Month: August 2020

Drought, pt. 2

by Laurin, posted in Sunday Message

Good afternoon! Pastor Steve continued his message about hungering and thirsting for righteousness this morning. To listen to the audio of his message, simply press the play button on the audio player below. I’ve also included the Call to Worship and links to the verses he references in his message.

Call to Worship
Psalm 37:1-11
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
    like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
    do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
    but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
    though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
    and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Scripture References

Ephesians 2:8

Isaiah 64:6

James 4:6

Isaiah 53:6

Numbers 23:10

Matthew 6:21

Matthew 4:4

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Philippians 3:10

Matthew 7:7

Praying you have a truly blessed week, hungering and thirsting for righteousness! 🙂

Drought, pt. 1

by Laurin, posted in Sunday Message

Good evening! Pastor Steve continued his teaching on the Beatitudes this morning with the first part of a message regarding Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. There is also a list of links to verses he references in his message. Enjoy!

Call to Worship
Psalm 42
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.
8 By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Scripture References

The Beatitudes – Matthew 5:1-12

Matthew 5:6

Amos 8:1-3, 11-12

Romans 10:3-4

1 Peter 1:15-16

Luke 15:11-20

Praying you have a week that is abundantly blessed and filled with joy!

Self-Control

by Laurin, posted in Sunday Message

Good morning! Pastor Steve shared a wonderful message yesterday morning, continuing his lessons on the Beatitudes with “Self-Control.” To listen to the message, simply click the play button on the audio player below. There is also a list of the verses he references with links to those verses on Bible Gateway. Enjoy!

Call to Worship
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
10 The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.

Scripture References

Matthew 5:5

Matthew 11:28-30

Philippians 2:5-8

Ephesians 4:1-3

Titus 3:2

2 Corinthians 6:10

1 Corinthians 3:21-23

1 Corinthians 6:1-3

Luke 14:11

Romans 12:18-21

Have a blessed week! 🙂

Words Made Flesh

by Laurin, posted in Devotion

Happy Sunday to all!

Pastor Steve did not present a message this morning, because we were blessed to have a representative of the Gideons inspire us about their ministry.

We did, however, have the Call to Worship, so I thought I’d share that here today with a quick little devotional. 🙂

Call to Worship
Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of 
this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit 
who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us 
also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of 
our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the 
rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of 
his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive 
with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is 
by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with 
Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ 
Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the 
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to 
us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, 
through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of 
God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are 
God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 
which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In the last verse, we read that human beings are God’s “handiwork” (other translations say “workmanship” or “creative work” or “masterpiece” or even “poetry”). How cool is that?

And how did He create mankind? He spoke us into existence (“God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image…'” Genesis 1:26 MSG). The author N.D. Wilson notes that this makes all human beings “words made flesh.” There is only one “Word (with a capital W) made flesh” (John 1:14), our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But, since we are made in His image, and we were spoken into existence, we are “words (with a small w) made flesh.” I don’t know about you, but that kind of blows my mind.

God not only created us in His image, He took special care to make us His masterpieces. And, moreover, He created us to do good things, things that will glorify Him and reflect His light onto others who are so desperately in need of a Savior. We are His words to a lost and dying world. What is your life saying to those around you?

Praying you have a glorious week!

Laurin 🙂

Godly Sorrow

by Laurin, posted in Sunday Message

Good morning! If you’d like to hear the next message in Pastor Steve’s series on the Beatitudes, “Godly Sorrow,” simply click play on the audio player below. As always, I’ve included the Call to Worship and links to the Scriptures Pastor Steve references in his message.

Call to Worship
Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
    in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
    they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
    the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
    he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
    giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
    enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
    he ordained his covenant forever—
    holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
    all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
    To him belongs eternal praise.

Scripture References

Matthew 5:4

John 11:1-44

John 11:24-26

John 11:33-35

Romans 7:18-20

Genesis 1:26-27

Isaiah 53:3 NKJV

2 Corinthians 7:10

2 Corinthians 10:5

I know I’ve posted this a day late and I apologize, but I saw something shiny yesterday and got distracted. 😉 Praying you have a blessed week!