Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer is one of the most useful tools at our disposal. Through prayer we are given knowledge, and willingness to follow, God's will. When we pray the Lord's Prayer and say 'thy will be done,' we are reminding ourselves of the importance of following God's will. We take time in prayer to thank God, to make our requests known to God. But we also take that time to put ourselves in the right frame of mind, the frame of mind in which we obediently follow God's will for us. Remember in prayer to open yourself up to whatever God's will for you may be. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Matthew 6: 1-4; Giving to the Needy
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything we do should be done to the glory of God, not to the glory of ourselves. When we do something for one another we should do it to honor God, not to get a thank you, or perhaps a return gift of kindness. Our worship, our acts of kindness, our practice of holiness should be done to honor God, to bear witness to God's love and power. If we are doing any of these things to attain glory for ourselves then we are doing it for the wrong reason. Make sure you are living your faith for the right reason, to honor and glorify God. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Everything we do should be done to the glory of God, not to the glory of ourselves. When we do something for one another we should do it to honor God, not to get a thank you, or perhaps a return gift of kindness. Our worship, our acts of kindness, our practice of holiness should be done to honor God, to bear witness to God's love and power. If we are doing any of these things to attain glory for ourselves then we are doing it for the wrong reason. Make sure you are living your faith for the right reason, to honor and glorify God. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday Scripture and Sermon for August 2, 2009
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Colossians 4: 2-6, in which Paul gives the Colossians some final instructions. The sermon is titled 'Through Prayer,' and will focus on what we are to be saying in prayer, and the things that happen as a result of our prayers. I hope to see you Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Colossians 4: 2-6, in which Paul gives the Colossians some final instructions. The sermon is titled 'Through Prayer,' and will focus on what we are to be saying in prayer, and the things that happen as a result of our prayers. I hope to see you Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Matthew 5: 43-48; Love for Enemies
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The way to perfection, or holiness, is love. Jesus tells us here, and in other places, that we are supposed to love our neighbors. Here he even goes so far as to say to love our enemies. And in the end of this passage Jesus sums it all up by saying, 'be perfect, as your father in heaven is perfect.' The way for to be perfect is through love. In loving our neighbors as ourselves, as well as loving God, we achieve the holiness God wants for/from us. We know how to be perfect. Let us continue to work toward that goal. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
The way to perfection, or holiness, is love. Jesus tells us here, and in other places, that we are supposed to love our neighbors. Here he even goes so far as to say to love our enemies. And in the end of this passage Jesus sums it all up by saying, 'be perfect, as your father in heaven is perfect.' The way for to be perfect is through love. In loving our neighbors as ourselves, as well as loving God, we achieve the holiness God wants for/from us. We know how to be perfect. Let us continue to work toward that goal. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Matthew 5: 38-42; An Eye for an Eye
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Violence begets violence is another way of saying it. Stopping evil in its tracks is sometimes an overwhelming idea, but there are some things we can do to help. One of those things is to not participate in evil things, but rather in holy things. The less evil done by us lessens the aount of evil in the world. The more love shown by us increases the amount of love in the world. Let us all do what we can to rid the world of evil by resisting evil at every turn. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Violence begets violence is another way of saying it. Stopping evil in its tracks is sometimes an overwhelming idea, but there are some things we can do to help. One of those things is to not participate in evil things, but rather in holy things. The less evil done by us lessens the aount of evil in the world. The more love shown by us increases the amount of love in the world. Let us all do what we can to rid the world of evil by resisting evil at every turn. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Monday, July 27, 2009
Matthew 5: 33-37; Oaths
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
As God has remained faithful to his promises to us, we ought to remain faithful in our promises to him. Jesus tells us to not swear by anything, but to simply let our yes be yes, and our no be no. However, I still think Jesus would have be faithful and actually do something if we say we are going to do it. Whether we say 'yes' to another person, or 'yes' to God, we need to be faithful to that yes (or no). God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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As God has remained faithful to his promises to us, we ought to remain faithful in our promises to him. Jesus tells us to not swear by anything, but to simply let our yes be yes, and our no be no. However, I still think Jesus would have be faithful and actually do something if we say we are going to do it. Whether we say 'yes' to another person, or 'yes' to God, we need to be faithful to that yes (or no). God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Matthew 5: 31-32; Divorce
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus says later that Moses gave his permission for divorce because of the hard hearts of the Israelites. In other words, we need to have soft hearts. Everything we do for one another should be done in love. Hardness of heart causes us to do things that we will later regret. In our hearts there needs to be love and compassion. In keeping those two things at the surface we will treat each other the way we are supposed to: with love, not hardness of heart. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Jesus says later that Moses gave his permission for divorce because of the hard hearts of the Israelites. In other words, we need to have soft hearts. Everything we do for one another should be done in love. Hardness of heart causes us to do things that we will later regret. In our hearts there needs to be love and compassion. In keeping those two things at the surface we will treat each other the way we are supposed to: with love, not hardness of heart. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
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