{"id":1185,"date":"2013-12-23T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T08:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2013-12-22T16:12:03","modified_gmt":"2013-12-23T00:12:03","slug":"to-move-upward-toward-the-future-you-must-first-be-willing-to-leave-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/to-move-upward-toward-the-future-you-must-first-be-willing-to-leave-the-past\/","title":{"rendered":"To Move Upward Toward The Future, You Must First Be Willing To Leave The Past"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Every Wednesday my church conducts an evening praise and worship service.\u00a0 Last Wednesday, the week before Christmas, an extraordinary\u00a0 celebration occurred.\u00a0 Christmas and its celebration, as viewed by our congregation, is not so much oriented toward the commercial side of the holiday, but rather toward the spiritual, worship side of the birth of Christ.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The worship service opened by the taking of an \u201cOffering\u201d for our Worldwide Missions Team.\u00a0 The senior choir was featured at the service.\u00a0 They performed three grand mixed-voice songs regarding the Deity, Righteousness and Graciousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The entire congregation also sang along, together with the choir, in several other Christmas carols and hymns.\u00a0 The Lord\u2019s Supper was then celebrated, after which was given a dramatic reading concerning Jesus and the true beginning of his earthly ministry. The service concluded with the entire congregation singing the Christmas hymn, \u201cO Holy Night.\u201d\u00a0 It was a marvelous time of worship and praise to our Lord and Creator.\u00a0 Everyone was greatly blessed to have participated.\u00a0 It truly was what I would call a \u201csweet-spirited\u201d evening.\u00a0 All the invited guests were seriously touched deep within their spirits.\u00a0 God was truly honored, praised, and glorified.\u00a0 What a great prelude it was to the coming Christmas Day celebration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we are all aware, Christmas is the time of year that all Christians celebrate the birth of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It is the time of year that we all celebrate and rejoice together in recognizing the coming to earth of the long-awaited Messiah, The Son of God.\u00a0 It is the second most important day celebrated by those men and women who call themselves Christian Believers.\u00a0 The most important day for Christians is the day known as Easter wherein is celebrated the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of The Lord Jesus Christ.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhere in between the birth and burial of the Lord Jesus, many other things happened, occurred, and came to be.\u00a0 Jesus had to learn and \u201cgrow up,\u201d and \u201cgrow into\u201d His ministry all before it could begin touching other people\u2019s lives.\u00a0 Jesus had to be prepared for the incredible work that He was sent to the earth to do.\u00a0 Lots of things had to happen before He could depart his earthly home and family and start doing all of the things and\u00a0<\/span>activities God had intended Him to do and perform.\u00a0 Every life and everything that occurs in each life had to have a beginning,…a start,… a commencement point.\u00a0 <\/b>Such was the purpose of the reading\u00a0<\/span>given at the evening church service on December 18, 2013 at Crossover Church in Spokane, Washington. \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reading was powerfully delivered and its critical message was given and received exactly as its author intended it to be.\u00a0 It was a most beautiful message.\u00a0 Please permit me to share this reading with you (in its entirety), so that you too might come to a better understanding of some of the events that most assuredly had to have happened in the growing up of the Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The reading is entitled \u201cOut of the Carpentry Shop.\u201d\u00a0 Its author,\u00a0 Pastor Max Lucado:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 The heavy door creaked on its hinges as he pushed it open.\u00a0 With a few strides<\/b> he crossed the silent shop and opened the wooden shutters to a square shaft of sunshine that pierced the darkness, painting a box of daylight on the dirt floor.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 He looked around the carpentry shop.\u00a0 He stood a moment in the refuge of the little room that housed so many sweet memories.<\/b>\u00a0 He balanced the hammer in his hand.\u00a0 He ran his fingers across the sharp teeth of the saw.\u00a0 He stroked the smoothly worn wood of the sawhorse.\u00a0 He had come to say good-bye.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 It was time for him to leave.\u00a0 He had heard something that made him know it was time to go. So he came one last time to smell the sawdust and the lumber.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 Life was peaceful here.\u00a0 Life was so…safe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 Here he had spent countless hours of contentment.\u00a0 On this dirt floor he had played as a toddler while his father worked.\u00a0 Here Joseph had taught him how to grip a hammer.\u00a0 And on this workbench he had built his first chair.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0I wonder what he thought as he took one last look around the room.\u00a0 Perhaps he stood for a moment at the workbench looking at the tiny\u00a0<\/span>shadows cast by the chisel and shavings.\u00a0 Perhaps he listened as voices from the past filled the air.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood job, Jesus.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph, Jesus–come and eat!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry sir, we\u2019ll get it finished on time.\u00a0 I\u2019ll get Jesus to help me.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 I wonder if he hesitated.\u00a0 I wonder if his heart was torn.\u00a0 I wonder if he rolled a nail between his thumb and fingers, anticipating the pain.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 It was in the carpentry shop that he must have given birth to his thoughts.\u00a0 Here concepts and convictions were woven together to form the fabric of his ministry.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 You can almost see the tools of the trade in his words as he spoke.\u00a0<\/b> You can see the trueness of a plumb line as he called for moral standards.\u00a0 You can hear the whistle of the plane as he pleads for religion to shave away unnecessary traditions.\u00a0 You can picture the snugness of a dovetail as he demands loyalty in relationships.\u00a0 You can imagine him with a pencil and a ledger as he urges honesty.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 It was here that his human hands shaped the wood that his divine hands had created.\u00a0 <\/b>And it was here that his body matured while his spirit waited for the right moment, the right day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 And now that day had arrived.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 It must have been difficult to leave.\u00a0 After all, life as a carpenter wasn\u2019t bad.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t bad at all.\u00a0 Business was good.\u00a0 The future was bright and his work was enjoyable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 In Nazareth he was known only as Jesus, the son of Joseph.\u00a0 You can be sure he was respected in the community.\u00a0 He was good with his hands.\u00a0 He\u00a0<\/span>had many friends.\u00a0 He was a favorite among the children.\u00a0 He could tell a good joke and had a habit of filling the air with contagious laughter.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 I wonder if he wanted to stay.\u00a0 \u201cI could do a good job here in Nazareth.\u00a0 Settle down.\u00a0 Raise a family.\u00a0 Be a civic leader.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 I wonder because I know he had already read the last chapter.\u00a0 He knew that the feet that would step out of the safe shadow of the carpentry shop would not rest until they\u2019d been pierced and placed on a Roman cross.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 You see, he didn\u2019t have to go.\u00a0 He had a choice.\u00a0 He could have stayed.\u00a0 He could have kept his mouth shut.\u00a0 He could have ignored the call or at least postponed it.\u00a0 And had he chosen to stay, who would\u2019ve known?\u00a0 Who would have blamed him?<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/b>He could have come back as a man in another era when society wasn\u2019t so volatile, when religion wasn\u2019t so stale, when people would listen better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 He could have come back when crosses were out of style.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 But his heart wouldn\u2019t let him.\u00a0 If there was hesitation on the part of his humanity, it was overcome by the compassion of his divinity.\u00a0 His divinity heard the voices.<\/b>\u00a0 His divinity heard the hopeless cries of the poor, the bitter accusations of the abandoned, the dangling despair of those who are trying to save themselves.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 And his divinity saw the faces.<\/b>\u00a0 Some wrinkled.\u00a0 Some weeping.\u00a0 Some hidden behind veils.\u00a0 Some obscured by fear.\u00a0 Some earnest with searching.\u00a0 Some blank with boredom.\u00a0 From the face of Adam to the face of the infant born somewhere in the world as you read these words, he saw them all.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/b>And you can be sure of one thing.\u00a0 Among the voices that found their way into the carpentry shop in Nazareth was your voice.\u00a0 Your\u00a0<\/b><\/span>silent prayers uttered on tear-stained pillows were heard before they were said.\u00a0 Your deepest questions about death and eternity\u00a0<\/b><\/span>were answered before they were asked.\u00a0 And your direst need, your need for a Savior, was met before you ever sinned.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/b>And not only did he hear you, he saw you.\u00a0 He saw your face aglow the hour you first knew him.\u00a0 He saw your face in shame the hour you first fell.\u00a0 The same face that looked back at you from this morning\u2019s mirror, looked at him.\u00a0 And it was enough to kill him.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 He left because of you.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 He laid his security down with his hammer.\u00a0 He hung tranquility on the peg with his nail apron.\u00a0 He closed the window shutters on the sunshine of his youth and locked the door on the comfort and ease of anonymity.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since he could bear your sins more easily than he could bear the thought of your hopelessness, he chose to leave.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

IT WASN\u2019T EASY.\u00a0 LEAVING THE CARPENTRY SHOP NEVER HAS BEEN.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Merry Christmas everybody.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And Now….\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

May The Lord bless you and keep you;<\/b><\/span>
\nMay The Lord make His face shine upon you,<\/b><\/span>
\n\u00a0 And be gracious to you;<\/b><\/span>
\nMay The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,<\/b><\/span>
\n\u00a0 And give you peace.<\/b><\/span>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Amen.<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace and Love to All of You…………..Poppa Bear\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every Wednesday my church conducts an evening praise and worship service.\u00a0 Last Wednesday, the week before Christmas, an extraordinary\u00a0 celebration occurred.\u00a0 Christmas and its celebration, as viewed by our congregation, is not so much oriented toward the commercial side of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1187,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/1187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}