The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog



March 17, 2024

The story of Esther is so iconic because we find a young lady elevated to a wonderful position only to find out it put her in the crosshairs of a very volatile situation. How true to life! You got married to live happily ever after only to find out marriage brought along a number of challenges you never anticipated. The day your child was born was one of the happiest days of your life. Lately, your child has been on a rebellion kick. The job of your dreams has turned into a nightmare…

The good news is that this is not how your story ends. This is just the prelude to a wonderful deliverance. God’s not done writing your story. If Esther hadn’t faced such a terrible threat we’d never have heard of her. As it is, her life still speaks thousands of years after she finished her journey. Esther inspires us to keep our faith glowing even when it gets dark all around us. Disaster turned into deliverance because she put her faith in the Lord. Trust God with your marriage, children, job, health, finances…

-Pastor Joel Everhart

March 10, 2024

When I first started playing racquetball at the Y there was a fellow who only played on

Saturdays. He often talked about coming in during the week at 4:30 a.m. to play but never did. I could tell he liked playing against me because he always won. That trend continued for about a year. After that we became quite competitive. Once I had the upper hand he quit coming. I found it interesting how his personality changed as our skill levels crossed paths. He was much friendlier as a winner.

Maybe you’ve had the experience of getting along wonderfully with your coworkers until you got a promotion. Suddenly, you’re not one of the guys (or gals) anymore. Position changes people. That’s the case in today’s text. Daniel was a good, godly man but his success turned former friends into rivals who went to great lengths to have him eliminated. Fortunately, Daniel had Friends in high places. He secured their protection through prayer. God listens when we pray.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

March 3, 2024

There are two extremes that are dangerous when it comes to thinking about the love of God. The first is to deny that God loves me. This thought may be the result of inexplicably harsh circumstances (if God loves me why is this happening?) or a realistic understanding of the gap between who God is (righteous, holy, powerful) & who we are (sinful, dark, hard on ourselves & judgmental). These two extremes fail to take God at His Word and recognize all that He has done for us.

The second extreme is to think that God loves us special as opposed to others in this world. God loves me but hates those I don’t like or who do not behave or believe like I do. There is no superior or inferior race. Even if a person is violating every law of God, He still loves them and works at reconciling them to Himself. Hopefully they will respond positively to His advances lest they pay for their sins in the lake of fire!

Until death or Judgment Day arrives, the Lord is ever working to save the souls of the ignorant and sinful. Like God, we can hate their sin but we need to love them enough to seek them out and show them the love of God.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

 

February 25, 2024

For whatever reason, I forgot to print off this week’s sermon after I wrote it. Last week, I left my notebook full of sermons at home and had to print off a copy of the message I thought I was supposed to preach last Sunday so I could review it during the week. By mistake I printed off this week’s message and reviewed it. Fortunately, I discovered my mistake once I had my notebook in hand. That’s when I saw that I had printed out the wrong sermon and had next week’s in line for this week.

Through a series of mistakes I discovered another mistake before it got my preaching schedule out of whack with the Bible Engagement Project calendar. Isn’t God good? I could never have orchestrated a series of mistakes to catch a mistake before it’s hatched. What a Friend we have in Jesus! This experience proves today’s title: “God Cares About Me & You Too”.

Many of you credit me with being a good pastor, if only you knew the truth! If it wasn’t for God watching my every step, we’d all be in a heap of trouble.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

February 18, 2024

God was good to Israel. God treated her special. For a while Israel responded with an appropriate love and obedience to the Lord. Then, for a while, she decided to serve false gods, sacrifice children, indulge in immorality, and cheat one another. The results, as you can imagine, were disastrous. Even without the Lord punishing them, the resulting lifestyle was painful enough. They went from a happy, prosperous nation where everyone felt safe to an economically depressed, superstitious society where no one trusted anyone else.

In a rare move, the Lord decided to take matters into His own hands and eliminate the false competition by setting up the extermination of the prophets of Baal & Asherah. I pray God will put on His exterminator hat once again and clean up our society! Otherwise, the moths and rodents of sin will continue to chew away at the fabric of our safety and security.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

February 11, 2024

God has given us a blank check when it comes to wisdom. Ever not know what to do? Here’s what to do whenever you don’t know what to do: ask God what you should do. James promises us that if we ever lack wisdom we should ask God because He loves to answer that prayer.

God is not limited to spiritual questions. He knows science, psychology, finances, plumbing, auto repair, roofing, how to raise children… Even if you think you know exactly what to do, go ahead and ask for His input anyway. It could be you’ll learn a whole new way of doing whatever it is you need to do, and better. Stop being the person who forgets to pray before doing whatever and make seeking God’s advice a habit.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

February 4, 2024

Take note in today’s text that David not only defeated Goliath physically on the battlefield, he out-spoke the giant as well! Goliath promised to feed David’s body to the birds, David countered with a pledge to feed the entire Philistine army to the birds of the air and beasts of the forest.

David wasn’t just giant hunting that day. He was out to rout an army! Perhaps there’s a bigger prize than just getting past your next obstacle. Maybe God has something more in mind. Battles come because there are spoils to be won. Rather than just hoping to survive this next week ask God to clue you in to the end game, the bigger prize, the real reason for the struggle. Some wars are won in a single battle, others take a series of skirmishes. Don’t lose heart, trust that every obstacle is amassing plunder that sooner or later will not only fell the giant but rout the enemy’s army.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

January 28, 2024

It’s not as easy to follow God’s lead as we make it sound. It takes focus and attention to piece together the Lord’s revelations to us in order to do what He’s created us to do. To ignore His directives always leads to disaster. Yet to figure out exactly what He’s directing us to do can be a really wild adventure.

In today’s text we find Israel once again following the world’s lead rather than that of the Lord. We always want to send someone else to figure out what God wants us to do rather than come to our own settled conclusion. Connecting with God is actually the point! Doing what He tells us to do is secondary. The Lord wants to connect with you more than He wants you to work for Him. God is more interested in winning all of you than He is with you winning all the world. Learn to connect with the Lord then seek Him out daily. That’s when life gets good.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

January 21, 2024

Very few people hear God speak to them audibly. When it happens, God is working to make an indelible impression on our soul. If you are married, you have probably experienced the difficulties with hearing clearly what your spouse has said, even if they are endeavoring to speak loud and clear. Some people seem to enjoy talking to their partner from another room or even while their head is buried in a closet. They go on to become frustrated when their message goes unheeded or misunderstood. Perhaps that’s why God rarely chooses to talk to us out loud. His preferred method seems to be revealing His will in layers. He begins with an impression. The Lord goes on to bolster that impression with a word from Scripture, counsel from a trusted friend, the way circumstances fall into place or all of the above. In our marital relationships, it’s not so much that we didn’t hear correctly that frustrates us as much as our impression that our partner wasn’t trying to hear what we’ve said. Don’t make it hard for God to direct your steps, pay attention.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

January 14, 2024

Today’s faith fact is, “God Provides for Me”. There are two types of people: those who recognize God as their provider and those who do not. The ones who trust God walk in the confidence that He will supply all of their needs according to His riches in glory, even if they can’t see how that provision could possibly be given under their circumstances. Those who do not trust God as their provider worry about everything, often stress out the people around them, and exhaust themselves trying to do what only God can do.

Relax, God’s got this. As much as praise is an affirmation that all our hope is in the Lord, fear is evidence that our faith is anemic. Hebrews tells us that those who come to God must believe that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Don’t worry, pray, then trust God. Resist the temptation to allow fear or worry to have access to your mind. Fill your thoughts with the promises of God, then trust them.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

January 7, 2024

Sooner or later we all come to the realization that life is too big for us. We may be able to do many things well but no one can do everything. Obstacles come that we cannot navigate alone. Problems arise that are way above our pay grade. Enemies attack us with overwhelming force and unless another intervenes, we’re history.

God has a way of calling us into situations that we cannot survive without Him. However, as we cry out to Him, as He responds to us, we rise above the challenge to discover that the promises of God are true, and that He really does equip those He calls. Far too many believers have stopped listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit because He keeps bidding them to do things they’re uncomfortable doing. He wants them to share Jesus with a neighbor or teach a Sunday School class or whatever. They are afraid. But, IF it is God calling, they will experience the thrill of their life IF only they will obey. Fear is almost necessary in order for the result to be exhilarating!

Listen for God’s voice. Obey what you hear. Live an exciting life.-Pastor Joel Everhart

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