Good morning!
I hope everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful weather that God gave us for Easter. I am a big fan of Easter being “late” because when it is earlier in the calendar year the weather is often iffy at best. So I was extremely happy that Sunday was for the most part a nice early spring day to be outside. What a blessing!
I’ve mentioned before that my mom’s side of the family always gets together for Easter, and we have a quirky Easter tradition we call “Egg Slinging.” We have been doing this for 33 years!
My son Greg showed pictures and talked about this last summer when he gave the sermon at our church, but for those of you who might not remember….after the smaller children are done with their egg hunt, we gather all the eggs together and launch them at targets using 3-man slingshots that many of us have. Traditionally two people hold either end of the sling and the launcher places an egg in the pouch, pulls back as far as they can, and then lets go of the pouch. We have targets set up for people to try to hit. In the past the targets have included blown-up pictures of different family members, old Easter decorations, and lawn ornaments. This year we hung a huge cymbal up (Greg hit it so hard with an egg that it inverted in shape).
Now, you may be wondering “How much damage could a hard-boiled egg do?” The answer – A LOT! Over the years we’ve put holes in the sides of sheds, old closet doors, and plywood. Do it right and you can launch an egg at least the length of a football field (often farther)!
Of course, as competitive as my family is, there is always the temptation to sling the eggs just a little bit harder…just a little bit faster…just a little bit farther than everyone else. And just about every year we are reminded of what happens when you keep stretching a slingshot band farther and farther – it eventually breaks. And if you happen to be holding the slingshot when that happens, let me tell you it HURTS when it snaps back at you. So much so that one of my cousins now pounds huge metal poles in the ground to hold the slingshots so people don’t have to.
So where I am going with this? Well, something similar occurs with our tongues when it comes to telling the truth. As Christians, we know that it is wrong to lie. So to avoid lying we sometimes put great effort into stretching the truth as far as we can. Sometimes we mean well, and other times our motives are questionable. Either way, the issue with stretching the truth is that you often have to keep stretching and stretching it…and eventually your story breaks and someone ends up getting hurt.
God’s Word speaks to the need for Christians to avoid even the hint of dishonesty in many different places. Here’s just a couple:
The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.
Proverbs 12:22
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
Ephesians 4:25
We live in a culture where stretching the truth is acceptable, but doing so hurts our witness and will get others hurt in the end. Let’s strive to be a people marked by honesty!
Here’s what’s happening:
- Junior Youth meet this Sunday, 4/7.
- Forms for our “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” fellowship night on 4/28 should be returned to Becky Myers or Mary Lois Kreider by this Sunday.
- Senior High Youth meet next Sunday, 4/14.
- Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday 4/27 at 8 am at Hometown Kitchen. This will be the last breakfast for the spring. We will start the breakfasts again in September.
- It’s that time of year when we update the mailboxes. If you do not have a mailbox and would like one, please fill out the form near the mailboxes and put it in Tracy Alexander’s box.
- It’s also “spring cleaning” time for our church email list. If you receive these emails and no longer wish to, please let me know.
- Save The Dates: June 10-14 VBS
August 25 – Baptism Sunday
September 8 – Corn Roast
This week we are starting our spring sermon series on the life of David. I’m calling this series “From the Crook to the Crown to the Cross” because as we follow David’s journey from being a lowly shepherd to the king of Isarel, we will be looking at all many of the ways that David’s life is a foreshadowing of Jesus coming to earth as the King of Kings. On Sunday we will be studying 1 Samuel 16 and David’s anointing as the next king of Israel. In our world a person’s appearance and performance is what matters, but as we will see, God values something else!
Scott