The Game Is Not Over Yet

“Game Over.” Those were the words I heard at the end of the third quarter on a Sunday afternoon when my dad and I went to a Tampa Bay Bucs game. My dad would often get free tickets through his work and would alternate taking one of us four kids.

This particular day was my turn. The Bucs had failed to score a single point in three quarters while the opposing team seemed to score every time it had the ball. As a teen, this game was rather dull.

We had entered with high hopes only to have them crushed, and when the fans began to make a mass exodus to beat the traffic home, I became excited this game was finally over.

However, there was still a fourth quarter and perhaps it was my dad teaching me a lesson, but he decided to stay. What happened next was incredible, it was a miracle and the Bucs in the last quarter made an amazing comeback and actually won the game!

Easter was recently upon us and as a pastor, it is always an exciting time. We enter Palm Sunday with great expectations, but then Good Friday happens and Jesus the Christ dies upon a cross. Everyone was thinking the same thing, “Game Over, we lost.”

But on Easter Sunday, Jesus rises from the dead and announces that He had won our salvation and forgiveness of sins. “Game Over. Amen.”

Published in Delta Optimist April  22 2012

 

Seeing the Signs

I recently had the opportunity to visit our Delta Hospital, not as a visitor, as clergy often do, but as a patient.

While being cared for by the wonderful hospital staff, I began talking to myself as one does while waiting for tests.

What I said went something like this, “You did good. You saw the symptoms, you came in and I can be treated, nothing to worry about. Yep, I did good.”

Thankfully all the tests came back in my favour. What I found interesting was how I was giving myself credit for my health because I simply saw signs and brought myself to the hospital.

This made me think about how we often look at sin as a disease and how we can fix ourselves.

In Ephesians 2 it talks about us being dead in our sin. Unfortunately, when I am dead I cannot fix myself; I cannot will myself back to life or change my diet or exercise more.

But later in the chapter it talks of us being made alive in Christ. We cannot do it but Christ can make us alive once more.

That is a huge source of comfort knowing that I am forgiven not by the things I do or should do, but by the works that Christ did on the cross for me.

And it only took me going to the hospital to figure that out.

Published in Delta Optimist March 23 2012

Bittersweet Day

As I began to write this week’s article, I received a phone call from my brother, in Delaware, that my four-year-old niece had died. She has been in the hospital fighting off several infections over the last two weeks.

My niece, Angelina Grace, was also born with Trisomy 18. A quick Google search will tell you what it is, but suffice to say she should statistically never lived to see her first birthday, yet she was mere weeks away from her fifth.

Today is what I would call a bittersweet day.

It is bitter because Angelina is no longer with us. My family and I will miss her smile and laugh and her always happy demeanor. She was a true blessing to all that had known her and as bitter as her death is, it is also sweet.

It is sweet in that through the mercy of God and through the Saving waters of her baptism, I know without a shadow of a doubt she is now fully healed, without pain or suffering, and is now in the arms of her Saviour Jesus Christ (Romans 6: 3-4).

I share this because it is this hope and comfort that will see our family through this.

It was through the cross that Jesus Christ defeated sin, death and the devil. It is through the cross that we have each been offered the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Amen.

Pastor Steven Naylor

Published in Delta Optimist Feb 24 2012

 

Skyping With God

Fellow readers, I am proud to say I am a new uncle. My sister had a healthy baby boy last week named Finn Jackson.

My sister and her family all live in North Carolina, so seeing Finn Jackson was not something I could just hop over and do, but with the blessing of technology, I was able to Skype (video chat) with both mother and child within an hour of his birth. The amazing thing is that even just a few years ago this would not have been possible.

When telling a friend about the recent Skype session, I said how neat it would be to be able to have a spiritual Skype with God. My friend then reminded me, we do. It’s called prayer!

Prayer is that time when we can go to God our Father and speak to Him about all that is weighing on our hearts and minds. We can also share our joys and blessings with Him. The beauty of prayer is that we do not need any fancy piece of technology; we can simply talk to him anywhere and anytime.

We can hear God speaking back to us through His Word, the Bible, and God tells us over and over again, “Lo, I am with you even until the end of the age.” (Matt 28: 20).

What a true blessing we have been given.

Pastor Steve Naylor

Published in Delta Optimist Jan 29 2012

A Simple Message

I write this article in the wake of another “Black Friday,” and while watching the videos and news about the mayhem, it made me realize how complex we have made the simple message of Christmas.

It would seem the modern “Spirit of Christmas,” namely that of peace and giving, has become one of greed and pepper spray. Christmas is becoming more and more complex and hazardous every year.

It has become that of the perfect dinner, the perfect presents (bigger and more expensive) and the perfect “deal” for those perfect presents. Everything has to be perfect, because if it is not, then we have obviously failed as a parent, grandparent, relative or friend.

Thankfully, many of us keep the receipts!

Christmas is actually very simple. When we put aside the dinners, the presents and everything that seems to be wrapped up in the season away, it comes down to one simple, yet perfect gift. The gift was the Christ who was born in a stable, grew up and died upon a cross to take away the sins of the world so we may live in a paradise called heaven forever.

Christmas still revolves around peace and giving, but not from us, from God.

So as we race for the best deals, and cook the best turkey or ham, may we never forget how simple that first Christmas gift really is.   Merry Christmas.

Pastor Steve Naylor

Published in Delta Optimist Dec 2 2011
[Image courtesy of MSNBC]

The Jeffersons Christmas Concert – SOLD OUT

Lisa Brokop and Paul Jefferson are together as “The Jeffersons” and will be performing a Christmas Concert at Saviour on December 9th.  Tickets are $15 each, kids under 12 are free.  For more details click here

Everyday Saints

All Saints Day, is a special day in the church year, and many churches will observe this day on Sunday.

For many it is the day we remember all the saints that have died in the Christian faith. Some might honour saints like Saint Peter or Saint Joseph. But many of us will celebrate what I call Saint Bob.

Saint Bob is the everyday person who has died in the faith. It is our grandparents, relatives and friends.

Some might be confused as to why I call the average Christian saint.

Martin Luther said it best when he called each of us sinner and saint.

His reasoning is although we each as sinner, “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23), God in His forgiveness of our sins have made us holy and righteous, and thus saints.

Although All Saints Day for many is a somber day, it is also a day of hope. It’s a day that we are reassured that when we too find ourselves on death’s door we have nothing to fear for we too, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, have been forgiven of our sins and have been made saints.

So whether you honour Saint Peter or Saint Joseph, or a Saint Bob, may we find hope in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Pastor Steve Naylor

Published in Delta Optimist Nov 4 2011