Devotional (Page 19)
Devotionals written by the pastoral team.
An Opportunity to Look Back
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” -Deuteronomy 7:9 During this time at home, one project I’ve been working on in the spare moments is to digitize a collection of home video tapes from my parents. These videos chronicle events during my last year of high school, and my years in college primarily. It has…
Abide in Me
Over the past couple months, I have been meeting with our SFNAZ pre-teen girls and now I have started meeting with our SFNAZ teen girls to go through bible study titled “Defined: Who God Says You Are.” It has been a blessing to my soul to hear the girls share their reflections on the study, but even more impactful has been the reflection on my own life that the study topics and discussion has triggered. This week’s lesson was about…
Update from Pastor Bill
April 9, 2020 Dear Faithful Church Family, I hope that you are having a meaningful Holy Week, complete with some quiet time to reflect on the value and meaning of remembering the journey to the cross while looking forward to the celebration of the resurrection! We received some positive news today at my oncology appointment and I wanted to share it with you. I have been having regular blood work done over the last several weeks. We don’t usually think much…
A Word From Pastor Bill
March 26, 2020 I just wanted to update the church family on my health situation. It seems like the days go by and I think I have been better about reporting than I actually have been. The truth is, nothing is changing from the last 2.5 months. I went off chemotherapy, have been working on my general health, and will see the oncologist in a couple of weeks to receive the next “plan”. We haven’t been silent because we simply…
Embracing Uncertainties
This week no doubt has been one like none other in the lives of the world and our church family. Our stories are all very similar; full of uncertainties. I have to be honest when all of this information for “social distancing” came into our lives I became very uneasy and trapped in my head. I was overthinking things and worrying too much. I am a very social human, as most of you know, and putting the limitations on the…
The Manger
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. Luke 2:11-14 This year at our annual Santa’s Workshop…
Finding Our Way Through This Season!
We refer to this time of year as the “Christmas Season.” It begins the night before Thanksgiving and ends the Monday after New Year. It is a stretch of the year when we seem to go from holiday to holiday. Most of us experience this time as a mixed bag. On the one hand there are things we look forward to and enjoy greatly. On the other, most of us have things about the season we dread. How do we…
FAITH TAKES ACTION!
“Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.” (Proverbs 28:14) This Sunday, as we continue to look at the life of Elisha, we will look at 2 Kings 3. My desire is that we can discover that faith isn’t just something you talk about. It’s something you do. Faith is only activated when we act. We have faith in God when we do what he says. Proverbs 28:14 says, “Always…
Hearing the Voice of God
My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. (John 10:27 CEB) This past Wednesday we started our next youth group discussion topic. Our question is, “How do we hear God’s voice?” This thought-provoking topic aligns with the fall all-church focus on prayer. To tackle this question I’ve enlisted the help of some experts on the subject of hearing God, specifically the late Dallas Willard. In Willard’s book Hearing God he points out what he calls…
What do we lack?
Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21 CEB) This verse comes out a familiar exchange recorded in three of the Gospels. Often called the story of the Rich Young Ruler. All three Gospel accounts tell us he was rich, in Matthew’s account we learn he was young,…
Lost Causes
3 Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, I tell…
Evaluate the Circumstances, Then Choose Faith!
“Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” Matthew 8:23-24 (NLT) If you are going to deal with worry and anxiety, the first thing you have to do is face reality. In Matthew 8 we see the reality of the situation that Jesus and the disciples faced. As they went through the storm it shows us the reality…