Sunday Services: 10:30 AM
505 South Sixth St. Burbank, CA
91501

FaithView, For Storm Riders:
“Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!”—Jeremiah 16:20

I’ve yet to see anyone smelt/melt/or glue together a golden calf…But, yes, man is in the business of god-making.

God-making is lucrative, empowering and can provide a sense of peace…At least until the god you made/purchased has proven to fail and you set about making/purchasing another one.

The question about god-making is entirely jejune. (Jejune being: without interest or significance; dull; insipid: juvenile; immature; childish: lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed: deficient or lacking in nutritive value.)

The better question to ask is why do we set about making gods at all? Why?

A god that we create is a god that we control. A god that we control is a god that is answerable to us. A god answerable to us gives us the answers we want to hear.

So when I don’t want to listen/acknowledge/obey God (the Almighty henceforth referenced with a capital “G”) I go to my god—the one I created—the one who makes me feel good and validates all my actions.

And we’re not stupid…When we create our god, we’ll make sure he/she has an appearance of godliness. This created god will expect us to do good works as acts of worship…It will require us to wear our piety outwardly for the world to see because this will draw people to our created god.

And as long as we are obedient to our manufactured god, he/she will never judge us. And when we are feeling lost—looking for an answer—our god will tell us to look within. What is our heart telling us? How do we feel regarding a particular issue? And when we make a decision, based on how we feel, our god will embrace us.

This is why we create gods…Plus—if we’re really good at it—we’ll create a god that speaks only to and through us. So when somebody wants to hear from our god we—and only we—will be the dispensers of what he/she has to share.

This is why we create gods or are so bold as to set ourselves up—humbly—as a mini-god. A mini-god that is not all-powerful but right there with the rest of the golden calfs. And we won’t use the word god; we’ll say it’s us…We’ll claim the power of the will, mind and positive energy. We’ll appropriate some scripture about doing and accomplishing all things to flavor our efforts with a spiritual tone.

And when failure comes–inevitably it will–we’ll go right back on the market for another…Because of our free will and our inherited inclination towards sin (rebellion against God), we will always be in the market, on the look, willing to give a tryout to a man-made god.

This is why it’s so hard to deny ourselves, to truly put the interests of others first and to humble ourselves before the Creator of the universe. We want to be God, so we’ll continually work on being god.

Ever wonder why we have struggles in this Christian life? The reason it’s not all rainbows and ice cream is because the life Christ requires us to live goes against our very nature. That’s not easy. That’s not a struggle that concludes when we give our life to the Lord.

In fact, when you give your life to the Lord that’s the start of the struggle. The struggle to overcome yourself. The good news is, the more you submit to God–and see the fruits of a life slowly coming under His authority and gaining true meaning–the less inclined you’ll be to go back on the market for a manufactured god.

And it’s then, then that you’ll come to understand what it means to be truly free, truly loved and truly blessed.

Boom!
***

Department Leaders: Be sure to get your year-end reports to Jackie K. for the church report coming out at the end of this month. Matt, Bill, Seana, Pastor Joe T., etc. etc…

***

A VBS Unlike Any Other:
You can sign up your child and their friends here on our website. Look the button up top, click, and follow.

***

Burbank Faith now has a Twitter account. You can follow us at; @BurbankFaithNaz

***

Eric Canto has created a Burbank Faith channel on YouTube and has placed all of our recent services there. Go check it out.

***

Note:
VBS Goes to Rome: The theme for Vacation Bible School this year is “Rome: Paul & The Underground Church”
The dates are June 26-30…Look at your calendar…share with your friends…Pray for Seana Zilbert, who is directing…Make plans to volunteer.

July is Camps Month: Remember July is camps month…Junior High, High School & Kids will all have separate camps at Granite Ridge.

District Assembly is July 12-14
(It is one month later this year due to General Assembly (Indianapolis) being held June 21-30.)

SrHi Camp: July 16-21
Kids Camp: July 23-28
JrHi Camp: July 30-August 4

***

Did You Know?
On this date…

…In 387, Augustine of Hippo, 32, was baptized on this Eve of Easter. He told the story of his Christian conversion from a profligate life in his “Confessions,” written between 397-401.

…In 1920, death of Eliza P. Hewitt, 69, American Presbyterian S.S. teacher and hymnwriter. Many of her verses are still sung today, including “Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus.”

…In 1944, in deciding the legal case “United States v. Ballard,” the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the general principle that “the truth of religious claims is not for secular authority to determine.”

***

Church Calendar:
April 24: “Riders On The Storm”—7:00 PM
April 25: Women’s Bible Study—7:00 PM
April 19:
All Church Prayer Time: 7—to—7:30 PM
Worship Team Practices: 7:30 PM
Adult Bible Study—1 Samuel 18—7:30 PM
April 27: Board Meeting: 6:30 PM
April 29: March For Autism
April 30: Sunday Service, 10:30 AM…Sunday evening “Prayer Hour” from 6-to-7:00 PM
May 6: Men’s Breakfast at Harry’s, 8:00 AM
May 13: Ladies Tea
May 14: Mother’s Day
May 21: VBS planning meeting, following morning worship.
May 29: Memorial Day
June 26-30: VBS Week

As believers, we have to remain in continual prayer for all of our first responders…all our leaders…not a political party but for those carrying the heavy burden of leadership in our country and communities.