Did you know that God sings? That’s right, the creator of all that is sings. And do you know why? Because He loves and takes joy in His people. Just take a look:
New Living Translation
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
God is with you. He will save you. He loves and delights in you. God sings over you. Trust Him and sing back.
Yesterday was supposed to be a really big deal. We were having a church singing time, potluck lunch(that we had invited the whole community to), and a pie in the face celebration for money raised for the Baptist Children’s Ministry. But las Tuesday I started feeling ill. Wednesday I tested positive for COVID-19. The same day Three other families in our church had tested positive. By Saturday, 6 families that I knew of we’re out. I was still in quarantine and faced with a decision about Sunday. After much prayer, I cancelled services. But our ladies still wanted to serve. They felt the need to still reach out. So, Julie and I put a notice on the church sign on Saturday, and the ladies served take out meals to those who came by. They also delivered meals to several folks that were sick and quarantined. We have decided to wait two weeks and then do all that we wanted to do this week. So, Sunday didn’t look like we planned it, but through the love and flexibility of our church family, ministry was done.
This message is about Jesus meeting a woman at a well and changing her life forever. She was going through her daily chores. Just one more day in a long string of days. Then Jesus spoke to her and showed her love and purpose. I hope the message blesses you.
A sermon from Psalm 25
David writes a song that is also a prayer. A wonderful prayer that should be our prayer daily.
Romans 15:7 tells us to ‘accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you.’
Between what Paul writes in the letter to the Romans and the Corinthians (Romans12,14,15 )and what James writes to believers spread abroad (James 2), we can see a clear command that prejudice and a judgemental attitude do not belong in the Church. We should be clear about what the Bible says about sin (about all sin). But where there is not a Biblical command, then tradition and preference should not be creating legalistic and unloving environments. Social status, color, disability and so many other things that can divide us, should not be allowed to. We need to be people of the Truth. We need to share the truth in love. God bless
Praying is a powerful thing. It connects us intimately with our Heavenly Father. It also reminds us of His presence in our lives. In Psalm 25 David records a beautiful prayer that is packed full of encouragement.
Psalm 25
1 «Of David.» To you, O Lord, my soul is lifted up.
2 O my God, I have put my faith in you, let me not be shamed; let not my haters be glorying over me.
3 Let no servant of yours be put to shame; may those be shamed who are false without cause.
4 Make your steps clear to me, O Lord; give me knowledge of your ways.
5 Be my guide and teacher in the true way; for you are the God of my salvation; I am waiting for your word all the day.
6 O Lord, keep in mind your pity and your mercies; for they have been from the earliest times.
7 Do not keep in mind my sins when I was young, or my wrongdoing: let your memory of me be full of mercy, O Lord, because of your righteousness.
8 Good and upright is the Lord: so he will be the teacher of sinners in the way.
9 He will be an upright guide to the poor in spirit: he will make his way clear to them.
10 All the ways of the Lord are mercy and good faith for those who keep his agreement and his witness.
11 Because of your name, O Lord, let me have forgiveness for my sin, which is very great.
12 If a man has the fear of the Lord, the Lord will be his teacher in the way of his pleasure.
We can trust God for victory in our lives, for forgiveness and mercy, for leading in the correct path, and for guidance in truth.
Whatever your battle is today, God can give you victory. Does that mean you will get what you want? Not necessarily. You will be able to get through it with God’s help. Whatever it is. Trust Him, surrender to Him, and pray constantly. May peace be with you.
When do you look to God? For many people, it may be on Sunday or another dedicated day of worship. Maybe it’s when life gets hard. Maybe it’s when life is good. But what about the everyday part of our lives. First Thessalonians 5:17 says to pray without ceasing. Obviously, that doesn’t mean to go through life with our heads bowed and eyes closed. In the verses above that, we see instructions to do good and not repay evil for evil and we see that we are to rejoice evermore. After verse 17 we read that we are to always give thanks to God. That’s every day. That’s as we get up, go to work, put gas in the car, etc. We need to pray always (recognizing the presence of God with us) in order to do what we are called to do. Imagine a day when we practice recognizing the ever-present creator God all day long! What things would we do differently?
Life is a series of events. Each day we wake up and move through our life. We can view each of these moments like some kind of repeating loop of getting up, going to work, eating dinner, going to bed, or we can embrace the reality of an adventure waiting for us at the start of each brand new day. Like a river with the water constantly in motion, a new dawn brings new experiences. Most of us have a routine to life but that doesn’t have to be boring. God tells us that His mercies are new every day! ( Lamentations 3:23)
New mercy, new day, new me, and new you. Lift your head today and see the journey before you. In Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) we read:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Go our today and see the good works that God has for you to do. Welcome to the Great Adventure…..
There was a call one day. The kind that no pastor or chaplain wants to get. A tragic death has occurred. In those first moments there is a flood of thoughts: Who do I need to contact? Who needs a visit? What could I possibly say to alleviate even some of the pain? What physical needs are there right now? Those and many more. Always more questions than answers.
Then comes the phone contacts and the in person visits. The responders, the grieving family, my own congregation. What hope can I bring??
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
There is hope in the name of the Lord Jesus. There is power in that name. There is forgiveness and mercy in our great God. That is what I can bring. God loves the world so much that He gave His son, Jesus to die as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus didn’t stop there, He rose from the grave to show us that death is not the end and to prove His power over the grave.
There are also some other things that I can bring: I can be a presence for someone. I can listen. I can encourage people who are hurting to share their story. Sharing helps the mind process those things which are overwhelming. Even if you just share it with yourself through journaling or diary writing.
I can pray with people, and for people. God can mend broken people. We just need to be willing to let Him.
Taking God’s love into the world 