Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will be gone on a mission trip to Ghana fom August 21-31, 2011. If you need anything while I am away please contact one of the church Elders. Reverend Tracy Mills will be preaching in the worship service on Sunday, August 28, 2011. I will not be posting blogs during this time. Posting will resume when I return. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Sunday, August 21, 2011
Isaiah 8: 1-18; Isaiah and His Children as Signs
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
"The Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as holy." Israel's problem is that they think of other things, and gods, as holy as well. They have let themselves be led away from God to something, or someone else. The Exile is going to to serve as a reminder for them that God is the only one they should worship. These other gods are nothing, they do not give what God gives. The Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as holy. Good thing we don't worship other gods these days. Or do we? God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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"The Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as holy." Israel's problem is that they think of other things, and gods, as holy as well. They have let themselves be led away from God to something, or someone else. The Exile is going to to serve as a reminder for them that God is the only one they should worship. These other gods are nothing, they do not give what God gives. The Lord almighty is the one you are to regard as holy. Good thing we don't worship other gods these days. Or do we? God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Saturday, August 20, 2011
Isaiah 7: 18-25; Assyria, the LORD’s Instrument
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Israelites cannot ever claim that they were not warned of their impending punishment. God let them know exactly what was coming. That obviously does not help too much, but one piece of comfort we can take from that is this: If God was able to warn Israel then that means God knew what was coming; and if God knew what was coming that means he was in charge of it all. In other words, God had a plan. He had a plan for the Israelites, and he has a plan for us now. We do not know what that plan is. Most likely we will not even like the plan. But we can rest in knowing God has a plan for us. And in the end that plan is going to work for good. There is no doubt about that whatsoever, for the Lord protects (watches over) those he loves. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
The Israelites cannot ever claim that they were not warned of their impending punishment. God let them know exactly what was coming. That obviously does not help too much, but one piece of comfort we can take from that is this: If God was able to warn Israel then that means God knew what was coming; and if God knew what was coming that means he was in charge of it all. In other words, God had a plan. He had a plan for the Israelites, and he has a plan for us now. We do not know what that plan is. Most likely we will not even like the plan. But we can rest in knowing God has a plan for us. And in the end that plan is going to work for good. There is no doubt about that whatsoever, for the Lord protects (watches over) those he loves. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Friday, August 19, 2011
Isaiah 7: 1-17; The Sign of Immanuel
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Immanuel: God with us. For years I have tried to convince my wife that this would be a good name for a child, as a reminder of God's continued presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit. That being said, the name is what this passage is all about. God with us. Jesus is not just another random prophet called by God to preach. No, Jesus is God in the flesh. In other words, God loves us enough that he came down here. He left heaven to find us and bring us back to him. This name, Immanuel, adds the deepest level to the birth of Jesus. God loves us enough to be with us, to come down here and walk among us; to come down here to save us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Immanuel: God with us. For years I have tried to convince my wife that this would be a good name for a child, as a reminder of God's continued presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit. That being said, the name is what this passage is all about. God with us. Jesus is not just another random prophet called by God to preach. No, Jesus is God in the flesh. In other words, God loves us enough that he came down here. He left heaven to find us and bring us back to him. This name, Immanuel, adds the deepest level to the birth of Jesus. God loves us enough to be with us, to come down here and walk among us; to come down here to save us. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sunday Scripture and Sermon for August 21, 2011
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Acts 8: 9-25, which tells the story of Simon the Magician. The sermon is titled 'Simons' and will focus on the two Simons we meet in this passage: Simon the Magician, and Simon Peter. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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The Scripture passage for this Sunday is from Acts 8: 9-25, which tells the story of Simon the Magician. The sermon is titled 'Simons' and will focus on the two Simons we meet in this passage: Simon the Magician, and Simon Peter. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 6: 1-13; Isaiah’s Commission
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture because it gives one of the few brief glimpses into the heavens. Isaiah finds himself before God's throne, and he bears witness to the angels worshiping God. I guess the best bit of good news we can find in this passage is the fact that we will be blessed to see the same thing someday. Of course, God may call us into service in a similar way, but what I really mean to say is that someday we will all be in heaven; we will be before God's thrones. And with the angels we will worship God. If that does not fill you with joy and peace I do not know what will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
This is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture because it gives one of the few brief glimpses into the heavens. Isaiah finds himself before God's throne, and he bears witness to the angels worshiping God. I guess the best bit of good news we can find in this passage is the fact that we will be blessed to see the same thing someday. Of course, God may call us into service in a similar way, but what I really mean to say is that someday we will all be in heaven; we will be before God's thrones. And with the angels we will worship God. If that does not fill you with joy and peace I do not know what will. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Isaiah 5: 8-30; Woes and Judgments
Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the world, not of the world. That is the mantra of the Israelites. Or rather, it's supposed to be. They are supposed to live in the world; they are human. They have to look after their worldly bodies and concerns that go along with that. They must eat; they must drink; they must have a place to live. God also wants the Israelites to be happy, to enjoy life and all it brings. However, the Israelites are supposed to be of God. In other words, while they are to look after their worldly lives they are not supposed to be consumed by them. The Israelites are to refrain from building large houses; they are to refrain from drinking too much; they are too refrain, in short, from letting the world have too much influence in their lives. Now, here's the kicker: we are supposed to do the exact same thing. As children of God, as disciples of Christ, we are supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
In the world, not of the world. That is the mantra of the Israelites. Or rather, it's supposed to be. They are supposed to live in the world; they are human. They have to look after their worldly bodies and concerns that go along with that. They must eat; they must drink; they must have a place to live. God also wants the Israelites to be happy, to enjoy life and all it brings. However, the Israelites are supposed to be of God. In other words, while they are to look after their worldly lives they are not supposed to be consumed by them. The Israelites are to refrain from building large houses; they are to refrain from drinking too much; they are too refrain, in short, from letting the world have too much influence in their lives. Now, here's the kicker: we are supposed to do the exact same thing. As children of God, as disciples of Christ, we are supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. God bless you.
Pastor Josh
<><
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