(Introduction)
L.M. Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables wrote, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
Me too!
The temperatures are getting cooler.
The colors of the leaves on the trees are turning more and more vivid.
Autumn Is A Second Spring When Every Leaf Is A ...
By Sermon Central
Copied from Sermon Central
Someone once wrote, “autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
Fall vegetables are in season.
There’s nothing like picking your own pumpkin, taking it home, making some amazing artful creation with it and eventually roasting those seeds for a great afternoon snack.
By the way, do you know how to fix a broken pumpkin? With a pumpkin patch.
Do you know what the ratio of a pumpkin’s circumference is to its diameter? Pumpkin PI.
Autumn is here.
Change is in the air.
This time of year gives us the amazing opportunity to stop and appreciate the majesty and handiwork of God that surrounds us.
The stunning fall foliage invites us to look around and begs us to take notice of the changing landscape.
Fall is a time for us to be still in the moment and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.
Fall gives us a special opportunity to reflect on the majesty of all that God has made.
We are beginning this morning a short study guided by the creative colors God gives us this time of year.
Today, we are going to reflect on the beauty of the changing colors of the fall trees.
There are four lessons we can learn from these beauties God has put on display for us to see.
1. Autumn trees teach us to let our true colors shine through.
I want to take a brief detour into a short science lesson this morning to explain why the leaves on the trees change colors.
https://scijinks.gov/leaves-color/
Leaves are green in the spring and summer because there is lots of sunlight. The days are longer. The trees need to grow. Green leaves are fully of a chemical called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll gives the leaves their green color, but is also needed for the leaves to turn sunlight in to the much needed food to grow and sustain the tree through the process called photosynthesis.
Now as fall settles in, the days get shorter, there’s less sunlight, the days and nights become cooler. This is a signal for the leaves to begin to prepare for winter. They slowly stop making chlorophyll. The green starts to fade, and the leaves begin to show reds, oranges and yellows.
If it is too dry, the leaves do not remain hydrated and begin to wither away, turning brown and falling to the ground.
If we have too much rain and wind, the leaves get knocked off the trees and end up falling to the ground as well.
But when the amount of rain through the summer and fall is just right, the vibrant colors will just pop!
These colors are caused by other chemicals in the leaves. Each color has its own chemical. Each tree has its own blend of chemicals.
And so, as the chlorophyll levels drop in the leaves, the other chemicals, which have been there the whole time, cause the leaves to show their true color.
It appears that the leaves are changing colors.
The truth is, the color has always been there. The true color has just been hidden by the green.
Often, we are just like the leaves. We do whatever we have to do in order to survive in our daily lives.
Our true colors get lost in the pressures and stresses of life.
Sometimes we are like the leaves. Sometimes we are like river rocks.
Rain On The Rocks
By Jack Kale
Copied from Sermon Central
Jack Kale tells the story that he and his family were on the last morning of a five day float down the Buffalo River in Arkansas. They had joined another family for the second annual Kale-Parker river trip. Everyone had their own boat and each was packed with supplies that you might need for such a trip.
Things were stowed in dry-bags and waterproof boxes and piled into their combined 6 canoes and 4 kayaks.
They were camped just past Skull Rock and in between White Bluff and Tyler Bend on a great rock-bar. The night had been filled with an Independence Day like firefly show as those little bugs lit up the night in the thousands. The next morning, he tells, was when he noticed the rain on the rocks.
He tells it like this: “Just after sunup, I got out of my knock off Eno and made my way to our makeshift kitchen. I stumbled over the dusty brown rocks that made up our campsite as I filled the stainless steel pot with river water. Waiting for the joe to percolate, I listened to the water’s music as it rushed past our camp. That’s when the sky turned black and I saw the rain coming our way. I scrambled to makes sure everyone was ok and that canoes were turned over. I barely got that first cup of coffee poured when the rains came. We spend the next hour huddled under tarps as we waited out the rain. It only lasted an hour and it wasn’t that bad as river rains go. The tarp was still pitter-pattering from the wet willows overhead when I emerged from my haven. I was ready for another cup of coffee and needed to check on the kids.
“During the rains, something magical had happened; the dusty brown river rocks had turned into brightly colored gems. It was awesome and inspiring. These same rocks that that seemed monotonously brown and earthy were now shiny and colorful. Tones of red, khaki, orange, brown, black, white, and gray were mixed like a bag of M&M’s. The ground was a wonderland of color that woke from its slumber after a rain. The dirt got washed off. Dull turned shiny. The true colors of this rockbed was only made visible after a rain.”
Life is full of rainstorms. These rains will reveal our true colors. Many of us have been covered in life’s dust and dirt for way too long. We’re dry and in need of a good rain.
Maybe, we’ve been going through the motions, but have lost our shine. Life has left us on the riverbank, and away from the river’s flow. We can feel discarded and forgotten. It’s easy to think that life is passing us by, just like the canoes that float down the river. Even so, the rains will come and will help us show our true colors again.
Most of us don’t like the rain, but it will always reveal our true-selves.
Rain comes in our families — struggles in our marriages, struggles with children, struggles with finances, struggles when we become caregivers for parents because the rains of poor health and age have flooded their reality.
Maybe we are experiencing the rain of disillusionment in our career.
The rains will come and remind us that life is tough, but they will always show our true colors.
James 1:2-3 is paraphrased in the Message this way:
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.
We need to let true colors show through.
Let the rain wash off the dirt of life and give us a chance to show the world who we really are and who God created us to be.
In reality, we need to really let our true colors always show through. It’s OK to be unique. God created each of us individually and uniquely.
David writes in a familiar passage in Psalm 139:
13 For you created my inmost being;? you knit me together in my mother’s
womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;? your works are wonderful,? I know that full well.
(Psalm 139, NIV)
This morning, celebrate what makes us unique.
Celebrate the beauty inside that God has created.
Let the colors of our soul and our faith shine through as an inspiration and encouragement to others.
We must be who God created us to be!
2. Autumn trees have some truly amazing colors. They teach us about God.
The Psalmist writes:
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be
glad;? let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything
in them;? let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. ^
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord,
for he comes,? he comes to judge the earth.?He will judge the world in righteousness? and the peoples in his faithfulness.
(Psalm 96, NIV)
Isaiah, the prophet, writes:
12 You will go out in joy? and be led forth in peace;?the mountains and hills? will burst into song before you,?and all the trees of the field? will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55, NIV)
I envision that as the green of summer turns to the wide palette of colors of fall, that this is the time when the trees of the forest are really singing out and clapping their hands in joy before the Lord.
It is in this time that we cannot help but see the colors of the trees, of the world around us, and appreciate that there really must be a God, that He really is in control, and that nothing He does is a mistake, but is complete perfection.
Nature itself — the creation around us — the world that surrounds us — points to the fact that there must be a divine, perfect Creator.
Paul wrote in Romans 1 that nature is enough to convict our hearts even if we were never to hear the message of the gospel. He says:
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ^ 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1, NIV)
God takes His time and creative talents and paints for us each year a canvas of the most beautiful paintings ever made.
God truly is the Creator of all.
Paul writes in Colossians 1:16:
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1, NIV)
God is truly in control.
The Second Law Of Thermodynamics, In Basic ...
By Mike Wilkins
Copied from Sermon Central
Consider the second law of thermodynamics. In basic layman’s terms, it says that the most probable state for any natural system is one of disorder.
In other words, all natural systems degenerate when left to themselves. “Things fall apart.”
According to this law, the universe should fall apart, go spiraling out of control – but it doesn’t! Jesus is the glue that holds it all together. Jesus did not create the world, and then exit, leaving us to our own devices to keep it together. No! He created the universe, and He sustains it!
Every fall, we get to see God’s handiwork in the changing of the colors. God recreates a new painting every year, each different — each unique — each special.
And what is amazing, is the God who made the universe, who holds all things together by the power of his word, who paints majestic masterpieces day after day, month after month, year after year, who fills all things and is bigger than the universe, literally lives in us when we surrender our lives to Him.
The all-powerful, all-amazing, all-creative God calls us His dwelling place.
That makes each one of us as special and as spectacular as the colorful leaves on the fall trees.
God paints our lives with the same colorful brushstrokes that He uses to paint the mountain sides in the fall.
Take a look at our lives. We must never forget that God is painting a picture that shows His majesty, His love, His amazing grace.
By looking at our lives, just as we look at the autumn trees, others should be able to say without a doubt that there is a loving, amazing God in charge and still in control.
3. Autumn trees without fruit are a warning for us.
Now, that may seem to be a strange thing to consider, but follow along for a moment.
Normally it is in the fall that we begin to harvest some of the wonderful tree fruits: apples, pears, plums, and cherries.
Fruit trees in the fall need to be producing fruit as their leaves are beginning to change.
The ones that do not, the autumn trees without fruit, are without purpose — are dying.
You know, the word Autumn is mentioned only one time in Scripture — and it is in this context. In the short letter written by Jude, he says:
4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. ^
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. (Jude 4, 12, NIV)
These people are trouble. We are warned about them — autumn trees without fruit.
They are taking up nourishment from the ground, but failing to produce a crop.
These people are false teachers. They twist the words of God to mean things that God never intended.
These people are trying to stir up trouble among the followers of God.
Deception Is Disguised
By Glynda Lomax
Copied from Sermon Central
Edited
One of the things I love to do in fall, is to go walking in the woods, enjoying the breeze against your face, watching the falling leaves drift down to the ground.
But as I am walking, there’s something that you have to be very careful about, found in those leaves on the ground. Sometimes those leaves can conceal snakes.
Here in Virginia, we have lots of copperhead snakes. As most of you I’m sure are aware, copperheads are venomous Pit Vipers that strike you as soon as they sense heat when any part of your body comes near them.
This time of year, they blend PERFECTLY in with the beautiful fall leaves. When they sense a predator is near, they will sometimes freeze in place, making them blend in even better, and making it tougher to discern the danger.
They don’t even have the good manners to rattle at you like rattlesnakes do.
We must be careful of those snakes that hide behind beauty, waiting for a chance to strike at us and bring destruction.
Those that stir up trouble in the church — those that teach false doctrines — those that cause problems — are just like these snakes. They are looking for that perfect opportunity to destroy what God is trying to do in our lives, in our church, in our community, in our world.
The world is full of them these days — folks trying to fill our heads with a bunch of nonsense — folks trying to distract us from the truth.
This morning, we have to be alert to these autumn trees without fruit — be aware of these hiding snakes in the fallen leaves.
Paul writes to Timothy to warn him about such people:
2 …These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest ^ in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. (1 Timothy 6, NIV)
Sounds like some people in our world today, doing their best to do nothing but stir up trouble, anger, dissension and division.
If we can be divided, we can be destroyed.
And the master snake — the devil — wants to do just that.
This morning, be wise to these autumn trees without fruit. Be wise to the schemes of the devil. Be on guard.
4. Finally the changing colors of the autumn trees signals a change of seasons.
Change can sometimes be very difficult for us.
However, if you look amid the changing colors of the trees, often in the middle we will find an evergreen tree of some sort.
The evergreen trees stand in stark contrast to the changing colors, the falling leaves, the changing seasons. The evergreen never changes.
It reminds me that God, like the evergreen, never changes.
A Story… It Was Autumn, And The Indians On The ...
By Andrew Chan
Copied from Sermon Central
The story is told one fall that the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn’t tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.
Being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"
The meteorologist at the weather service responded, "It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed.” So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared.
A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"
"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it’s definitely going to be a very cold winter." The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.
Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely," the man replied. "It’s going to be one of the coldest winters ever."
"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting wood like crazy."
This morning, we may have many questions in our lives.
We may be struggling with the ups and downs of the changing seasons. We may be struggling with change.
But just as we can be sure that the evergreens in the forest will be standing strong and alive amid the changing colors of the deciduous trees, standing strong through the changing seasons and changing weather, we can be sure about God. We can be sure that, though all the world around us is in a constant state of change, God does not change.
Dr. David Jeremiah once said, “We can embrace change by knowing we serve an unchanging God.”
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13, NIV)
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1, NIV)
Never before has there been so much change going on around us.
It feels like the only constant in our lives is change.
One day we are going about our normal daily lives, the next day we are living amid a worldwide pandemic.
One day we are going about our normal work business, the next day everyone is sent home to work remotely.
One day we have normal activities in our lives, the next day we are worried for our own personal health and safety.
One day we have a good marriage, the next day our spouse says that they are done and want a divorce.
One day we are planning to go for a normal routine physical checkup with our doctor, and then he indicates that he wants tests done, because something isn’t right.
One day we are celebrating the holidays with family, and the next, we lose one of those family members.
Change in this world is inevitable.
But just as change is inevitable, so is God’s unchanging nature.
God stands there through the changes in our world, like an evergreen tree, firmly and deeply rooted, standing strong through the winds of winter, through the storms of spring, through the droughts of summer, through the changes of fall heading to winter, giving us hope.
We can draw on the strength and steadfastness of our God in order to stand amid the change of our world.
There is one constant in our lives. It is God. God does not change.
His word is living and enduring, giving us a solid foundation — a solid rock — upon which to build our lives.
Peter said:
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1, NIV)
Through our never changing God, we can endure the changes of this world if we have been born again of that imperishable seed of His word.
Conclusion
This morning, as someone mentioned last week, we here in Craig County have a unique opportunity each and every day.
We are blessed to be able to look out our windows and see the changing colors of fall, the beautiful handiwork of our God.
Never take that for granted as we go through each day.
Instead, I encourage you today to consider the changing colors of the trees, and remember to be an example to the world, showing off the true beauty within.
Remember that God has created all of these wonderful blessings that we enjoy every day.
Remember that God is still in control, still in charge, still at the helm. We can rest assured in the unchanging nature of our God.
All that is required is that we surrender our lives to him each and every day. The temptation is to try to do it ourselves. The temptation is to follow the whims of change present in our world. The temptation is to hide our true colors. But I pray today that we will surrender our lives, we will stand firm, and we will be the colorful masterpiece that the world needs to see today in order to see our true, unchanging, merciful and graceful God.
