3-19-2018

Good Morning All,

                 1 Corinthians 2:2; “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 

    Some of you may remember when Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992.  I remember James Carville.  He was a campaign strategist who has a very unique character and is interesting to listen to.  Whether you are on his side are against him, he is entertaining to watch and listen to.

    During the 1992 campaign, Clinton was trying to unseat President George H. W. Bush.  The Democratic campaign was stuck and spinning its wheels.  They were having a hard time focusing on an issue.  Then, during one of these meetings, Carville gives them three choices to focus on and it was the last one which resonated then and, to a certain extent, today.  He decided, “It’s the economy, stupid!” 

    Once they found their focus; the Democrats went on to win rather easily.  But they had to find their focus and their main selling point.  What was the main point that the Democrats wanted the people to go home with?  What was the one thing that the Democrats wanted the voter to recall?  Once they decided on that; they went with it full bore.

    You can almost sense Paul doing the same thing here in the beginning of his Corinthian letter.  He does it for a different reason than trying to get attention; he does it to “start over” as it were in his preaching.  Paul is more about “let’s start from the beginning” than anything else.  But He has decided to focus on the crucial statement.  It is Jesus Christ and him crucified.  That is the central point of our faith.  We can talk about many issues or concerns but our focus is, should, and always will be “Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

    We let too many issues cloud our mind and fog our thinking.  How does this work?  Why is this the way it is?  What does this mean?  We battle them and then a few months, weeks, days or even moments; these issues are gone but Jesus Christ and him crucified always remain.  The devil loves to play the game where we have a “crisis of the week” it really should be viewed as a “crisis of the weak”.  We can get too involved in stuff that has no real value.  We need to focus on what matters and that is Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

    Jesus is the rock upon which we are built.  He is the one truth in a world that knows no truth.  We only need to focus on Him and Him alone.  Jesus Christ and him crucified are all we need.

Dearest Father, keep us safe within your arms today as we go about our life.  Remind us that in this world there are many questions, trials and troubles.  Help us to see that they only bring us closer to you.  Help us to focus on Jesus Christ and him crucified.  In His precious name we pray, amen.     

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret