12/8/2019 0 Comments Advent 2019 - Day 8Read Isaiah 40:1-5:
“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth and the rough places, a plain. And the glory of the Lord will appear, and all humanity together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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12/7/2019 1 Comment Advent 2019 - Day 7As kids grow up, they begin to learn words, put those words into sentences, and use those sentences to communicate. However, it can be very difficult for young kids to communicate. It’s gets frustrating for kids when they know what they want, they try to communicate, but the message is not being received in the correct way.
When kids struggle to communicate, their parents have a decision to make – get frustrated like their kid and speak harshly and sternly, maybe even yell. However, a good parent knows that the best approach is to help their kid speak and communication. Good parents will get on their kid’s level and figure out what their kid wants. 12/6/2019 0 Comments Advent 2019 - Day 6When Jesus took off His crown and put on our flesh, He took the relationship between God and man from distant to intimate. No longer did we need to look to the heavens when addressing God, we need only look in the eyes of a helpless, vulnerable baby.
God's love is intimate. Here’s what I mean when I say intimate. It’s like a mother holding her brand new baby for the first time. There is nothing in the world that is more important to that mother than holding her baby. The intimacy displayed by God in sending Jesus to the Earth took something so distant and brought it so close. 12/5/2019 0 Comments ADVENT 2019 - DAY 5Read: Genesis 29:1-30
Jacob resumed his journey and went to the eastern country. He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. But a large stone covered the opening of the well. The shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep when all the flocks were gathered there. Then they would return the stone to its place over the well’s opening. Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?” “We’re from Haran,” they answered. “Do you know Laban grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked them. They answered, “We know him.” “Is he well?” Jacob asked. “Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.” Then Jacob said, “Look, it is still broad daylight. It’s not time for the animals to be gathered. Water the flock, then go out and let them graze.” But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.” While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep, he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly. He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened. Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month, Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Since my time is complete, give me my wife, so I can sleep with her.” So Laban invited all the men of the place and sponsored a feast. That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave. When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.” And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. 12/4/2019 0 Comments ADVENT 2019 - DAY 4READ: Mark 13:24-37
But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near—at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son —but only the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming. It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert. Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning. Otherwise, when he comes suddenly he might find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert! 12/3/2019 0 Comments ADVENT 2019 - DAY 3READ: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 12/2/2019 1 Comment ADVENT 2019 - DAY 2READ: Isaiah 64.1-9
If only you would tear the heavens open and come down, so that mountains would quake at your presence— just as fire kindles brushwood, and fire boils water—to make your name known to your enemies, so that nations will tremble at your presence! When you did awesome works that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence. From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened to, no eye has seen any God except you who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him. You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right; they remember you in your ways. But we have sinned, and you were angry. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. No one calls on your name, striving to take hold of you. For you have hidden your face from us and made us melt because of our iniquity. Yet Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we all are the work of your hands. Lord, do not be terribly angry or remember our iniquity forever. Please look—all of us are your people! 11/28/2019 0 Comments Advent 2019 - Day 1Read: Psalms 80:1-7; 17-19
Listen, Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine on Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally your power and come to save us. Restore us, God; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved. Lord God of Armies, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? You fed them the bread of tears and gave them a full measure of tears to drink. You put us at odds with our neighbors; our enemies mock us. Restore us, God of Armies; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved. Let your hand be with the man at your right hand, with the son of man you have made strong for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, Lord, God of Armies; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.
Can we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world, God in the flesh?
It is pretty rare to hear of people who do not believe in what is known as the "historical Jesus." In other words, most scholars and historians agree with the Bible that there was a man named Jesus, whose parents where Joseph and Mary, and lived in Palestine in the 1st Century AD. But when you ask those same historians if they believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be in the Bible, you will get many different answers. But what should we believe? Can we believe that Jesus is God? 3/20/2019 0 Comments Camp Fundraising OpportunityOur student ministry has been given the great opportunity to run the concession stand at a local soccer league (Upward Soccer) every Saturday from April 13–May 25, where all proceeds will go directly to our student ministry for camp scholarships. However, we need all hands on deck.
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