Faith Comes By Hearing

Romans 10:5-17 KJV; Faith comes by hearing. Will you share the Good News of Jesus Christ that they too may come to faith and salvation?

Tell Others About Jesus Tell Your Children

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 KJV; Share the Good News will all people and do not forget to teach your children about him. Evangelism is a way of life and not a program.

Evangelism Is Not A Program

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
                                                                            Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 KJV

Evangelism; sharing the Good News; sharing all that the Lord God has done for us is not a program. It is a way of life.

We share with other people those things that we care about or love. We share photos of our families. Some like to talk a whole lot about their favorite sports team. Others talk about their favorite actors or musicians like they know them personally. But, do those who profess to be Christians talk about God like they know God personally? Do we talk about him like a member of our family? He is a member of our family. He is the head of the family. He is our Father. 

If you love him who will share with others what wonderful things he has done for you. Again, evangelism is not a program that a select few are to administer. It is a way of life for all who believe!

May God open you lips and empower you with knowledge and wisdom to share the Good News!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

God So Loved The World

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

The good news for today and every day is found in John 3:16. This news is so good that we should be shouting it from the rooftops. We should at the least be sharing it with those around us. There is no need to fear death. There is no need to fear life in this world, either. In Christ we have eternal life!

In Christ we have a love beyond comparison. Live life in the one who loves you so much that he was willing to die that you might live. Live life in Christ! 

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Sing Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs

Sometimes, it seems, we can share the Word of God and His love with all that we have in our inner being; but, it reaches deaf ears. It is met with rudeness and even anger. There are many who just do not know how to react to genuine love.

What to do about this? We are to continue sharing the Word with all who will listen. Do not be afraid of slander or any kind of vicious attacks. Rather, continue to: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." Col 3:15 NRSV

Remember that you are a child of God and He will be with you always, no matter what befalls you.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Celebrations Within The Body Of Christ

First Communion

Sean and Paige with Council President, Pat Ganster

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor 10:16-17 NRSV)

I see many daily posts on Facebook from friends who post what they are thankful for. Yesterday, was one of those days that was just full of reasons for thanksgiving for the members of my local church family; all members of the one body.

First, Sean and Paige, two of our young people, who were baptized this past year received their first Communion yesterday. Celebrations of youth who are actively involved in getting to know Jesus truly are joyous celebrations. Everyone loves a celebration. Everyone loves a Baptism. It brings joy to the hearts of the members of the Body of Christ to see young people who desire to share in the body and blood of our Savior; who desire to become members of his body. We are thankful that generations after us have been filled with the desire to know Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God! 

Secondly; we have waited for a long time to hear that Sunnie, a faithful young woman from our church family, would receive her heart transplant. She has struggled with machines and hospital visits with a hope that seemed to have been dashed to the ground an awful lot for about ten years. None of us expected that she would suddenly receive a heart. She had been taken off of the transplant list because her health was failing. But, this past week she was put back on and miraculously received the gift of a new heart yesterday. The surgery was a success. We are so thankful that she will be able to live her life more fully thanks to the gift of a heart by her donor and their family. But, we are also aware that post-surgery recovery for a heart transplant is not easy and ask that you pray for Sunnie's complete recovery. 

As member's of the one body, we thank God for the gift of life here in this world and in the eternal Kingdom given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

God's Peace - Pr. J

God's Peace Be With You

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” John 20:21-23 ESV

Peace be with you. I know that there are some who really dislike sharing the peace during Worship. I hear lots of reasons for this. "It's flu season and we don't want to get sick" is one of the biggest reasons. But, often I see congregations using that only as an excuse for not wanting to be too close to other brothers or sisters in Christ. 

Most of you have who know me have probably noticed that when I greet people, I usually greet them with these words, "God's peace be with you" or simply "God's peace." When we share this greeting with others, we are letting them know that we do not want there to be any animosity between us. We are in essence telling the other person that whatever sins they have committed against us, they are forgiven. When we share the peace of the Lord, we are saying let us be reconciled to one another through our Lord, Jesus Christ because by the blood of Christ we are reconciled, so let us live in that truth!

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding comes when we know that we have been forgiven our sins and are now reconciled to God our Father through the blood of Jesus Christ. We, you and I have received the Holy Spirit so that we might go out proclaiming this Good News of reconciliation through Jesus so that others also might know this peace. So, if the Holy Spirit truly abides within us, then I would think that we would actually go and share the peace with others; forgiving them their sins; being reconciled to one another.

When we share God's peace, we are not only forgiving others any offenses, we are also asking them to forgive us for anything we may have done to offend them. In order for there to be peace; in order for their to be genuine reconciliation, we must forgive and be forgiven.

God's peace be with you all - Pr. J