Keep On Moving Forward

He who limps is still walking. – S. Lee

Jacob wrestled with God and received a ‘limp’ along with his blessing. Hmm!

Canes. Crutches. Walkers, or other medical devices. We’ve all seen them in one manner or another. All inventions to keep us mobile, moving, and/or active and in the main of life despite physical setbacks and weaknesses. There’s a great lesson in them. Perhaps you’ve suffered great losses in your life. Perhaps you’re suffering grief or sorrow or hurt that still brings pain or discomfort to your daily life. Don’t stop there or give up, for that’s what the enemy wants. The key is to keep moving closer to God and His purposes. He’s strong enough for us to lean on and He doesn’t mind us doing so.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“To keep me from becoming conceited….there was given me a thorn in my flesh….to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” – II Corinthians 12:7-9

True Joy

God only wants for us what we would want for ourselves if we were smart enough to want it. – A. Rogers

God set opportunity before the Israelites and even told them to choose ‘life.’ He’s been busy trying to give it to us all since. WOW!

More of this, less of that, more of those, none of those. If we had it to do ourselves this is precisely how we would set our life to run. It would be a life of all joy, excitement, unlimited resources, and unlimited time. Everything would go our way and no one would tell us NO! But that’s not how it goes and not how it should go. We would never know true joy if we never experienced sorrow or grief. We would never know what plenty meant if we never experienced lack. God knows what’s best for us which is why life isn’t as we want but it is as we need it, that we may be perfected in His righteousness. The key is to try and think like God or have a heart after God – this makes it much easier to bear and quite a bit more enjoyable.

Until tomorrow…

Pastor Botts

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us….” – Romans 8:26

Keep On Moving

He who limps is still walking. – S. Lee

The 'staffs' of many of the patriarchs were heavily 'leaned upon' by them. Amen!

Canes. Crutches. Walkers, or other medical devices. We’ve all seen them in one manner or another. All inventions to keep us mobile, moving, and/or active and in the main of life despite physical setbacks and weaknesses. There’s a great lesson in them. Perhaps you’ve suffered great losses in your life. Perhaps you’re suffering grief or sorrow or hurt that still brings pain or discomfort to your daily life. Don’t stop there or give up, for that’s what the enemy wants. The key is to keep moving closer to God and His purposes. He’s strong enough for us to lean on and He doesn’t mind us doing so.

Until Monday…

Pastor Botts

“To keep me from becoming conceited….there was given me a thorn in my flesh….to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” – II Corinthians 12:7-9

Joy In Pain

God doesn’t always smooth the path, but sometimes He puts springs in the wagon. – M. Lucas

Joseph’s pathway to prominence as Pharaoh’s 2nd in command wasn’t the smoothest, but God’s hand of favor was always upon him. Amen!

Hardship is as much a part of life as the air we breathe. For if we had no hardship we really would not know the true experience of joy. Troubles may come and not seem to get better with much prayer and meditation, but God will not put more on us than we can bear, and where one area of our life may be particularly troubled, God is still blessing in other areas. That’s one of the great mysteries of ‘grace.’ If we count our blessings we’ll see it’s true.

Until tomorrow……

Pastor Botts

“There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘MY GRACE is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”’ – II Corinthians 12:7-9

A Lesson From Pain

What is crucial in life is not how we get out of pain, but rather, what we get out of it. - A. Christing

After being beaten, flogged, and cast into prison, in the midst of their pain Paul and Silas began to praise God. Wow, what a relief!

Pain, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, etc., no one likes it and the sooner we can get out/rid of it, the better. Truthfully though it serves a purpose, to let us know something is amiss, or out of order in our life. And to try and hurry to the cure or relief point without understanding the cause is like cutting down weeds without pulling up the root - they will grow back. The key is to know why it occurs, then put into practice habits and actions that will keep it from reoccurring. God won't allow more on us than we can bear, but often He has to leave the burden much longer than necessary because of our slowness to understand why and apply His remedies.

Until tomorrow.......

Pastor Botts

"...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me..." - II Corinthians 12:9

PLEASE NOTE: We are monitoring the COVID-19 coronavirus situation.

At present there are no reported cases amongst our congregation.

We will be addressing our church cleaning protocols.

We will be adding hand sanitizer stations in each building shortly

ALL REGULARLY SCHEDULED SATURDAY/SUNDAY MORNING ACTIVITIES WILL GO ON AS PLANNED!

The Food & Clothing Ministry will be in operation.

We will have regular Sunday morning services.

We WILL NOT have Sunday evening VESPER services.

Also, I know we're keen on hugs/handshakes, but please exercise GRACE in greeting one another.

As additional information and/or changes become necessary we will keep you informed.

Beauty in Difficulty

A pearl is a beautiful thing produced by an injured, interrupted life. – S. Hoeller

Nathanael thought nothing good could ever come out of Nazareth. Boy was he ever wrong. Hmm!

Truth be known most of us want a simple care-free, stress-free, painless life. We want everything to go our way, on our schedule, and yield to our will. And we seek out ways and people to make this happen. Thankfully, God loves us too much to allow life to happen according to our whims and desires. He is working in us and through us to produce something far more beautiful than we could ever imagine on our own. The key for us is to not grow frustrated with His ‘interruptions’ or feel inferior because of the heartaches and setbacks. Just as the oyster coats the ‘injury’ with its tears to produce its gem, we too can always recover and produce a meaningful, inspiring offering to God. Why not start this weekend.

Until Monday…..

Pastor Botts

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – II Corinthians 12:10

P.S. - Hope you can make it for our Sunday Devotional at 9AM. We'll discuss 'financial' health. 

A little help along the way

He who limps is still walking. – S. Lee

Jacob wrestled with God and received a ‘limp’ along with his blessing. Hmm!

Canes. Crutches. Walkers, or other medical devices. We’ve all seen them in one manner or another. All inventions to keep us mobile, moving, and/or active and in the main of life despite physical setbacks and weaknesses. There’s a great lesson in them. Perhaps you’ve suffered great losses in your life. Perhaps you’re suffering grief or sorrow or hurt that still brings pain or discomfort to your daily life. Don’t stop there or give up, for that’s what the enemy wants. The key is to keep moving closer to God and His purposes. He’s strong enough for us to lean on and He doesn’t mind us doing so.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“To keep me from becoming conceited….there was given me a thorn in my flesh….to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” – II Corinthians 12:7-9

Walking out from Fear

Fear is the darkroom where 'negatives' are developed. - Anon

One man - Goliath - struck fear in a whole army, that is until David came along. WOW!

Kryptonite! It was Superman's weakness. It completely immobilized him and his superpowers. What about us, what might ours be - FEAR! Not the 'scared of the dark' kind of fear, but the fear of inadequacy, fear of not measuring up. We fear our past cropping up to embarrass us. We fear our future will be too difficult. We fear letting others down, letting ourselves down. Our fears keep us from reaching out, and often reaching UP to God. The enemy's greatest ploy is to fill us with fear. That's why God's Word directs us and commands us time and again not to be afraid. Just as He told Joshua to be 'strong and courageous' going into a foreign land, as we commune with God each morning we should leave that encounter 'strong and courageous' as we enter into the new territory of TODAY. As long as we are walking faithfully we really have no need to fear for God has our back, front, sides, etc., for He is all encompassing around us. So, we have nothing to fear but.......actually nothing!

Until tomorrow.......

Pastor Botts

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you,.......Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid...." - John 14:27

Recovery Mode

What is crucial in life is not how we get out of pain, but rather, what we get out of it. - A. Christing

After being beaten, flogged, and cast into prison, in the midst of their pain Paul and Silas began to praise God. Wow, what a relief!

Pain, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, etc., no one likes it and the sooner we can get out/rid of it, the better. Truthfully though it serves a purpose, to let us know something is amiss, or out of order in our life. And to try and hurry to the cure or relief point without understanding the cause is like cutting down weeds without pulling up the root - they will grow back. The key is to know why it occurs, then put into practice habits and actions that will keep it from re-occurring. God won't allow more on us than we can bear, but often He has to leave the burden much longer than necessary because of our slowness to understand why and apply His remedies.

Until tomorrow.......

Pastor Botts

"...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me..." - II Corinthians 12:9

Keep Moving!

He who limps is still walking. – S. Lee

Jacob wrestled with God and received a ‘limp’ along with his blessing. Hmm!

Canes. Crutches. Walkers, or other medical devices. We’ve all seen them in one manner or another. All inventions to keep us mobile, moving, and/or active and in the main of life despite physical setbacks and weaknesses. There’s a great lesson in them. Perhaps you’ve suffered great losses in your life. Perhaps you’re suffering grief or sorrow or hurt that still brings pain or discomfort to your daily life. Don’t stop there or give up, for that’s what the enemy wants. The key is to keep moving closer to God and His purposes. He’s strong enough for us to lean on and He doesn’t mind us doing so.

Until tomorrow…..

Pastor Botts

“To keep me from becoming conceited….there was given me a thorn in my flesh….to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” – II Corinthians 12:7-9