Yesterday Sarah brought a great word and reminder about temptation and standing, firm on God's Word, like Jesus to overcome and live the victorious life in Christ. (Check out the Harvest Prayer blog below that ties to this)

We voted and approved the budget as presented. Thank you! (Note there was a question about the proposal I brought to the Vision Team to add air conditioning to the Fellowship Hall. The Vision team, which includes your Support Team, voted no to the proposal. In the future we may do a fund raiser for this. (Note: there is already enough in the building fund to cover this needed project.) In the mean time ministry will cease, as usual, for the summer in the building downstairs. April 26th will be our last brunch until the Fall. Family Ministries and Adult dinner huddle will cease for the summer in May. Bread distribution will continue as usual.)

The new members class met briefly. We will install new members next Sunday. Thank God for them and their serving already! Pray for God to give us more connections points to those He is drawing. Pray for His favor and direction for outside the building ministry this summer.

Thank you to Lori and the team for a great brunch! Thank you to the clean-up crew that cleaned up all the dishes and messes! (Karen and I were unable to attend as we had the opportunity to visit our granddaughter until 1:30. I am doing fine and my numbers are perfect. PTL!)

Tues Huddle resumes on Zoom tomorrow at 10. All welcome. Wed at 6 we resume Family Ministry/Adult dinner huddle. All welcome!

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Good Morning Church! What is Church? What is your part in it? Those are things we will discuss next Sunday as we install new members. Anyone interested in joining our fellowship of believers or adding a rock to our covenant altar, please contact Pastor Don. Right now, 8 or 9 plan to join our church and add their rocks to our covenant family altar. If you haven't painted a rock with your family name and covenanted with us and would like to, please find a small rock, paint your family name and maybe a favorite Bible verse and bring it along on Sunday. Four years ago Memorial Day weekend, we add our family rocks to our Memorial Altar and covenanted together to be God's family on mission and to stay connected to God and each other as we go and love like Jesus. We will review that covenant on Sunday as well. We are His family and as we build our altar, our family grows and we remember those who have gone before on mission together growing God's Kingdom. Check out the memorial altar in Joshua as they crossed the flooded Jordan River. Rocks were placed as a memorial to that day and reminder to future generations of the Cornerstone on which we build. (Jesus and His ways)

There is much I could talk about from our devotionals today. I will only share the Upper Room as we wrap up the month of love. You can engage with God through the others at your pace today. The UR reminds me of raising our hands in praise to God for His love, opening our hands to receive His love and then reaching out to love like Jesus. Do you see how that is coming alive through our gatherings? It really is as God loves on us and through us and we worship Him! He is with us always and lovingly created us for such a time as this. As we gather as His Church, He sends us to love like Jesus and grow His Kingdom. That is our mission and God's plans will not be thwarted. We all have a vital part to play in His Church and our fellowship on mission. Our mission is to follow Jesus out of the building, connect to neighbors and connect them to God. (Make disciples as we love like Jesus as we go daily) Since there will be no summer ministry in the building besides bread distribution and clothing closet, pray for how God wants to use us (use you!) to connect to neighbors this summer and to lead us to people to lead to Him. Pray for fair weather on our outside gathering days this year. (Over the past three years we were only able to meet a total of 5-7 times over three years due to severe weather or heat) Pray for harvest workers and for God to use you and thank Him for the harvest. Pray that we would be the Church well and live and love more like Jesus as we each follow Him to His plans for us. Draw close to Him and receive your marching orders for today. Be the Church! Be Love in the flesh! God made you for such a time as this and wants to grow His Kingdom through you. You matter! Amen!

UR: Receiving Love

Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” - John 13:34 (NIV)

I remember the first time anyone told me they loved me. When I was a child, my parents showed me love — they provided me with a home, fed and clothed me, bought me presents, looked after me when I was sick, and took me on trips when they could afford it. But they never actually said the words I love you. They were probably never told that they were loved as children either. As wonderful as my parents were, I doubted their love when I was younger, wondering if their kind actions toward me were motivated by a sense of duty.

The first person who told me they loved me was Ruthie, a three-year-old child from the church I was attending. I did not know how to respond. How could a three-year-old whom I barely knew tell me she loved me when my parents couldn’t? Ruthie could tell me that she loved me because her parents had demonstrated and spoken of their love for her.

It is vitally important to know that we are loved — especially to know we are loved by God. Sometimes I sit quietly before the Lord, open my hands, and say, “Jesus, I receive your love. Father, I receive your love.” And as I receive love from God, I can pass that love to others both through actions and words.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Thank you, Father, for sending your son to die for us, not out of duty but out of love. We open our hearts to receive your love today. Amen.

“The first purpose of prayer is to know God.” —Charles L. Allen

Harvest Prayer Blog:

February 26 - Our God Is Able

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). One of my heroes of the faith is Martin Luther King, Jr. He often faced chaos created by the Devil to rob him of his purpose and his peace. In a sermon entitled “Our God Is Able,” Dr. King shared in a very deep way how God stepped in to bring His peace in the midst of extreme persecution and difficulty: “Almost immediately after the Montgomery bus protest had been undertaken, we began to receive threatening phone calls and letters in our home. Sporadic in the beginning, they increased day after day. At first I took them in my stride, feeling they were the work of a few hotheads who would become discouraged after they discovered that we would not fight back. But as the weeks passed, I realized that many of the threats were in earnest. I felt myself faltering and growing in fear. After a particularly strenuous day, I settled in bed at a late hour . . . and was about to doze off when the telephone rang. An angry voice said, “Listen, (expletive), we’ve taken all we want from you. Before next week, you’ll be sorry you ever came to Montgomery.” I hung up, but I could not go to sleep. It seemed all my fears had come down on me at once. I had reached the saturation point. I got out of bed and began to walk the floor. Finally, I went to the kitchen and heated a pot of coffee. I was ready to give up. I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing to be a coward. In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had almost gone, I took my problem to God. My head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud. The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory: ‘I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I have come to the point where I can’t face it alone.’ At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced him. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice, saying, ‘Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth. God will be at your side forever.’ Almost at once my fears passed from me. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything. The outer situation remained the same, but God had given me inner calm. Three nights later, our home was bombed. Strangely enough, I accepted the word of the bombing calmly. My experience with God had given me a new strength and trust. I knew now that God is able to give us the interior resources to face the storms and problems of life. Let this be our ringing cry. . . that there is a great Power in the universe whose name is God, and he is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. This is our hope for becoming better [people]. This is our mandate for seeking to make a better world.” God who rules the storms in our lives, hear my prayer! Whatever I may face or walk through, You are always there! Help me to continually remember that undeniable truth! You have a plan and a purpose for me in this short life on earth, and I ask You to help me to overcome the enemy’s attempts to steal, kill and destroy! Show me how to live victoriously in the midst of whatever I face, for the sake of Your glory alone! --Adapted from Prayer, Peace and the Presence of God (A 30-Day Journey to Experience the Shalom of Jesus) by David Butts.