Good Morning everyone
For those of you that don’t know me as Siara’s dad, I am Gregg Pinick the Executive Director here at Orange Lutheran. Executive Director is kind of a fancy way to say head of school. I was principal for 11 years, the last being the freshman year of the current seniors, and have served as Executive Director for the past 3 years. My office is by the back stairwell in the 500 hallway.
I am honored to share God’s Word with you today. Thank you for your attention for the next few minutes.
Please join me in a word of prayer.
Lord God, Heavenly Father
We gather around Your Word today remembering why you were born: to save Your people from their sins.
We celebrate the fact You loved us so much to send Jesus
Thank you for Your presence –
May the words of David praise you –
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable to You O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer. Amen
I want to share a story with you this morning. It took place over 22 years ago in a little apartment in Anaheim, CA. I was a new father of a week-old daughter and her 2-year old brother. One night, my wife and I were sitting in the living room and for some reason she (my wife) decided to go into the bedroom to check on our daughter. I’ll never forget her cry out for help. She brought our daughter out to me, and she was not breathing. I listened for her breath – nothing. I listened for her heartbeat – very faint. I told my wife to call 911 as I started to administer CPR. Within minutes the paramedics were there and they noticed that she had started to breath again. I handed her off and they took her to Anaheim Memorial.
As we watched her on the big bed, we thought maybe we had imagined this whole thing. Feeling a little embarrassed we called the nurse over. Soon after the nurse noticed that our daughter had stopped breathing again. She was then sent to CHOC where she spent a week being checked out.
After many tests the doctor’s called it a near miss SIDS. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. We were speechless, and then terrified it would happen again. To alleviate our fears, the hospital sent us home with a heart and breathing monitor. There were little electrodes on a band that velcroed across her chest. The machine would blink to show she was breathing and that her heart was still beating.
We really got used to that monitor and found it very reassuring to look over at anytime and know that she was ok. It went off once, but that was a faulty wire. It was a nice thing to have that monitor for the three months. Then came the day they took her off the monitor. Her mom and I had to trust God as the monitor from that point on.
Today, by the way, she is 22 years old and getting ready to graduate from college in May with a degree in nursing.
A monitor in life is a good thing. If we approached danger, it can go off and remind us that we need to correct something.
It is my prayer that this school is a built in monitor to let you know if something isn’t right. Your families and true friends are monitors that let you know when you are wandering too close to the out of bounds. As you get older, and have more independence, the desire for a monitor will need to come from within.
What will you have as your monitor as you leave OLu? That is something to be preparing for even today.
Three quick thoughts…
In Psalm 119 David (by most accounts) wrote these words…
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
The Message says it this way…
9-16 How can a young person live a clean life?
By carefully reading the map of your Word.
I'm single-minded in pursuit of you;
don't let me miss the road signs you've posted.
I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart
so I won't sin myself bankrupt.
Be blessed, God;
train me in your ways of wise living.
I'll transfer to my lips
all the counsel that comes from your mouth;
I delight far more in what you tell me about living
than in gathering a pile of riches.
I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you,
I attentively watch how you've done it.
I relish everything you've told me of life,
I won't forget a word of it.
I truly believe that God’s Word is our monitor. Over the years you have been asked to read it, asked to memorize it, asked to learn from it. That encouragement now needs to become your own. I would encourage you to read a little everyday.
As a man who did not do this until 14 years ago, I would share that my life has completely changed because of the power of His Word. Let His Word be your guide – Your monitor. It is all the power you will ever need to take on any battle in your life.
God’s Word allows you to know who God is. In His Word we learn of His great love for each us. We learn He wants to build relationship with us.
When I was principal, there used to be a mural hanging in the 100 hallway that had the following words on it. It’s never too late to do the right thing – are words that have meant a lot to me in my lifetime. I heard them when a Pastor Chuck Swindoll shared a story about a girl who had not kept her virginity and was struggling with his Waiting until marriage campaign. She said she couldn’t participate because she hadn’t waited. He told her it is never too late to do the right thing. Wait from this moment on.
Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 that we all sin and fall short of God’s glory. We have done things that make us feel bad or ugly – things we know that do not please God. When you are faced with those times and you wish you could start over – start over. That’s what forgiveness is – a fresh start, a clean slate, a redo. As long as we are alive we can say it’s never too late because of what Christ did on the cross for each of us. He gave us the opportunity to start new. By His grace we receive His love and forgiveness.
Go through life as a forgiving person. Those that hold grudges and withhold forgiveness are the one’s that are miserable. Forgive as you have been forgiven.
Our God – the Creator of the Universe – who said “let there be” - and there was – is as close to you as a prayer. He longs to be included in everything we do and say: in all aspects of your life. You have a God who is truly 100% faithful and dependable.
So depend on Him. Trust Him. Ask Him.
It has been said…
“When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; but when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.” – A.C. Dixon
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You have great days ahead of you. Work hard this semester and finish this year in a positive way – be complete – don’t take short cuts, and your memories back on your days of life at OLu will be wonderful.
Lord,
I thank you for all the students you have gathered here over the years.
Orange Lutheran is not an ending but a beginning –
a spring board into the world where we get to be a part of Your plan to let the world know who You are.
Use us each and every day Lord to get Your message out.
Broaden our platform and our influence.
Thank you for the ministry that is going on in Lutheran schools around the world.
Be with those here today who are hurting and need to feel Your presence in a special way.
Lord we love You.
In Jesus name. Amen
May God bless each of you in all you do for Him every day.
