If God Ordains It, He Will Make A Way

What if an angel of the Lord came to you in the middle of the night and told you to do something, really wild; something impossible, something that almost seemed wrong? What if you were Abraham and God told you to wake up early the next morning and kill your son? What if He whispered in your ear to go out to the middle of the nearest park and build boat and wait for rain? What if you heard a noise in the middle of the night and it was a heavenly angel announcing to you that you were about to become the parent of the Son of God? What would you do, what would you say, where would you run?

Sometimes we forget that the men and women in the Bible were regular people just like us, with doubts and fears and frustrations. Abraham, Noah, Mary and Joseph were no different than us except their story is written about in God’s Word for us to learn this one pivotal truth that rings throughout history and eternity: If God ordains it, He will make a way.

Next weekend we will see this truth lived out in the portrayal of the lives of Mary and Joseph and their families in our production of Two from Galilee. Join us as we witness what it might have been like to get this news of unequaled proportion. Listen in and hear the heart of the human emotion of parents, friends and a community who were about to be change forever by the love and sovereignty of a God who sent His one and only Son to come and live among us; the Son who was born to die for you and for me. Through it all, hear and experience the love The One and Only true God poured out on His creation on the very first Christmas day.

We encourage you to invite and bring your friends and family Saturday December 1^st at 7:00pm and Sunday morning December 2^nd at 9:00am or 11:00. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Our prayer is that you will come and be blessed, and leave with a deeper understanding and acceptance of God’s love for you expressed though His presentation of the best gift of all, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

Thank You

Thank you. Everyone appreciates hearing those words. However, many times although not always intentionally, we forget to thank those to who thanks is due. Although a common courtesy, the excitement of the gift often overshadows the giver.

Our Lord Jesus experienced that. In John 17 we see that Jesus heals ten lepers. Now just imagine. You are a leper, an outcast, set aside by society as untouchable. You look at yourself and your limbs are all but off. You are bandaged up and because of the lack of feeling in parts of your body you have several severe burns. Your life is a mess and your body is the same.

Then Jesus steps into your journey and heals you. Partial limbs become whole, gangrened skin becomes as soft and clear as a new born baby’s. A distorted face is made beautiful. What would be your first response? Well in Luke 17 we see that one man recognized the most important thing in being blessed, which is to remember to thank the giver of the blessing. But as we read, Jesus asked, Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?" (Luke 17:17 NIV)

So often we focus on and are carried away with the gift that we forget and neglect to thank the Giver. During this Thanksgiving season lets take a moment and pause. Take an inventory of the past 12 months or more. What has God done for you? What has He done in you? Have you thanked Him for it? Is the Lord saying, "Where is ________? Didn’t I bless him/her too?"

We have an opportunity to bless the Lord today. As we participate in our annual Thanksgiving sharing service take a moment and share with us, in the presence of the Lord what you have to be thankful for. All of us have something, but who of us will share? By doing so, you bring pleasure to the Lord. Along with that, in the community of believers youll encourage those who hear you who might need the same blessing from God. Your thanks through your life story will encourage them that if God can do it for you then He can do it for them as well.

Lets join together today to offer to Him a "Symphony of Thanksgiving" for who He is and all He has done. He is so worthy of our doing so!

To Him alone be the glory,

Pastor MJ

Don't Worry About Anything

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Then you will experience Gods peace,
which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts

and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

As we look at the children of Israel in the book of Exodus, how many times can and do we see ourselves? God had just done so many miracles, things that only He could have done. They had watched Him turn the Nile River into blood. They had witnessed God sending boils to cover all of the men and animals throughout the land. Then they saw the plague of locusts and darkness that culminated in the death of all first born children of Egypt while all of Gods chosen people who were covered by the blood of the lamb did not see death. You would think that after all of that, that trust would not be an issue with these folks. However, our human nature is strong and how soon we forget Gods gracious provisions and protection when the going really gets tough.

Their thought was that this had to be a trick. All that separated them from their enemy was land and in front of them sat the Red Sea. They cried out, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:11-12) But God in His incredibly gracious way, once again provided for His own. He opened a way where there was no way. He made a roadway in the wilderness and a path way through the sea. The pathway of life for the Lords people became a roadway of death for the Egyptians.

God had given His word through Moses and Aaron that they were going to a land that He had prepared for them. He had made a covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. He was not about to break His promise. However, circumstances were giving them other signals. God has given us His word. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He promised to give us the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). In every circumstance He has promised to meet our every need (Philippians 4:19)! He has promised to not only hear, but to answer our prayers if we ask according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). We need but to exercise our faith and believe Him at His Word. He is worthy to be trusted, He has never failed, and that's a reason to praise Him. Lets do so together today and throughout this week.

Pastor MJ

God - In "Hot Pursuit"

One of my favorite shows growing up was the Dukes of Hazzard. It always brought a smile to my face to see Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in "hot pursuit" of the Duke boys in "the General". Coltrane would go through deep ditches, unpaved roads, over mountainsides, holes, mud filled lakes, etc. in order to catch up with the dukes. Nothing would stop him.

Those scenes, although purely entertainment, gave me life lessons about going after the things that I want and not letting anything get in the way of my accomplishing the task.

Through the years, I’ve realized some spiritual truths about the strength and beauty of pursuit. The Bible shows our God to be in "hot pursuit" of His children. Whether its the children of Israel in disobedience turning their back on God, time and time again or Saul doing everything he could against God, even persecuting Christians. God always pursued those He loved. We see that in the story of Hosea and Gomer in the book of Hosea, which serves as a picture of Gods continued pursuit of His Church. There we see that God through His unconditional love will move heaven and earth in order to win the hearts of those He has chosen.

How incredible is the message of grace, forgiveness, unconditional love and passionate pursuit that we see throughout Gods story in the Bible. Jesus is our ultimate example. He laid down His life in order to pursue a relationship with us. "Greater love has no man than this… "(see John 15:13) Do you remember the stories of the lost sheep and coin in Luke 15? We see that Jesus loves us so much that He is willing to leave the flock and pursue the one and that he will "tear the house apart" in order to find the loved one who is missing.

No matter what you’ve done, no matter how many times you’ve done it, He never give up wooing you back to His arms and pursuing a relationship with you. He paid the ultimate price for you and no matter how bumpy the road, how deep the ditch, or how fast we run in the other direction, He still pursues us with passion and unending love. How Awesome is our Lord! Take a moment today and if you’ve been running the other direction, stop and allow Him to embrace you with His passionate undying love. How can we not love so great a God!