Scripture: Psalm 144:15 Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Thought for the Day: Over the years, I have found some of the most intriguing handwritten messages in the sanctuary. I found a note written between a mother and daughter arguing about the length of the daughter’s skirt; on the back of an offering envelope I found
Scripture: Genesis 28:15-16 “…Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” Thought for the Day: Jacob had a dream in
Scripture: Genesis 15:5-6 The Lord brought Abram outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Thought for the Day: Faith is this marvelous thing until you actually find yourself needing to lean on it. Because
Scripture: Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. Thought for the Day: In his book, Power Surge: Six Marks of Discipleship for a Changing Church, Michael Foss writes, “The power of God is not released downward through the church hierarchy. Rather, the power of God is released upward through the people of God when pastors mentor them in
Scripture: 1st Corinthians 4:1-2 Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. Thought for the Day: What exactly does it mean to be a steward of a mystery? Is this like being Jessica Fletcher’s caregiver (there might be some who don’t get that joke and others who simply find it
Scripture: Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Thought for the Day: A little girl and her father were in New York, and they decided to visit the Empire State Building. After waiting in line for quite some time, it came their turn to enter the elevator and begin the journey up. As they did so, the little girl’s ears began to
Scripture: Genesis 10:32 These are the families of Noah’s sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. Thought for the Day: I remember the first time my uncle brought over the family genealogy. He started explaining the family tree, and all I could think about was taking a nap in the shade of the family
Scripture: John 7:1 (the Message) Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. Thought for the Day: I was initially reading this verse in the New Revised Standard Version, but the Message caught my attention. How does a person go about his business when in a nearby town
Scripture: 1st John 4:19 We love because God first loved us. Thought for the Day: As I’ve talked about over the last couple of Sundays and will again today, we cannot do anything as Christians until we first understand the love of God that was extended to us while we were still far from where we needed to be. It was Leonardo da Vinci who wrote, “He who
Scripture: Proverb 9:6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight. Thought for the Day: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that the “purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Those words might feel uncomfortable for some people as they, if