastor Bob and Shannon Brown.

Scott and Juli Faulks are missionaries raising support as they head to Spain.

I wasn't quite sure where to post this picture, but I couldn't resist posting this pic of Pastor Bob helping Patience with her solo.

Morning Star Members Featured on the Evening News

From Channel 39 Fox News

Neighbors Build Snowmen to Help Others

These are no ordinary snowmen. These snowmen were made to bring people together and help those looking to keep warm.

Orchid Neighborhood set up the snowman-building event with Brewington Oaks Apartments so that people walking by can pick out what items they may need to survive the cold. After reaching out to the community, neighbors and local businesses began donating food, drinks, and winter wear to help dress the frosty friends.

One of the organizers Sherre Germann said, “It’s a warm fuzzy feeling inside because right now Rockford’s depressed. There’s a lot of people out of work so they need help and we have a lot of homeless people.”

It was more than just fun in the snow. Neighbors who came out said they could really feel the community coming together.
Jereme Scott said, “It’s encouraging because we want this community to continue to grow, and one of the things that’s lacking is people being good neighbors to each other and helping each other out.”

Watch the video here - http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=314022

Update from Missionary Duane Scott

January 17th, evening

Hello All,

Thanks for your prayers and responses to the email I sent out yesterday regarding my brother. Today (Tuesday) was good in that no new complications or problems developed. That is an answer to prayer in itself. For the past four days or so there has been some new, negative complication each day. So at least today there was some stability in his situation. The prognosis is still uncertain, but hopeful. The key thing the doctors told my parents today was that Daniel may be in this state (on a respirator and dialysis) for weeks or even months. The infection in his lungs and chest is very powerful and his immune system is being suppressed because of the heart transplant. So if they lower the immune suppressant drugs it increases the risk of heart rejection, but obviously if he doesn’t have an immune system he is totally dependent on anti-biotics to kill off the infection. So it is obviously a delicate balancing act. They did not take him into the operating room to try to physically remove the infection as they had mentioned they might do. My Dad is not sure if they have ruled out doing that or not, but it did not happen today.

Anyone who knows Daniel and all the health problems he has had his whole life knows that he is a fighter. He’s been through a lot up to this point and has always been optimistic and fought through. Of course the Lord is the ultimate healer. We are trusting God that He will do what is right and good. And we continue to ask for his kindness in doing a miracle of healing. Thank you for praying with us.

God bless,

Duane Scott

Download Bloodlines for Free

Yesterday, Pastor Bob listed several books we would be discussing during his Thursday evening “table talks.”  One of these books, Bloodlines by John Piper, is now available as free pdf download by DesiringGod.com.  Click the picture below to download the file.