Month: June 2025

Connecting Generations

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

The service last Friday at Life Care Center was really special. One of the highlights for me was a visit from a teenager named Lindsay. Lindsay is a special needs child whose mom is one of our volunteers. She was super excited to be there but nervous, so she sat at a table near the back with her counselor. About halfway through the song session, Lindsay was loving the music, but her emotions became a bit overwhelmed, so she began expressing her joy with loud vocalizations. I couldn’t see exactly what was happening, but I was told later that, before anyone got too worried about the situation, one of the residents wheeled herself over to Lindsay, and with a smile, gently took hold of her hand to calm her. I was so blessed to hear of how God used that circumstance as a perfect demonstration of how Jesus wants to connect, one generation to another through Him. The exuberance of youth, the joy of worship and the gentle patience of this precious older woman all blended together in those moments to show the love of Christ in action.

I believe that Jesus on the Main Line is the song that set those wheels in motion, so, I hope you will enjoy listening to an abbreviated version of it along with a few words on the subject of prayer. I pray God will bless you, hear your prayers and connect you to others this week in the wonderful love of Jesus!

Quiet Like a Child

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 131 2-3 ESV

Psalm 131 is one of the fifteen Psalms titled, “Songs of Ascent” It is supposed that these were sung by pilgrims, making their way from all over Israel towards Jerusalem for the great festivals prescribed by God in the law of Moses. Since this Psalm appears near the end of that group, maybe at this point the temple is already in sight, or at least the outer walls of the city of Jerusalem. This unknown author was not someone of high rank. We don’t know his exact circumstances, but maybe it was as he paused to rest on his journey, that he was inspired to write. “I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother. ” Then taking a deep breath, he thrills in wonder at the magnificent sight of the Holy City, lying just ahead. Then a simple truth, comes like a gentle rain on a parched field. I imagine him taking a deep breath, thrilling in wonder at the magnificent sight of the Hoy City, lying just ahead. Though he wrote these words thousands of years ago, He is a lot like us. He, just a simple worshiper of Jehovah: has been not only commanded to appear, but God has invited him to come. This man, who is not a king entering the city gates in triumph, or a priest bringing a lamb for God’s altar, is accepted and even welcomed. Then he says, that, just as a weaned child rests upon His mother’s lap waiting for the new adult food that she will feed him, he realizes that God has something new for him as well. This morning, as he has quieted his hungry soul, he remembers David’s Psalm that tells him that God has prepared a banquet table in the wilderness and is waiting just for him. That truth awakening in Him such a joy, the writer knows that he must tell everyone! “O Israel, hope in the Lord, from this time forth and forevermore!”

Steadfast Love and the Prodigal Son

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness! Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

  • God’s love never ceases: It has never changed in the past and will never change in the future. God doesn’t love us more when we succeed or do a good deed, and He doesn’t love us less when we fail, or fall into sin. We come home to God by believing He is loving and willing to accept us. God’s love is like the father’s love in the parable of the prodigal son. Just like that Father, God is still willing to accept us and include us into His family, when we leave our own way of doing things and come home to him.
  • God’s mercies never come to an end: When God forgives us, He adopts us into His family. He isn’t just being kind to us on a one-time basis. He will not wake up tomorrow and say, “Okay that’s it. The visit is over. Pack your bags and move out!” When God receives us into His family He says, “This my son, was dead, but now he is alive!” You see, even when the prodigal was spiritually dead to his father, he was still considered a son. Now he has come home, that dead relationship became a living one. Our living relationship to God begins by our believing in our Father’s mercy because of the cross of Jesus. The blood of Jesus has paid the penalty of our sins forever and we don’t have to be afraid that God will ever change His mind.
  • Great is Your Faithfulness: We learn to be faithful to others, by seeing how faithful God has been to us. The prodigal came home thinking that he was going to work for his dad and live in the servant’s quarters. But his father had a different plan. He was given a welcome home party and then invited to come live back home. In that same way, we don’t work for God all week while living in the servant’s quarters and then go visit our dad once a week at His place on Sunday. Just like the father in the parable, God’s plan is for us to wake up every morning in His house, come down to breakfast at His table and spend our day, every day with Him! What an amazing, loving and faithful God we serve!