Devotional Blog

World Communion

9/29/2017

Do you like the feeling when you are at a football game and are yelling with thousands of other fans? Are you touched by the time when you are holding a candle with many others in celebration of a special moment? That is the power of unity! Sometimes we fail to fully appreciate that power, especially when it comes to faith. This Sunday is World Communion Sunday – a time when believers from all over the world, every nation, every race, every place will take Holy Communion as a gesture of our common spiritual bond in Christ as believers and as a family of faith. I hope you will join us as a moment to connect with others and grow personally and spiritually as you experience Christ’s love for you and the power of God’s promises. Listen to these words that Jesus prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion:

(verse of the week)
All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.
--John 17.10,11

(Prayer of the Week)
Gracious and Loving God, open my heart to your Family of Faith around the world. May I see your face in others as part your great united church and may I extend your grace to others in every place. Amen

Open your heart to God’s awesome love!
--Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless ---Bertrand Russell

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Homecoming

9/22/2017

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Homecoming season is upon us complete with all the celebration and festivities and, of course, the football games. Many of you love football as much as I do. It is a great sport where people put everything they have on the line to push forward and to cross the goal, score a touchdown, and win the game. What would happen if we were that excited and determined about living out our Christian lives? Imagine how our lives would change if we applied the same enthusiasm and the determination to our faith. Like a player on the field, the Apostle Paul reminds us of this same zeal as he let's go of what is behind and presses forward toward the goal, strengthened and empowered by faith in Christ, and challenges us to do the same:

(verse of the week)
I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Sisters and brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3.12-14)

(prayer of the week)
Lord, renew my faith and determination to live as you would have me to live, full of grace and love, strengthened by your Spirit to love and serve you and others, amen.

Have a blessed week!—Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm—Abraham Lincoln

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Reach for the Stars

9/14/2017

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Reach for the stars and keep your feet grounded in love -- it is a great adage and a great goal for all of life. Paul challenges us to be rooted and established in Christ's love, then our relationship with Christ will help us grow strong and become fruitful in all we do. We can keep growing in the love of Christ through all of life, and have confidence that our relationship with God gives us a firm foundation to use our gifts and talents to pursue great dreams that serve others and honor God. Reach for the stars and keep your feet rooted and grounded in love --and hold on to the hand of the Lord who loves you and will be with you always. Open your heart to God's awesome love...and trust God to take you places you never even dreamed of... then fasten your seat belt for all the thrills, adventure, and joy of a lifetime!

(Verse of the week)
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Ephesians 3.17,18)

(Prayer of the week)
Gracious God, thank you for the gift of this day and the gift of life itself. Thank you for the gifts and talents you have given me. Help me to keep my life grounded in your love and help me reach for the stars and be all that I can be. In everything I do may others see your love in me through your grace and to your glory. Amen!

Open your heart to God’s amazing love!
--Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
O God, my Father, don't let me die without having really lived and really loved --John Powell

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Dawn

9/7/2017

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There have been times when I was out camping and I woke up early while it was still dark, lying awake waiting for the first light of dawn to see the sun break the horizon and see God paint the sky with the beautiful colors of sunrise. It’s beautiful to watch the dawn break, spilling colors across the sky. Faith is like the promise of the new dawn in our heart when the night is still dark. It is a firm trust knowing that God has a plan and purpose for our lives and God will see us through. It has been said It is not how able we are but how able God is. If you seem to be facing a nighttime of challenge in some area of your life, have faith and trust that God is at work and God will bring a breakthrough like the dawn breaking forth in the colors of a glorious sunrise.

(verse of the week)
I would have lost heart unless I believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord,
Be strong and take heart
And wait for the Lord (Psalm 27. 13,14)

(prayer of the week)
Lord, help me to trust you in the nighttime as well as the daylight. May I trust your plan and purpose in my life even when I cannot see the next step. Deepen my faith that I may trust you more, and share encouragement with others. Amen.

Have a blessed week!—Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
Patience is the companion of wisdom—St Augustine

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World Communion

Homecoming

Reach for the Stars

Dawn

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