Week ahead:
Tue 10 am Clothing Closet set up and prep
wed 10-12 Bread Ministry Donut Day
Wed 6pm FM pizza and swim party at Gina's
Sat. Clothing Closet 10-1
NOTE: Mark Calendars for upcoming activities:
Aug. 21st Noon-1 Pizza Lunch and Study with Pastor Don. All are welcome to eat, fellowship and study
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Rita’s Hangout
Join us Wednesday Aug. 21st at 6 at Rita’s to hang out, fellowship and reach out to others. All welcome. Wear your St. Matt’s. T-shirt!
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Tue. Zoom Huddle and Study resumes Tue Aug 27 from 10-11. We will be using a study book from the Chosen
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Wed. Dinner Huddle resumes Aug 28th at 6
We will eat, fellowship and answer questions about God, the Bible and life. All welcome.
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Bread Ministry Wednesdays 10-12: Fellowship door.. Next Donut and Conversation Day Sept. 4th
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Clothing Closest Open first and third Saturdays from 10-1
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Wed. Sept. 4th Noon-1, EC Day of Fasting and Prayer. Gather in Fellowship Hall and on Zoom
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Good Morning Very Loved, Custom Made, Sent, Children of the Light of the World! Ponder those truths as you still yourself in God's love, sit at Jesus' feet and allow the Holy Spirt to speak to your souls and refresh you for the day(s) ahead. Come Lord! Speak! Your servants are listening and long to follow Your lead for today. Come! Be our Lord and Shepherd! Speak and lead! Thank You! May We choose you and your love and allow it to overflow to Your will for this day. Your Kingdom come and will be done in, through and around me/us for Your glory alone. Amen!
God has been speaking to my heart for the past few hours as I stilled myself in His presence, opened His Word and meditated on some of our devotionals for today. He is always speaking His love, wisdom and direction over you and us! Thanks Lord! He had a great word for me today and I know some of you need to hear what He has for me to share with you. Be still and know He is the God who loves you, chose you and calls you by name. He has redeemed you and has great plans custom made just for you. Rejoice! Seek first His Kingdom with an open heart, mind and willing feet. Come!
Sarah Young reminds us today that He is calling for you to come to Him and to "rest snugly in His arms", weary ones. She reminds us how God is yearning to be with you and help you. Can you sense that love and acceptance, even just as you are right now. Be still and sit in His love. She reminds us not to compare ourselves to others. God has custom plans for custom made you. Look to Him for direction and what He expects. We only really need to worry about blessing Him and the rest will come to life just as you are and lead you to his perfect plans. AMEN! Come sit in His presence and be refilled and refreshed and informed for the day ahead. Be still and know that He is your God and He cares and wants to be with you right now.
It seems like today's word is flowing from His Word for us yesterday where we are called to run to Jesus always, first, in times of trouble and in good times. Run to Jesus and then choose love. Dwell in His loving presence and allow His love to overflow and ooze from you as you step into today. He has some great custom made plans for you to discover and step into as you focus on Him and move with Him. Yay God!
Charles Stanley's devo for today talks about God's perfect will and His perfect plans just for you. Pray for Him to reveal them to you and us and for us to discern and move towards those perfect custom made plans for today. Ask for His help and the help of others to know the race He has planned for you and to run it well. Our Daily Bread reminds us to welcome Jesus and His plans into our hearts and allowing Him to invite others in and love them as He loves us. Sometimes doing that can feel like we are swimming off on our own. But as the Upper Room reminds us, God is with us always and wants to launch us out just like He did with the first disciples. And the Word for You Today reminds us of the importance of doing all of this with help of your friends. Who are you gathering with to pray, process, plan and go and hold accountable. Who is your mentor and who are you mentoring? That is how Jesus trained the disciples and released them to go train others in His ways. We do need Jesus and each other! Pray into all of this. Take some notes, process with some friends and then go, just as you are, to live and love like Jesus! That's His plans for you today and everyday and brings His Kingdom and love alive. That is world changing love. Run to Jesus first. Choose love. Dwell in His Love. then go bring it alive today. He is with you and that always glorifies Him. Amen! May this be so for each of us and us Your gathered people. Bring revival, Your presence and love alive today! Yes please! Thanks! Amen! I already prayed for you, us and the day and week ahead. Run to Jesus and allow Him to lead you to His perfect plans. Shalom shalom to you--perfect peace. Amen
CS:
ODB
Browsing through the doormats displayed in my local big box store, I noted the messages stamped on their surfaces. “Hello!” “Home” with a heart for the “o.” And the more customary one I chose, “Welcome.” Putting it in place at home, I checked my heart. Was my home really welcoming the way God desires it to be? To a child selling chocolate for a school project? A neighbor in need? A family member from out of town who called on the spur of the moment?
In Mark 9, Jesus moves from the Mount of Transfiguration where Peter, James, and John stood in awe of His holy presence (vv. 1-13), to healing a possessed boy with a father who’d lost hope (vv. 14-29). Jesus then offered private lessons to the disciples concerning His upcoming death (vv. 30-32). They missed His point—badly (vv. 33-34). In response, Jesus took a child atop His lap saying, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me” (v. 37). The word welcome here means to receive and accept as a guest. Jesus wants His disciples to welcome all, even the undervalued and the inconvenient as if we were welcoming Him.
I thought of my welcome mat and wondered how I extend His love to others. It starts by welcoming Jesus as a treasured guest. Will I permit Him to lead me, welcoming others the way He desires?
By Elisa Morgan
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When and how did you welcome Jesus into your heart? What effect should this have on the way you welcome others?
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Prior to His death and resurrection, Jesus’ disciples believed He’d be the one to overthrow Rome and set up the kingdom the Jews had longed for. On the way to Capernaum, they’d debated who’d be greatest in that kingdom. Christ, however, turned their expectations on their heads. Jesus isn’t interested in building a kingdom that looks like Rome (John 18:36). He modeled for the disciples—and for us—that His kingdom grows from the soil of servanthood. And rather than conspire with the powerful, Christ’s kingdom welcomes the weak, the disenfranchised, the passed over, the oppressed, and the poor.
And lest His disciples get the idea that this is just Jesus’ own idea of heaven’s kingdom, He points out that the Father is the one who set the idea in place. By welcoming those deemed undesirable, we welcome Jesus and His Father. His kingdom is one of servanthood in weakness, not domination in power.
Jed Ostoich |
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UR; The Swimming Lesson
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13 (NIV)
My wife and I were at the pool when a young family arrived. The father took his daughter into the water and was teaching her to swim. She was calm and tried to swim as long as her dad was holding her. But when he let go, she squealed, flailed about, and yelled for him. Her dad tried to soothe her, saying, “I’m right here; you won’t sink.” When she was connected to her dad, she felt safe. But when that connection was broken, she became anxious and fearful.
Watching that father and daughter made me think about my relationship with God. As long as I stay connected to God through study and prayer, I do fine. When I begin to lose trust that God is working in my life or simply neglect to turn things over to God, I start to flail about and sink. My failure to trust increases my doubt, and doubt causes anxiety. But those feelings diminish when I lean in and trust God’s strong touch that lets me know God is always within reach.
Today's Prayer
O Lord, stay with us. When we fail to trust, help us remember your promise that you will be with us always. As Jesus taught us, we pray, “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” (Luke 11:2-4, KJV). Amen.
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