Good Ol' Summertime

Dakota Community Church

July 27, 2008

Good Ol’ Summertime

Ah the glory that is the Winnipeg summer, the bright sunshine, the long evenings, the campgrounds and cabins bustling with anxious activity after the long shut in, everywhere you look life is inexplicably pushing to the surface … I seriously doubt that there is anyplace else on earth that appreciates the months of July and August like we do here in Winnipeg. Having survived the deep freeze we are ready to bask in the heat and relax.

This morning I want to talk about a few of the things I believe God wants to see happen in our lives as we enjoy this special season. I trust it will add to the refreshing of your soul.

The temptation is to take a break from God and the Body and we can wind up in worse shape after this refreshing time than we were in going into it.

What should we be getting done this summer?

1. Make repairs.

As any Winnipegger can tell you the summertime is the time to repair the infrastructure that has been broken down by the harsh conditions that prevail throughout the rest of the year.

Read - 2 Chronicles 32:1-23

2 Chronicles 32:5

Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David.

This summer has been a major time of restoration around my house because of Joel’s return from the mission field. Holes in the wall were repaired, old and rotted wood has been replaced, grass, flowers and a few vegetables have been planted, the trees are all trimmed and pruned, I’ve painted and cleaned and hauled loads of old junk to the dump, I fixed the garage door and we replaced toilet gaskets and even built a fire pit in the backyard.

This is the season to make repairs.

An anticipated return, a reunion with one gone on a journey, this is good reason to make repairs!

Chris said to me; “Why are you doing all this work? Joel knows how you live remember.”

We want to make it special, and it helps to keep our joy full.

Take a look out the front door of the church and you’ll see that the city also is busy making repairs, our four lanes are down to two as they rip up and repair all the old sidewalks and curbs and fix all the pot holes and repave the whole thing. Many days it is a challenge to get in here with all the barriers, workers, and cement trucks coming and going.

What needs repairing around your house?

I’m not talking about the building where you live now… I’m talking about YOUR HOUSE… you. What has been beaten and battered by the harsh conditions?

We need to do more than just relax in this enjoyable season because it is not always going to be this way.

Hebrews 12:12-13

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

When repairs need to be made things are going to go in one direction or the other.

What is lame will either be dislocated or healed.

Someone told me this week that they had lost something; that worship was not the same, and that early Morning Prayer had no appeal. Which way will it go from here?

Either you make repairs or you head toward demolition.

Psalm 147:2-3

The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Come to the Lord, draw near with a contrite heart and be repaired this summer.

2. Grow.

Suck up all the life you can consume.

One thing that always amazes me after the brutality of our winters is the way life springs forth in the summer months. You would think that no living thing could survive that cold; yet every year life conquers again.

Psalm 1:1-5

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.