Rev. Tom Holloway

Solon Center Wesleyan Church 

15671 Algoma Ave, Cedar Springs

As a sports fan, I love all kinds of sporting activities but most of all, “March Madness.” Though I don’t go in on any pools, my family all fills out their brackets and we battle each other for the title. I still can’t believe that my wife won last year after not knowing a single thing about college basketball, other than the fact that the best collegiate basketball team is the Michigan State Spartans!

The NCAA Tournament is the most exciting sporting event because of the opportunity for some unknown team to come up and make a huge run. We love to root for the Cinderella team. Why is that? We love to root for the underdog because we have it in our mind that the powerhouse is bad and the underdog is good. This goes back to the greatest underdog of all time, David vs. Goliath.

David, this young teenager with only a sling and a stone goes out against the 9-foot tall champion Goliath from Philistine. I’m taking some liberty here, but I would guess that down deep in their hearts, everyone was cheering for David (even the other Philistines). I believe it is just in us to root for the underdog because we all see ourselves as the underdog. So I think that everyone was rooting for David in this battle, except for one, and his name was Saul.

Saul was the King of Israel and had the most to gain from this victory, yet we see the first recorded “sarcasm” in the Bible. We find it in I Samuel 17:32–37. “32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”

“Go, and the LORD be with you.” In other words, “Good luck buddy!”

We know the rest of the story; David succeeds in defeating Goliath with his slingshot and a stone. But what gets sometimes lost is that David will go on to do great things and receive great honor for defeating Goliath, and this will make Saul extremely angry and jealous. In fact Saul will become increasingly miserable and bitter the rest of his life.

The ironic thing is that Saul had all of the things that people strive for. He was tall, dark, and handsome.  He had great power. He was the first King of Israel. He had God’s blessing. He had all of the tools to be successful. But he lacked one thing—humility.

When Jesus came to the earth, He was fully God and fully man. He was God’s Son, He had the knowledge, He could do all kinds of miracles, He had the right to demand and get anything He wanted. Yet we read in Philippians 2:5—11 that He chose to make himself nothing, He humbled himself.  When we humble ourselves, God will lift us up. In a few weeks we will celebrate the greatest story of all time—Jesus resurrection, where He defeated death. This is the ultimate comeback story. This is when “March Madness” turns to “April Gladness.”

Get out to your local church, or find one if you don’t have one, and celebrate the greatest spectacle, the power of Jesus’ resurrection. Join with me in praying for our community and our community leaders as we go through this great Easter season! And “Go State!” (Sorry, I had to do it!)

Residents living in and around the Cedar Springs, Michigan community can be screened to reduce their risk of having a stroke or bone fracture. Solon Center Wesleyan Church will host Life Line Screenings on Ma 10, 2011, at 15671 Algoma Ave., in Cedar Springs.
Four key points everyone needs to know:
1.    Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of permanent disability
2.    80 percent of stroke victims had no apparent warning signs prior to their stroke
3.    Preventive ultrasound screenings can help you avoid a stroke
4.    Screenings are fast, noninvasive, painless, affordable and convenient
Screenings identify potential cardiovascular conditions such as blocked arteries and irregular heart rhythm, abdominal aortic aneurysms, high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries in the legs, which is a strong predictor of heart disease. A bone density screening to assess osteoporosis risk is also offered and is appropriate for both men and women.  Packages start at $139. Screenings take approximately 60-90 minutes to complete.
For more information regarding the screenings or to schedule an appointment, call 1-877-237-1287 or visit our website at www.lifelinescreening.com. Pre-registration is required.

We face decisions everyday that seek to divide us: Michigan or Michigan State  (Go Spartans!), Democrat or Republican (no comment), Coke or Pepsi, rock or country, and last but not least hymns or praise choruses. These decisions that we make can be of little importance or of great importance. I myself would love to see another Michigan football season much like the last, with maybe one or two less wins, but my best friend would have to be coaxed off of a ledge if that happened.  My wife on the other hand couldn’t care less if Michigan State won the national championship, unless it happened on Facebook.

On Sunday, August 30, we witnessed something historical in Cedar Springs and I hope you had the opportunity to attend it. The Cedar Springs Ministerial Association hosted the first annual worship service in Morley Park, and it was called “United.” We don’t have exact numbers, but it was estimated that over 500 people were in attendance at the 11:00 a.m. service, and many people stuck around afterwards for a free lunch of hot dogs and chips. After the lunch was a time of hanging with friends and family while the kids played on the dozen inflatable games, or in the park on the playground equipment. You could also take a turn at dunking your pastor in the “Dunk Tank,” which an un-named pastor broke! To conclude the day was a time of worship music provided by a worship team made up of people from over 6 area churches. It was an awesome time of unity.

Unity, as you might guess does not come easy, nor does it come naturally. If you have more than one child in your house, or if you have a sibling, you know that peace is not a natural outcome over time. In fact, Jesus knew, when He left this Earth, that, as Christians, we would have the natural tendency to divide. In John 17:21 Jesus prays that, “…all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Jesus was warning us that people who are not Christians will be watching what we do. Because let’s face it, we as Christians don’t have the best reputation when it comes to bonding together in unity. We have as many denominations as there are Baskin Robbins flavors. But I can tell you that the churches in our area are working together to unite on the things that we all have in common, and this has been a long time coming. As one song that we sang says, “Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city…”

I think one of our area pastors said it best when we ended our prayer for our area by saying, “We Family!” This pastor happens to be one of the football coaches here in Cedar Springs, and this is what they say everyday to conclude their practice. That, no matter what happens in the heat of battle, we’re all family.  Even though we may disagree on style, music, dress, hymns, etc…  We are united on the big things.  Like a family we are made up of different people, and we all have our strengths and weaknesses, not to mention that really weird aunt!  But together we can all agree on reaching out to our community to show the love that was shown to us. Great job Cedar Springs, and a big “thank you” from “En-Gedi,” our future community youth center that was given over $1,100 as an offering. Watch out for more community events from our ministerial association.

Rev. Tom Holloway, Asst. Pastor
Solon Center Wesleyan Church
15671 Algoma Ave., Cedar Springs