Spring is such a beautiful time of the year.  Spring represents new beginnings. You see all the flowers blooming and trees coming back into full color.  People  are outside working on their gardens and yards.  God’s plan for our lives also brings us strategic times of new beginnings.   His word tells us in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.”  You see a beautiful new beginning that God has given us through His Son.  As you think about all the new and fresh ideas you have for your life this spring,  consider the greatest truth of all is that Jesus can forgive you of your past and give you a fresh new start today.  We still call this Amazing Grace!   

Bro. T

My favorite time of the year is the wonderful privilege to celebrate Easter.  I contemplate the marvelous grace that God gave us through His Son.  He sent His very own Son, who would come in human flesh and experience all the travail that this life has to offer.  To have His human flesh beaten, spit upon, and to be crucified is almost too much to comprehend.  I consider that He went through all this for me.  It is my favorite time of the year to praise my Savior for His unspeakable gift.  This past week I had the wonderful privilege to visit the Holy Land.  Our church is so incredible and loving to have done this for Belyn and me.  Words cannot express how much their sending us to the Holy Land has changed our lives.  One of the ways was to be there on the side of hill in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed as He overlooked the city of Jerusalem.  As I said Sunday, he could have called 12 legions of angels but He did not so that I could have my sin debt forgiven.  Oh what a Savior!

Bro. T

February for some is a depressing time of year.  Bills have come due, the cold weather has settled in, and life can be dark and lonesome.  Well, right in middle of all this gloom is the "Love Day", or what we call Valentine's Day.  A day to remember that special someone in our lives and let them know how much we care.  Not unlike God’s plan for our lives.  Just when we didn’t think that life could get any more complicated or hard, God sent us a "Valentine", the greatest message of love you have ever received.  John 3:16  “For God so love the world..”  I challenge you today to realize that He wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with you.  God loved you enough to send His Son to take the punishment of your sin on Him.  Now if that isn’t love? 

I challenge you to meditate and pray this prayer taken from “3:16” series.  “Lord I get it.  YOU LOVE ME.  Seeing everything – every shortcut, every stumbling step, everyday I am stuck in the mire of self-doubt and worry.  YOU LOVE ME.  And there’s nothing I can do that will change Your love.  Though I long to earn Your love, even then Your love marches on!  Even when I fail, YOU LOVE ME.  Jesus I realize You didn’t die to make me better.  You died because YOU LOVE ME.  And Your love is enough.”    

Bro. T

Well, a new year has begun.  A look back at 2007 gives us great confidence that God is able to do anything.  We have been studying this year in our Worship services on the subject of the Power of Belief versus the Power of Unbelief.  In Matthew 13 Jesus taught us tremendous truths through eight parables.  These stories illustrated to us the power of belief.  He also outlines the dangers of unbelief.  We see this at the close of the chapter as many of his own family and friends reject Him as the Messiah.  As you begin a New Year do not make the mistake of failing to believe in Power of God.  Just because you are familiar with truth or the Bible does not mean that we should ever grow weary in believing that God is still at work around us.  You may have been in church for many years and it is so easy to loose sight of Power of Belief.  When we quit believing that God can handle anything and everything in our lives then we to will see where God no longer does miracles and many wonderful things in our personal experiences and ministries.  May God show Himself to you in great and mighty ways in 2008.  Don’t stop believing.       

This time of year is so very important to us.  Not because of all the shopping and suppers to attend.  It is important for us to pause and celebrate the birth of our Savior.  We do have hope and peace of eternal life.  I Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”   In the midst of a terrible chaotic world, God gave us Jesus.  He was born of a virgin, born in a lowly manger, born to a working class family, and only lived 33 years and yet changed the world.  This is an important time of year for me because He came into the chaos of my life and changed me for ever.   He can do the same for you.  Accept the Gift of God.  His name is Jesus, and if you believe in Him and confess your need for Him to forgive you of your sins you too can experience just how important Christmas really is.   

Bro. T