Well, good morning everyone. Greetings on this first Monday in February, 2008. Super Bowl 42 is history. As promised, we were out of church by 7pm last night. If you are a NY Giants fan I guess you're pretty happy today. Pastor Don is happy today also -- Not because the Giants won the Super Bowl but because there are lots of good things going on in the life of our church. I thank God for answers to prayer, that people are growing in the Lord, and that we sense God's presence in every service. Sunday morning's message was entitled, "When God Calls Your Name." We had a good response at the altar, so I'm fairly certain God was calling some names.

This morning I leave you with an excellent story entitled, "What Are You Planting?" The story goes like this:

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

He called all the young executives in his company together. "It's time for me to step down and choose the next CEO and I have decided to choose one of you," he said.

''I am going to give each one of you a very special seed today and I want you to plant the seed, care for it, and come back here in a year with what you have grown from the seed. I'll judge the plants to determine the next CEO."

Like the others, Jim took the seed, went home, told his wife and she helped him get a pot and soil and they planted the seed.

Every day, they watered it and watched to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow and Jim kept checking his but nothing ever grew.

Three months, four months, six months, went by, still nothing. Others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Eight months went by- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim said nothing. He just kept watering and fertilizing.

The year ended and all the young executives brought their plants to the CEO. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot, but she persuaded him to be honest. He felt it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew she was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room and was amazed at the variety of beautiful plants grown by the other executives in all shapes and sizes. He put his empty pot on the floor and many colleagues laughed. A few expressed sorrow.

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you've grown," said the CEO.

Jim just tried to hide in the back, but the CEO saw him and told him to bring his pot to the front and Jim was terrified. He figured, "The CEO knows I'm a failure and I'll be fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what happened.

Jim told the CEO, and then the CEO told all but Jim to sit down. He looked at Jim, and said "Here is your new CEO!" Then he said, "A year ago I gave everyone in this room a seed, told you to take the seed, plant it, care for it, and bring it back today. But, I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - impossible for them to grow. All except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. So, you must have substituted another seed. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the new Chief Executive!"

Moral of this story:
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Thanks to my friend, Dick Mendell for passing this story on to me. I thought it worth repeating. I hope you have a great week.

Till next time, Pastor Don


P.S. This coming Sunday we are taking in new members at the beginning of the service. Also, Ann Downing is with us in concert. I hope you bring a friend and let's plan on a great service together.


P.S.S. Cartoon of the Week: Never Give Up (one of my favorites I've used before)


 

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