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Bulletin – November 3, 2013
The Tales Of Two Sticks
Conventional wisdom questions how much can be accomplished with little. We tend to believe that a lot more can be done if we have large financial resources, talented manpower, and innovative ideas. But these things don’t matter to God. Consider just a couple of examples:
In Judges 3:31, a relatively unknown man named Shamgar delivered Israel from the Philistines single-handedly. How? He won a great victory by killing 600 Philistines with nothing more than an oxgoad (a stick sharpened on one end to drive slow-moving animals).
In Exodus, when God asked Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, Moses was afraid the people wouldn’t listen to him or follow him. So God said, “What is that in your hand?” (4:2). Moses replied, “A rod.” God went on to use that rod in Moses’ hand to convince the people to follow him, to turn the Nile River into blood, to bring great plagues on Egypt, to part the Red Sea, and to perform miracles in the wilderness.
Moses’ rod and Shamgar’s oxgoad, when dedicated to God, became mighty tools. This helps us see that God can use what little we have, when surrendered to Him, to do great things. God is not looking for people with great abilities, but for those who are dedicated to following and obeying Him.
If you use what little you may have
To serve the Lord with all your heart
You will find that He can do great things
When you begin to do your part. —Sper
Little is much when God is in it.
Article by Albert Lee, 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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Bulletin – October 13, 2013
Lessons From a Fence
When a section of fence around our house blew down in a howling March wind, my first reaction was to blame the man who built it for me only a few months before. On further reflection, I knew the fault was mine. As the fence was nearing completion, I told him there was no need to replace four existing posts from the previous fence with new ones set in concrete. “Just attach the new fence to the old posts,” I said. “It will be fine.” It was—until the winds came.
Jesus told a powerful story to emphasize the importance of building our lives on the solid foundation of obeying His Word. “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand” (Matt. 7:24-26). When the wind and rain beat against the houses, only the one built on the rock remained standing.
Hearing God’s Word is essential, but doing what He says is the key to weathering the storms of life. It’s never too late to start building on the Rock.
The wise man builds his house on rock
Instead of sinking sand;
For when the storms of life descend,
That house will surely stand. —Sper
When the world around you is crumbling, God is the Rock on which you can stand.
Article by David C. McCasland, 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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POSF 2nd Annual Trunk or Treat and Candy Rain
Come join our church family on October 31st at 6:00 for a Candy Rain and a Trunk or Treat contest.
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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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!