Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are lost without God. Vacations are wonderful things, but for many of us, when we go on vacation, there is something we forgot to do. 'Did I close the garage door?' 'Did I turn off the lights?' 'Did I turn up/down the furnace/air conditioner?' We forget to pack things: toothpaste, soap, shoes, etc. The thing we may have forgotten to do, or to pack, gnaws at us. There is a sense that something is wrong, that, maybe something is missing. That is how it is when we do not have God in our lives. There is something missing, a hole that cannot be filled by anything else. Make sure you are getting your fill of God each and every day. He will fill the emptiness inside of you, he will make you whole. With God there is never a sense that something is wrong, or missing. He fills you completely. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Psalm 101: 1-8
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
As children of God we are called to a life of holiness. Jesus died on the cross, and in that death the bonds of sin are forever broken. In other words, sin no longer has any power over us, which means we are free to live a holy life. We can only do this through Jesus Christ our Lord. In following Jesus we are agreeing to live the kind of life Jesus wants us to live, and in following Jesus we are given the strength we need to live the kind of life Jesus wants us to live. Jesus' commands are not simply empty words, they are a high calling to a life of righteousness. We must remeber that we do not practice holiness to achieve our own salvation. Only Jesus can save us. We practice holiness as an act of gratitude, as a way of saying thank you to Jesus for what he has done for us. Remember this day your call to holiness, and the reason we should follow that call. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
As children of God we are called to a life of holiness. Jesus died on the cross, and in that death the bonds of sin are forever broken. In other words, sin no longer has any power over us, which means we are free to live a holy life. We can only do this through Jesus Christ our Lord. In following Jesus we are agreeing to live the kind of life Jesus wants us to live, and in following Jesus we are given the strength we need to live the kind of life Jesus wants us to live. Jesus' commands are not simply empty words, they are a high calling to a life of righteousness. We must remeber that we do not practice holiness to achieve our own salvation. Only Jesus can save us. We practice holiness as an act of gratitude, as a way of saying thank you to Jesus for what he has done for us. Remember this day your call to holiness, and the reason we should follow that call. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Psalm 100: 1-5
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
'His love endures forever.' Over the last couple of months we have been talking about David in our worship service. Recently we have been discussing David's relationship with Bathsheba and the grave sins David committed in that story. Obviously, David's sins were wrong, but at the same time God's love for David never went away. God continued to love David and show his love for him despite what David had done. The same is true for us. God's love for us endures forever. No matter what we do or where we go, God will always love us. God has made that love known to us through Jesus. God sent his son into the world in an act of unfailing love and compassion. That love and compassion will never fail, no matter what. 'His love endures forever.' God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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'His love endures forever.' Over the last couple of months we have been talking about David in our worship service. Recently we have been discussing David's relationship with Bathsheba and the grave sins David committed in that story. Obviously, David's sins were wrong, but at the same time God's love for David never went away. God continued to love David and show his love for him despite what David had done. The same is true for us. God's love for us endures forever. No matter what we do or where we go, God will always love us. God has made that love known to us through Jesus. God sent his son into the world in an act of unfailing love and compassion. That love and compassion will never fail, no matter what. 'His love endures forever.' God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Monday, August 16, 2010
Psalm 99: 1-9
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Looking back is important. The Psalmist mentions Moses and Aaron here and with that our minds go immediately back to the Exodus, when God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Looking back to see what God has done is a helpful exercise, especially in times of trouble. When we are in timed of darkness it is not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We do not know what the future will bring, so it is sometimes hard to imagine what is going to happen. However, one thing we can always do is look back. We can look back and see what God has done in our lives. Israel always looked back to the Exodus and that reminded them of what God had done, and it gave them hope for the future. We can do the same. We can look back over our lives and see what God has done for us to remind us of God's love, and to give us hope for what God is going to do in the future. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Looking back is important. The Psalmist mentions Moses and Aaron here and with that our minds go immediately back to the Exodus, when God led the Israelites out of Egypt. Looking back to see what God has done is a helpful exercise, especially in times of trouble. When we are in timed of darkness it is not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We do not know what the future will bring, so it is sometimes hard to imagine what is going to happen. However, one thing we can always do is look back. We can look back and see what God has done in our lives. Israel always looked back to the Exodus and that reminded them of what God had done, and it gave them hope for the future. We can do the same. We can look back over our lives and see what God has done for us to remind us of God's love, and to give us hope for what God is going to do in the future. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Sunday, August 15, 2010
Psalm 98: 1-8
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
"The Lord has made his salvation known." How has God done that? Through Jesus, of course. We are saved. We have a place in heaven. Personally, I like the comfort of knowing this life is not all there is. It gives me hope and courage to think that there is more than this. We have the blessing of having more because of Jesus. We are given a new life, another life, through Jesus. He has saved us from sin, which means for us that we get more life when this life is over. God has made salvation known; he has made life known. We get these blessings. Isn't that great?! Doesn't that make you want to shout with joy? God has blessed us all. Remember that. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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"The Lord has made his salvation known." How has God done that? Through Jesus, of course. We are saved. We have a place in heaven. Personally, I like the comfort of knowing this life is not all there is. It gives me hope and courage to think that there is more than this. We have the blessing of having more because of Jesus. We are given a new life, another life, through Jesus. He has saved us from sin, which means for us that we get more life when this life is over. God has made salvation known; he has made life known. We get these blessings. Isn't that great?! Doesn't that make you want to shout with joy? God has blessed us all. Remember that. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Psalm 97: 1-12
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is power. "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord." I love the visual image we are given in this Psalm. Too often, because of some of the things that happen around us, we think of God as weak, unable to do anything in the world. This Psalm serves as a good reminder that God has great power. We may not always see it, but more often than not that is because we do not have our eyes open. God is not weak. He works in this world all the time. Sometimes those ways are 'flashy,' for lack of a better word. Other times, God's works are much more subtle, and require more sight on our part. We need to open our eyes and see the power God has, and how he uses that power each and every day. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
God is power. "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord." I love the visual image we are given in this Psalm. Too often, because of some of the things that happen around us, we think of God as weak, unable to do anything in the world. This Psalm serves as a good reminder that God has great power. We may not always see it, but more often than not that is because we do not have our eyes open. God is not weak. He works in this world all the time. Sometimes those ways are 'flashy,' for lack of a better word. Other times, God's works are much more subtle, and require more sight on our part. We need to open our eyes and see the power God has, and how he uses that power each and every day. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Friday, August 13, 2010
Psalm 96: 1-13
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
'Go forth and make disciples of all nations...' Those are the final words Jesus shares with his disciples before he ascends to the heavens. We find that same message here. Being a child of God is a wonderful blessing. Being named as one of God's children give us so many wonderful blessings, blessings that we would be able to count, even if we tried. Do we want to keep that joy, those blessings, to ourselves? Don't we want other people to have those same blessings? Yes, should be our answer. With that in mind let us all go forth and tell people about God, and about the wonderful blessings God can bring into their lives. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
'Go forth and make disciples of all nations...' Those are the final words Jesus shares with his disciples before he ascends to the heavens. We find that same message here. Being a child of God is a wonderful blessing. Being named as one of God's children give us so many wonderful blessings, blessings that we would be able to count, even if we tried. Do we want to keep that joy, those blessings, to ourselves? Don't we want other people to have those same blessings? Yes, should be our answer. With that in mind let us all go forth and tell people about God, and about the wonderful blessings God can bring into their lives. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
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