November 2016

Brothers and sisters,

Happy rainy Monday to all! I hope everyone had a joyous Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day yesterday. I hope that as we celebrate the first coming of Jesus, we can remember that he came to give us life and life to the full. He came to free us from oppressive religion so that we might love Him and others. We could not gain our forgiveness and be right with God by any religious observance, but we are forgiven and right with God by faith in Jesus Christ. He has paid for our forgiveness and He gives it to all who believe in Him. Remember the love He has for you when He feels far away. Remember also that just because His presence seems far away, He is always near to His children! Remember Romans 8:31: “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

This Sunday, December 4, will be a special day. Forrest and Becky Bohlen will be with us sharing about international missions. Forrest and Becky served in Venezuela and in Chile with the International Mission Board (IMB) and recently retired from the IMB. They are still seeking to work with Hispanics in Wisconsin. Don’t miss hearing their stories this Sunday in morning worship.

Remember, also, we will be having a pot luck dinner after worship this Sunday, December 4.

Love being your pastor!

Bob

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! I hope your week has gotten off to a great start. If for some reason it has not gotten off to a good start, rejoice in the Lord anyway! He is our joy, strength and song. As we learned about yesterday, all of us have been blessed by Him and all of us can continually thank Him. We don’t necessarily have to thank him for bad circumstances, but we can thank Him that He will bring good for His children even in the worst of circumstances. We can thank Him that through His blood He has reconciled us to Himself and to one another, so that there is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female for we are all one in Christ.” As believers we seek to live in that reconciliation and seek continually to make that reconciliation between all men and women who are in Christ more and more of a reality in our world. We seek to recognize our own prejudices and ask God to give us eyes to see all people as He sees them-men, women and children for whom Christ died to forgive, save and give eternal life.

We rejoice in the 21 shoe boxes that were made and delivered for Operation Christmas Child. Pray for these gifts to provide a strong witness to the gospel as they go all over the world.

Sunday, November 27 during morning worship we will begin our observance of Advent and also will be observing the Lord’s Supper.

Love being your pastor!

Bob

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday! It was wonderful to be with all of you yesterday as we worshipped as a church family! Our great God loves us and the best thing we can do in life is to turn from ourselves to Him and discover the life we were created to have. Repentance is not a negative thing, but a wonderful thing. We turn away from our self and find life in the One who created us to love Him and love others. The tragedies of life should cause us to think of our own mortality and of our own need to turn to God. God can stop judging us when we believe in Jesus because Jesus has already been judged in our place and has paid the debt for our sin.

Last night celebrating Thanksgiving as a church family was fun! I want to thank everyone who prepared food and worked so hard so that we could have such an enjoyable evening.

Love being your pastor!

Bob

Brothers and sisters,

Happy Monday to all! I hope your work week has started well. Yesterday we learned that we should all live looking for the Lord to return. Jesus tells us in Luke 12 to be watchful, alert, and faithful until He returns. We are to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth until He comes again. We are to seek to influence our communities toward justice and righteousness until He returns. But we are also to remember that all the wrongs will not be corrected and all the injustices will not be righted until Jesus comes again. Paul reminded Titus that the second coming was not something for the believer to fear, but a “blessed hope.” “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:11-13 (NIV). We can pray with the early church, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”

Tomorrow is election day. I would in no way presume to tell you how to vote. I will encourage you to pray, educate yourself as best you can about the issues and those running, and vote your conscience. Make the best choice that you can make as you cast your ballot. I want to thank Pete for his song yesterday that reminded us that God is forever and always on His throne and in control. Remember Steven Curtis Chapman’s words whatever the election results.

But there’s only one who’s making promises that He won’t break
And He is on the throne.

He is faithful and true,
everything He says He’ll do,
And everything we go through,
He will go with us.
All the kingdoms of man
are in the palm of His hand
So I will not fear, I’ll say it loud and clear, so my own heart can hear it
God is on the throne.

I will, however, presume to tell you that God’s Word teaches us that after this election is done and even before, every believer is commanded to pray for those in authority over us. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness,” (1 Timothy 2:1-2, NIV). Christians are to continually pray for whoever will be elected. I will also tell you that if you hold anger, hatred, and bitterness toward those you did not vote for or for those who did not support your candidates or issues, you are sinning. God commands us to love even our enemies. His word tells us that man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Our world does not need any more angry and bitter people, but Christians who love even those with whom they may disagree. Let’s be those whose lives are characterized by God’s radical love.

Love being your pastor!

Bob