A Different Take on Frozen

In honor of my upcoming trip to Disney, I have a question for you... 

Have you ever considered the story of Frozen to have echoings of a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Keep in mind that this is my very loose interpretation here, but bear with me here... 

Anna has a pure untainted love for her sister, right? She tries and tries to convince Elsa to let her into her life. 

The night of Elsa's coronation, the sisters get into a fight with Anna pushing harder than ever to be apart of her sister's life. "What are you so afraid of?" she shouts, and Elsa runs away in fear.

Anna, with unconditional love for her sister, faces snow and ice (which as the opening song warns is a force to be afraid of) to chase after her sister once more.

When Anna finally reaches her sister, she pleads some more. You don't have to live in fear because for the first time in forever, I will be right here.

Yet again, Elsa forces Anna away with a blow to the heart. As the story continues the audience learns that the only cure to thaw a frozen heart is an act of true love.

Stick with me here..

So Anna is let down by her prince charming, but Olaf is there to remind her that some people are worth melting for.

At this point,  Kristoff has turned around to come to Anna's rescue. The two are so close to a true love's kiss that will heal Anna, but instead of saving herself, she throws her body in front of a sword for the sister that has shut her out for as long as she can remember.  The lesson being that love heals!

So back to my original point... God's love for his people is unconditional!  No matter what we have done, no matter where we have been, he has loved us through it all. He sent his son to die for US, to forgive us of our sins, even when we have pushed him away and shut him out! He has always loved us and always will!! His love can heal all things!! So in the words of Anna, What are you so afraid? Let God in!  Accept Him into your life! His love for you will lift the fear that you have been running from and offer peace in a world that previously had none!

Till next time...

The Takeaway:: Titus 2

Today I visited #TheVillageChurch in Flower Mound for the first time. I had previously been to the Dallas campus and enjoyed it, but today was entirely different. Allow me to explain before I get into the message of the sermon. 

All morning I was FREAKING OUT!!! This was going to be my first time to go to church alone, as in all by myself! And the whole time the song "If We Are The Body" by #CastingCrowns was playing in my head.

So all morning, there was a battle waging in my mind. Should I go? Will I be received well? Will anyone even know I am there? But.... I couldn't not go. Its been heavy on my heart to get my booty back in church and give the gift of a church family to my daughter... SO here goes nothing!

Cote and I showed up about 45 minutes early to the 11:15 service. I got her checked in without any problems and was off to find my seat. At this point, most seats were empty, so I chose an isle seat in the middle. While sitting there, all I could think about was "Is someone going to say Hi to me???" and guess what?! THREE different older gentleman did. It was exactly what I needed, to feel like I was not invisible in this sea of the masses, 

The music began, and it was perfect because it was praise music that I know. This was one of the first times I have ever sang out in church without a care in the world as to who could hear me. We were asked to drop to our knees for part of a song which just about moved me to tears. Praising the Lord in a true position of worship! It was an amazing experience!!

The service began, and forgive me but I did not catch the name of the Pastor. He was not the lead, but he said everything I needed to hear::

The sermon today was over the book of Titus, chapter two. Apparently, at some point they covered chapter one, so allow me to catch you up::

Titus is a letter from the Apostle Paul to a young man that he treasures deeply, my true son in our common faith (1:4). He is writing to Titus about the church in Crete. This church had fallen to the wayward teachings of false prophets. Paul is disgusted with what is taking place. Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons" (1:12). Basically, it was bad news for Crete according to chapter one. 

Bringing us to chapter two. Paul is telling Titus what he is to teach the people in accord with sound doctrine (2:1). He addresses five different groups of people:

1. Older Men
2. Older Women
3. Younger Women
4. Younger Men
5. Slaves.

When Paul addresses the older men, he is referring to the elders of the community. These are the empty-nesters. Their children have grown; their house is empty; and they have experienced enough life to impart wisdom on the youth. Verse 2 says Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love and in endurance. So what does this mean? It means that these 50-60+ men need to be the leading examples for the younger men. There are two parts to this. Men need to lead by example in their behavior AND in their faith in the Lord. Be someone worthy or respect and demonstrate God's love through steadfast faith!

The second group Paul addresses is the older women. He says, Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good (2:3). So lets start with the word reverent. Google's definition of reverent is "feeling or showing deep and solemn respect." Some of the synonyms are respectful, reverential, admiring, devoted, devout, dutiful, awed, and deferential. The pastor said it beautifully, something along the lines of live like the pearls of life! Be the woman that younger women can model themselves after. You see, in this time, these older women had plenty of time on their hands, after all they had earned it since building a family for so many years. BUT these women were taking it too far. They would go house to house drinking wine and gossiping. The more the drank, the more they talked. The more they talked, the worse things they said. It was a viscous cycle that had to come to a screeching halt. There could be no more tongue lashings! These women were called to teach the younger women, which brings me to the next group.

THE YOUNGER WOMEN: Let me preface by saying this was my favorite part of the whole sermon! Anyways... Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God (2:4-5). So why is there so much directed at younger women? It is not because they are in need of the most guidance, but because they are the most important! And let me tell you why. The younger women being referred to here are of marriage age. They are going to get married, are married, are going to have children, or they already do. These are the women that hold the future of their people in the palms of their hands. So lets break this down piece by piece:

• to love their husbands and children: In this time, women were not blessed with the opportunity to marry for love. They were subject to an arrange marriage. These women had to learn to love their husbands and the children that they shared. If this didn't happen, their homes would be destroyed. 
• to be self controlled and pure: As with all other groups of people, the younger women need to live according to God's word. It is as simple as that.
• to be busy at home: In other translations, it says to work at home. Before you panic, like I did, understand that this does not mean you are living in sin by working outside of the home. If you are not a stay at home mom, that is okay. This simply means to not be idle at home. Build your home. Take responsibility for your home. It is the wife's/mother's job to teach what is good and right. To be the potter of the house and mold her family into goodness. 
• to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands: This is NOT saying lose yourself to your husband. This is saying to be the Proverbs 31 wife. She is worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31: 10).
• so that no one will be malign to the word of God: The word malign means "to speak about in a spitefully critical manner." Basically, women need to live the way God commanded them. Live by faith to lead by example. Let others see God in you.

The next group addressed by Paul is younger men, similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled (2:6). As the pastor said, he [Paul] would not have said it if it wasn't possible. Paul is urging men to GET IT TOGETHER. Simple as that!

The last group addressed is slaves. I am not going to address this group because it was not thoroughly discussed. The pastor said that the topic of slavery deserves a sermon of its own, but that we as a people need to change still today!  

Paul closes chapter two by saying this: 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 

These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. (2:11-15)

I do not feel like there is anything I can add to the poetic truth that Paul has offered here.

My hope with this post is to remind everyone that the ownership for discipleship falls on the membership, as the pastor today said. This sermon hit my heart, speaking directly to me and who I need to be as a mother. It is my prayer that by sharing this, perhaps it could do the same for you.

Until next time...

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