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The Sunday Message

First off, Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who is a mother, and has a mother, or has ever mothered someone. Hope I covered everyone!

I hate to say it, but I’m at a loss as to how to approach the message today.

You could read and contemplate Psalm 62, since that was what our sermon was on today. I thought it was a stretch to pull Mother’s Day into the context of that sermon, except to say that what he was saying was we should all lean on Jesus as our rock and our refuge. Nothing we are going through as mothers or not is too big for God to handle.

Or, you could consider Acts 2, the second half of which I listened to today, before moving on to Acts 3. It took two sessions for him to get through how important it was for Peter to -as the chosen leader-reveal the miracles while still in the Upper Room so that all present could see the moment when he was given the Spirit of the Lord, then to speak to the nation of Israel about receiving the word, understand that they now -having heard and received -must repent and be baptised so that they can go out and spread the word of God.

Not that that has anything to do with the day either, but just to let you know where I am in my Bible reading and study. I do feel good that I am proceeding in my journey as I should be, by reading the scripture, then having it explained to me in detail, before sharing it with anyone else. He explained the importance of that as well in this lesson.

As I’ve been writing, the thunder, rain, and lightening have stopped and the sky has cleared! I hope that means that we will get to see the Northern Lights tonight. It depends on how late the viewing period starts, because if I have to stay up later than 10pm to see it, it’s probably not going to happen. Also, I won’t be driving to some location away from all the city lights, that will be a factor also.

I hope you all have a great and relaxing Mother’s Day! 💐

Thank you for being here, reading, and responding as well as all the prayers for my friends. I will share details when I get updates.

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Writing Prompts

The Sunday Message

Have you ever found yourself in what you considered an impossible situation? Well, that’s what today’s message is all about.

Making the Impossible Possible

This is the story of the Feeding of the 5,000.

In John 6: 1-15 we learned that at one time, Jesus and His disciples were presented with a problem. They had gathered quite a following, and needed to be fed. The disciples were exhausted themselves, yet Jesus told them to feed all of these people.

They didn’t know what to do, and they hadn’t yet put their full faith in the Lord, even after all the miracles they had already witnessed, so they fretted, and worried about it, and asked Jesus how they were supposed to do it and He told them to sit and rest. Andrew showed Jesus a boy with a small amount of food, which was nice, but he knew it wouldn’t feed everybody, so he told Jesus that it still wasn’t a solution.

Then money was suggested by Phillip, even though they had none, so that wouldn’t work either. What were they to do? Well, they were supposed to turn it to Jesus, after telling Him, “We know this is an impossible situation, but we are putting our faith in you that you will help us solve it.” So when Jesus told them to sit and rest, he was showing them that He was about to take care of it and He knew they were also hungry and exhausted.

The miracle he then performed was to turn that three loaves of bread and two fish into so much food, that everyone ate their fill and even had leftovers, which Jesus told them to gather up so nothing would go to waste. This is the only miracle that’s found in all four gospels.

The message that I get from this lesson and so many more is that you cannot do anything on your own. You must have faith in God that He will somehow provide. You thank Him for what you do have and trust him to help you find a solution for what you don’t.

Thank you for being here to listen to my interpretation of the Sunday Message! I appreciate each and every one of you, have a blessed Sunday and a great week!

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Writing Prompts

The Sunday Message

Growing Your Faith in a World That Hates It

Today’s message was given at BCBC by Cody Montandon today. I’ve never seen this pastor deliver the message but I enjoyed it very much.

He started out by having us remember what it was like in school, wanting to hang out with the cool kids, or the popular crowd. We may or may not have liked the popular kids, but we wanted to be in that crowd.

He said, in today’s world, Jesus is not the cool kid. Have you ever noticed when you attempt to bring His name up in conversation, the room gets awkward?

Loving Jesus means that:

  1. The World is Going to Hate You. Yep, sorry, but it’s true. You will not be the popular kid in the crowd. Satan is trying to take over the world, and unfortunately, he is the cool kid. Don’t think so? Bring up Jesus at your next gathering and see what happens. But what does that mean? It means that loving Jesus and spreading His word is hard and it’s work. However:
  2. But Leaving the World is Not an Option. Because God still has plans for you and me. We can’t just sit around and wait to see what happens. Our job is to make sure we glorify God by spreading the message far and wide that the only way to Him is through Jesus. We need to pray every day that He reveals our purpose. God loves you even when you don’t yet know Him. And even when it’s hard:
  3. We are Called to be Faithful Anyway. We need to study his word and pray daily. But that’s not all. If the Bible doesn’t change you, it is worthless! We can study and becomes scholars but if we don’t glorify Him by sharing what we’ve learned with others in some way, we are not doing our job. In other words, we don’t get a ticket to heaven just because we know the Bible. We have to live like God wants us to. This is hard. It’s work. But if we practice daily and make it part of our lives, it will get easier. Lastly:
  4. A Faithful Life is Built Upon, and Maintained Through the Word of God. Once we are saved and accept Jesus we have justification to evangelize to others. Then we spread the truth of the gospel, giving us sanctification. “The sum of your word is truth.” Studying the word and spreading it to others provides the glorification of God.

The pastor said to attack your plan like you do when you are on a diet. The first day is the hardest. Making the decision to open your Bible and read for five minutes. Then daily, journal what you are praying for and how your prayers were answered. Then get others involved so you are kept accountable. And it grows and grows from there.

I need to do this more myself and I understand how hard it is when say, your partner or your friends aren’t exactly on the same page. That is the hard part of the work, and I struggle like everyone else in doing this. Be patient with me as I grow and learn.

Thanks for being here, thanks for reading and hopefully, you understand what I’m trying to convey.

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The Sunday Message-Solomon-I Kings 9-11

Afternoon everyone! Welcome to The Sunday Message-my interpretation or “takeaway” from the day’s sermon at Bear Creek Bible Church.

Last week, we started learning about Solomon from I Kings, and we are continuing with verses 9-11 today.

Nothing against John, but when Pastor Troy gives the message, I take so many more notes, and learn so much more. Today he talked about the rise and fall of Solomon as well as his falling away from faith.

In the beginning, Solomon had great ambitions for the nation of Israel. He builds massive building projects using forced labor. Of course, he taxes his people, never using those funds for the good of God. His power and wealth grows and he is already starting to wander slowly away from God, and forget why he was blessed by Him in the first place.

Then, the Queen of Sheba comes to visit him. They give each other exorbitant gifts of gold that we cannot even fathom. He has his people thinking he is wise, and generally a great guy. She tests him with difficult questions. She takes her gifts and goes back to her land with her servants. Solomon continues to act against God, whether he realizes that is what he is doing. He eventually marries women who are forbidden in the law. He amassed 700 wives and 300 concubines!

On top of that, he starts worshipping his wives gods, making sacrifices and burning incense to these gods. He allows them to sacrifice children. How can this be pleasing To God? It’s not, and He eventually warns Solomon that if he does not change his ways, he won’t take his wealth away from him, but from his son. He will never inherit the kingdom his father has built.

During this time come the division of the tribes of Israel. Never again we’re the original 12 tribes of Israel together again. Solomon reigns for 40 years.

Next week we will learn more about Solomon and if he comes back to God or not. My takeaway is that Solomon did not have a proper plan and act on that plan. He was blessed and then abused that blessing, thinking he didn’t need God. He did his people a great disservice. He could have used his power to do good, instead of amassing his own wealth and then took even more from his people. Proper planning prevents poor performance. Don’t you think that idiom perfectly describes Solomon?

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s message and come back next week to hear more from Solomon’s story.

Finally, we’ve all heard “live and learn” but pastor Troy says it’s better to “learn and live!” think on that til next time.

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The Sunday Message

This may seem strange to those of you that don’t attend a Bible Church, but we have now entered into the book of Kings 1 and the story of Solomon. Coming from a Methodist church myself, this order and or sense of jumping around is new and strange to me also. I’ll try to share the message as it was delivered today by Pastor Troy Godwin, while John is taking a Sabbatical.

Wisdom is Not Enough

We will be sharing about Solomon in Kings. 1-8

  1. Solomon’s first acts as a King (1-2)

Solomon was favored by God yet it was a rocky relationship and difficult journey to actually become blessed by Him and received by Him and therefore, this is the beginning parts of the journey we will be talking about. (I say we, because I am not a minister, I’m simply sharing Troy’s message. So we, is me and the church.)

His first act as a King was to take an Egyptian wife, yet this was a marriage not of love, but a political alliance. He loves God, yet he relied on his own cunning and also worshipped other gods before being blessed by Him. His new wife basically got him to the throne by reminding King David that he was the right heir to the throne. David made it so and Solomon then becomes King.

II. Solomon is blessed by God. Kings I (3-6)

Pastor Troy relates that this part of the message is to express that even though we may say that we are Believers, we commit small sins that we need to admit to the Lord. ( like speeding) He is kind and forgiving, but again, this doesn’t give us a free pass into Heaven! We have to ask God to forgive us of our sins after admitting that we do before asking to be forgiven.

Solomon doesn’t immediately change his ways, and instead starts relying more on his intelligence and power not giving all grace to God for all he has. He then offers sacrifices to the Lord and builds Him a great temple. It’s grand, expensive, bejeweled, and takes three years to build. He thinks he has done enough to please God.

III. Solomon focuses on his own glory. Kings I (7-8)

After building God’s temple, he takes 13 years to build his own home which is even more grand. Then has the nerve to ask God for more blessings! He has broken his vows by making sacrifices to or her gods, and building this huge house, and he becomes more powerful and even more wealthy and focuses on these things. Many men were also struck down during this time as Solomon thinks this would be pleasing to God.

So the takeaway here is that we should walk in the ways of the Lord, and follow all if his rules and ordinances, not rely on our own power, intelligence or anything else we do unless we always acknowledgethat all good things in our lives come from the blessings and grace of God.

Next week, I’m sure we will find out what happens next in the life of Solomon. Stay tuned!

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