Advent, or the “coming” of Christ, is about our relationship with God. God wants to be “with us” and wants us to be “awake” and aware of that He is doing in and around us. Let us trust that when it seems our world is ending, it’s because a new one is already beginning. Let us have faith that even though we don’t know how or when God is coming into our lives, we can rest asured that He is already at work and that He promises to finish what He started.
- Dec 3, 2017Keep Awake
Keep AwakeAdvent, or the “coming” of Christ, is about our relationship with God. God wants to be “with us” and wants us to be “awake” and aware of that He is doing in and around us. Let us trust that when it seems our world is ending, it’s because a new one is already beginning. Let us have faith that even though we don’t know how or when God is coming into our lives, we can rest asured that He is already at work and that He promises to finish what He started.
- Nov 26, 2017A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise
We have so many reasons to sing. And our biggest reason is our relationship with God. God is God. God is good. God loves us. And our relationship with God is everlasting! Let us make a joyful noise every time we get the chance. Our song will remind us of who God is in our lives, and also give us a fun, creative, and life-giving opportunity to express the love we have in our hearts for Him. - Nov 19, 2017A Good Investment
A Good Investment
Life presents us with opportunities to invest. Opportunities to give our time, talent, and treasure and expect a return. The question is what type of return are we expecting? Does our return put us ahead of others, or does it help us to serve others? When we profit, do others experience a loss? And ultimately, is our profit eternal? Can we take it with us from this life into the next...is it of eternal worth in God’s kingdom? Let us face the challenge of making good investments with our lives. Making investments that can help us experience “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Nov 12, 2017The Coming Generation
The Coming Generation
God wants us to be new creations. God wants our lives to be better today than yesterday. God wants us to have life and life more abundant. And for this to happen we need the teachings of God (the word of God) in our lives. A perspective from God that will give us hope, help us to remember God’s loving presence in our lives, and guide us to live out God’s teachings from day to day. Let us commit our lives to God each day (from this generation to the next), for in this, we will find everything that we need.
- Nov 5, 2017The Height of Humility
The Height of Humility
- Oct 29, 2017The Litmus Test
The Litmus Test
How do we know that we love (God, others, and ourselves)? What is the litmus test, the single indicator, the proof? Is it how we spend our money, our life energy (on God, others, and ourselves)? Is it whether or not we are willing to sacrifice, all that we have and all that we are (for God, others, and ourselves)? Or is it our ability to connect by speaking the same love language as those close to us (God, others, and ourselves)? At the end of the day, surely God is the one who knows our hearts. - Oct 22, 2017Death & Taxes
Death & Taxes
There are certainties in life. Surely we will never forget the certainties of death and taxes, as we seem to so often remind ourselves. But as Christians, let us never forget that we have other certainties in our relationship with God. Certainties that are just as sure as death and taxes. If we are open, we may all experience these certainties: God’s timing and God’s provision. Certainties that take our focus off of ourselves and place them in the divine reality of God’s Kingdom. - Oct 15, 2017Worry & Peace
Worry & Peace
Choose to be positive. Stay focused on the task. Pay attention and remember...the Lord is near.Do these things... and you’ll have PEACE (that surpasses all understanding). - Oct 8, 2017Confidence
Confidence
It is in knowing Christ that we find true confidence. For in knowing Christ, we can know God, and we can know ourselves. In knowing Christ we grow in our relationship with God and have a better understanding of why we are here. Life, then, becomes deeply meaningful, and we can move through it knowing God is with us. And that makes it all worthwhile. - Oct 1, 2017Working Out
Working Out
The best “work out” is to let God work it out. If it were up to us, we would rise, control, tell others what to do. But by having the mind of Christ, we turn ourselves over to the will of God. We choose to serve, we put others first, we listen and obey. Just like Jesus did. And there we find our salvation. - Sep 24, 2017Please Sir, I Want More
Please Sir, I Want More
- Sep 17, 2017The Power of Reconciliation
The Power of Reconciliation
God has called us to the ministry of bringing people together. Each of us by having respect for others, sharing our experiences with others, listening and learning from the perspective of others, can have compassion for others and come together with them in love. God has done it with us. Now we are called to be reconciled to others. - Sep 3, 2017Love in Action
Love in Action
The basis of our code of ethics is the character of God. God is good and God is love. We can trust God. And God wants us to experience the joy of living in a relationship of trust. God wants us to be trustworthy. To live in a way that we can gain the trust of others. Let’s put our love into action...let’s do the right thing...let’s live with the character of God at the center of our lives.
- Aug 27, 2017Gifts that Differ
Gifts that Differ
God has given to each of us something special, a gift that can help us connect with and serve others, a gift that can help us understand our purpose in life, a gift that can help us to “discern God’s will.” Our gift can be fully realized and appreciated if we give ourselves as “living sacrifices” to God. Not using our gift for selfish gain, but for a higher purpose. As we discover and grow together in our gifts, let us appreciate our “gifts that differ.” And let us always thank God for the ultimate gift of our relationship with him. - Aug 20, 2017Prayer for All People
Prayer for All People
God has been involved in His Creation from the beginning. Each and every moment the Holy Spirit has been moving...from “over the face of the deep” to the events of last week...in our lives and in the lives of others. Let us pray that we may grow in our understanding...like Jesus grew. So we can see God at work all around us. In our lives and in the lives of others. Let’s trust in God. And let’s rejoice that our prayers can be a part of the prayers of all people.