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Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Cedar Run railroad bridge on Pine Creek rail trail
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here
for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.
Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
<Previous Message Next Message>
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Cedar Run railroad bridge on Pine Creek rail trail
"A Cross To Bridge The Great Divide"
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
"For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven. Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it" (Colossians 1:19-23).
Today let us consider a "link" we use most every day and rarely give thought to it; the transportation link is what I am speaking of, otherwise known as the bridge. In our trip this last weekend to the Grand Canyon region of Pennsylvania we crossed many, many bridges (surely hundreds). Most we gave no thought to at all but in hindsight I'm sure glad they were reliable! But some bridges, such as those featured today in our photos, are so distinct as to catch our attention.
Our
most memorable bridge crossing was in Colorado over ten years ago. After attending a family reunion we rented a van
and visited several notable tourist sites throughout the state. We
drove to the Royal Gorge which for many years was the world's highest
suspension bridge, crossing over the Arkansas River at nearly 1000 feet. *
We parked the van on the west side of the canyon although we were heading east. We slowly approached the bridge on foot and, with a knot in my stomach, proceeded to walk across. My fear is not really heights but being near or looking out over the edge. Well, as you may have already ascertained, we made it across safely and we visited the various attractions on the east side.
However the next part was harder. After visiting for awhile we crossed again to our van to resume our trip east which meant... we had to drive over the bridge. Now I really got the weebie jeebies and was just about ready to head back west and drive many, many miles out of my way just to avoid crossing the bridge in our vehicle.
But I went for it, reasoning that many others had already done so and surely the bridge was well inspected. Surely they knew what they were doing in posting a weight limit considerably more than we needed. Well again, by now you know that we made it across safely!
Today let us consider the absolute reliability of another Bridge in securing our salvation.
Salvation
is often
graphically depicted as a bridge between sinful man and a holy God. In
fact a ministry I have appreciated through the years, the Navigators,
has a small tract explaining salvation called "The Bridge To Life"
illustrating that a great chasm separates sinful humanity from a holy God.
But Jesus Christ, in dying on the cross, bridges that mighty chasm. The
cross is God's only appointed means for man to reach Him. It is
supremely trustworthy.
This bridge may be expressed as a cross.
Pastor Rich Moore writes, "God is an amazing bridge builder. His Son built a bridge across the grandest canyon known to us. He bridged between us and God, by offering forgiveness and love to us in the free gift of His sacrifice. Jesus built this bridge with only two pieces of wood and three nails."
Bible teacher Kenneth Wuest comments concerning today's passage, "Our Lord, by His death on the Cross, bound together again a holy God and sinful man who placed his faith in the Saviour."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Heavenly
Father, just like a grand canyon, sin cuts and digs deep chasms
between us and a holy God. Thank You for providing Your only Son,
Jesus, to act as a redemptive bridge so that we can cross over the great divide
and transition from sin to forgiveness, from death
to life, from punishment to mercy, from despair to eternal hope.
We are now One with You, Father, and can act as a channel of Your mercy
when we invite needy souls to walk over the bridge of salvation. It is
because of Jesus that we can approach You, our holy God, and pray to
You as our heavenly Father. Amen.
More bridge photos in the Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon region.
Another view of the Cedar Run railroad bridge on Pine Creek rail trail.
A view of Pine Creek from the Cedar Run bridge.
An open railroad bridge near Blackwell. In my mind I, Brooksyne, traveled through memory lane upon observation of the old telegraph pole still standing on the left. I considered the early days when people received important information via telegraph - either very exciting news or very sad news. Consider all the ways we communicate now and the instantaneous ways we reach others right from our home, car, or even on a bike trail (if there is service).
This single lane Berlin bridge near Slate Run was built in 1889.
This modern bridge curves as it crosses Pine Creek and enters Blackwell, which is at the lower end of the main Grand Canyon gorge. The next road crossing the river to the north is 17 miles upstream.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"The Great Divide " Video Point of Grace
"Jesus Never Fails" Video Originally by a group called "Truth" as I recall
"At Calvary" Video Collingsworth Family
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" Video Sammy Hall Singers
Devotional on Grand Canyon by Pastor Rich Moore
The Bridge to Life Plan of salvation by the Navigators
The Royal Gorge Bridge
* For the terminally curious - Sidu River Bridge in China built in 2009 is now the tallest bridge in the world.
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven. Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it" (Colossians 1:19-23).
Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!
Today let us consider a "link" we use most every day and rarely give thought to it; the transportation link is what I am speaking of, otherwise known as the bridge. In our trip this last weekend to the Grand Canyon region of Pennsylvania we crossed many, many bridges (surely hundreds). Most we gave no thought to at all but in hindsight I'm sure glad they were reliable! But some bridges, such as those featured today in our photos, are so distinct as to catch our attention.
Our
most memorable bridge crossing was in Colorado over ten years ago. After attending a family reunion we rented a van
and visited several notable tourist sites throughout the state. We
drove to the Royal Gorge which for many years was the world's highest
suspension bridge, crossing over the Arkansas River at nearly 1000 feet. *We parked the van on the west side of the canyon although we were heading east. We slowly approached the bridge on foot and, with a knot in my stomach, proceeded to walk across. My fear is not really heights but being near or looking out over the edge. Well, as you may have already ascertained, we made it across safely and we visited the various attractions on the east side.
However the next part was harder. After visiting for awhile we crossed again to our van to resume our trip east which meant... we had to drive over the bridge. Now I really got the weebie jeebies and was just about ready to head back west and drive many, many miles out of my way just to avoid crossing the bridge in our vehicle.
But I went for it, reasoning that many others had already done so and surely the bridge was well inspected. Surely they knew what they were doing in posting a weight limit considerably more than we needed. Well again, by now you know that we made it across safely!
Today let us consider the absolute reliability of another Bridge in securing our salvation.
So many souls have tested Him throughout the course of time.
So many still reach out to Him with broken hearts and minds.
And every one of them will say,
Without exception that they find... Jesus never fails.
So many still reach out to Him with broken hearts and minds.
And every one of them will say,
Without exception that they find... Jesus never fails.
Salvation
is often
graphically depicted as a bridge between sinful man and a holy God. In
fact a ministry I have appreciated through the years, the Navigators,
has a small tract explaining salvation called "The Bridge To Life"
illustrating that a great chasm separates sinful humanity from a holy God.
But Jesus Christ, in dying on the cross, bridges that mighty chasm. The
cross is God's only appointed means for man to reach Him. It is
supremely trustworthy.This bridge may be expressed as a cross.
Pastor Rich Moore writes, "God is an amazing bridge builder. His Son built a bridge across the grandest canyon known to us. He bridged between us and God, by offering forgiveness and love to us in the free gift of His sacrifice. Jesus built this bridge with only two pieces of wood and three nails."
Bible teacher Kenneth Wuest comments concerning today's passage, "Our Lord, by His death on the Cross, bound together again a holy God and sinful man who placed his faith in the Saviour."
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father cost His son His life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
A way was made to reach the other side
The mercy of the Father cost His son His life
His love is deep, His love is wide
There's a cross to bridge the great divide
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Heavenly
Father, just like a grand canyon, sin cuts and digs deep chasms
between us and a holy God. Thank You for providing Your only Son,
Jesus, to act as a redemptive bridge so that we can cross over the great divide
and transition from sin to forgiveness, from death
to life, from punishment to mercy, from despair to eternal hope.
We are now One with You, Father, and can act as a channel of Your mercy
when we invite needy souls to walk over the bridge of salvation. It is
because of Jesus that we can approach You, our holy God, and pray to
You as our heavenly Father. Amen. More bridge photos in the Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon region.
Another view of the Cedar Run railroad bridge on Pine Creek rail trail.
A view of Pine Creek from the Cedar Run bridge.
An open railroad bridge near Blackwell. In my mind I, Brooksyne, traveled through memory lane upon observation of the old telegraph pole still standing on the left. I considered the early days when people received important information via telegraph - either very exciting news or very sad news. Consider all the ways we communicate now and the instantaneous ways we reach others right from our home, car, or even on a bike trail (if there is service).
This single lane Berlin bridge near Slate Run was built in 1889.
This modern bridge curves as it crosses Pine Creek and enters Blackwell, which is at the lower end of the main Grand Canyon gorge. The next road crossing the river to the north is 17 miles upstream.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
"The Great Divide " Video Point of Grace
"Jesus Never Fails" Video Originally by a group called "Truth" as I recall
"At Calvary" Video Collingsworth Family
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" Video Sammy Hall Singers
Devotional on Grand Canyon by Pastor Rich Moore
The Bridge to Life Plan of salvation by the Navigators
The Royal Gorge Bridge
* For the terminally curious - Sidu River Bridge in China built in 2009 is now the tallest bridge in the world.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.)
Are
our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? We ask you to
consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can
continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is
accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily
Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support
of its readers and podcast listeners. See here
for more information on supporting this
ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
© Copyright 2015 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA