Are you lacking in knowledge?
My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.“Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests;because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. – (Hosea 4:6 NIV) Return, Israel, to the Lord your God… “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. – (Hosea 14:1, 4-5 NIV) Hosea prophesied during the time of the Divided Kingdom of…
Love in Action
The more we speak about maturing and growing in our spirituality, the more I see us being called to action! One of the most beautiful things about the Gospel – the Good News – is that it can/will look like so many different things! There isn’t just one way to live out and experience the Gospel. Good News to me might look a little different to me than it does to you… Even though it might be a bit of…
Excelling in this act of grace – Generosity
“But as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also. – 2 Corinthians 8:7 ESV The “act of grace” that the Apostle Paul was referring to in this verse is the grace to give generously. Giving was definitely is not “second nature” to me. Giving money away for sure is not even “third nature” to me. And lets not even talk about “giving generously”. Over the years as I grew my “stone of the past” in my relationship with God, I was able to slay the “giant” of stinginess with…
Love Locks
SONG OF SONGS 8:5-7 Friends5 Who is this coming up from the wildernessleaning on her beloved? SheUnder the apple tree I roused you;there your mother conceived you,there she who was in labor gave you birth.6 Place me like a seal over your heart,like a seal on your arm;for love is as strong as death,its jealousy[a] unyielding as the grave.It burns like blazing fire,like a mighty flame.[b]7 Many waters cannot quench love;rivers cannot sweep it away.If one were to giveall the…
Greatest of These is Love
1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” In September we launched a new memory verse for the church family, 2 Peter 1:5-8. Before that, two of our memory verses were the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-39) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Look at parts of these verses and see if you can spot the theme: Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Matt 22:36-39)The…
Live Generously Part 2
This past Sunday we continued our series on Living Generously. Whenever I think of generosity I always think of finances – but there is so much more than just finances! TIMENot everyone will have $, but everyone is given time. We must look at our lives and ask God if we are stewarding the time He has given us to the best of our ability. Sometimes it is clear when our time is being robbed (aimless social media, facebook, etc.)…
Why Be Generous?
Acts 20:35 – In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (NIV) Romans 8:32 – He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?(AMPC – Amplified Bible Classic Edition)…
A B I D E
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”1 John 4:18 There are SO many places in the Bible that God tells his people not to be afraid. When they are being visited by an angel, chances are good the encounter begins with “Fear not!” When they are heading into battle, he reminds them that he is with them and that they don’t need to fear. When they are about to begin following a new way of…
Live Generously
This year God has been pushing us to focus on Maturity. We felt that the Lord will help us to track our growth by the 3 Gs (Give, Go, Grow). Yesterday as we talked about Living Generously – we tackled why Living Generously is important Motivations for Living Generously Experiencing God’s love and generosity in our own livesWhen we experience the love, generosity, grace, compassion, … of God, we can’t help but share that love with others. Something so good…
Pruning
When it comes to caring for plants, pruning has become one of my favourite things to do! It really used to freak me out… I felt uncertain about what I was doing and, if I’m being totally honest, every time I had to prune my plants, it felt like I had failed them! If I had only just watered more, or in some cases watered less, then the leaves wouldn’t have died and I wouldn’t need to cut them off!…
Growing in Blessing Others
Gen. 12:1-4:“And YHWH said to Abram,Get yourself up and gofrom your land, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation; and I will bless you; and I will make your name great.And be a blessing.And I will bless those who bless you; whereas the one who belittles you, I will curse; and in you will be blessed all kinship groups on the…
A Thorn In My Flesh
2 Corinthians 12: 1-10 (NIV)Paul’s Vision and His Thorn 1I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the…