Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "In Praise of Simple Things"

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This Sunday
October 18, 2015



Sermon Title:
"In Praise of Simple Things"



Scripture: 
Acts 2:46,  
1 Timothy 6:6-7, James 1:16-18
 
Picture of Pastor Tim
October 15, 2015
 
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
 
This past week, Juli and I took a delayed trip in celebration of our thirtieth wedding anniversary, which occurred on August 24. We joined two of our best friends and their daughter at their house on Holden Beach, North Carolina, for three days. On the last evening, they wanted to enjoy dinner at the Pilot House Restaurant in Wilmington, NC, about forty-five minutes north of Holden Beach. As soon as they mentioned the Pilot House, I knew I recognized the name but could not place it. Juli wondered if we'd gone there with her parents many years ago, but that didn't sound quite right.
 
As soon we drove up to the restaurant, everything fell into place. Juli and I were married in Raleigh, NC. Following the afternoon wedding reception, we drove to Wilmington for our wedding night before then heading on to Hilton Head, SC, the next day. As a wedding gift, three of my closest friends--one of whom was the man we were with--gave us dinner at a fine restaurant in Wilmington. You guessed it, the Pilot House.
 
After finishing dinner out on the porch, I took Juli inside the restaurant and pointed to the tables by the windows and said, "When we were here before, we sat right over there." Juli and I then rejoined my friends and I asked, "Rob, do you remember what you gave Juli and me for our wedding gift?" Rob said that he had completely forgotten. I then was able to tell Rob, Juli, and the others with us of our first full meal as husband and wife, provided by Rob (and the other friends) over at the tables by the windows thirty years ago.
 
Why do I recount this story? Plainly, none of us knew of the history for Juli and me at the Pilot House when we set out for dinner that night. We didn't know, but God knew. And plainly, we didn't choose the restaurant that night as a way to remember and celebrate His goodness to us over three decades. But God remembered and chose to guide our way back to the Pilot House that night. And I choose to believe that He did so in order to remind Juli and me that He was the One who called us to the covenant of marriage on August 24, 1985. He is the One who has continued with us for three decades. I further believe that on our wedding night, He foreknew that He would bring us back to the Pilot House thirty years later, unbeknownst to ourselves, to remind us of His good providential plans, plans of welfare, not calamity, plans to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
 
It was a simple thing that the Lord did for Juli and me on our vacation--at least simple for Him. By the Spirit, He tapped us on our shoulders to remind us that He is the One who knows the end from the beginning and who guides our steps along the way as we look to Him. I encourage all of us to have our eyes wide open in daily life for the simple things and simple ways that our God uses to assure us of His great faithfulness and covenant keeping love.
 
Pastor Tim

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