New Year

Stepping into the New Year

/ pastorpete51 / 10 Comments 
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

Today is the first day of another year and I am weaker than I was when I was younger, but my hope is stronger because weakness is teaching me to rely more on Jesus and less on me. Being crucified with Christ used to be a mysterious and frightening idea. But in today’s verse, Paul was teaching the Galatians that nothing on earth could make him afraid anymore, because his real life was now in the Christ, who had loved and given His life for him.

But trusting is a choice, and it our choice. Just as the trapeze artist must let go of the bar and fly across space, trusting in her partner to catch her, so we must let go of our own strength and ability in order to take hold of the hands of God. He is reaching out and calling us forward into 2024. Why not surrender your life to Him, and step into the year ahead, with confidence in His love? That same Jesus who gave Himself for us, will certainly watch over us and care for us, no matter what lies on the road ahead.

Love in Action

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‭‭But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Revelation 2:4-5a ESV

Notice that the first love that Jesus calls us to is not about how we feel. He is calling us to repent and then do something! Though our feelings often reflect our inner motives, even those motives are only useful, if they lead to our actions. When our focus is on how we feel about Jesus, then we end up in a fairly useless state of feeling guilty and ashamed. But the good news is that He gives us opportunities to serve him every day. He isn’t asking us to feel anything. He is calling us to go find someone with dirty feet, and show them the love of Jesus by washing them. Then those pesky feelings just might follow! So, as we enter this New Year, let’s determine to start showing the love of Jesus to the world by washing one dirty foot at a time!

My New Year’s Message

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.’ Deuteronomy 33:27 ESV

17 years ago we used to bring two of our grandsons to church. At three and one years old this was a challenge during the song service, while I was alone with them and Nancy sang with the worship team. Nathan, who was the older, was generally happy to sit and clap his hands – but not AJ. Oh no, he wanted in on the action and decided that I had to hold him so he could see what was going on! Now, I loved holding him in my arms for the first song, but by the chorus of the second, he started getting heavy and by the third I was desperate for some help. Today’s verse talks about God’s everlasting arms and I discovered that mine most definitely were not!

As we enter this new year, with all of its challenges, opportunities and scary unknowns, we need the One whose arms alone can carry us through. If we will trust Christ as Savior, then whatever we face we can know that God’s got us in His arms. They are underneath us even when we are at our lowest and He will never let us go!