Come join our church family on October 31st at 6:00 for a Candy Rain and a Trunk or Treat contest.
Holiness Isn’t Contagious
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!” —Haggai 1:7 (Read: Haggai 2:10-14)
Evil is like a contagious disease. Just as one person coughing in an airplane cabin can infect all the passengers, evil seems to spread among a group.
Holiness, on the other hand, must be deliberately sought. We do not become holy by associating with godly people in a cloistered environment. Holiness comes through faith and obedience to the Lord.
That is the point Haggai made centuries ago. He spoke about meat that had been set apart for sacrifice to God. If that meat touched some other food, it could not make the other food holy (2:12). On the other hand, ceremonial uncleanness could be easily transmitted by a mere touch (v.13).
Haggai told the people of Israel, who assumed they were holy because of their godly heritage, that they actually had become defiled because of their disobedience (v.14).
If you want to be holy, you must first give yourself in faith to God. Then you must learn what God wants you to do and in His strength obey Him. Having devout parents and associating with religious friends may help, but they cannot make you holy.
We become holy only as we live close to the Lord and do what He tells us to do.
Help me, O Lord, to be afraid
Of disobedient ways;
And may I seek what pleases You
And gives You highest praise. —Sper
Holiness is not a virus to be caught; it’s a way of life to be sought.
Article by Haddon W. Robinson, Our Daily Bread, Copyright 2013 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from RBC Ministries
Bulletin – October 6, 2013
The Slingshot Principle
by Mary Loudermilk
Life doesn’t always go as expected. Trouble comes to all of us, unexpectedly and sometimes intensely. Such times define our character and test our strength. It has been said that, “Adversity introduces a man to himself.
Oliver Wendell Holmes stated, “If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don’t embrace trouble; that’s as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.”
A minister friend has developed what he calls “The Slingshot Principle.” Like the stone in the pocket of a slingshot, we want to move forward in life but it seems that the more we strive, adversity pulls us back and back and back some more. Eventually, when we feel we can take no more, the pressure releases and we shoot forward beyond what we could even anticipate. It seems we must go back before we go forward, and this is not easy to understand, especially in the middle of a difficult situation.
The Bible story of Joseph, found in Genesis 37-41, illustrates the Slingshot Principle. Joseph was the favored son of his father-and despised by his older brothers. This was more than a simple case of sibling rivalry. When the opportunity presented itself, the brothers placed Joseph in a pit and devised a plan to kill him. Then followed a better plan. Joseph was “in the slingshot”-sold to a passing caravan, taken to Egypt, sold as a slave, falsely accused, and put in prison. Years passed, and the backward pressure was intense.
Joseph’s story does not end there. A series of events brought him before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams. Joseph revealed that a time of plenty followed by a great famine would come upon Egypt, and he told how they should prepare. The pressure of the slingshot released, propelling him from the pit and prison to the palace. Pharaoh asked, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God? … You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
A modern day story of triumph is that of Admiral Jim Stockdale, who for eight years endured torture as a prisoner of war in the “Hanoi Hilton.” When interviewed by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, Stockdale stated of this horrific period of his life, “I never doubted not only that I would get out but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which in retrospect, I would not trade.”
All of us will face trouble in life and feel that backward stretch. We must remember that, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
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Singing And Prayer
[They] fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense. —Revelation 5:8
In our Bible-study group, we were examining the first five chapters of the book of Revelation. We spent time talking about the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders who sang a new song when they heard that the Lamb was worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll (Revelation 5:9-10).
One member of our group asked, “What is the significance of the objects they held in their hands? Why a harp and a bowl?”
We learned that since Old Testament days, the harp has been an instrument of worship. Psalms were often sung to the accompaniment of a harp, by choirs of priests and the congregation. The golden bowls, saucer-like pans filled with incense, sent up an aroma that was pleasing to God. The rising smoke represented prayer—the prayers of the saints rising up to the Lord.
Singing and prayer are integral parts of the Christian’s worship experience, both public and private. The two are often linked in Scripture. We may have a scratchy voice or sing off-key, but through song and prayer we can express our adoration to Almighty God.
What about your times alone with God, and your public worship? Let them include both a harp and a bowl—worshiping the Lord with singing and prayer.
Meet the Savior in the morning,
Kneel in humbleness to pray;
Lift your heart in praise and worship
At the opening gates of day. —Adams
A heart aflame with worship begins with the kindling of song and prayer.
Article by David C. Egner, Our Daily Bread, Copyright 2013 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from RBC Ministries
Bulletin – September 29, 2013
Little By Little!
Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. —Exodus 23:30
When I was a little girl, my mother gave me her prized “reader” to help me learn, just as it had helped her years earlier. I loved one particular story, never dreaming how much it would affect me years later.
It was about a little boy with a small shovel. He was trying to clear a pathway through deep, new-fallen snow in front of his house. A man paused to observe the child’s enormous task. “Little boy,” he inquired, “how can someone as small as you expect to finish a task as big as this?”
The boy looked up and replied confidently, “Little by little, that’s how!” And he continued shoveling.
God awakened the seed of that story at a time when I was recovering from a breakdown. I remember how my “adult” self taunted the weak “child” within me: “How can someone as inadequate as you expect to surmount so great a mountain as this?” That little boy’s reply became my reply: “Little by little, that’s how!” And I did overcome—by depending on God. But it was one small victory after another.
The obstacles facing Israel as they considered claiming the land God had promised them must have seemed insurmountable. But He didn’t ask them to do it all at once.
“Little by little” is an effective strategy for victory.
He does not lead me year by year,
Not even day by day;
But step by step my path unfolds—
My Lord directs my way. —Ryberg
Trust God to move your mountain, but keep on digging.
Article by Joanie Yoder, Our Daily Bread, Copyright 2013 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from RBC Ministries
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Western Day – September 29, 2013
Get your cowboy get-up on and let’s have some “devil stompin” church!! There will be a “best western-dressed” Cowboy, cowgirl, Man and Woman.
We will be sharing a pot-luck western grub dinner – whatever you cook up..and bring a bunch! There will be a community outreach on Saturday morning inviting those in the community, friends, family and neighbors to join with us for a great time of worship, food, and fellowship! There will be NO EVENING SERVICE.
Bulletin – September 22, 2013
A Difficult Place
When a sudden change in technology made his job obsolete, a highly trained scientist found himself working in a fast-food restaurant. One evening after our Bible study he described the situation as difficult and humbling. He said, “One good thing I can say is that the young people there seem very interested in my faith.” A member of the group responded, “I admire you for being humble. I know your faith must have something to do with it.”
Like my acquaintance, Philip may have wondered why God would pull him off an assignment in Samaria (Acts 8:4-8) and plop him in the middle of the desert (v.26). But then he found that the Ethiopian needed help understanding the Scriptures (vv.27-35), and his place made sense.
When Jesus promised He would never leave us alone (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5), He meant in the hard times as well as in the good times. Our mission in the difficult seasons of life is to work or serve remembering we are doing it for God, and then to watch as God works to accomplish His purposes.
Look for God in your difficult place and discover what He’s doing in and through you there.
Disappointment—His appointment,
No good thing will He withhold;
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of His love untold. —Young
What’s better than answers to our why questions?
Trusting a good God who has His reasons!
Article by Randy Kilgore, Our Daily Bread, Copyright 2013 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from RBC Ministries
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Rev. L.M. Jeane – Dean of Worship
Western Day is Coming to POSF
Get your cowboy get-up on and lets have some “devil stompin” church!! The last Sunday of this month. After church join in for a Pot Luck cowboy dinner and western fellowship. There will be a community outreach the day before! Looking for a Miraculous weekend with Jesus! Make plans now to bring a friend and Don’t Miss It!
A Firm Foundation
A FIRM Foundation
These words which I command you . . . you shall teach them diligently to your children. —Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Before she was 2 years old, my granddaughter Katie did something that would make any grandpa proud: She began to recognize cars by make and year. This all started when she and her daddy began spending time together playing with his old collection of toy cars. Daddy would say, “Katie, get the 1957 Chevy,” and she would pick it out of the hundreds of tiny cars. And once, while he was reading a Curious George book to her, she climbed down from his lap and ran to get a miniature Rolls Royce—an exact replica of the car pictured in the book.
If a 2-year-old child can make such connections, doesn’t that show the importance of teaching children the right things early on? We can do this by using what I call the FIRM principle: Familiarity, Interest, Recognition, and Modeling. This follows Moses’ pattern in Deuteronomy 6 of taking every opportunity to teach biblical truths so that children become familiar with them and make them a part of their lives. Using their interests as teaching opportunities, we repeat Bible stories so they become recognizable, while modeling a godly life before them.
Let’s give the children in our lives a FIRM foundation by teaching them about God’s love, Christ’s salvation, and the importance of godly living.
O give us homes built firm upon the Savior,
Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide,
Where every child is taught His love and favor
And gives his heart to Christ, the crucified. —Hart
Build your children’s lives on the firm foundation of the Word.
Article by Dave Branon, Our Daily Bread, Copyright 2013 by RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Further distribution is prohibited without written permission from RBC Ministries