Updates:
Today is Doris Hausman's viewing and service at 10 and 11. Pray for safety in travels, for her memory to be honored and for peace and strength for the family.
Yvonne Muik had oral surgery yesterday and came home to find husband Chris needing to go to the ER for his foot. Pray for healing and for God's peace.
Visited Winnie Iobst yesterday in Lehigh. He is recovering from heart issues and hopes to be home by the weekend once more fluid is drained. Pray for healing and wisdom for staff.
Be advised! We anticipate being Zoom only on Sunday due to snow and ice storm coming. We will make the final decision by Sat. at noon. Watch for updates and one call notices. We always want to err on the side of safety! Read ahead as we will cover Acts 6, 7 and beginning of 8. What's God saying to you? How does He organize His Church? What's your part?
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Good Morning Resting in the Lord, Trusting and Joyful, Friends of God! Amen! Right? If God is for us, who can be against us? Well, the church answer is no one of significance for Jesus has overcome the world. BUT...well, you know, sometimes we allow ourselves to get tangled up in doubt, fear, chaos and drama and Satan loves to pounce on any opening in our armor. BUT GOD!!! He is with us always, for us always, and always working all thigs together for our good and according to His perfect plans. Sometimes those storms are to test our faith and sometimes used to stretch and grow us towards our fuller potential in Christ. And sometimes they are just a product of the fallen world we live in. The question is can you always choose to trust God and choose joy? Can you surrender yourself to Him and His refining fires? Do you know and believe the truth that He will redeem whatever interferes with his best. Be still and know that He who created you is calling you by name. he has redeemed you and will redeem situations. he is at work always working all things together for the good of those who believe and are called by His name! PTL! and Amen!
So, as a friend of God, you are able to choose trust and even joy in the storms because of who He is and who you are in Christ. Eph. 2:10 reminds us that we are His masterpieces, made new in Christ and that He does have great plans for us since before we were born that will come to life as we turn off the noise, die to self and allow Him to lead and redeem. Amen! Meditate on that today. Romans 12:12 came up in one of my devotionals today (they are below for you to meditate on during this ice storm day) it says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer." Get out those gratitude lists and refocus to God in praise and prayer, choose joy always and be patient in whatever you are facing because God is with you and for you! Amen! Maybe find a partner or two to travel this journey with and to uphold each other and spur each other on. Partners really do help! Who are yours?
Last night we had almost 30 join us for dinner huddle. Some come just to eat but all experience the love and fellowship we are known for as we gather around the dinner table. Plan to join us soon! Last night we were reminded that Jesus called demon possessed Mary of Magdalena by name and reminded her that He not only created her, but He knew her and her circumstance and came to deliver her from evil. He redeemed her. He is calling you by name and wants to bless, deliver and redeem whatever you are facing. Will you trust Him and open your heart? Mary said in the Chosen when asked what happened, "I was one way and now I am another and what happened in between was Him." He is wanting to lead us from one way to his better way. Will you allow that and receive Him and His healing, delivering, redeeming love? I did and I keep growing from one way to a better way because of Him in my life! PTL! try it! He is calling you by name...God led Elijah out of his depressive funk by whispering to Him and revealing his next assignment which was to go bless others. Serving and blessing others helps us to redirect our thoughts from ourselves to blessing God and others and leads to continuing to build those gratitude lists. Who needs to hear some good news today? Reach out and touch someone and you will bless God and yourself in the process. He is calling you by name, has redeemed you and has perfect plans for you for such a time as this! Amen! And rejoice!
UR: In the Storm
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. - Mark 4:37 (NIV)
I sat alone at the kitchen table with an empty box of tissues. I’d been a Christian for years, but in that moment my heart doubted what my head knew. If God loves me, why had this happened?
As I pondered my tempest, I remembered another storm — a ferocious one, two thousand years ago on the Sea of Galilee. I realized that this story isn’t just about a storm but also a journey of trust. The disciples followed Jesus, but the storm still came. They shouted at Jesus, asking him the same question I often do: “Lord, don’t you care?”
Storms may cause us to question God’s care for us. We pray for healing, protection, and restoration — for the storm to pass. It’s not wrong to pray for that. But we must learn to value God’s presence in our trials more than we value respite from them.
Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Sometimes he doesn’t calm our storms, but he guides us through them. When doubts arise, we can remember that Jesus is with us in the storm.
Today's Prayer
Dear Jesus, help us to trust you, especially during trials. Help us to remember you are always with us, no matter what we face. Amen.
ODB:
When we built our home, it stood on little more than a muddy, empty lot at the end of a gravel road. We needed grass, trees, and shrubs to match the surrounding Oregon foothills. As I got out my lawn tools and set to work, I thought of the first garden waiting for humans: “No shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, . . . and there was no one to work the ground” (Genesis 2:5).
The creation account in Genesis 1 repeats God’s assessment of creation: it “was good” or “very good” (vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). However, it wasn’t complete. Adam and Eve needed to cultivate the ground—to exercise stewardship of God’s creation (v. 28). They weren’t meant to live in an unchanging paradise but one that needed care and development.
Since the beginning, God has been inviting humans to partner with Him in His creation. He did it in the garden of Eden, and He does it with “the new creation” He makes of us when we put our faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Upon salvation, we’re not made perfect. As the apostle Paul says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2). God works in us as we pursue a life pleasing to Him, “conformed to the image of his Son” (8:29).
Whether it’s caring for the earth or caring for our new life in Christ, God has given us a gift we need to cultivate.
By Matt Lucas
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What work do you enjoy most? What might God be calling you to cultivate in your community?
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In Genesis 2, we’re given a description of the garden of Eden, where God placed the first humans so they could care for what He created (vv. 8, 15). The garden was delightful—God caused trees to provide fruit (v. 9) and rivers to water the ground (v. 10). He asked our first parents to care for it, but this request came with a commandment (vv. 15-17). This is a picture of how God continues to interact with humanity. He brings blessing but also gives us instructions in how to live. We’re given the choice to obey Him or not. We honor Him when we choose obedience as the Spirit helps us.
Matt Lucas |
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Chuck Swindoll
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