The Pastor’s Piece – Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

FCFI

September 7, 2025

We’ve been fixing up our old barn. It was built in 1959 – the same model year as me. Along with mowing the lawn, we decided to make it our summer work project this year. We’ve been removing boards and nailing boards back on all summer long. Some of the jobs we can do ourselves. Other jobs we hire. Like concrete work. It’s just better if someone else is doing it instead of me. So, I made a few phone calls and talked to a few people and went with the company that could get to our place the quickest. It’s not easy getting a contractor this time of year. Time is running out. But on the agreed day, the cement crew showed up at 6:50 a.m. to pour and finish the concrete floor in our barn. The boss had told me the day before that they’d be there at 6:45. Close enough. There were five of them and they were all wearing boots, work shorts, and hoodie sweatshirts. Every hoodie had a different company logo on it. One was that of a local hog farmer, another was an industrial equipment dealer from up in Wisconsin somewhere. Another kid was wearing a sweatshirt from a well and pump company that is now out of business. Interesting. The other two were for construction contractors.

The guys didn’t have much to say when they arrived (too early in the morning, I guess). We exchanged a minimal amount of niceties and then they got to work. Each one knew what his assigned task was and went right at it. It warmed up in a hurry and it wasn’t long until the sweatshirts came off and there was a whole bunch of new advertising on the t-shirts.

Everything went flawlessly and in less than three hours they were done. That job would have taken me at least two days to complete and then I would have just been guessing on how to do it right. I’ve poured a lot of concrete in my day, but it was mostly for barn yard expansion and dad wasn’t real fussy about the finish. It’s different today. We prepped everything and got it all ready so all they had to do was show up and pour the cement. I had never done in-floor heat before so I asked a lot of people a lot of questions on how to do it. I needed to understand it. As I was putting the information together in my mind, much to my satisfaction, it suddenly all came together and made complete sense.

That reminded me of the time when I was first learning Algebra. I studied the problems and tried hard to make sense of it all – but for some reason it didn’t connect. But then one day in class while the teacher was working a problem on the board, all of a sudden, the pieces fell into place and made perfect sense to me. It was like an epiphany. That’s what happened here. All the information and advice I had received from all the questions I had asked the experts suddenly came together and made sense.

It also reminds me of the time I was substitute teaching high school Algebra. The teacher had a pre-planned day off and it just so happened it was the day she was giving her students a test. I handed out all the papers then quietly sat at my desk scanning the room periodically making sure there was no funny business going on. One of the students had a question and raised her hand. I called on her and she asked the question so the whole class could hear. I don’t remember what the question was, but I do remember it had to do with solving one of the Algebra equations on the test. I also remember quite vividly, one of the girls in the front row smirking and very loudly and sarcastically saying: “He’s not going to know the answer. He’s just the substitute teacher.” Well … Game on!

I suggested that the student asking the question go on to another problem and I would work on solving her problem then we could walk through it together so she could figure it out. (The regular teacher said it was ok for me to help them with the test as long as they did the work). I kept my wits about me, totally ignoring the know-it-all. I don’t know where it came from, but I reminded the whole class that even though I was the substitute teacher that day, “math rules don’t change,” and we would get to the bottom of her question. Then I went to work to answer her question. Admittedly, it had been a few years and I was a little rusty at Algebra, but with the help of having the correct answer in the back of the teacher’s book, I was able to work the problem back from there and figure out how they came up with the right answer. I called her up to my desk and as I explained the problem, she was able to figure it out and come up with the correct answer. I spoke loud enough so the girl in the front row could hear me using lingo that I recalled from my own Algebra days. Simple things like, “look for common factors.” And “whatever you do to one side of the equation, do to the other.” Actually the whole class was impressed, if not totally shocked (not to mention my own astonishment at being able to put it all together after so long away from it). I had more fun teaching High School Algebra that day then when I substituted for the Third Grade teacher for a whole week. But those stories will have to wait for another day.

Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come let us reason together, says the Lord.” God gave us brains and He wants us to use them.

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin where he enjoys reading, writing, and teaching God’s Word).