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Monday,
October
5,
2020
A beautiful
Saturday morning drive on I-99 in Tioga County, PA near the
New York border.
"Architect
and Builder"
Message summary: Let us joyfully serve Jesus Christ today as we also direct our thoughts and affections on things above where our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
Note:
Due to travel no audio prepared for this message.
(Slow internet in hotel)
“For
he [Abraham] was looking for the city which has
foundations, whose architect and builder is God”
(Hebrews 11:10).
This
past Saturday we visited the Finger Lakes region in
New York state. We traveled north to see the fall
foliage and we were not disappointed! Over the next
several days we will share photos. We also saw three
different sets of friends and we want to share a bit
about each of their life's story.
Tom
March came across our ministry some 20 years ago
when we had a display about our Daily Encouragement
ministry in the exhibition hall at a major
evangelical conference in Boston. We've had some
communication via emails but this is the first time
we met him face to face.It was
interesting to hear his life story. He went to
Cornell University studying engineering and for 38
years was a professor at the University of New
Hampshire. He and his wife Priscilla now spend three
seasons of the year on Cayuga Lake where we met them
at their cottage.
Tom
may be the most creative, innovative and industrious
man I've ever met. The cottage is built alongside a
cliff where Tom designed and built a two story
elevator to get materials in place to build it. (Tom
is standing on the platform of his elevator in the
photo to left). He explained the various safety
mechanisms he had built into it and told me it had a
weight design of 700 pounds with a 10x safety
factor. He also designed and built the entire
cottage which has astounding views of the lake going
for many miles in both directions. Last spring we
shared an outstanding photo he took of the lake
during sunrise.
Above
all Tom expressed himself as a Kingdom builder. He
became a Christian as a teenager and has sought to
live his life to honor God building upon the solid
foundation of Christ. I suggested our daily text as
Tom's life verse, especially focusing on the words,
"architect and builder". The word, architect
(architekton) is derived from two Greek words,
“arche” which means chief and “technites” where we
get the English word “technical”. The word builder
translates a word that means, "artisan, builder,
maker".
In
this Scripture text the Hebrews author gives us a
glimpse of the early patriarch Abraham, whose faith
and actions indicated that he was looking for a city
not designed or built by mere human hands. His
heart’s desires were fixed upon the invisible
heavens where he would live for all eternity. It’s
an expression of his faith in what God had promised.
C.H. Spurgeon writes, “Here you have the expectation of faith. Faith does not live on things seen; she lives on something yet to come. That which is to come she regards as eternal, not like a mere tent in which she dwells here, but a city that hath foundations, fixed and firm.”
The Master Architect is at work in our lives and in His Kingdom, in both the visible and invisible realm. He’s designing a masterpiece, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Long after the works of the great architects and builders have turned to dust, the work of the Master Architect and Builder will remain!
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves.. . . the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in.’”
Let us joyfully serve Jesus Christ today as we also direct our thoughts and affections on things above where our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
C.H. Spurgeon writes, “Here you have the expectation of faith. Faith does not live on things seen; she lives on something yet to come. That which is to come she regards as eternal, not like a mere tent in which she dwells here, but a city that hath foundations, fixed and firm.”
The Master Architect is at work in our lives and in His Kingdom, in both the visible and invisible realm. He’s designing a masterpiece, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Long after the works of the great architects and builders have turned to dust, the work of the Master Architect and Builder will remain!
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves.. . . the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in.’”
Let us joyfully serve Jesus Christ today as we also direct our thoughts and affections on things above where our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
Be
encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Today's suggested song: "Build My
Life" Video Housefires
On
the way north Friday afternoon we rode about
12 miles along the Lycoming Creek Bikeway
near Williamsport, PA.
This old iron railroad bridge is over
Lycoming Creek.
Heading
north from Williamsport for many miles we
drove alongside this rainbow.
As
we approached Mansfield, PA about 45 miles
north of Williamsport the rainbow stub was
still visible.
Brooksyne's
Note: While Tom and Stephen were
getting acquainted outside Priscilla and I sat
in the living room and got to know each other.
When she was in high school she came to know
Christ under the leadership of her youth
leader which happened to be Tom's father,
though she and Tom were not a couple at that
time. She went on to study nursing and spent
her adult life as a nurse, the last 25 years
as a hospice nurse, as I recall, until her
retirement about 18 months ago.
I
really didn't know where the men were
visiting, but when I walked into the kitchen I
noticed a cat snuggled in a blanket in the
corner. Initially I thought it to be one of
those stuffed animals that look real but as I
got closer I could see it was a real cat, 14
years old in fact. I snapped a photo to send
to Ester since she loves cats, and it was in
my camera lens that I spotted Stephen and Tom
in the background visiting on their dock. The
entire wall facing the water is made of glass
and the view of the lake is stunning. I think
standing at the counter and preparing a meal
with the enormous lake view would be a
delightful experience out of the norm for most
homemakers.
Send a message to
Stephen & Brooksyne
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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."
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."
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Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA