REMINDER to Spring Ahead tonight! Turn those clocks ahead and get to bed early to catch up.

Worship tomorrow 10am

Tues 6PM Spiritual Gifts Dinner Huddle (So far only one responded. Email me if you are able to attend)

Wed. 10-12 Donut Day at Bread Ministry; 6PM Dinner Huddle

Thurs. 6:30 Support Team Zoom

Sat. 10-1 Clothing Closet

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Good Morning Surrendered Followers of the Way! Yes Jesus is the Way. Prov. 3:5-6 reminds us to not lean on our own understanding but to trust God and He will direct our steps. I think we all can use help with that, or at least time to time. What voices are you listening to? Turn off the noise and focus on God. Rest in Him and allow Him to direct your steps today. Peter sank in the choppy seas when his focus shifted from Jesus. He is our Leader and the Way. Keep your focus on Him and may we encourage and spur each other onto the works He has planned for us! Shift your fears to trust and joy as you start lifting praise. Check out the devos below as you abide and prepare to follow Jesus, THE Way, today! I'm praying for you! Yes turn off the noise, abide, revive, and walk in grace to His best for you today! Amen!

TWFYT:

 

UR: Wind and Waves

When [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” - Matthew 14:30 (NIV)

For a while in my life, I struggled with anxiety. It had become so bad that it was difficult for me to visit the local supermarket for groceries and other necessities. Usually, I would just grit my teeth and push through, but sometimes the fear became overwhelming. It seemed silly to fear something so mundane, especially in comparison to the bravery of Peter as he stepped out onto the waves. Forget jumping out of a boat! I could hardly take a stroll down aisle 9 for laundry detergent.

I found it comforting to know that even brave people like Peter can fall when facing frightful wind and waves. But ultimately, it wasn’t Peter’s bravery that helped me conquer my own fears. It was realizing that what truly mattered was that he kept his eyes on Christ. It wasn’t until Peter took his eyes off Jesus, focusing on the things to fear, that he began to sink. Admittedly, that’s when I begin to sink into my fears as well.

Through Christ, I have come a long way in my anxiety and have made strides I never thought possible. I do my best to focus on Christ rather than the wind and waves and take comfort that he will be there to catch me if I fall. Christ will always be there to save us, no matter the storm.

Today's Prayer

Father in heaven, in you we can do all things and overcome any obstacle. Help us to keep our eyes firmly focused on you. Amen.

Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! Oh my mind can't contain or fathom all that means to me and us! PTL Yes rejoice! And meditate on all facets of your salvation gift and build those gratitude lists! What joy our salvation brings! What hope we now know! PTL!

Good Morning Forgiven, Thankful, Visionary Followers of the Way! Jesus is the Way! He's also the Truth and the Life! Amen! What do those mean to you? Sunday we will discuss what it means to be a Follower of the Way and how what we have learned from our journey with the early church thru 12 chapters of Acts applies to our Body of Christ! There is so much to mine from those chapters and the examples of the early church to put into practice. Amen!

Speaking of practice, how is practicing your faith going today? How can we pray for you to grow in Christ, love like Him, put on your new nature, and activate your spiritual gifts? Talk to Sarah or me and process with some friends. God created you for such a time as this and has great plans for you to discover and step into. PTL! Sometimes we worry. Do you realize that is a sin and one that distracts you from God and His best for you? Repent and choose the joy that comes from an activated faith life. ODB (below) speaks into that as does the UR's  message about finding encouragement. One of my morning readings encourages us to write down and share three things God has given you as His child and to share them with some friends. Who can you encourage by sharing what God and salvation have blessed you with? We are very blessed and blessed to be a blessing! 

I think the most important devo today comes from The Word for You today (below). Meditate on that and ask God to give you holy imagination for ideas of how to reach others for Christ or to have fun encouraging some neighbors. Ask for dreams and vision and ideas. I pray that over us all often. God will and is and I'd love to hear some of your thoughts abut how to be His church more earnestly. Pray for us to see, hear, and respond well to God's plans and to be a church that prays in power for God to move in mighty ways and to be glorified in and through you and us as we respond to Him and His plans. We are created, redeemed, gifted, empowered, gathered and sent to be His Good News Delivery Company. We all have a role. What's yours? What will you do about that today? I'm praying for you and for us to be His Church on mission with Jesus! Come! lead us Lord! Your Kingdom come and will be done in, thru, and around us! Amen! Be encouraged and choose the joy found in faithfulness today. And encourage and help each other! Amen

ODB:

UR: Finding Encouragement

David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. - 1 Samuel 30:6 (KJV)

After high school, I had high hopes for my continued education because I passed the university entrance examinations. To my surprise, however, I wasn’t on the list of candidates for my preferred school. I had prayed and trusted God, but my expectations were dashed and discouragement set in. I was also upset because a friend who had earned a lower score was accepted. I became angry with God, my faith became weak, and I stopped attending our local church.

However, I heard a sermon that changed my perspective. The preacher talked about a difficult time in David’s life and emphasized that despite all that befell David, “He encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” He was at risk of being stoned, yet he did not give up on God. Thinking of David’s response, I felt ashamed of how I reacted to my situation.

I learned that God wants us to encourage ourselves during our difficult times by remaining close to God. If we hurry off in anger, we might not learn what God has to teach us. Eve n when we feel discouraged or distressed, we can follow David’s example and encourage ourselves in the Lord. Doing so demonstrates our true trust in God.

Today's Prayer

Dear God, give us wisdom to learn from our challenges. Help us to encourage ourselves through scripture and by staying close to you. Amen.

TWFYT:

Don't forget spring ahead Sat night! Get to bed early so you're ready to worship! This Sunday the kids finish up the Armor of God lessons and next week, the 16th, they will model and explain the armor to us.

Beginning Tues we will study and learn how God wants us to use our spiritual gifts. I will be sending private invitations to those who have emailed me their results from the spiritual gifts survey. We will try Tues with dinner at 6 in the Fellowship Hall (at least for the first week) and possibly in person and zoom Wed at noon. If you want to participate, tomorrow is absolutely the last day to send me your results. Thank you! God has gifted us for His purposes! Can't wait to explore and step into our gifts and His purposes together!

    ***Even if not participating, please pray for those who are to grow into their gifts and to discover how to apply them to God's plans and purposes to grow His Church. Thanks!

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Good Morning Gifted, Empowered Followers of God and His Ways! Amen! We are gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus as we learn to live and love more like Him! Let's keep praying into that, focusing on that and learning together how God has created, gifted and wants to use us!

Some concern was expressed to me yesterday because I didn't do a blog. Remember there may not be a daily blog. I'm not pushing and stressing over producing them daily. When God allows time or gives me a word to share, you will have a blog in your in box. Yesterday was a sleep in, then 6am zoom huddle, then off to church to shop, cook and prepare for Wed. evening huddle and so no time or solid word from God to do a blog. This highlights the importance of seeking, listening, receiving and following God to His best and perfect plans for you daily! WWJD should be replaced with WIJD (What IS Jesus Doing) and what's my part today. He has great plans for you and is with you to help you discover and step into them daily and with some friends. PTL!

You know God does have plans and partners for each of us! Our faith is built on a relationship with Jesus, not religious activities. He sent His disciples out in teams. He has gathered and gifted us to build His Church, spur each other on to good works He has for us, and to co-labor as we do. Who are your partners? Pray into that! Reach out to the ones God is highlighting to you. Maybe it's a prayer partner or two. Maybe it's someone to serve others together with. Maybe it's some people to gather and study God's Word. Maybe it's as simple as going for a meal or shopping together while looking for what God's doing with willing hearts to join Him. Maybe it's prayer walking a neighborhood. God has all kinds of opportunities for you and us to go live and love like Jesus together! PTL! Seek and follow well today! Check out the Harvest blogs below about relationships. What's God saying to you? Then check out my devos I am sharing below that. God is always with us and working all things together for good and He expects us to earnestly seek and follow Him daily and to persevere in faith through the hardest times. He is always good! He is always our Lord and Savior.! PTL! Seek and follow Him and with some friends!

The Lord is my/our Shepherd. We have all we need! He is leading us to green and budding pastures and fruit orchards and beside the still, refreshing, calming waters. He is with us in the darkest places, anoints us for healing, guides and comforts us. What a mighty and awesome God we know and love! PTL! Last evening we had a great dinner huddle and discussed who and Whose we are. Our true identity is that we are God's masterpieces and He knows, loves, calls us by name and has redeemed us. When we receive Jesus as Lord, we are made new and we are gifted and empowered to go do all He created us to do. That comes alive with co-laborers that pray, encourage and compliment our giftedness to go connect to new relationships that lead to saving relationships with Jesus. And then helping them to grow as disciples of Jesus. It's Jesus' easy yoke, custom fitted to you and with some partners. May we be all about that! God has some great things for you and us to discover and step into! Let's roll baby! Amen!

Harvest:

March 6 - Developing a Relationship “The Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” —Genesis 4:9-10   Yes, you are your brother’s keeper. The essence of being a Christian is a relationship—a personal, one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ. And Jesus calls us to “love one another”—even our enemies (John 13:34; Matthew 5:44-45). So being a Christian also involves relationships with all other human beings—for all are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27).   Relationship takes time. They take energy; they take commitment; they involve risk. Relationships can bring incredible blessings; they can also bring excruciating pain. God has experienced all of these in his relationship with each one of us.   The same can happen to you as you take the step of sharing the gospel—the good news of Jesus—with your neighbors. I’m not going to sugarcoat this one. If you want to involve yourself in one of the greatest experiences of the Christian life—realizing that the Spirit of Christ has used you in some significant way to make an impact on one of your neighbors for the Lord for eternity—it will cost you.   All relationships involve a healthy investment. As you begin to make such an investment, it’s critical that you place yourself in the hands of the God who promises to walk alongside you. Place yourself in the hands of the one who has already made the ultimate investment in your life and in the life of your neighbor.   It’s important to know that your neighbor is a person of inestimable value. Your neighbor matters to God. Your neighbor is precious to Christ, who was willing to sacrifice his own life for him or her. If that’s how valuable your neighbor is to God, if he or she matters that much to God, then you and I need to make the commitment to treat that neighbor with love and sensitivity. If God loves your neighbor that much, then the time, the energy, the joy, and even the possible pain or discomfort of developing a relationship with that neighbor is a small price for you to pay.   Think about being a channel of God’s love to your neighbor. Think about being an instrument God can use to reveal himself to your neighbor. Ask God today to help you pray for, care for, and share with your neighbor, entering into relationship for Jesus’ sake. God wants to do amazing things through you. Are you ready?   Prayer Starters for Praying Genesis 4:9-10 • Praise God for loving you as a person of inestimable value. • Thank him for the people in your life who have considered you their brother or sister in the Lord. • Confess to God any ways in which you have ignored the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people whom he considers to be your brothers and sisters. Ask God to forgive you for these shortcomings. • Ask God to bring to your mind the name of anyone in your relational circle (family, neighborhood, classmates, co-workers) whom he desires to adopt into his family, as your spiritual brother or sister. When God brings names to your mind, write them down and begin praying for them. • Ask God to help you view each of your neighbors as a person of inestimable value.   --Adapted from Be Jesus in Your Neighborhood (Developing a Prayer, Care, Share Lifestyle in 30 Days) by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Prayer Points Praise God, who is majestic in holiness (Ex. 15:11). Give thanks for the privilege of sharing in his holiness (Heb. 12:10). Confess any impure thoughts or actions that remained unconfessed. Commit yourself anew to living the holy life that God has called you to live (1 Thess. 4:7). Ask God to impress upon you the vision of Isaiah: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3). Pray that your loved ones will be drawn closer to God as they see your example of holy living. Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2025 is a free devotional published daily by OneCry Prayer. Find more resources at www.onecry.com

Sarah Young

Growing Deeper Together (I to We)

TWFYT

Good Morning Choosing Joy Always, Trusting in God Who Is Always with Us, Co-Laborers! Please Lord! We give our anxiety, hurts, doubts and fears to you. Bring Your promised peace and strength as we choose joy and grow in trust today! Lead us to the joy of bringing your love and hope alive. Thank You for being with us always and working all things together for good! Come! Amen! Contemplate that salutation today as you turn off the noise, refocus on God with thanksgiving, and receive His help and joy. He loves you and has great plans for you that sometimes leads through the hard times and stretching of faith. Redirect your focus to Him with praise and thanksgiving and choose the joy that trust brings! Amen! Keep building those gratitude lists!

Work through the devos below with God and maybe a friend or two. And then check out the summary from Harvest Prayer about what to do when we don't know what to pray or feel like praying. There is also a link to a lengthy but very good article from them about being an effective pray-er. God expects us to pray and has called us to become a House of Prayer for the Nations. The Holy Spirit teaches us and helps us to pray, even when we don't know what to pray. PTL! He has been speaking to us about prayer recently. Commit to learning to stay focused on God in prayer and allowing Him to use your prayers in powerful and effective ways! I'm praying for you and I know that God is with you always and does have some really good plans for you! Rejoice! Choose joy as you focus on Him and grow in trust. He is able and He will bring about His good plans for you and us! HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU! RECEIVE IT AND FOLLOW HIM TODAY. Amen!

Sarah Young

Joyce Meyer

Chuck Swindoll

The Word for You Today

The Upper Room: Resting in God's Love

[O God], when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. - Psalm 56:3 (NRSVUE)

As I sat down in the hospital waiting room, I hoped that everything would go well with my father’s surgery. The doctor had said that it was not a serious procedure, but my anxiety began to increase as time wore on. As I waited, I prayed. I found great relief when I entrusted my father’s life to God. Even so, two more hours passed until the doctor came to tell me the surgery had been successful.

During this time I learned to rely fully on God. When fear and anxiety want to grow in our hearts — even when the shadow of death looms near — resting in God’s love will refresh us and bring us strength and comfort.

Let’s not give fear a chance to control us. God is greater than all our fears and anxiety. When we surrender our worries to God, we can find our burdens lifted and rest in the assurance that God is always with us. Through each struggle that life may bring, God’s goodness and protection surround us. Knowing this, we can trust in God’s care through all our days.

Today's Prayer

Dear God, so much in life can make us fearful. Teach us to lay our struggles at your feet, trusting that you will bring the comfort we need to live joyful lives. Amen.

Harvest summary

As a summary, remember these things when you don’t feel like praying:

1. God is still there! Trust Him!
2. Breathe in a fresh awareness of His presence!
3. Turn your thoughts off of your issue and onto Jesus, the One who can deal with your issue. Play worship music and join in! Focusing on Jesus is a good antidote to situations that keep us from wanting to pray, or knowing what to say in prayer.
4. Silence/Listening – sometimes it is best to simply get quiet and listen for the voice of God. There is healing in stillness and wisdom in listening. Remember – even if you don’t sense that you hear anything from God, He is there.
5. Remember that the Holy Spirit is there to give voice to your prayers in alignment with the will of the Father when you are unable.
6. Consider that what might be causing your inability to pray or your lack of desire for prayer might be sinfulness in your life. Use Psalm 51 as your prayer so that God can reveal the hidden things, and so that you can take the time to repent and confess. Your relationship will be fully restored and a prayer of thankfulness will likely be the result.

This Week:

Tue Zoom Huddle 10am

Tue: Deadline to email spiritual gifts surveys to pastor don. Here's the link: Spiritual Gifts | FREE Spiritual Gifts Survey | Assessment, Analysis, Test

Wed 10-12 Bread Ministry

Wed 6-7:30 Dinner Huddle

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Good Morning Friends! This is coming a little later than normal since I slept in and had to run to a doc appointment. But God was really speaking to me this morning and wants me to share some thoughts with you. So, here I am now! I love how God speaks to us as we still ourselves, seek, abide, listen and receive. Sometimes He makes things very obvious and affirming I/we are hearing Him and on the right track, like today.

God has been stirring me/us to begin some prayer teams and to work at becoming a House of Prayer for the Nations. Besides discovering and working on stepping into our spiritual gifts, prayer is our critical next step for growth and to be moving with God. Start today by spending some time with the Connection Blog about becoming a house of prayer. Yes God is speaking! What's He saying to you about this? Please share with Sarah or me, pray about it, and join with some friends to begin praying earnestly. The prayers of a righteous person (that's anyone who is in Christ) are powerful and effective.! PTL! As we spend time with God and in prayer together, the Holy Spirit will teach us to pray, inform our prayers and move us to be the answer to some prayers. Pretty cool! That is another part of Jesus' easy yoke for you--spend time with God, pray, love and serve just as you are. We will be having more opportunities for corporate (all church) prayer and for developing some prayer teams. Watch for those and keep asking God to lead you to pray and participate.

After some time with the connection prayer letter and starters, check out some of our devotionals for the day that were speaking to my heart and how God wants to speak to your heart. Man! He sure loves us! And He made and gifted us for such a time as this! If we turn off the noise and focus on Him, we will hear Him, feel His love and be empowered to go share it. 

Yesterday we looked at parts of Acts 9-11 and realized how God was moving His people out of their comfort zone to go love, serve, and share the Good News with people who were different, maybe even people they didn't like or want to be around. Man, that is so relevant today, isn't it? We obviously live in the Divided States of America just like Israel was a divided nation. Opinions are just that--opinions. And they are usually formed from personal preferences. But like God sent the new believers to those with different lifestyles and opinions, so is He sending us today. How can we bring the love of Jesus and unity in Christ when we are divided? At times, church feels like being part of what it must've been like for the religious elite after Jesus ascended to heaven and this group called the Way began leading people away from them and their rules and ways to the love and easy yoke of Jesus. We learned that many religious elite did come to believe in and follow Jesus in those early days. Jerusalem was divided and persecutions from the elite pushed Jesus' followers out of Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and the world with the Good News. Things got very uncomfortable in divided Jerusalem and God used that to spur His true followers to go spread His love and Good News. Yesterday we experienced Peter being stretched as God sent Him to the Gentiles and God used him and verified that He was in this new things that led to many outsiders joining together with the Jewish believers. Love and unity became the new things for them all and it attracted many more to Jesus. And God's Kingdom expanded despite all the disunity and chaos and even persecution because they were one in Christ, love and mission.

So, we have to be very careful to keep our focus on God and what He's doing and off what is going on in the world around us. We need to keep politics and personal preferences out of our conversations so we can focus on what matters most, Jesus, and become more unified in Christ, His love and His mission for us to those not yet in the Kingdom. Col. 3:11 keeps coming to my mind and it applied back in those early days as well as today: "It doesn't matter if you are Jew or Greek (Gentile), slave or free, Democrat or Republican; Christ is all that matters and He lives in me." And He longs to live and love through me, you, all of us and our unity. Amen! Our questions to God and each other and our prayers should be, "How can we grow in love and unity?" and "How do You want to use us to go live and love and pray and make disciples like Jesus?" And then work on that--earnestly! God has made you for such a time as this and He has gifted you to go grow His Church. What's your part? I'm praying for you and us! Love! Joy! Unity! Prayer Warriors! Disciple Makers! True Friends of God and each other! May that be us! Amen!

Connection Prayer:

March 3 - Becoming a House of Prayer A House of Prayer, besides involving an entire church, can also be a cluster of two or more believers banded together to pray for, care about, and share the blessings of Christ with those who live or work nearby. You can pray alone, but why not join together with one or more believers—your spouse, your family, believing neighbors, or fellow employees—and form a House of Prayer?   Why should I pray for my neighbors? Your neighbors matter to God. They are precious sons and daughters whom he loves. God grieves over those who are apart from him and wants them to return “home.” Prayer will move them toward the Father, and heaven will rejoice when they come home (Luke 15:7, 11-24). Also, God commands that “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.” “Everyone” includes your neighbors who God wants “to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4). And, as you bless others, you too will be blessed.   Can I do more than pray? Yes! Make yourself available to God, and he will lead you into ministries of caring and sharing. You’ll have a threefold impact. By praying, you’ll release God’s grace into people’s lives. By caring, you’ll build bridges of love to them. By sharing the gospel, you’ll help people come to know Jesus Christ and be saved.   Will my prayers really make a difference? Yes! When we pray, God works! The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous [person] is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). All of the power in prayer is God’s power, but God has chosen to have this power directed to persons and places through our prayers. Things will happen as you pray that won’t happen if you don’t pray.   In Michigan, for example, House of Prayer members reported that in the neighborhoods they prayed for, people got out of drugs, unemployed people got jobs, a father stopped drinking, two persons were miraculously healed, a person was delivered from an evil spirit, a Bible study began, and five persons came to know Christ.   After a Mississippi church formed Houses of Prayer, the pastor reported, “When we began our Houses of Prayer, almost immediately we saw people begin to come to church who hadn’t been in church for years. We see new faces almost every week. Our attendance in Sunday school has increased by forty percent, and worship attendance by 30 percent. The presence of God is evident weekly.”   How should I pray? Always pray with a clean heart. The prayers of the righteous are “powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Pray with compassion. Be like Christ, who was moved with compassion toward the needy (Matthew 9:36). Pray with persistence. God listens to those who pray earnestly (Acts 12:5; James 5:17).   How do I start? Start by saying yes to God. Pray a commitment prayer like this: “God, I know that my neighbors matter very much to you and that you have commanded me to make ‘requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving’ for them. So, out of obedience to you and out of love for my neighbors, I commit myself to ask for your blessings for them for five minutes a day, five days a week, for the next five weeks. I’ll do this, with your help, to the best of my ability. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”   –Adapted from Shine His Light: A Simple Way to Pray, Care and Share Jesus in Your Neighborhood by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Prayer Points Praise God, whose kindness toward you will last forever and ever. Thank God for loving you with an everlasting love and drawing you with lovingkindness (Jer. 31:3). Confess any ways in which you have not reflected that kindness to others. Commit yourself to considering God’s kindness to you (Rom. 11:22). Ask God to clothe you with compassion, kindness, and humility (Col. 3:12). Pray that you might have an opportunity this week to tell someone of the many kindnesses of the Lord to you (Isa. 63:7). Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.

Sarah Young:

ODB:

UR: The Power of the Invitation

Jesus said, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20 (NRSVUE)

No one knows the right time or place to invite people to become a Christian and into the fellowship of the church. Christians must always be open and willing to provide the invitation.

During my mother’s funeral the minister told a story about my mother. He said, “I wouldn’t be here today if your mother had not invited me to church.” When the minister was a teenager, our church was having a revival. My mother invited his family to come and sit in the pew with us. This began their regular attendance at our church and later a commitment to become Christians and join the church. This changed his life and later inspired him to become a pastor. My mother’s invitation to his family changed his life.

No one knows the time or place that people will be open to an invitation into a fellowship with Christ; as Christians, we must remain open to the leading of God’s Spirit.

Today's Prayer

Dear God, when the opportunity presents itself, help us to be bold and willing to offer Christ to others. We pray the prayer Jesus taught us, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil” (Lk. 11:2-4, KJV). Amen.

Pastor Don

Tuesday is the last day to email me your results from your spiritual gifts tests. God wants us to understand how we are made and gifted and to grow into our purposes. Understanding these gifts is critical to that growth promised in Christ. Here's the link: Spiritual Gifts | FREE Spiritual Gifts Survey | Assessment, Analysis, Test

Note: All Vision Team and new members are expected to complete these assessments by Tus and email the results to me. Any others are invited to do this as well. After I have these, we will determine several opportunities to study and understand and seek to grow in our giftedness. These are God's custom made gifts for us to grow in Christ and grow His Church.

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Good Morning Forgiven, Abiding in the Living Word, Protected, Joyful, Gifted, Mighty Warriors! Amen! May that come alive in and through us! Prepare your hearts to worship this morning. God does inhabit our praises! As we gather and worship He is there with us, speaking to us, informing us, and preparing us for His perfect plans. Thanks Lord! Come! We have so much to worship and be thankful for! We are students of the Word that abide in the Living Word, Jesus. He protects and leads us as we don His easy yoke and allow Him to use us as we are and grow us into His purposes. As we pray and wield that Sword of the Spirit (God's Word) against Satan, he flees! Amen! Today the kids will study about the Sword of the Spirit in Children's Church and we will be meditating on the early church in parts of Acts 9-11 as they follow God to some new things and wield that Sword too. God wants to use us to overcome the enemy, go make disciples and to grow into the people He made us to be as we grow His Church. And as we abide in Christ, we are molded and empowered to do these and many more things for God's glory. Often that comes alive as stretching of us and moving us out of our comfort zones. God is always at work. Sometimes as we are moving with God and closer to His plans, Satan loves to attack and derail us from His best and perfect plans. Pray on that armor. Stand firm in Christ. And wield that Sword and Satan will flee. PTL! And we need each other too. We need to cover, help, and work together to move towards God's best and perfect plans. We need to be His mighty warriors and co-laborers with Jesus who is with us always. And we can choose joy always as we grow in trust and overcome together! May it be so Lord!

Today we will study how God stretched Peter and used him to go to this new thing He was doing as the persecution drove the followers of the Way, the new believers, out of Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. God is always up to something new as He uses His people to take that Great News, the Gospel, to the world and connect to them where they are. He's doing that with us as He grows our fellowship, leads us to new people, and is working to transform us more fully into His image and as His prepared and sent servants. And the enemy flak is being launched around us and at us. Stand firm and uphold each other! God does have great plans for us--His overcomers in Christ! Amen!

It was prophesied over us that we should change our name to Joy Church. Why? Because joy is what we exhibit and are known for as we love God and bless others and bring joy alive. And that is right where Satan is attacking--or joy. Stand firm and choose joy always is a command we need to keep working at. I have been experiencing severe attack on my joy and trust. I need you to cover me and uphold me before God. I need you to, like Aaron and Hur with Moses, hold my arms up as I pray for the victory to come. We/I need some mighty warriors by our/my side! We cannot back down or yield ground to the enemy! I am feeling your prayers and I have been able to pray on that armor and refocus on God instead of circumstances and the lies of the enemy. Please continue to pray, help, carry me and each other to the Lord in prayer and stand firm in Christ with that Sword of the Spirit at the ready! We are overcomers. We need each other! Satan has been defeated. Don't let Him defeat you or us or God's good plans! Let us commit to that and continue to seek, knock, put on that armor and follow well. Amen!

Check out the Upper Room and Our Daily Bread for today and the prayer starters from harvest prayer. Let us abide, seek, listen, pray and help each other to overcome! Let us follow Jesus and produce that promised good and lasting fruit as we do--together!. God does have great plans for me, you and us and they come alive as we focus on Jesus, step into our purposes and overcome together! Amen! Where's he leading you? How do you need some help to overcome or understand your purposes? Talk to Sarah or me and team up with some friends. Put on that armor and work at growing in your spiritual gifts which are custom made and given to you to become God's mighty warrior and good fruit producers. Amen! Worship and focus on these good things. Turn off the noise and wield that sword well. We are His Good News Delivery Co. sent to change the world and bring Christ and His ways alive! Let's choose surrender to God, joy and trust as we grow into that! And rejoice! His grace is sufficient for you and us! Rest in the Lord. Worship! And prepare! I'm praying for you!

UR: Embraced in God's Grace

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. - Deuteronomy 33:27 (NIV)

After many years as a stay-at-home mom, I was preparing for an interview. I was anxious, not feeling certain that the Lord wanted me to work outside the home. Just before I left for the interview, the mail arrived. There was an envelope postmarked from the United States. “Embraced by his grace” was written in the corner of the envelope. My heart jumped. It felt like the Lord was saying it directly to me: “You are embraced by my grace.”

I opened the envelope and inside were some stickers I had ordered a long time ago. The sender’s business card had 2 Corinthians 12:9, my baptism verse, printed on it: “My grace is sufficient for you.” Her tagline was “Grace: where our weakness meets God’s strength.” She had also included a free sticker that said, “Follow God’s heart.”

In these messages, I felt God whispering to me: “I embrace you. My grace is still enough for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. Follow my heart.” I went to the interview knowing I walked with God, whatever the outcome. As today’s quoted scripture reminds us, “Underneath are the everlasting arms,” and they are arms of grace.

Today's Prayer

Loving God, may we always know that we are embraced by your grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

ODB:

Prayer Starters:

Pastor Don

Good Morning Hearers and Doers of the Word! As we grow and fall more in love with God's Living Word we are led and changed. As we abide in the Living Word we are trained in righteousness and empowered to follow the examples of Jesus and other devout mean and woman that followed Him well. Amen.

Check out and meditate on 2 Timothy 3:14-16 from Our Daily Bread today. Something that God highlighted is a Word for many of us...verse 15: "It is from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures." That is the truth for many of us, including me. We grew up in church and learning our Bibles. The power comes when we move from being more than just hearers but doers of those Truths. God's Word is powerful and cuts to the marrow. And as we respond to what the Holy Spirit highlights as we spend time in the Word, we are changed. We are convicted and moved to repent. We become active doers of the Word we know. How's that going for you? Let's continue to work at abiding in and doing what God reveals through His Word. May we also look for the next generations to teach and help to ingest and bring alive God's Word in their lives. Yes, we are more than just hearers. We are doers of what God reveals through His Word. Let's focus on that as we move to come alive in '25 and find some friends to study with, pray in power through and live out His Living Word! It is active! Is it active in you? Thank God for His Living Word. Thank the Holy Spirit for bringing it alive. Ask to become more than just a hearer of it! Then go and live and love as we follow the example of Jesus and other children of God. Amen!

Thank God I'm Forgiven Friday! What are you most thankful about your salvation and new life in Christ? Who needs to hear that today? Start with worship and thanking God and then go into this day praising and sharing your hope!

This weekend is the last week to submit your spiritual gifts results to me before we start scheduling our working on growing in them. I need them by Tues and we will start the following week to work on understanding and applying our gifts.  Remember God has given each of us at least one gift when we come to Christ as our Savior and receive His Holy Spirit into us. What are your gifts? They are given to help you repent, grow into the person you are created to be and used to bless others and unify to grow His Church. We need each other to step into our custom given gifts and use them in unity to bless God, others, each other and to grow His Church? What's your part? Let us figure that out and work better together to be His dynamic movement of disciple makers and Church revival bringers. Amen! LINK to test: Spiritual Gifts | FREE Spiritual Gifts Survey | Assessment, Analysis, Test

Sat. 10-1 Clothing Closet

Sun. Worship 10 am with Children's Church. We will be collecting for Everlasting Life Ministries

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Good Morning Righteous Child of God! Amen! Thinking about that should lead to worship an much thanksgiving. That should overflow in to the day as you die to self, take up your cross, shed you old nature more, step into your new nature more and step out in faith and prepared to follow Jesus well today! Amen. Contemplate that today and maybe process with a friend or two. What's God saying to you right now? What will you do about that?

Col. 3:8-17 Meditate on this and check out how this flows through our devos for today below and then engage with the Connections Blogs/ Worship, surrender and prepare to follow Jesus today! Yes rejoice!

NOTE: In the NLT verse 11 is rendered Christ is all that matters. Are you living like that? Is He you all and in all you do? Talk to the Holy Spirit about that!

8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

TWFYT:

ODB:

UR: Enduring Adversity

Do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

At a young age, I faced the heartbreaking loss of my father and grew up separated from my mother due to our impoverished background. Life became even more difficult when I tragically lost my mother when I was 17. I endured threats and physical abuse as I pursued my education. In search of peace, I made the difficult decision to flee my country.

Throughout my journey, my faith in God has not wavered as I have witnessed God’s hand at work, giving me the strength to persevere. God blessed me with a resilient and positive mindset, which has sustained me.

Matthew 6:26 reminds us of God’s unwavering love and care for us, which assures us that we are valuable. This encourages me to trust in God’s providence during challenging times. Isaiah 41:10 reminds us that God is always by our side, ready to offer strength, help, and support. With God as my constant companion, I know I can face any challenge.

Though my journey to find peace is ongoing, I find solace knowing God remains faithful. I choose to focus on the positive aspects of my story, for they remind me of the resilience and faith that have carried me this far. I am confident that as I continue to rely on God’s strength, I will find the peace and fulfillment I am searching for.

Today's Prayer

Dear God, we seek your grace and guidance. Guide our steps and fill our hearts with your love. Amen.

Connections Blog

February 28 - Desire God’s Purposes to See Unity Grow I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:22-23).   Most people’s prayers seek the best fix for a situation. We typically pray whatever we are told to pray for a situation, with no real thought of “What does God want to do here.”  Something happens to that dynamic, however, when people pray together. They start to let go of their desires to see their purposes fulfilled and start to open themselves up to what God wants. The value of this to a church is huge when it comes to ministry and decision making. If people pray together over an issue, even if people come to prayer thinking they know what the church should do, praying together opens them up to God’s desire. Years ago, I was a part of a church plant in Colorado Springs that was meeting in a school. We felt the Lord leading us to purchase land. We found two pieces of property—one was very close to the school and 42 of our families, the other was five miles away. That distance was not a big deal, but it was not in the neighborhood we had been ministering in for the past five years. The property close to us cost 1.5 million, the other $450,000. Many of us felt the issue was not the difference in price, but where God wanted us. Pray, figure that out, and He will provide. There were plenty of leaders on both sides of which piece to purchase. We started praying together. We even called a corporate prayer meeting on one of the pieces of property. As we did that God began to put a vision of the ministry we could have on the $450,000 piece of property into those of us who wanted the other piece. That is what God will do when we pray together—agreement comes so we can pray His will with confidence. People who are disgruntled with decisions a church has made usually have not prayed with the body over that issue. Pray together and watch unity grow.   Righteous Father, how You must grieve when Your people fuss and want their own way instead of coming together to pray so that You can guide hearts toward unity. Show me how to be one who always suggests prayer over getting what I want. Give me a heart that is yielded to what You desire rather than what seems best to me. Fill me with joy in Your house of prayer as You bring our faith family together on our knees.   --Adapted from the article The Benefits of Praying Together by Jonathan Graf.  Check out this powerful resource also written by Jon Graf: Praying Like Paul: Learning to Pray the Kingdom for those You Love, available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Prayer Points Worship God with reverence and awe as a consuming fire blazing with holiness (Heb. 12:28-29). Give thanks for his plan to refine your faith through trials and tests (Jas. 1:2-4). Confess any times this week when you have not seen God’s purpose for you in these trials (Mal. 3:2-4). Commit yourself to submitting to God’s testing in your life. Ask God to strengthen you with his power (Eph. 6:10-11). Pray for those who are undergoing severe testing, that God may show them his purpose and strengthen them in their weakness (Heb. 12:7-13). Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2025 is a free devotional published daily by OneCry Prayer. Find more resources at www.onecry.com

Sarah Prayer update below

Sat is Clothing Closet from 10-1

Lenten Envelopes: Your giving envelope boxes have an envelope for your Lenten Offering next week to co-inside with Ash Wed. This year the proceeds from those envelopes will be used to help offset our budget deficit (which includes funding the organist position). The offering is typically over and above your regular tithe and giving. We already know we have a $9000. budget deficit foe the organist position. Plus due to several weeks of weather cancelations on Sundays, our giving is behind for the year already. Lent is a time to die to self and a season of sacrifice to grow closer to God. Giving sacrificially is part of offering yourself to God. May we draw close with our sacrificial  giving as an act of worship and trust! Thank you!

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Good Morning Worshipers! Amen! Let us spend today lifting songs of praise thanksgiving and worship! What's your favorites hymns, praise songs or other songs of worship? Sing them loud and clear for all to hear! Lift your hearts in worship today!

Over the next few weeks, Kay and Sally will fill in for Patti. All three of them work on music offerings that bless God and many of us for their preludes and postludes. All three have unique styles of worship that bless God and us! I try to pick hymns that tie to our messages for the day along with praise songs that lead us into God's Word with hearts prepared and bless many as well. The Bible reminds us that God loves all kinds of worship that allow us to draw close with our hearts and praise focused on Him. It says to worship with Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Even if a song doesn't click with you, it will with God and some others. May we always come with hearts ready to worship, no matter the offering of praise, or sacrifice of praise being offered. God loves our hearts of worship! Prepare your hearts today for TGIF tomorrow and worship on Sunday by focusing on music that leads you into God's presence and facilitates worship for you. He loves variety and made us all to worship in different ways--even dancing to the beat! I share this because Sunday's opening praise song is one for me. It may connect to some of you and maybe not but it is a song that allows me to prepare my heart and worship deeply in praise. It's a moldy oldy rocking out worship song that should lead to dancing in praise. I know I need that sometimes! Then Kay will be offering her songs of worship that will allow others to draw close in worship as well as some hymns that lead to the Word for the day. May we all continue to bless God, each other and worship in a variety of ways that bless God! Amen! Now, worship! Sing loud and clear with hearts abandoned in worship. God loves that and will draw close as you draw close. Yes rejoice today!

UR: Songs of Praise

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. - Psalm 100:2 (NIV)

While standing at the bus stop recently, I heard the melodious singing of an Australian magpie. Looking around, I spotted the bird perched on the roof of a nearby house. With his beak raised skyward and head thrown back, he was filling the air with song in wonderful, happy abandonment, praising his Maker with his whole being.

It came to me that he was a role model for how we should praise God, and I wished I were as uninhibited in my praise as the magpie! For me, playing and singing hymns is one of the ways I feel moved to praise God. The music is powerfully uplifting, and the words of the hymns remind me how faithful and loving God is and the grace God has given us through Jesus Christ. Praising God with music lifts my spirit and causes me to remember God’s blessings. Then I am left with a thankful heart, which can brighten even the grayest of days.

Today's Prayer

Loving God, thank you for the gifts of music and song. We praise you for your goodness, love, and care for us. May our hearts never cease to praise you. Through Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Sarah Update

Good evening Warriors,

There was a great time this evening at the Adult/FM Gathering.....good discussion, and meal together. Many from our bread ministry attended.   God is working and moving......

Here are two prayer requests:

Dean is asking for prayer for a friend of his, Mary - she is recovering from a tumor near her brain. She's having a hard time dealing with the "WHY" of the situation.   Please surround her in your prayers.

Deb B - a friend of Sarah and Neen - she has severe RSV and is also dealing with major muscle spasms. She has been going to a chiropractor for some relief. She is having some slow progress.  Please pray for her healing and perseverance through the spasms.

Thank you all for joining together in prayer for these people.

Have a good evening,

  Blessings,

    Sarah

Pastor Don
Rev. Don Kerns
72 Sunset Hill Rd

Good Morning Students of the Word! I had all these things I wanted to share this morning, but need to run for some testing. Sunday we will study the end of Acts 9 thru chapter 11. read ahead and prepare. Funny thing is yesterday Zoom Huddle and now this morning's Our Daily Bread are speaking into things I had already recorded for us during sermon prep. At first I get jealous, maybe? Oh people will think I'm copying what someone elase wrote. But then I cast that dumb thinking aside and focus on God and how He is blessing me with affirmation that I am hearing Him, as others did and recording the same line of thinking. I'll let you prepare with Acts 10-11 and the end of 9 yourself and put ODB below for you to engage God with. What's He saying to you and what will you do about it? Who are you processing with? Is there someone that needs to hear some of this? Will you share it? Praying for God to speak to your heart as He has mine. Draw close, abide in the Living Word and prepare for the day ahead! Shalom!

ODB:

Good Morning Praying Friends--Mighty Warriors! As stated yesterday and highlighted to our Vision Team, one of the things God has been stirring us to and leading me with some of you to develop is a prayer team and to corporate prayer. This is our critical net step in becoming a dynamic movement of God. I wasn't going to do a blog today as much of my devotionals times was about giving and stewarding God's blessings well. You are givers and stewards. I figured your quiet time in our devos would be an opportunity for you to discuss your giving with God.

Then as I was ready to sign off, I encountered the Connection blogs. Oh man! I love when God highlights something He is stirring us to and then teaches us about it. Today is corporate prayer. As we develop this and provide more opportunities for us to earnestly pray for Big God things as a congregation, we will see the power of our prayers as God responds to our petitions and releases His power and will over us. Take some time with this today. what's God saying to you? Are you interested in learning more about prayer or in joining a prayer team? Talk to Sarah or me. As we finish up our spiritual gifts classes we will move to some prayer training and more purposeful corporate prayer times. God created you to pray and there is great power when we do so as His Body!  I'm praying for God to stir you, lead us and use us mightily in prayer. Amen!

Connection blogs:

February 25 - The Elements of Powerful Prayer in Corporate Settings …they raised their voices together in prayer to God (Acts 4:24).   Powerful prayer is focused prayer. It is not a shotgun approach—giving prayer requests and praying for ten different things. Effective corporate prayer is topical. The leader explains, “Now we are going to pray for . . .” We see this played out in the story of Peter’s imprisonment (Acts 12). Verse 5 tells us of a prayer meeting for Peter. Not everything under the sun, and “oh yeah, don’t forget Peter.” In the morning worship service, picking one subject for which to pray is all you need to do—and it is powerful.   Powerful prayer is one voice prayer. One voice is a numerical principle. As was mentioned above, the same chapter in Acts tells us that the church was earnestly and constantly praying to God. Everyone. Not five people in a little room on Wednesday night. A powerful dynamic occurs when an entire congregation prays on the same theme. Again, the only place you will have the entire congregation together is Sunday morning worship.   Powerful prayer invites God’s Presence. In 2 Chronicles 6-7 at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, we see God’s glory indwelling His temple so much that everyone fell with their faces to the ground. No one went inside. In Solomon’s dedication prayer, he invited God to come and dwell. “Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, to your resting place . . .” (2 Chron. 6:41). We often just take comfort in the presence spoken of in Matthew 18:20: “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” But there is another presence of God—His manifest presence. It is a presence you can literally sense. It is a transforming presence. We need to look for ways to encourage that presence of God into our midst. He comes by invitation and He comes through praise. Psalm 22:3 tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. There is no better place to regularly experience the manifest presence of God than the worship service. When we pray in the middle of, or following a time of intense worship—worship that is entirely focused upward, on Jesus Christ rather than on us—we more readily sense His presence and our prayers become more kingdom focused.   Powerful prayer occurs when there is agreement. The last element of powerful corporate prayer is praying in agreement. This is different than focus. It is where everyone knows and agrees with what they are asking God. Often when a congregation prays about an issue in a church there is not agreement. We all have a different idea of what should be done. So when we pray, we often just pray our own agendas. (Just as an aside—agreement will come in any issue if people pray together. As we pray with others, we become more open to God’s agenda and we let go of our own.) In a leader-directed prayer time during a morning worship service it is easier to be in agreement. The leader simply gives direction as to what they will ask God to do. He might say something like this, “After seeking God, the leaders of our church feel that God is moving us to look for a piece of property on which to build. Let’s ask God to reveal that piece of land to us.”   Lord, You are an incredibly Present Father! I am always amazed by the fact that You have created me to pray, and orchestrated a way that Your Spirit, living within me, intercedes through me! As I come together with other believers to pray, pour out Your power as we focus upon those things that You desire, and as we raise one voice to invite Your Presence into the midst of our prayers! As we come together in agreement, You are able to speak to our hearts as a corporate body and bring us into perfect alignment with the plans You have for us. What a mystery prayer is...I stand in awed amazement of Your grace-filled heart.   --Adapted from Giving Ourselves to Prayer: An Acts 6:4 Primer for Ministry (Chapter 48, Prayer in the Corporate Worship Service by Jonathan Graf). This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Prayer Points Praise God for caring intimately about you. Thank God for choosing you to help fulfill his plans. Confess any self-centeredness or preoccupation with your desires and needs rather than those of God and others. Commit yourself to walking under the Spirit’s control, trusting him with the circumstances of life (Ps. 31:15). Ask for more sensitivity to the needs of others. Pray for persons who have decided to follow false religions. Ask God to open their hearts and minds to Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6).     Prayer Pointer “We ought not to tolerate for a minute the ghastly and grievous thought that God will not answer prayer. History, as manifested in Christ Jesus, demands it.” —Charles H. Spurgeon Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2025 is a free devotional published daily by OneCry Prayer. Find more resources at www.onecry.com

This Week:

Tue Zoom Huddle 10-11

Wed:

Bread Ministry 10-12

Dinner Huddles: 6-7:30 (Pizza Party Fellowship and planning night)

Sat. 10-1 Clothing Closet  

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Good Morning Praying Co-Laborers! That's us! Praying and doing our parts in God's Good News Delivery Company. Upholding each other in prayer, encouraging and spurring on to the plans God has for us. Thanks for praying and serving with me! I think about Moses who was called to pray for victory for God's people and how they would be winning while he stood above the valley praying. But when his arms got weary and dropped they started loosing. Arron and Hur, sat him down on a rock and held his arms up for him all day and the victory came for God's people. I have become weary in praying and leading. You are my Arron and Hur, upholding me in prayer. I just took a week to rest and reload. (more on that next). I think of how Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, encouraged Moses to raise up some co-leaders because Moses became weary from doing it all and how God raised up some leaders to assist His people and refresh Moses. I've been thinking about how we recently studied in Acts how the Apostles picked some spirit-filled leaders to deal with the mechanics and politics of the church so they could focus on prayer, teaching and leading. My retreat was supposed to be a time for me to get away, like Elijah when he became weary and depressed and to allow God to minister and whisper to me and prepare me and send me to His next mission.

I said that was supposed to be the plan with my retreat, but that never fully materialized. I was sick at the beginning of the week, cancelled my end of week retreat to Twin Pines and most of the week was focused on church work and planning and dealing with several church issues that seemed to come my way all week. A pastor is never really off the clock, even when trying to get away and refresh. However, the week was not without profit. I was able to get away from some of the tyranny of the urgent and for the first time in awhile was able to draw deep into and abide in God's loving presence as I have not been able to do for a few months. And God continues to draw me deep in, help me sink my roots deep in Him and to hear His still small voice through the fires and winds, like Elijah. I still have a long way to go in this journey, as we all do. If you hear nothing else today, hear this: Make an earnest effort to be still, abide in Christ and sink your roots deep daily! Even through the busyness and chaos, it is essential and critical to abide in Christ and receive all you need from Him. Today I started at 5 and am writing this at 8:45 after abiding deeply and sinking deep. God has great plans for you and us and we need to keep seeking, knocking and choosing His Kingdom above all else  before we enter each day. In this life, Christ really is all that matters! I'm trying to remember that and make it a priority. Are you? I need you! God has plans for you and us. May we seek and follow well together and more earnestly. Please! Try it! Thanks! Who are your partners? Think about Acts 9 from yesterday. Peter healed and raised from the dead just like He saw Jesus do. He was with Jesus and learned to do what Jesus did in his context. He even began going to the outsiders and "unclean heathen" because he knew that's what Jesus did and wanted them to do as they carried on the mission. May that be us! And as one, united in Christ, and His well-oiled machine of salvation and disciple making! Amen!

One thing that became evident this week is the reminder that God has called us to become a House of Prayer for the Nations. We need to be a praying people. Check out the Connections blogs below and draw close and listen to that still small voice. What's God saying to you? How can we help each other learn to pray and how can we make more opportunities to seek and pray together? Would you support that? We need to start there! And we need each other to step into our roles in His Good News Delivery Company and to pray together more! Big and small things are awaiting us because nothing is small or wasted in God's Kingdom and He made you for such a time as this, gifted and empowered you and made you for His purposes of growing His Kingdom. Please pray into that and prayerfully engage with the devos below. God is speaking. I need you to hold my arms up in prayer, come alongside each other, and for us to seek, discern, plan and step out in faith together! What's Jesus have for you today? Do it and share your stories and insights. You matter! God loves you and has great plans for you and us! Let us seek and follow together--earnestly! Thank you! I am praying for you! (Note: as part of my drawing close and not allowing the tyranny of the urgent and Satan to get me off track, there will be days with no blogs. They will come as God spurs me to share with you, His and my heart)

One final thing...God has given each of us spiritual gifts to use to walk with Him, spur each other on and grow His church. Some of you have asked about discovering, studying and learning to apply these gifts. I shared a link twice and asked you to send me your results. I have only heard from four of you. We will be spending some of March discovering, learning about and apply our gifts which God has custom blended for you and His purposes. Here's the link again. Please email me your results and we will figure out a few different days and times to apply these together. Thanks! This is how His church will grow and we will connect to 30 new people this year. It's time to come alive in '25! Link:  Spiritual Gifts | FREE Spiritual Gifts Survey | Assessment, Analysis, Test

Connections Prayer Blogs:

February 24 - The Miraculous Power of God The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Luke 1:5)!   Maybe I personally am going through a tough time. In the midst of it, I try to pray with trust and faith, but it is difficult because I only see the issue. If I go and pray with others, however, what happens? As I listen to others pray with more faith than I have, my faith grows. Here’s how it works in a corporate situation. Let’s say our church is planning to build. I’m an elder who is skeptical of the plans because they are beyond what we can afford to do. I go and begin to pray with others regarding this. God can now put a heart of trust in me, He can bring me to unity with others, He can give me the faith to believe Him for the miraculous—His vision and plan for my church. When I only pray by myself, that is less likely to happen. Churches that do not pray together still minister in whatever ways they can, given their resources, abilities and sacrifices. But churches that pray together begin to see the miraculous power of God at work in their midst. It goes beyond what they can and should do into what God wants to do through them.   Jehovah Jireh, teach me to pray with great hope and fill me with faith to believe that You are at work to orchestrate the best circumstances of Your will for my life and for the lives of those whom I love and care about as well as for those I will never meet this side of heaven. Give me a heart of grateful trust in Your goodness and Your mercy, for You love Your people more deeply than my human heart could ever comprehend. Show me how to continually posture myself as a dependent child seeking the heart of my compassionate, all-powerful Father.   --Adapted from the article The Benefits of Praying Together by Jonathan Graf.  Check out this powerful resource also written by Jon Graf: Praying Like Paul: Learning to Pray the Kingdom for those You Love, available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Prayer Points Praise God for his controlling presence everywhere. Give thanks that no circumstance in life—even death itself—is beyond his loving control. Confess your desire to act according to your own timetable rather than God’s. Commit yourself to drawing closer to God in every way and waiting patiently for him. Ask for the ability to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Ask that members of your church family will have the humility and gentleness to consider others better than themselves. Pray that believers will not only look out for their own interests, but also for the interests of others (Phil. 2:3-4). Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount. Connection (Devotions for Everyday Life) © 2025 is a free devotional published daily by OneCry Prayer. Find more resources at www.onecry.com

These really speak into my week and what I have been enduring, persevering through and talking with God about. He is with me always and working all things together for good! I trust Him to redeem this past week and lead me forward. And he will do that for you as well! Rejoice, abide and sink deep!

Upper Room: Why Are You here?

[Elijah] came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. - 1 Kings 19:4 (NIV)

Elijah had humiliated King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Terrified for his life because of Jezebel’s vow to exact revenge, Elijah fled. In his exhaustion, he uttered a phrase my heart has felt many times: “I have had enough, Lord!” I can imagine the relief welling up in the prophet’s heart as he entered into the safety of God’s mountain after his long, arduous journey. But before Elijah could catch his breath or gather his thoughts, God asked, “Why are you here?” On one level the question implied that Elijah should be elsewhere, completing the work the Lord had given him to do. On another level, it prompted him to consider his heart’s motivation.

Like Elijah, I sometimes find myself crying out, “I’ve had enough!” while facing resistance in ministry. Unconstructive criticism on how I teach Sunday school or lead music wears me down. Parents disrupting the teen ministry frustrates me. Volunteers failing to follow through is discouraging. In these moments I, too, have to answer God’s question, Why are you here? I ask myself, Why am I really doing what I’m doing?

Reminded of God’s holiness, Elijah was refreshed and went on to fulfill an extraordinary destiny. When we pause to evaluate our motivations and realign them with God’s will, we can find renewed zeal in our service to God and others.

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, help us align our motivations with yours so that we can be refreshed and strengthened as we work with you. Amen.

TWFYT: (Don't label yourself or put burdens n yourself that are not from God! And tell Satan to scram when he stirs this chaos and noise in you)

Sarah Young: ABIDE, sink deep and restore!