Another beautiful photo taken by Sue Wooden of her back yard.
I don’t know about all of you, but missing church yesterday just left me feeling a little empty all day. But that is Monday morning quarterbacking, the important thing is we stay connected to God and His word whether in Church or not.
I got an urgent prayer request this morning from Betsy Kelleher. She is asking for prayers for Russ. He has been sick since Saturday morning with lots of sciatic pain and flu like symptoms with chest congestion. Russ has not been able to attend church in quite a long time due to his health condition. Please lift Russ and Betsy to God’s Mercy, Peace and Healing.
Choir Rehearsal Wednesday at 6:30pm
I want to share a few things from my sermon that didn’t happen yesterday.
“If you asked 100 people what they want for Christmas, I wonder how many would say, “A closer relationship with God?” The reason I even bring this up is not to be critical on anyone, but to show what has happened to all of us because of the great deception. Remember there are always 2 forces, voices, that everyone has to deal with. The voice of God and His wisdom, and the voice of satan and his lies.
During WWII, The US created what was known as a Ghost Army, a secret unit composed of artists, actors, and sound engineers, who used elaborate tactics to mislead the enemy.
This unique arm of the military served one purpose and that was to deceive the enemy. They used many tactics of deception including Inflatable decoys, Sonic deception, Radio deception, Visual and Social deception: Everything they did had one purpose, to deceive the enemy into believing we were stronger than we really were to instill fear and confusion. Satan uses the same tactics against Christians all the time. To induce fear, and to keep us distracted from God’s promises, power, and direction which always leads us into truth, love, joy, and peace. This is a great time to reconnect with God and learn to His voice. But our schedules and our priorities keep most from realizing this gift, Why? Deception! You have been deceived with Satan’s tactics using his Ghost army. In Matthew 24:4 it reads, Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” The context of this verse is about the end times however, the warning about “Not Being deceived is a very important warning. Just realize that anyone is subject to the devil’s tactics of deception. The best way to avoid this deception is to know the truth about Spiritual Warfare, and that is done through bible study, prayer and an ongoing Daily close relationship with the author of all truth, Jesus Christ.
The Holidays are to be a time of Peace, Love, and Joy and those three amazing gifts are available to everyone who goes to Jesus and desires a relationship with Him. That life changing relationship can begin for anyone, anywhere and at any time. It starts with a desire and then a step of faith. Take time to contemplate that. God came into our messy world for your benefit and my benefit but it is up to us to know His truth and His ways and to walk in them hourly, every single day. God’s peace. Kent