He Counted Me Faithful

Week of September 23, 2022

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,” (1 Timothy 1:12, NKJV)

Paul was known as the “chief of sinners’’ but everything changed when God saved him. Paul embraced the Christian life with the same fervor that he had when he had previously opposed it. Paul worked to be a faithful servant in every assignment he was given, no matter how small or great. As a result, God found him to be faithful in the work of ministry.

Your ability to serve God is not based on your past, your level of education or your talent, but is firmly placed on your faithfulness to God today. If you are faithful with the tasks that God entrusts in you, He will empower you to accomplish it. Do not distinguish between big and small assignments as a measure of how God views your worth. Whether God has asked you to pray for a certain situation, minister to a person in need, care for the sick, or lead a Bible study, you must be faithful to what you have been called to do. When we are faithful we will experience His empowering strength through the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember that if you are faithful in a little, God will entrust you with more. You also will be able to rejoice in the same manner that Paul did when he was counted as faithful. Through all of Paul’s trials he remained grateful for all the opportunities that were given him. I hope the same can be said of all of us today!

God Bless, Pastor Rick

Dedicated Hands

Week of September 16, 2022

 “So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.” (Mark 8:23, NKJV)

Everywhere we go; there are tasks that need to be accomplished.  Most of those tasks, I would say, require the use of your hands.  Our hands are truly a wonderful part of our body.  A carpenter can use his hands to build a house, an artist can use his hands to paint a beautiful picture, and a nurse can use her hands to help bring relief to a sick soul.

As we read through the Gospels, we find many scriptures where Jesus laid His hands upon people who were sick.  On another occasion, He divided the bread and fish for the multitude to have something to eat.  The Bible tells us in Mark 10:16 that He laid His hands on the children and blessed them.  The Bible also says that as He was ascending back to the Father, He lifted His hands and blessed the Disciples.

Whatever our talents, have you ever thought about this, we have a duty to use our hands as Christ used His to bless the world?  We have a task to accomplish in life.  In every place where there are people, there are tasks to accomplish with the use of dedicated Christian hands.  Jesus used His hands.  I challenge all of us today to dedicate our hands to be used for God’s use.

God Bless, Pastor Rick

Come And See

Week of September 9, 2022

“Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).” (John 1:38–39, NKJV)

There should come a time for each of us when merely talking about the Christian pilgrimage is not sufficient. We must take the action of setting out on the journey with Christ. For many generations the coming of the Messiah had been predicted by the prophets of Israel and had been expected by the Jewish people. The disciple Andrew had listened to John the Baptist and had also heard of the coming Messiah. Little did he know that he would come face to face with the one he had yearned to see! Andrew’s mind was filled with questions that he longed to ask the Messiah but the approach that Jesus took was not through theological dialogue alone. Instead Jesus invited him to enter into a lifelong walk. Andrew learned that his questions would not be answered by discussion alone but by walking with Him every day.

Christianity is not a set of teachings to just understand, it is a person that you follow daily. Moments will come when you will stand at the crossroads with your Lord and you will have questions. You will find that your questions are answered as you walk with Him on a  day-to-day basis. As you walk with him you will discover far more then you ever knew to ask!

God Bless, Pastor Rick