Last Wednesday evening, I taught the bible study and we went over Luke 10:25-37 “The Good Samaritan,” and was able to turn my teaching into service. I was headed to get some coffee and Starbucks, when I passed what looked like an estate sale. I love those; you can find such great items for a great price! I immediately turned around because I saw two mountain bikes sitting out in the yard by a fire hydrant. I noticed the two women cleaning were quite old and frail. I began talking to one of them about purchasing the bike and within that conversation; she asked if I would help move some heavy boxes around her house. I was hesitant at first because I *needed* a cup of coffee and I was hungry and I was trying to buy a bike on my lunch break.

Soon enough, the other lady was trying to scoot a pretty heavy box to the other side of the garage inch by inch. The one I was talking to asked if I worked and I told her yes, then she asked, “Could you help her move boxes real quick?” I finally gave in; both of them were cute old foreign ladies with an accent. I could not resist anymore. So, I helped them move some boxes and got a mountain bike on my lunch break! Talk about helping out others who slightly intimidate you! It was good!

I am glad that EIU still offers an annual celebration of the family. And I think that it is great that the University provides plenty of activities to give your family a taste of EIU: a football game, open houses in the residence halls, campus walks, and the “Chicago” concert (Sue and I really wanted to go to the concert, but couldn’t work it out.) And the weather this weekend could not have been more beautiful.

But what I really like most about Family Weekend is Sunday. I think it is great that, for all of you who are involved with the Campus House—you get an opportunity for your parents, grandparents, and siblings to experience a worship service at CCH. Lots of parents verbalize to our staff members how much they appreciate our ministry and what we have to offer their student whom they have entrusted into our care.

I know that some of you come from families that are not Christian, and our worship service on Family Weekend provides an opportunity for you to open a dialogue with your family about what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I hope and pray that you will embrace any open door God opens to talk with your family about Jesus.

For some of you, maybe the Sunday of Family Weekend is the only time you have been to the Campus House this year. That is O.K. No one will judge you for that. Maybe by being there this morning for the first time, God may begin to impress on you the importance of hammering out your spiritual life. If you have questions, or just want to talk to someone about “God- stuff” please give one of our staff a call at 345-6990 and set up an appointment to open up a “spiritual conversation.” After all, that is what we are here for.

I also know that there is one more category of EIU student who may need some encouragement. That would be those of you whose family never comes to Family Weekend. It may cause you some pain to be “alone” on Family Weekend. If you are feeling some pain over that, maybe it would be good for you to ask one of your friends at the Campus House to meet with you to talk about it… and pray about it.

This morning was pretty special. I was so glad that your family got to witness a “planned” baptism… and I am thrilled that they also got to witness a spontaneous decision for baptism as well.

In the end, maybe the reason why my favorite part of EIU’s Family Weekend is Sunday is that—by the time our worship service and family potluck are over—you and your family have a lot to talk about. It is my prayer for you that your follow-up conversations with your family will be a blessing to you and to them. In that vein, please remember our scripture text for the sermon this morning…

20 work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ  Jes us throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.  (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV)

Flying is who I am. It’s one of the things I do. A while back I was chatting with an old flight instructor of mine and we got to talking about air traffic controllers. For simplicity reasons, let’s just say that we have two types of airspace in the world of flying, controlled airspace, and uncontrolled.

In controlled airspace, you often have an air traffic controller who is monitoring your heading, altitude, and route of flight. In uncontrolled, you do not have an air traffic controller following your every move.

Several years ago I was on a flight with this flight instructor. We were on our last leg of a three leg flight. We had flown from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Evansville, Indiana and then down the river to Louisville, Kentucky. We were supposed to be heading north on our flight back to Terre Haute. We were also on an Instrument Flight, meaning were flying the airplane by reference to the instruments on the panel, not by looking out the window. This type of flying is complex, and it can be difficult, and very challenging depending on the weather.

We had filed for 6,000 feet on our departure from Louisville. Once we had departed we were given a right turn to heading 270, or due west and were instructed to climb to an altitude of 3,000 feet, not what we had filed our flight plan for. This was normal though as they wanted to keep smaller and slower airplanes out of the way of larger faster airplanes.

We seemed to fly on heading 270 for what seemed like hour, and when you are cruising at 105 mph, you are moving pretty quick. We were getting a little impatient as we had yet to be given our on course heading, and we were going west when we needed to be going north. As pilots we were getting impatient.

We asked air traffic control if we could get on course and up to our filed altitude. I recall he replied, and it was pretty hostile, that if we were to turn on course and climb now, we would be on a direct path for a collision with a large UPS jet that was inbound to Louisville. That’s not exactly where I wanted to be.

The moral of this story, we as pilots in our little Cessna 172 could not see the big picture. The controller could see the picture, he was watching out for us, even when it took us way out of our way.

God is a lot like our “air traffic controller” isn’t he? He guides us, and gives us directions. He cares for us, and he knows what’s best for us, even when it’s not what we want. He can see the big picture when we cant.

I leave you today with a favorite verse from Proverbs.

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

I have been reading the book of Numbers recently, and it is very interesting. There are many things in the book that I do not understand, but I recently read a passage that really struck a cord with me. In Numbers chapter 9 it tells of the cloud which hovered over the tabernacle. By day it had the appearance of a cloud, and by night it had the appearance of fire. Now first of all, that in itself seems like it would be an astounding atmospheric phenomenon to witness. But as I continued on to read the purpose of this cloud, I was even more astounded. Numbers 9:17-18 says, “And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped.” Whether the cloud was over the tabernacle for one day at a time or months at a time, the people of Israel did not set out until the cloud lifted and moved. This made me think, “What would it look like to follow God’s cloud? What would my life be like if I was better in tune with His presence telling me when to stay and when to go? How much better would life be?” Ever since I read that passage my prayer has been, “Lord, teach me to follow your cloud.” I’m not really sure what that means or what it looks like, but I think I would like to learn.

As I continued reading, the Lord spoke to me again through a few verses in the next chapter. Numbers 10:11-13 says, “In the 2nd year, in the 2nd month, on the 20th day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses.” Now at first that seemed insignificant, but then I reread that it was the FIRST time they had set out from Sinai. I realized that the Israelites had been in Sinai for a long time before the cloud ever lifted and moved. What were they doing in Sinai all that time? They were receiving instructions from the Lord (read the book of Leviticus which precedes the book of Numbers). God was revealing His holiness among them and instructing them in how they were to live. This idea sparked another important thought in my head: it is important to heed to the Lord’s instructions so that you can live rightly while you are camped in one place.

So now my new prayer is this, “Lord, teach me to follow your cloud, AND teach me how I ought to live while I am camped in one place.”

Sunday’s sermon was exceptional! Roger did a fantastic job preaching and setting the mood for everyone who attended. We are in the I Am series and last Sunday, November 13, his title was “I Am the Light of the World.” The sermon was simple, easy to follow, but there was so much depth involved! His preaching got me thinking about the series we just finished up on Wednesdays evenings, Grow. I realized Sunday’s sermon was the perfect ending to the Wednesday series when Roger talked about God’s light being a simple candle. It is so true!

The closer we are to the light, the warmer and brighter it gets. That is just what we have been learning to do on Wednesday evening: Matthew teaching us how to worship, Lyndsey telling us the benefits of having a daily quiet time, and Roger explaining to how to read your Bible effectively. It all fit so perfectly! God does some crazy awesome things like that every now and then. I love it! Roger had a significant point on Sunday. I just want to touch on again. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

WE are the light of the world, which means we need to get our spiritual lives under control. We need to get in the habit of diving into God’s Word on a daily basis and talking to Him throughout our day, and just making him a part of our lives! We then will be shine like the candle on Sunday. People will look at us and see the Light of God’s love all around us. They will feel the warmth of His love as well.

I ask you to ponder about Roger’s sermon and the Wednesday night teachings. They have been quite helpful to me. If you do not remember what they were, we have them on PODCAST!!!!

You can find the podcast on our website under the resources tab or by clicking here