Genesis 16: 1-16; Hagar and Ishmael

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

If nothing else, this is a lesson in discernment. I cannot believe that God thought this was a good idea. Sarai came up with it, and Abram went along with it. If they had both prayed hard about the situation then I'm sure they would have heard God telling them it was a bad idea. We sometimes come up with ideas that are not good, but we somehow manage to convince ourselves that it is what God wants. When you come to a point in your life where a big (or little for that matter) decision must be made, pray hard about it. Talk to God, tell him how you feel about it, and ask him what he wants of you. In all things follow God's will. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 15: 1-21; God's Covenant with Abram

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Always remember that as we go forth on our journey of faith, and as we go forth to do the work Christ has given us, that we have God with us. The Lord does not tell us to go and believe and work and then stand back to see what happens. No, the Lord is with us on our journey of faith, and the Lord is with us as we go forth to do the work he has called us to do. There are times when it feels like we are alone. But never forget the covenant God made with Abram, 'that he is our shield, our very great reward.' No matter where we go or what we do God is always with us, giving us strength for both our journey of faith and the work he has called us to do. God bless you,

Pastor Josh

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Genesis 14: 1-24; Abram Rescues Lot

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"And blessed be God Most High." Melchizedek told Abram to bless the Lord for that had happened. We should remember this as well. God has done so much for us in our lives and sometimes we forget to say thank you. Look around you now, wherever you are. Take in all God has given you, all God has done for you, and take a moment and thank and praise God for all those things. We have all been blessed beyond count; let us remember to take the time to bless the Lord for all he has done for us. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 13: 1-18; Abram and Lot Separate

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers." It seems there is always fighting going on these days. And we don't need much of a reason to do it. But whatever the cause, I know it is not the will of God for us to be at odds with one another. God's will for us is that we ive in peace and love, remembering the love of Jesus and how he practiced it in his life. When you pray, pray not only for your friends and family, but also for your enemies. In that way we will all get that much closer to living in a world of peace and love. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 12: 1-9; The Call of Abraham

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." When God told Abraham to go, he went. At a moment's notice Abraham left his home, his friends, his family, everything in order to follow the call God placed upon his life. God may not be calling us to leave our homes and families, but God is calling us all to do something. I invite you to spend time discerning what God is calling to do, and I also invite you to be prepared to follow that call at a moment's notice. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 11: 1-9; The Tower of Babel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The ones who were trying to build the tower of Babel were doing so to make themselves like God. They wanted to make a name for themselves and serve themselves. They forgot that our first call, as children of God, is to serve the Lord. We have a lot of things in today's world, and we sometimes use those things to serve ourselves. We, too, sometimes forget that we are to serve the Lord with our whole life. Let us never forget, no matter how much we have made for ourselves, to serve the Lord. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for April 27, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from 1 Peter 3:13-22, which talks about our sufferings and fears and how they should not slow us down in our journey of faith or in our ministry. The sermon title is 'WhyBother' and will focus on why we bother with this thing called faith. I hope to see you Sunday. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 9: 1-17; God's Covenant With Noah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The rainbow is the sign from God that he will never again destroy the world by a flood. When I think of the rainbow being a sign of God's promise I think also of the cross as a sign of God's promise. God has promised not only to not destroy the world, he has also promised to save the world. And God has saved the world through his son Jesus Christ. When we see a cross we should remember God's promise to deliver us from the bonds of sin, and we should remember the fact that in Jesus this promise has been made a reality. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 8: 1-22; After the Flood

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done." God has never broken a promise. He promised Noah after the flood that he would never destroy the world again. And since that time the world has not been destroyed. We have a faithful God; one who stands by what he says, and one who stands by us. God will never leave us nor forsake us. He has made that promise to us as well, and we can believe it. We can trust God to never depart from us. Our God keeps his promises. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 7: 1-24; Noah's Family Saved

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Noah, amidst all the sinning going on managed to find favor with God. We, too, have found favor with God through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus we have been forgiven for all our sins. We don't have to worry about a great flood coming to take us all away, because our sin has been taken away. We don't have to worry about not getting into Heaven, because our sins have been taken away. Praise God in Heaven that all our sins have been taken away by Jesus, that we have been made righteous through him. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 6: 1-22; The Flood

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Noah did everything the Lord commanded him." The whole boat thing was a pretty tall order for Noah. Not only was it going to be a big boat, but it was going to cause quite a stir. Noah wasn't going to be able to keep it a secret, and most of the people would not have been very happy about being called out according to their sin. This was not the easiest command to follow, but Noah did it. When God spoke to him and told him to build this boat he followed. Noah built the boat and ended up being the vessel through which creation was saved. What is God commanding you to do? It may seem crazy; it may seem impossible. But with God all things are possible. No matter what it is, we all need to make sure we do everything as the Lord commands. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 5: 1-32; From Adam to Noah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a pretty comprehensive list of people from the Old Testament. My thoughts for the day are more of a reminder that we must read the Old Testament. For one thing, Jesus cannot be fully understood without reading the OT. But for another, the promises that are made in the OT are not cancelled out because of Jesus. We still have the promise of being a chosen people; we still have the promise that God will be with us. As we look through this list of people, let us remember the other people from the OT, what they did, and the promises that are made to us through them. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 4: 1-26; Cain and Abel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

So begins the problem of sin for humanity once they left the garden. I have always believed that from this point on God was putting into action the plan for our salvation. At this point I think God knew that there was no way for all of us to atone for our sins. So, God began to put into action the 'Jesus Plan.' From the time Cain killed Abel God began to plan on sending Jesus here to save us from sin. As we are faced with what Cain did to Abel, let us remember the salvation we have through Jesus. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Special Events

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to remind everyone of the special events going on at the church this weekend.

Saturday is out pot-luck dinner, which will be followed by a presentation on my mission trip to Senegal, West Africa.

Sunday is TDO's two year anniversary of being in our church. They will be celebrating, even more than usual, and I know it would mean so much to them if some of you could stop by even for a little bit.

God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and sermon for April 20, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this coming Sunday is John 14: 1-14, in which Jesus talks about being the way, the truth, and the life. And the sermon title is 'Christ Alone' and will focus on how Christ is the only revelation of God, the only one we need to follow, and the only one worthy of our worship. Hope to see you Sunday. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 3: 1-24; The Fall of Man

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no denying the consequences of what Adam and Eve did. If they could have just kept their hands away from that tree we would still be living in paradise. If it wasn't for the sinning of Adam and Eve everything would still be ok. But let's look at it this way: if it wasn't for the grace of God everything would still be awful. Adam and Eve got us into a hole, that much we know. But God reached in and pulled us out. God, in his infinite love and grace wiped away all that Adam and Eve did. It is important to remember Adam and Eve and remember that we are all sinners. But it is more important to remember that we are all saved through the grace of God. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 2: 1-25; Adam and Eve

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"From the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." God has given us the gift of life. He breathed that life into Adam and Eve, and he has given us that life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Jesus' birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension we have all been given the gift of eternal life. This is the reason for Jesus, that we might have life through him. Let us go forth and celebrate the life we have been given through Jesus Christ our Lord. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Genesis 1: 1-31; The Beginning

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I invite you to look out your window wherever you may be sitting now. Look out and see the beauty of God's creation. We are blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful place. God could have done it differently. He didn't have to make the sunset so spectacular; he didn't have to make a forest that takes our breath away. We could have survived on less in this place. But for us God created such a wonderful and beautiful place. He did this so we can enjoy this creation. This day, that the Lord has made, I invite you to take time to enjoy the beauty of the creation God has given to us. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 4: 14-20; Thanks for Needs Met

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. We have the comfort and peace of knowing God will provide for all our needs. Now let us go forth and give God the glory for what he has given to us. Our God is an awesome God, a God who has given to us all we will need to continue on our journey of faith. Let us bow down and worship our awesome God for all he has done. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 4: 10-13; Thanksgiving

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus would put nothing on our shoulders that we could not handle. We, as those who belong to Christ, have the strength and the ability to do anything through Christ. We talked this morning about how Christ is the good shepherd. I think this applies here. Christ gives us the bread of life, the bread we need for our journey of faith. Christ calms the storms in our lives that we can make it through the difficult times on our journey of faith. And Christ is always with us, giving us all this and more to strengthen us for anything that comes our way. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 4: 8-9 Exhortation to Holiness

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are a lot of things to distract us on our journey of faith. Paul, knowing this, tells us to remember to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. If we think about these things, in short, what God wants from us, we will have all the motivation and strength to live out our journey of faith the way God wants us to live. And remember, too, that as we go out to live our journey of faith, God is with us. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 3: 4-7; Exhortation to Rejoice

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus has done it all for us, let us now rejoice. Jesus has provided for us salvation in his death on the cross, and eternal life through the resurrection. Jesus has provided the words of life, to strengthen us for our journey of faith, as well as to give us guidance on how to live our lives. Jesus has revealed to us the amazing love God has for us, and just how far that love goes. We have reason to rejoice, we have reason to be thankful. Rejoice and be glad for all that Jesus has done for you. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for April 13, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is the 23rd Psalm. The sermon title is 'Shepherd,' and will focus on how Jesus has fulfilled the promises made known to us in the 23rd Psalm. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 3: 12-21; Pressing on Toward the Goal

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Doing the work of Christ is never an easy thing. There are things we are called to do, there are places we are called to go. And we don't always want to, or have the strength to, do these things, go to these places, or care for those people. But like Paul we need to press on toward the goal. Jesus will give us all the strength we need to do the work he has given us. All we need to do is keep going on the path laid out before us. Ours is a worthy goal; there is nothing greater for us to do than go forth and serve the Lord. Remember that as we go out, Christ will be with us, to give us courage and strength. Let us go forth and press on toward the goal. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 3: 1-11; No Confidence in the Flesh

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have all we will ever need through Jesus Christ. In Paul's words, nothing compares to the greatness of knowing Jesus. We are blessed with an opportunity to have a personal relationship with Jesus. That is the blessing Christianity. Jesus is not absent, he is not far off in the distance. Jesus is right here with us as we go through life. Let us all thank God that in all of our days we have the presence of Jesus in our lives. No matter where we go or what we do we will always have Christ with us. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 2: 19-30; Timothy and Epaphroditus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Timothy pops up every now and again in the New Testament. He was Paul's companion and fellow worker, someone who Paul 'trained' and then sent out into the world to work for Jesus. The term 'Timothy' is used today in churches for someone who has made a committment to enter into the ministry. We are all Timothy. We have all been called to faith in Jesus Christ, and we have all been called to go forth and do the work of Christ. Just as Paul and Timothy did so many years ago, go forth and do the work Christ has given us to do. May the Lord bless you as you go forth and do his work. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians: 12-18; Shining as Stars

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus has commanded us to be holy, to be perfect as God is perfect. In so doing we honor and glorify God. But in doing so we also minister to those around us. People watch and pay attention as to how we live our lives. This is a ministry for us. We can testify to the greatness and holiness of God as strive for holiness; we can testify to all that Christ has done for us. Remember, we are not only supposed to be holy to honor God; we are supposed to be holy to be a light shining for others that they may be brought to Christ. Go forth and let your light shine all around you. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 2: 1-11; Imitating Christ's Humility

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are many aspects to this passage that we could discuss, but I would like to focus on one in particular that I think goes along with what we've been talking about recently: 'That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.' The key word here is 'every.' One day, every person will come to faith in Jesus Christ, if we go out and do Christ's work. Jesus depends on us to make his name known to the world. And if we do that, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Go forth and make disciples. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 1: 12-30; Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Even the chains that held Paul could not hold the Gospel. Even while Paul was being held in prison he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. We should look at the example Paul set for us and always fearlessly preach the gospel. God has given all of us a message to preach: Jesus Christ. No matter where we are or what we're doing we should be sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Philippians 1: 1-11; Thanksgiving and Prayer

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul gives us an example here, an example to be thankful for the faith. Our greatest joy should be gathering for worship on Sunday morning. Worship is a time in which we honor and glorify God, which as Christians should be our upmost desire. Worship is a time to fellowship with other Christians. And worship is a time for us to discern what God is calling us to do. All of these things are holy, all of things are something for which we should be thankful. As we gather for worship on Sunday I encourage you all to take time thank God for the opportunity we have each week to gather in his house for worship. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for April 6, 2008

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday is Luke 24: 13-35, in which Jesus walks on the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples who do not recognize him. The Sermon title is 'Burning Hearts' and will focus on the burning in all of our hearts which symbolizes Jesus' presence in our lives, as well as our desire to go out and do his work. Hope to see you Sunday. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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James 5: 13-20; The Prayer of Faith

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is nothing like prayer. We have the blessing of being able to go before God with anything, and we have the comfort of knowing God hears our prayers. As we leave the book of James I leave you with this thought: you can never pray too much. For one thing, God wants to hear from us every once in a while, and God wants us to ask him for help in times of trouble/need/etc.. Finally, God wants us to pray because in prayer God reveals his will to us. James has written his letter to tell us what God wants us to do, and in the end he invites us to pray. And we pray so that we may know what God wants us to do. In our journey of faith, especially as we seek out what God's will for us is, the greatest tool we have at our disposal is prayer: use it. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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James 5: 7-12; Patience in Suffering

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We as Christians have the comfort of knowing someday Christ will return. And when that happens all those who have been faithful to him will be taken to the kingdom of Heaven where we will live eternally in the presence of God. If that isn't enough to sustain us for our journey of faith then I don't know what is. Yes, things are hard here; impossibly hard sometimes. But we know that one day our Lord will come and take us to be with him. There will be an end to suffering, there will be an end to the hardships we sometimes endure. Let that be your strength; that someday we will live in the kingdom of Heaven where there will be only joy and peace. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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James 5: 1-6; Warning to Rich Oppressors

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

James is getting pretty worked up here. If he was preaching this instead of writing it his voice would be pretty loud by this time. I won't be quite as harsh as James, condemning all of us for having money. But I will ask you to think about what all of us can do if we give a little more. A large portion of the world's population lives on less than a dollar a day. If we all give just a little more to world outreach we can make a difference in someone's life, a dramatic difference. The Lord has been good to us all by giving us all we need, and more. Let us, in turn, go out and give out of what has been given to us. God bless you,

Pastor Josh
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