Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will be on vacation from December 26, 2010-January 1, 2010. There will be no posts while I am gone. Posting will resume on January 2, 2011. If you need anything while I am gone please contact one of the church Elders. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Saturday, December 25, 2010
Luke 17: 20-37; The Coming of the Kingdom of God
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The kingdom of God is here right now. We just need to open our eyes and see it. Jesus has brought this kingdom into our midst. With his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, Jesus has brought God's kingdom here on earth. We need to be a part of this kingdom. By being obedient and faithful we will be willing and active participants in this kingdom Jesus has established. God's kingdom is here. We need to realize that and particiapte in it. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The kingdom of God is here right now. We just need to open our eyes and see it. Jesus has brought this kingdom into our midst. With his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, Jesus has brought God's kingdom here on earth. We need to be a part of this kingdom. By being obedient and faithful we will be willing and active participants in this kingdom Jesus has established. God's kingdom is here. We need to realize that and particiapte in it. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Friday, December 24, 2010
Luke 17: 11-19; Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
We always need to make sure we are giving proper thanksgiving to God. God has blessed us so many times and in so many ways. This can cause us to believe in 'luck' rather than God's blessings. As such we sometimes fall into the habit of ingratitude. This cannot be. We need to count our blessings as blessings and not luck. We need to always thank God for the many blessings he has given to us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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We always need to make sure we are giving proper thanksgiving to God. God has blessed us so many times and in so many ways. This can cause us to believe in 'luck' rather than God's blessings. As such we sometimes fall into the habit of ingratitude. This cannot be. We need to count our blessings as blessings and not luck. We need to always thank God for the many blessings he has given to us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Thursday, December 23, 2010
Luke 17: 1-10; Sin, Faith, Duty
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
'Increase our faith.' Jesus talks here about stumbling in faith, as well as our call to forgive others. With both of those subjects mentioned it comes as no surprise that the disciples are maybe feeling a little overwhelmed with everything Jesus expects of them. They are blessed to follow Jesus and have faith, but at the same time following Jesus and having faith are not easy things. So they ask Jesus to increase their faith. We all will stumble, as Jesus tells us here. We all will be sinned against at some time in our lives. These are not easy things to endure. When we need to have our faith increased Jesus will help us. Jesus will always be there to give us what we need as we go through life. Specifically, he will always be there to increase our faith when we need it. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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'Increase our faith.' Jesus talks here about stumbling in faith, as well as our call to forgive others. With both of those subjects mentioned it comes as no surprise that the disciples are maybe feeling a little overwhelmed with everything Jesus expects of them. They are blessed to follow Jesus and have faith, but at the same time following Jesus and having faith are not easy things. So they ask Jesus to increase their faith. We all will stumble, as Jesus tells us here. We all will be sinned against at some time in our lives. These are not easy things to endure. When we need to have our faith increased Jesus will help us. Jesus will always be there to give us what we need as we go through life. Specifically, he will always be there to increase our faith when we need it. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Luke 16: 19-31; The Rich Young Man and Lazarus
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Abraham refers to the rich young man as 'son' and that word holds all of the meaning for us. By calling the man 'son' we are told that this man is part of the Abrahamic covenant. In other words, the rich young man was promised a place in heaven as being part of the people of Israel. The rich young man lost his place in heaven because he did not do what the Lord required of him. Food for thought: we are promised a place in God's kingdom, but we are also called to live a life worthy of that promise. If we are not faithful to our calling as God's children we could end up in the same position of the rich young man: on the outside looking in. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Abraham refers to the rich young man as 'son' and that word holds all of the meaning for us. By calling the man 'son' we are told that this man is part of the Abrahamic covenant. In other words, the rich young man was promised a place in heaven as being part of the people of Israel. The rich young man lost his place in heaven because he did not do what the Lord required of him. Food for thought: we are promised a place in God's kingdom, but we are also called to live a life worthy of that promise. If we are not faithful to our calling as God's children we could end up in the same position of the rich young man: on the outside looking in. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Luke 16: 16-18; Additional Teachings
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is always instructing. It seems as though he never takes a day off. He does this because he is always looking ahead to Jerusalem. Jesus knows he is not going to be with his disciples very much longer. And with the precious little time Jesus has with his disciples he teaches them how to live, how to worship, how to share his good news with others. Jesus is our savior, he is our Lord, but he is also our teacher. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Jesus is always instructing. It seems as though he never takes a day off. He does this because he is always looking ahead to Jerusalem. Jesus knows he is not going to be with his disciples very much longer. And with the precious little time Jesus has with his disciples he teaches them how to live, how to worship, how to share his good news with others. Jesus is our savior, he is our Lord, but he is also our teacher. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Monday, December 20, 2010
Luke 16: 1-15; The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to be active in making things happen for ourselves. Yes, we could simply sit around and wait for God to do everything for us, but that will not work out too well for us. When we are in need God will be there to help us, but God also expects us to put forth a little effort to get what we need. When we come to God in prayer to ask for something we had better be prepared to act on that prayer to bring that thing into our life. This manager, who has lost his job, could have simply sat back and accepted his fate and lost out on everything. Instead, though, he does everything in his power to make sure he has what he needs. We can learn from this unjust manager. We learn that we need to be more active in our faith, especially when it comes to us being in need. We should not sit around and assume God is going to do everything for us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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We need to be active in making things happen for ourselves. Yes, we could simply sit around and wait for God to do everything for us, but that will not work out too well for us. When we are in need God will be there to help us, but God also expects us to put forth a little effort to get what we need. When we come to God in prayer to ask for something we had better be prepared to act on that prayer to bring that thing into our life. This manager, who has lost his job, could have simply sat back and accepted his fate and lost out on everything. Instead, though, he does everything in his power to make sure he has what he needs. We can learn from this unjust manager. We learn that we need to be more active in our faith, especially when it comes to us being in need. We should not sit around and assume God is going to do everything for us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Sunday, December 19, 2010
Luke 15: 11-32; The Parable of the Lost Son
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
What is more is that when God does find us he celebrates. When I was 14 I ran away from home. I managed to get about 10 miles away, on my bike, before my Dad found me. When he did find me it was not pretty. I'm pretty sure, under the terms of the punishment, I'm still grounded right now. Of course my Dad was happy I was safe, but his disappointment kept him from expressing that at that moment. When we get lost, or run away, God comes looking for us. When he finds us he throws a party. Why? Because God loves us, and it brings him nothing but joy when we are found again. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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What is more is that when God does find us he celebrates. When I was 14 I ran away from home. I managed to get about 10 miles away, on my bike, before my Dad found me. When he did find me it was not pretty. I'm pretty sure, under the terms of the punishment, I'm still grounded right now. Of course my Dad was happy I was safe, but his disappointment kept him from expressing that at that moment. When we get lost, or run away, God comes looking for us. When he finds us he throws a party. Why? Because God loves us, and it brings him nothing but joy when we are found again. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Saturday, December 18, 2010
Luke 15: 8-10; The Parable of the Lost Coin
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has obsessive compulsive disorder. He cannot not leave us be. When one of us gets lost in whatever way God, who has to have us, cannot help but come and try and find us. In humans OCD is a debilitating disease that require hard work and love to overcome. But in God it's a good thing because it means no matter how lost we think we are God will come looking for us. He has to because he has to have us and cannot let us go. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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God has obsessive compulsive disorder. He cannot not leave us be. When one of us gets lost in whatever way God, who has to have us, cannot help but come and try and find us. In humans OCD is a debilitating disease that require hard work and love to overcome. But in God it's a good thing because it means no matter how lost we think we are God will come looking for us. He has to because he has to have us and cannot let us go. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Friday, December 17, 2010
Luke 15: 1-7; The Parable of the Lost Sheep
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is just about the dumbest thing ever for a shepherd to leave 99 to go and search for one. Most shepherds would recognize the craziness of abandoning 99 other sheep, leaving them unprotected, to go in search of one that wandered off. A shepherd, in real life, would leave that sheep alone, paying attention to the other 99 that stayed put. Not so with God. I do not mean to say God leaves us alone and abandoned. God has given us Jesus and the Holy Spirit to keep us safe. However, God does come looking for us. When we wander off God comes in search of us to bring us back to the fold. A real shepherd would not do this, but God, who is love, will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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It is just about the dumbest thing ever for a shepherd to leave 99 to go and search for one. Most shepherds would recognize the craziness of abandoning 99 other sheep, leaving them unprotected, to go in search of one that wandered off. A shepherd, in real life, would leave that sheep alone, paying attention to the other 99 that stayed put. Not so with God. I do not mean to say God leaves us alone and abandoned. God has given us Jesus and the Holy Spirit to keep us safe. However, God does come looking for us. When we wander off God comes in search of us to bring us back to the fold. A real shepherd would not do this, but God, who is love, will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sunday Scripture and Sermon for December 19, 2010
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Scripture passage for Sunday is from Matthew 1: 18-25, which tells the story of Jesus' birth. The sermon is titled 'Unbelievable' and will focus on the plans God makes for the world and how they seem, from our mindset, like they are not going to work. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Our Scripture passage for Sunday is from Matthew 1: 18-25, which tells the story of Jesus' birth. The sermon is titled 'Unbelievable' and will focus on the plans God makes for the world and how they seem, from our mindset, like they are not going to work. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Luke 14: 25-35; The Cost of Being a Disciple
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Following Jesus is not easy, and the reason is simple: to follow Jesus we must give 100%. We cannot be distracted by anything, even our own families. That is a tall order. We love our families, and it is important to be faithful to our families, but we do need to keep in mind that Jesus is to be our number one priority. While this may seem difficult try to keep in mind that God sacrificed his family, his son, for our sake. We are not supposed to sacrifice our families, but we are supposed to put God first in our lives. God bless you.
Josh
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Following Jesus is not easy, and the reason is simple: to follow Jesus we must give 100%. We cannot be distracted by anything, even our own families. That is a tall order. We love our families, and it is important to be faithful to our families, but we do need to keep in mind that Jesus is to be our number one priority. While this may seem difficult try to keep in mind that God sacrificed his family, his son, for our sake. We are not supposed to sacrifice our families, but we are supposed to put God first in our lives. God bless you.
Josh
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Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Luke 14: 15-24; The Parable of the Great Banquet
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The banquet serves as a metaphor for Heaven. Some of those who are invited will not accept the invitation. But for those who do accept a fine feast awaits. We are supposed to invite people ourselves. The 'owner of the house' sends his servants out to invite everyone they can find to the banquet. Our lesson in this is that a) we are supposed to be inviting many people to have a relationship with Jesus and b) we are invited to the banquet ourselves. Jesus tells this parable to remind us of the good news of our salvation, and to encourage us to share that good news with those around us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The banquet serves as a metaphor for Heaven. Some of those who are invited will not accept the invitation. But for those who do accept a fine feast awaits. We are supposed to invite people ourselves. The 'owner of the house' sends his servants out to invite everyone they can find to the banquet. Our lesson in this is that a) we are supposed to be inviting many people to have a relationship with Jesus and b) we are invited to the banquet ourselves. Jesus tells this parable to remind us of the good news of our salvation, and to encourage us to share that good news with those around us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Luke 14: 1-14; Jesus at a Pharisees' Home
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Be humble before the Lord. We, as Christians, need to be careful to not let our salvation give us a big head in God's presence. It might be easy for us to assume that since we are saved we do not sin. There is only one person who could utter the phrase, 'I have not sinned,' and that is Jesus. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. We need to always keep that in our minds. Not to beat ourselves up, but to recognize that we need salvation. We should be humble before God, which will enable us to embrace, with thanksgiving and joy, the salvation given to us through Jesus. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Be humble before the Lord. We, as Christians, need to be careful to not let our salvation give us a big head in God's presence. It might be easy for us to assume that since we are saved we do not sin. There is only one person who could utter the phrase, 'I have not sinned,' and that is Jesus. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. We need to always keep that in our minds. Not to beat ourselves up, but to recognize that we need salvation. We should be humble before God, which will enable us to embrace, with thanksgiving and joy, the salvation given to us through Jesus. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Monday, December 13, 2010
Luke 13: 31-35; Jesus' Sorrow for Jerusalem
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus has been warned: Herod wants him dead. Jesus could take this opportunity to make his life easier. He could run away. He could make nice with Herod. He could cool things down for a little while. Jesus, however, never takes the easy road. He never strays from the path God laid out for him. Jesus knows he must go to Jerusalem and die there that we might have life. He has many chances to get away, but chooses not to do so. Why? Jesus loves us. It is that simple. Jesus' love for us outweighed his desire to avoid being put to death. Jesus could have done it the easy way, but if he did we would not have salvation. He went to Jerusalem, he went to the cross, for you, because he loves you. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Jesus has been warned: Herod wants him dead. Jesus could take this opportunity to make his life easier. He could run away. He could make nice with Herod. He could cool things down for a little while. Jesus, however, never takes the easy road. He never strays from the path God laid out for him. Jesus knows he must go to Jerusalem and die there that we might have life. He has many chances to get away, but chooses not to do so. Why? Jesus loves us. It is that simple. Jesus' love for us outweighed his desire to avoid being put to death. Jesus could have done it the easy way, but if he did we would not have salvation. He went to Jerusalem, he went to the cross, for you, because he loves you. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Sunday, December 12, 2010
Luke 13: 22-29; The Narrow Door
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is such a thing as 'too late.' We have this life to be who Jesus asks us to be. We have these precious days to be obedient to the will of Christ in our lives. We have this life to make a decision for Jesus. At some point it will be too late for us to make that decision. At some point the door of heaven will be closed to us and we will no longer be able to enter in. While you have time make a decision for Jesus. Follow him and be obedient to his will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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There is such a thing as 'too late.' We have this life to be who Jesus asks us to be. We have these precious days to be obedient to the will of Christ in our lives. We have this life to make a decision for Jesus. At some point it will be too late for us to make that decision. At some point the door of heaven will be closed to us and we will no longer be able to enter in. While you have time make a decision for Jesus. Follow him and be obedient to his will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Saturday, December 11, 2010
Luke 13: 18-21; The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The kingdom of God, or being in God's presence, is a safe environment. Mustard bushes are quite hardy, and they are able to withstand a lot of punishment from the elements. The bird that seeks refuge in the tree knows it will be safe there. The same is true for us being in God's presence. We are blessed with safety and security in God's presence. While there we will be safe from anything that comes our way. We seek God's refuge as a place of strength, and we will find that for which we seek. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The kingdom of God, or being in God's presence, is a safe environment. Mustard bushes are quite hardy, and they are able to withstand a lot of punishment from the elements. The bird that seeks refuge in the tree knows it will be safe there. The same is true for us being in God's presence. We are blessed with safety and security in God's presence. While there we will be safe from anything that comes our way. We seek God's refuge as a place of strength, and we will find that for which we seek. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Friday, December 10, 2010
Luke 13: 10-17; Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Doing good supercedes anything else in our lives. Helping others is, or should be, our main priority. We should let nothing, not even Sabbath laws in this case, get in the way of our helping someone who is in need. For us I think this applies more to cultural expectations. Is it cool to help a homeless person? Is it socially acceptable to volunteer in the soup kitchen? Not always, but we cannot let any of that stop us from helping those in need. Sabbath laws may not be a factor anymore, but 'social laws' do, and we must not let them keep us from doing Christ's will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Doing good supercedes anything else in our lives. Helping others is, or should be, our main priority. We should let nothing, not even Sabbath laws in this case, get in the way of our helping someone who is in need. For us I think this applies more to cultural expectations. Is it cool to help a homeless person? Is it socially acceptable to volunteer in the soup kitchen? Not always, but we cannot let any of that stop us from helping those in need. Sabbath laws may not be a factor anymore, but 'social laws' do, and we must not let them keep us from doing Christ's will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Thursday, December 9, 2010
Sunday Scripture and Sermon for December 12, 2010
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from Isaiah 35: 1-10, in which we are given the promise of the Messiah and given an idea of what he is going to do for us. The sermon is titled 'Freedom' and will focus on the freedom we have in Christ. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from Isaiah 35: 1-10, in which we are given the promise of the Messiah and given an idea of what he is going to do for us. The sermon is titled 'Freedom' and will focus on the freedom we have in Christ. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Luke 13: 1-9; Repent or Perish
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Commands are commands, not suggestions. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and he means that. He tells us to love the Lord with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he means that, too. Jesus requires us to live a certain way, and this requirement is not optional. In this passage Jesus is drawing a line in the sand. We can either follow Jesus and do what he wants, or not. There is no gray area. There is no place for a feeble attempt at being obedient to Jesus. We must repent. We must obey. Period. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Commands are commands, not suggestions. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and he means that. He tells us to love the Lord with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he means that, too. Jesus requires us to live a certain way, and this requirement is not optional. In this passage Jesus is drawing a line in the sand. We can either follow Jesus and do what he wants, or not. There is no gray area. There is no place for a feeble attempt at being obedient to Jesus. We must repent. We must obey. Period. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Luke 12: 49-53; Not Peace but Division
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Following Jesus can sometimes lead to division because there are those who may not follow as closely (or at all) as we do. Following Jesus means we live a certain way and do certain things. With that in mind we have a decision to make. We can follow Jesus and do what he tells us, or we can stay behind and do what everyone else expects of us. There is division sometimes because Jesus requires us to live by faith. Not everyone wants to do that. What are you going to do? God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Following Jesus can sometimes lead to division because there are those who may not follow as closely (or at all) as we do. Following Jesus means we live a certain way and do certain things. With that in mind we have a decision to make. We can follow Jesus and do what he tells us, or we can stay behind and do what everyone else expects of us. There is division sometimes because Jesus requires us to live by faith. Not everyone wants to do that. What are you going to do? God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Luke 12: 35-48; Watchfullness
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are now in the season Advent, the season in which we await the birth of Jesus. This season, though, is not just about waiting for Jesus to be born. It is also about waiting for him to come back. We spend these few weeks paying special attention to the second coming of Christ. Jesus has given us the promise that he is going to come back. He will return. We need to be ready. We need to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls, for Jesus' return. Be watchful, for you do not know when your Lord is coming. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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We are now in the season Advent, the season in which we await the birth of Jesus. This season, though, is not just about waiting for Jesus to be born. It is also about waiting for him to come back. We spend these few weeks paying special attention to the second coming of Christ. Jesus has given us the promise that he is going to come back. He will return. We need to be ready. We need to prepare our hearts, minds, and souls, for Jesus' return. Be watchful, for you do not know when your Lord is coming. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Monday, December 6, 2010
Luke 12: 22-34; Do Not Worry
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust in God. This past Sunday, in worship, we spent time reflecting on John the Baptist and his message. One of the things John is most noted for, his dress, is very significant. John, as we are told, wore camels hair and lived of locusts and wild honey. He did these things not because he was crazy, but because he trusted that God was going to take care of him. We need to be more trusting. God has told us he will take care of us. We need to believe him. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Trust in God. This past Sunday, in worship, we spent time reflecting on John the Baptist and his message. One of the things John is most noted for, his dress, is very significant. John, as we are told, wore camels hair and lived of locusts and wild honey. He did these things not because he was crazy, but because he trusted that God was going to take care of him. We need to be more trusting. God has told us he will take care of us. We need to believe him. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
Luke 12: 13-21; The Parable of the Rich Fool
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hard work is really the way to do things. This man, in the parable, is looking for the easy way out. He wants to build bigger barns so he won't have to do as much work the rest of the time. We are all guilty of that from time to time. Sometimes we come to Sunday worship and get our fill so we do not have to do as much throughout the week. We need to work on our faith Monday through Thursday as well. We cannot leave it just to Sunday. Faith takes hard work every day of our lives, not just one or two. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Hard work is really the way to do things. This man, in the parable, is looking for the easy way out. He wants to build bigger barns so he won't have to do as much work the rest of the time. We are all guilty of that from time to time. Sometimes we come to Sunday worship and get our fill so we do not have to do as much throughout the week. We need to work on our faith Monday through Thursday as well. We cannot leave it just to Sunday. Faith takes hard work every day of our lives, not just one or two. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Saturday, December 4, 2010
Luke 12: 1-12; Warnings and Encouragements
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
We can take nothing for granted. Jesus sets the stage for us here in this passage. We are called to work for God, to witness for Christ. If we do not do those things we will be in trouble. Yes, Jesus' sacrifice was made for all of us, and that sacrifice is great enough to cover all the sins of the world. However, we are called to respond in some way. We are called to live by faith, faith that is given to us through the cross. God calls us to faith, and he calls us to live according to that faith. Jesus reminds us of the consequences of not living by faith. Listen to his words. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
We can take nothing for granted. Jesus sets the stage for us here in this passage. We are called to work for God, to witness for Christ. If we do not do those things we will be in trouble. Yes, Jesus' sacrifice was made for all of us, and that sacrifice is great enough to cover all the sins of the world. However, we are called to respond in some way. We are called to live by faith, faith that is given to us through the cross. God calls us to faith, and he calls us to live according to that faith. Jesus reminds us of the consequences of not living by faith. Listen to his words. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Friday, December 3, 2010
Luke 11: 37-54; Woes on the Pharisees and Experts of the Law
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The problem Jesus has with the Pharisees is that they are concerned with outside appearances, and not necessarily faith. They live the Law, every letter of it. But they fail to allow the purpose of the Law live in their hearts. They do not have love, they do not have faith. We can work to please God. We can do everything Jesus has told us to do, but if we do not have love for God and our neighbors, if we do not have faith in Jesus, our actions are all for nothing. We might obey Jesus' rules, but what we really need to do is have Jesus rule in our heats. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
The problem Jesus has with the Pharisees is that they are concerned with outside appearances, and not necessarily faith. They live the Law, every letter of it. But they fail to allow the purpose of the Law live in their hearts. They do not have love, they do not have faith. We can work to please God. We can do everything Jesus has told us to do, but if we do not have love for God and our neighbors, if we do not have faith in Jesus, our actions are all for nothing. We might obey Jesus' rules, but what we really need to do is have Jesus rule in our heats. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Thursday, December 2, 2010
Luke 11: 33-36; The Lamp of the Body
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
"When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light." Having healthy eyes is an important part of being a Christian. What does this mean? It is all about avoiding temptation, looking at holy things. We see a lot of things in this world, many of which are not good for us to see. Some of these things we see on accident, and some of them we see on purpose. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep evil and sin away from our eyes. That is one of the first steps to a life of faith, making sure our eyes are healthy. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
"When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light." Having healthy eyes is an important part of being a Christian. What does this mean? It is all about avoiding temptation, looking at holy things. We see a lot of things in this world, many of which are not good for us to see. Some of these things we see on accident, and some of them we see on purpose. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep evil and sin away from our eyes. That is one of the first steps to a life of faith, making sure our eyes are healthy. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Luke 11: 29-32; The Sign of Jonah
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jonah went to see the Ninevites the Ninevites saw and heard Jonah, and they repented. Jonah was the only sign they needed to change their ways. The sign of Jonah simply means that someone is going to come and speak about God. No fireworks, no miracles, just a simple voice calling to repentance. We sometimes look for signs, but the only sign we really need is the sign of Jesus: God's own son given to us that we might have life. See this sign, and believe. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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When Jonah went to see the Ninevites the Ninevites saw and heard Jonah, and they repented. Jonah was the only sign they needed to change their ways. The sign of Jonah simply means that someone is going to come and speak about God. No fireworks, no miracles, just a simple voice calling to repentance. We sometimes look for signs, but the only sign we really need is the sign of Jesus: God's own son given to us that we might have life. See this sign, and believe. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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