We are honoring our graduates this Sunday morning and this is something that I am extremely excited for! Honoring our grad-uates for their perseverance so far and then charging them to move forward with passion and hard work fills me with enthusi-asm as I remember people in my life that motivated and encouraged me and as I consider where I am today and how I got here. It’s amazing to me to consider that God not only created us but gave us the wisdom, talent, and authority to vastly alter God’s creation we were born into. That’s why we make such a big deal about graduation right? Because we are sending these men and women into the world knowing they will change it! The world will look different because Andrew, Kanyon, Linda, Ma-kayla, and Patricia will make their mark on it. What a huge and intimidating responsibility. It reminds me of Ephesians 2:10. God created us to do great things that He “prepared in advance for us to do”. So as we charge these teens to take their role on this world seriously lets also encourage them that God is with them and He already knows the incredible ways they’ll shape the world. Go with peace, confidence, and passion!

​~Dan Grenier

Check out Proverbs 2. Now. Go ahead and read it. If Dan is preaching that could be perfect timing to crack open your Bible and tune him out for a minute. Then when you get home check it out again because there are some powerful ideas in there. Powerful wisdom for High School Graduates who are considering what the future holds for them, what priorities they want to hold onto, what decisions they should make, and what relationships they should invest in. Proverbs 2 outlines a lot of incredible wisdom and could be used as a daily reminder during your morning Bible study of what it looks like to live a wise life founded on and guided by God. A few of my favorite ideas:

• Vs. 3 – 5: Cry out for understanding and “you will understand the fear of the LORD”
• Vs. 6: “For the LORD gives wisdom”
• Vs. 8: “He guards the course of the just and protects the way of His faithful ones
• Vs. 9: “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair”
• Vs. 11, 12: “Discretion will protect you”; “Wisdom will save you”
• Vs. 20: “you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.”

… I should probably just let you read it…

​~Dan Grenier

I grew up with this as one of the sacred holidays right alongside my Mom’s birthday in order of importance. I never understood how it could be more important than Christmas but I’m beginning to understand.
 
We would wake up and go to church together, my brother and I would sit with our Mom, flanking her on either side, then when we got home we’d make an excuse to go out, buy flowers and a nice card and offer it to her as our way of honoring and appreciating her for what she did. It missed the mark by a vast amount but my Mom was always incredibly thankful. I grew up hearing we should honor our Mother. This is made very clear as we see it showing up as one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:12. But what does it look like to honor your Mother? When I came across Proverbs 23:22-25 I understood just a little bit better. “May she who gave you birth be joyful”. Mother’s have an innate ability to be joyful in their children when they have no reason to be. But it’s the moments when I know I made my Mom proud with the choices I made that I remember and can proudly say, “I honored my Mother in that moment”. Honor your Mother today, show her she has a reason to be joyful!
 
~Dan Grenier