Busy restart week ahead!
Tues. Zoom Huddle 10-11
Wed: Bread 10-noon; Dinner Huddle 6-7:30
Sat. Clothing Closet 10-1
Sun: Congregational Meeting after worship and Children's Church beginning of several weeks of the Armor of God
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Good Morning Worshiping Co-Laborers! Amen! Prepare your hearts to worship in Spirit and Truth and to enter His courts with thanksgiving whether in person or on Zoom...Come! Let us worship! Amen. As we labor for the Lord and co-labor with each other we are worshiping God as we allow Him to transform us more into His image and our created purposes. We are His, known, loved, equipped, gathered and sent to glorify Him! Amen! He has great plans for you and us together! Let us commit to seeking Him, discovering our purposes and doing them for His glory! We are God's Good News Delivery Company and we are His gathered worshipers and co-laborers! Amen! Come let us worship!
As I prepare to share God's Word today from Matthew 2, I am and have been a bit troubled with some that is to be shared. There is some hard teachings today. But they are in God's Word. In the past I shied away from things like this, BUT GOD! Today, He wants me to share and us to discuss the killing of the innocents. Help us Lord! Help me! Open our hearts and minds to seek, listen and discover what you are teaching and then to apply what we are learning as we follow You. Thanks! Come! Speak! Teach! Thanks! Pray that I would handle God's Word well and that the Holy Spirit speak to you and through me. Thanks! I try to remember and remind myself often, that with obedience comes blessings! Please Lord! Speak, lead and use me well today.
Okay so what has God revealed this morning during my quiet time? Sarah Young reminds us to allow God to prepare us and that he will equip us for the journey of today and beyond as we humble ourselves before Him with hearts determined to follow always. Our Daily Bread reminds us that God will act and that His promises are true. Lean on those, not our own understanding, and allow Him to guide you and redeem those things that seem unfair in His perfect timing. We will never be able to fully grasp His wisdom and plans. All we are called to do is follow Him step by step in faith and trust that He will work all things together. Amen! And the Upper Room reminds us that God does and will lead us and work all things together as we trust and obey. Yes, with obedience comes blessings! May we be faithful and obedient and allowing Him to lead us through the long haul as we persevere in faith and follow well always. Amen! Today we will encounter several faithful ones that trust and follow God and see how He blessed their obedience and brought His will to life. May that be us--always! I'm praying for you and us and for God to lead us to His perfect plans as we allow Him to. Amen!
See you soon! We can know His peace, even in the unusual or very hard things. He is with us always and working all things together for your, our and all who will come good! PTL!
Sarah Young
ODB:
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A hardworking clerk, Erin always did her job well. But after she was accused of dishonesty, Erin was put on leave while being investigated. She felt like quitting in protest but was advised to wait it out. “Leaving suggests you’re guilty,” she was told. So Erin stayed, praying for God to give her justice. Sure enough, months later, she was cleared.
John Mark may have felt the same when Paul dropped him from the mission team. To be sure, the young man had left them earlier (Acts 15:37-38). But perhaps he’d regretted this and was hoping to be included this time. He must have felt unfairly judged by Paul; only Barnabas believed in him.
Years later, Paul would change his mind. “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry,” he said (2 Timothy 4:11). John Mark must have been relieved to have his reputation restored.
When we’re unfairly judged, may we remember that Jesus understands how we feel: He Himself was judged a sinner though He wasn’t, and He was treated worse than a common criminal though He was the Son of God. But He continued to do His Father’s will, knowing that He’d be vindicated and shown to be righteous. If you’ve been unfairly judged, don’t give up: God knows and will act in His time.
By Leslie Koh
REFLECT & PRAY
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What promises of God can you hold on to when you’re unfairly judged? How does Jesus’ example encourage you?
Father, only You know how I feel and what I’m going through. Please grant me the faith and patience to wait and to trust in You, for You’re a just God.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
“John, also called Mark” was a young believer in Jesus in Jerusalem, where his mother Mary hosted a church in her house (Acts 12:12). After handing over the famine relief money from the Antioch church to the Jerusalem church, Barnabas and Paul took Mark with them back to Antioch (v. 25). He became Paul’s missionary intern in his first missionary journey (13:5) but left the mission team halfway and returned to Jerusalem (v. 13). Paul viewed this as an unforgivable defection and failure (15:38). The apostle’s refusal to let Mark join the second missionary trip ended his cordial partnership with Barnabas (v. 39). Barnabas restored and nurtured his young cousin (Colossians 4:10) into faithfulness and fruitfulness (2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 1:24). Because Peter called him “my son Mark” (1 Peter 5:13), scholars believe that he later came under the tutelage of Peter. Scholars also believe that Peter gave Mark the source materials to write the gospel bearing his name.
K. T. Sim |
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Upper Room: Let God
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. - Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
I was a Catholic seminarian for 10 years. It had always been my dream to serve God and the church as a priest. However, after finishing my studies, I was not ordained. I was asked to take a leave of absence and explore life outside the seminary.
Upon hearing that I would not be ordained, waves of anger toward God came crashing over me, and I experienced a crisis of faith. I spent many sleepless nights thinking about my situation. I had done well in my studies; I prayed fervently and attended Mass piously. I thought I knew God to be gentle, loving, and compassionate, and surely such a God would not take away my dream of becoming a priest.
When I sat down and reevaluated myself, I realized that all along I had taken my eventual ordination for granted and had not let God be God in my life. I had grabbed the reins and taken control without truly asking God to guide me.
The past years have been a great blessing and an opportunity for me to know God more fully. I may not understand God’s will, but I am now comforted by the truth that God is in charge of my life. I do not need to understand God’s thoughts and ways to rely on God’s will for me.
Today's Prayer
Lord God, we may not know what lies ahead for us, but we are assured of your promise that you will be with us every step of the journey. Amen.
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