Lycoming

Alive!
The Twist of God
At the end of the school year I have the privilege of going into a classroom to make
animal balloons for the kids. These balloons are a great vehicle to capture a child’s atten-
tion. Once they see the balloon inflate, I have a captive audience and can easily tap into
their world to perhaps impart a life changing message.
One of the greatest stories told by balloons, however, is not in the final product, but in
the act of creating the balloon animal. I often imagine that you and I are the balloon and God
is the master balloon artist. While people not in the ballooning world would see an uninflated
balloon as nothing special, for a balloon artist it is like a blank canvas.

As the master artist, God takes that one balloon in

Bicycle Bugs Bunny & Penguin
His hand, and can do something breathtaking with it.
While the end result will indeed be a masterpiece, a crea-
tion that leaves people in awe, the process to get there is
kind of messy. The tying and the twisting and the bending
can all be noisy and squeaky, but it is all necessary to be
what the balloon was created to be. SUNDAY WORSHIP
If you can, imagine yourself as an uninflated balloon, 10:15 AM
but now you are in the hands of the Artist. The first thing you experience is the air being
pumped into your being. While the air entering the balloon sounds harmless enough, can
you imagine the pain for that balloon? As each pump forces more air into the balloon, the † † †
excruciating feeling of being pulled and expanded into something you were not? Remember,
if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.
PASTOR
The balloon is filled and can now take a deep breath because the pain is over, but the
artist is just beginning. You see, the artist knows what he is creating even before he starts. Dr. Ryan Martin
He knows the twists and the turns and the bending and the pulling that are necessary to
make that balloon into what it should be. If it was up to the balloon, I am sure it would rather
hang out in the bag on the shelf with the rest of the balloons, untouched and playing it safe. ELDERS
John Getgen
Something happens, though, when the balloon is shaped into its final form. Often when
I am making a balloon, the beginning twists and turns don’t really look like anything. I will tell David Miller
someone what I am making, but it actually doesn’t look anything like that until the very end.
Well-meaning people (at least they think they are well-meaning) will point out that what I am
making doesn’t look anything like what I said it would look like. As a balloon artist, though, I
know the steps to get to where I am headed so these “ridiculing statements” don’t get to me.
I know the end result will leave the people stunned. In fact, the reactions are usually some-
thing like: “Wow! How did you do that?!”
Here is the point. It is in the hard times of life that we are most shaped into the image of
Christ. Learn to cherish the sufferings that make you into His image, because they are a gift
from God. Like the balloon itself must feel, those twists and pulls and turns may not feel very
good, but God uses them to shape you into a masterpiece.
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Lycoming Alive Page 2
(Continued from page 1)

God is not a masochist, and to suggest He causes the bad things to happen in your life so that He can teach
you a lesson is to turn Him into just that. However, in His infinite wisdom He somehow uses the pain in our
lives to shape us more into who we were created to be. God is with us all the time, but it seems like He is
most present when we are in the fire. Though it is true that God never forsakes us, it is in the valleys of life that
His hand is seen the most. It would be a pity if while I was shaping a balloon, the balloon began to act out, try-
ing to stop me from doing what I am doing. If the balloon just behaves, it would see that what they will be is so
much better than what they were. To borrow a picture from Toy Story, a balloon is supposed to bring joy to a
child and the only way to do this is for the balloon to submit to the artist’s twists and pulls.

What season of life are you are in right now? With so many things in the world seeming to crash down all
around us, it probably feels like you are being pulled and stretched and twisted against your will. People are
facing real issues right now, issues that at times seem to stretch you to the breaking point. Paul said in
Philippians, “I want to know Christ, yes to know the power of His resurrection and the participation in His suffer-
ings, becoming like Him in His death.” In our humanity it is our nature to avoid these shaping and pulling times,
as they hurt. If we cannot avoid them, at the very least complain about them. And yet, if we learn to see these
times through the eyes of the Master Artists, we will see we are being shaped into the image of Christ. The im-
age of Christ is the cross, for that is where He ended up. If we want to reflect His image, we must be where He
was. If we want to experience the power of His resurrection, we must first become like Him in His death. How
are you being pulled and shaped and twisted? Instead of trying to avoid the pain, lean into the fire, because
that is where God hangs out. Instead of trying to get away, submit to the Master’s hands. God will use this
trial, whatever it is, as another twist in the design as He creates in you a masterpiece. Ephesians says “You are
a masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus.” Another translation reads, “You are God’s handiwork.” Which ever
way you want to say it, these twists and turns are making you into who God wants you to be, a masterpiece. A
masterpiece that points to the power of God in which other’s exclaim, “Wow! How did He do that?”
Deeper in Him,
Ryan

ALL CHURCH BIRTHDAY Tuesday, June 11

PARTY POTLUCK PICNIC
Come help us celebrate everyone’s birthday on
Sunday, June 9
in the church pavilion right after morning services.
If inclement weather, it will be held in the church
basement. The Women’s Ministry will provide
paper products and drinks.
Contact the church office if
you would like to meet with
the elders.
The New Love Center
June - 15 oz. size Great Northern
Beans
There is a box in the lobby to place
donations.
https ://i5.wal martimages. com/s eo/ Bus h -s -Great-Northern -Beans -Canned -Northern -Beans -15 -8 -oz -Can_ db0 3ea33 -b487 -48d0 -b0a8 -1c7

Check “The Source” for a sign up sheet to indicate

what dish you will bring to share.
A birthday cake and ice cream will be provided for
all to enjoy! See Debbie Clark for more information.
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Vacation Bible School

June 19-21, 2024
6:30—8:00 PM
Family Finale Picnic
June 22– 1:00-3:00 PM
https://stories.starbucks.com/uploads/2024/04/Starbucks-Mothers-Day-Merch-2.png

“Finding God Under the Sea”

4 ladies met on Saturday, May 11, for LIFT to

The members of the Lock Haven study Hagar. We have been studying and relating
University Ministry were ever so grateful
ladies of the Bible to our current world. I hope you
for the goodies during finals
all noticed the beautiful tulips this spring brought to
week. Thank you to everyone who
helped us with this project. Helping our you by the Ladies in Felllowship Together. We will
fellow Christians in a stressful time is ex- take a break for the summer.
actly what God would want us to do.
As the weather warms, we often get Rhonda Getgen
wrapped up in everything we want to
do. Take some time to reach out to
someone. Whether it be someone you
know or a complete stranger, helping
them out could just be the “pick me up”
they need. You may never know how it
affected the person, but God will. Look
for those opportunities that God places in
your life and share His love.
Wanda Derr
Outreach Ministry

Red Cross Blood

Drive
CONGRATULATIONS
Woodward Township
fire hall
TO THE CLASS OF 2024
Sponsored by: Best wishes for your future and may God bless
Lycoming Christian Church you!!
Tuesday, June 11
Lycoming Christian Church
20 Chapel Hill Road
Linden, PA 17744
(570) 322-9940
www.lycomingchristianchurch.org

Return Service Requested

Lycoming Christian Church

We are a church which positions broken people to be made whole by connecting
them to Christ, establishing deep connections with fellow Christians, and developing
disciples who go deeper in their own walk while sharing Christ with others.