Thank God for Life!
The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 15, 2017 1 John 2:15-17 Thank God for Life! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, On August 24, 1992 Hurricane Andrew literally roared through the area where I was living. I had sent Brenda and the kids to Orland to keep them safe while I stayed behind. I knew that a number of my members were going to ride out the storm and I wanted to be there— just in case…
Seek the LORD!
The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost October 8, 2017 Isaiah 55:6-9 Seek the LORD! Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As…
The Bigger Picture
The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost October 1, 2017 Genesis 50:15-21 The Bigger Picture When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and…
The Watchman
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 24, 2017 Ezekiel 33:7-11 The Watchman “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for…
Labor Pains
The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 17, 2017 Jeremiah 15:15-21 Labor Pains You understand, O LORD; remember me and care for me. Avenge me on my persecutors. You are long-suffering—do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with…
Remember– I AM the LORD!
The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 10, 2017 Exodus 6:2-8 Remember— I AM the LORD God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom…
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 15:21-28 Strive For a Great Faith! Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep…
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost August 27, 2017 Matthew 14:22-23 Step Out of the Boat! Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against…
The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost August 20, 2017 Isaiah 55:1-5 Come to God’s Rich Banquet! Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.…
The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost August 13, 2017 I Kings 3:5-12 Choices, Choices, Choices At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit…