Pastor's Blog

Friday, January 03 2025

Good Morning Abiding In Christ Co-Laborers! We are so blessed to know Christ, have His Spirit in us always to guide, help, lead, revive, reshape and empower us. We are blessed to be gathered together as His servants growing into our mission to know Him and make Him know as teammates, spurring each other on to the good works He has planned and covering each other in prayer. GO TEAM! As we spend time abiding in Christ and God's Word and Love, we grow and come to understand our next steps of faith, our needed repentance, our call to encourage, and our need to trust as we take that next step of faith. How cool is it that God helps us with all of this and wants to be with us and lead us to His best. his easy yoke is such a joy as we step more fully from our old nature to our new and from what was to what is and what can be. And we get to do all this as a team! We are truly blessed as we spend time abiding in Him and His Word, watch for God and join Him each day! Contemplate that and ask God what's the next step for you and us and who He wants you to co-labor with and do something about that. It will be so good and joyful as we keep working at becoming who we are created to be and doing what we are created and gathered to do! I love how God works and celebrate daily all He is doing in, through and around me, you and all of us! Yes, Rejoice!

Spend some time abiding in Him as you engage with or devotionals below and open your Bibles. Dwell in His love today and soak it up to share. Determine to seek, trust and follow God to His perfect plans for you and us and keep worshiping with great thanksgiving for who He is and all he is doing! He does have great plans for you and us that are coming to life as we grow in trust and the determination to choose joy always as we follow Him. Come! taste and see! he is kind and gentle and His yoke is easy. rest in Him today. be still and know. Exhale the junk and breathe in a fresh breath of the Spirit and then go love and love more like Jesus just as you are today. Then celebrate and share those stories of what God has and is doing. I can't wait to hear them!

Sarah Young

Charles Stanley

ODB:

Step in Faith

By faith Moses’ parents hid him . . . and they were not afraid. Hebrews 11:23

READ Exodus 2:1-10

LISTEN ONLINE

John was devastated when he lost his job. Closer to the end of his career than the beginning, he knew it would be hard to start over somewhere new. He started praying for the right job. Then John updated his resume, read interview tips, and made a lot of phone calls. After weeks of applying, he accepted a new position with a great schedule and an easy commute. His faithful obedience and God’s provision had met at the perfect intersection.

A more dramatic instance of this occurred with Jochebed (Exodus 6:20) and her family during the time of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt. When Pharaoh decreed that all newborn Hebrew sons must be cast into the Nile (1:22), Jochebed must have been terrified. She couldn’t change the law, but there were some steps she could take to obey God and try to save her son. In faith, she hid him from the Egyptians. She made a little, watertight papyrus basket and “put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile” (2:3). God stepped in to miraculously preserve his life (vv. 5-10) and later used him to deliver all of Israel from slavery (3:10).

John and Jochebed took very different steps, but both stories are marked by faith-filled action. Fear can paralyze us. Even if the result isn’t what we expected or hoped for, faith empowers us to keep trusting in God’s goodness regardless of the outcome.

By Karen Pimpo

REFLECT & PRAY

When do you find yourself frozen in fear or worry? How can you faithfully take the next God-honoring step?

Dear God, please help me faithfully take each step on the path You have for me.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Scripture offers two reasons why Moses’ parents, Amram and Jochebed (Numbers 26:59), protected Moses. First, Jochebed saw that “he was a fine child” (Exodus 2:2); she saw something special in him. He’s described as “no ordinary child” (Acts 7:20; Hebrews 11:23). A second reason is that his parents “were not afraid of the king’s edict” (Hebrews 11:23). Like the two Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15, 17), his parents feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. Hebrews 11:23 commends Amram and Jochebed as people of great faith.

K. T. Sim

TWFYT

Harvest

December 28 - Prayer Is the Doorway

After they fell to temptation, Adam and Eve were sent away from the beauty of the Garden, and their remaining days would be spent in the wearisome toil of their sin.

But God’s plan was not thwarted by Satan’s work and man’s sin. A promised One would come. His serpent-crushing, saving work was prophesied at the moment of their sin. And when He came, He would make a way for all to come again into the Father’s presence and know Him once again. To walk with Him; to hear His voice. To regain what once was lost. One day the door would open and the Garden fully restored … and the conversation would continue with no interruption. Unceasing prayer, unceasing love, unceasing joy.

This glorious walk with God is open now for us with all its riches. We can walk in the garden of His presence, in part, that we will one day experience fully in a new heaven and new earth. But for all who long for Him, He invites us now to come.

And the doorway is to simply pray.

Grace-filled Father, we adore You and worship You! You created us for Yourself…and in Your image! Through Jesus You are redeeming what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Thank You for not giving up on us and for making a way for Your people to enter into Your presence continually. We rejoice in knowing that the beauty of the Garden will one day be ours through the love and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. May we never take for granted what You have done, what You are doing and what You will do as Your people seek Your face in prayer.

---Adapted from Simply Prayer by Bill Elliff. This book is available at prayershop.org.

Prayer Points

Praise Jesus for the depth of his redeeming love, which sent him to the cross for you (Gal. 2:20).
Thank him for dying on your behalf.
Confess any lack of love you feel toward a brother or sister.
Commit yourself to remaining in Jesus’ love by keeping his commandments (Jn. 15:10).
Ask God to show his love to you in new ways today.
Ask that the redeeming love of God will come gently to an unsaved person you know. Ask God to reveal a glimpse of his unconditional love through you.

Prayer Pointer
“Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies beyond the will of God.” —Anonymous

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) © 2024 is a free devotional published daily by Harvest Prayer Ministries. Subscribe here.

Larry Paul News

December 2024

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our family, friends, and partners,

Larry experienced shortness of breath and tightness in his chest at the beginning of December. His Doctor agreed to monitor it for a few days. It was getting worse so Larry went to the ER and, after 4 days in the ICU to monitor his heart as he underwent tests and took medicine, they determined he was suffering from an unstable angina, basically a clogged heart artery. He's home now and resting as he learns to adjust to his new diet. So far he's doing fine at home, he was even able to take our dog for short walks. Due to the Christmas holiday, Larry will meet with the Cardiologist in January to discuss the next steps in his treatment, which will probably include an angioplasty and stent in his artery. It was a scary time for all of us and we're still adjusting to our "new normal". Larry needs to rest and cannot drive, so Enol is taking on more and more responsibilities for our family. She needs to get Larry's medicine, shop, cook different meals for him, and take our boys out to be with their friends. It's a big adjustment for all of us and we continue to seek God's wisdom to manage the changes.

Larry was managing the maintenance, grounds, drivers, custodians, and security departments on campus, and they were able to keep the campus functioning and safe during the first semester. He helped design and bid out the work to start building a new parking lot on campus as well as gathering information and pricing for future projects including adding solar panels, replacing a roof on a High School building, and replacing 20+ year old air conditionings systems. We're not sure what he'll be able to do next semester as he continues to recover from his heart issue.

Richard and Brayden enjoyed their time at the ACSC volleyball tournament in Indonesia in October. The team played hard and finished in second place. We are so proud of all of them! They are now both on the varsity basketball team which is doing well in their local league. We're looking forward to going to Bangkok in February for ACSC's boys basketball tournament. They both continue to do well in their classes and Richard is applying to different universities in the US. He wants to study business with a focus in sports management. We are so proud of them, the fine young men they are becoming and the way they are adjusting to Larry's medical condition.

Enol is enjoying her time volunteering at Faith Academy's Elementary division and being part of the team Moms for the boys' athletic teams. We're not sure what she'll be able to do when the boys go back to school since she'll also need to take care of Larry during his recovery.

Praises

Larry's good care at the hospital
Richard and Brayden doing well at Faith Academy, both with schoolwork and athletics.
Enol can volunteer at Faith Academy
God's continued provision for our needs