Articles
Praying Even More
Praying Even More
By Scott Black
I am praying that all is going well for you and your families today and as well as possible in the situations around you.
Our dependence on prayer is likely improving with each day of this new COVID-19 lifestyle we are experiencing. As we pray for those affected and beseech the Lord for a speedy and safe resolution, like me you are probably finding yourself praying more frequently and more fervently and even thinking of other needs that should be included in daily prayers.
Maybe you are praying not only for our more vulnerable friends and medical workers and those confined to hospitals and nursing homes without the possibility of visits from family and friends, but also those we never really noticed before that are living alone without a steady source of company or care or those who were already existing paycheck-to-paycheck and now find their jobs limited or eliminated. We realize our postponed reunions and vacations pale in comparison to those families that cannot presently honor a loved one with a proper funeral because of public gathering restrictions. We are suddenly seeing around us a limitless need for prayers where once we were taking daily things for granted.
You may be praying even more for those that have not yet become Christians or have left the faith and praying that they too are thinking of their spiritual needs. Maybe you are praying for the spiritual strength of everyone as we go through these troubled times apart and that we can yet come back together even stronger and loving in our service.
These slower and worrisome times give us some added time for reflection and hopefully can also make us stronger and more dependent on our communication with God and concern for others. I personally hope that these difficult times will help me strengthen my own prayer patterns so that I can consistently continue to pray more deeply and thoughtfully even when the current times have passed.
We all hear how it takes continued application to permanently make and break habits Wouldn’t it be great if we came through this crisis and discovered that we had created the habit of a much better permanent prayer life for ourselves? I think we all realize in good times how much we regret not being more prayerful, so now could be the best time to each create an unbreakable habit of dependence on our lifeline to God through this wonderful gift of prayer that we are now finding ourselves frequently and fervently practicing.
We remember the words of the disciples to Jesus, saying “Lord, teach us to pray.” I am realizing that now is the best time for me, also, to ask the Lord to teach me to pray: To develop both a consistent prayer pattern and also a consciousness of prayerful needs around me, a habit that will sustain me not only through these times of trial, but also in times of plenty so that I never forget my dependence on Him.
I hope these thoughts are helpful to you. Let us continue to pray and continue to hone our prayer skills as well and each grow more effective in our service together. Thank you very much.
Giving Truth
By Larry Winn
Hope you and your families are being safe and doing well through the circumstances. May we continue steadfastly in prayer seeking continued strength and confidence in God to help us thru this life changing situation.
I wish to take a moment at this time to reflect our minds on something else beside the CVOID-19. That is the idea of giving truth. A college professor several years ago said “there is no such thing as absolute truth.” Jesus in His prayer in John 17:17 said “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The idea here is to sanctify to a sacred and holy use or purpose. The prayer was to separate them and set them apart (from the world) to God through the truth. No one can be separated from the world, or sanctified to God by the truth, save as he makes that truth the rule of his life and is led away from all other paths and into the path marked by God’s truth. The apostle Paul appointed a preacher and an apostle said “I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” 1 Timothy 2:7.
I would like to share something with you all that I came across in my library.
"If you are my friend, if you are concerned about my soul, give me the truth. Do not flatter me. Do not praise my virtues while remaining silent about my vices. Do not fear the truth will offend me. Do not treasure our friendship, our friendly relationship above my salvation. Do not think that by ignoring my sins, you can help me. Do not think that being blind to my sins will prove yourself charitable. However I may react to it, whatever may be my attitude toward you after you have done it, give me the truth. For the truth and only the truth can make you free (Jn. 8:32) from the shackles of sin, strengthen me in the pathways of righteousness, and lead me to the joys of heaven. If I am wavering, weak, lukewarm, indifferent, neglectful, if I have been drawn into the pleasures of the world, if I have left my first love, if I have been led astray by error, or if I have done none of these, but simply need to grow in knowledge and to be edified, give me the truth!" “But, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” Ephesians 4:15 NASB.
Show God and your fellow Christians that you are not forgetting God, and may we try to have the attitude of the person in the above paragraph. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” 1 Timothy 1:17.
May God bless us in our efforts to serve Him.
Generator of Love
By Steve Melton, April 5, 2020
Electricity comes from a machine,
A generator that goes round and round.
The faster it turns
The more current that is found.
God gives to each, our own generator
It is within us, called the heart.
The more we turn it toward God
The more love, that will impart.
Where does it come from?
And how does it start?
It comes from God’s Holy Word.
It is current of love, it flows from heart to heart.
How strong is our current?
How many hearts will you set aglow?
It’s every life we plug into.
That’s how far our love will flow.
This generator of love will brighten our lives.
It will be the energy of our life’s story.
Our lives will shine for Him
It will add to God’s own glory.
A Moments Wisdom
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You, too? I thought I was the only one!’” (C. S. Lewis)
“When faith becomes obedience, then it is true faith indeed.” (A. W. Tozer)
A person who takes a stand may be wrong occasionally, but the person who never takes a stand is always wrong.
Alone we are fragile threads, but together -- what a tapestry we make!
Those who believe it is possible to tell little white lies soon become morally color-blind.
That the birds of worry and fear fly over our heads, this we cannot change; but that they build nests in our hair, this you can prevent.
Test Your Bible Knowledge of Little Things
1. I was used to feed 5000 men and their families.
2. I was compared to a mustard seed.
3. In Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, I destroyed four empires.
4. I was used to teach the apostles about the nature of the kingdom of God.
5. I was as fine as frost on the ground, but I fed all of Israel in the wilderness.
Upcoming Sermons
4/12/20 AM & PM - Encouragement: Manna & Medicine to the Weak and Weary
4/19/20 AM - Children of Light
PM - The Apostles Ran -- Once
4/26/20 AM - Who Wants You to Be Baptized
PM - Chasing Scapegoats
