A Family Fast
Moses fasted when receiving the Ten Commandments. Daniel fasted while seeking God’s guidance. Esther fasted before approaching the king. Paul and Barnabus fasted before appointing elders in various churches.
The modern American church rarely emphasizes fasting; but given the power and pervasiveness of fasting throughout Scripture, we neglect it to our own detriment. Our congregation is preparing to invite a pastor and his family into our church family. Several candidates have expressed interest, and the PST is making decisions that will affect LTCC’s trajectory for years to come. Now is an excellent time to embrace the power of pairing our prayers with fasting.
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Making Plans
Oh, the many times I have longed to be a cricket riding the shoulder of one of those men… to hear Jesus open their minds to the Scriptures and reveal God’s plan, from eternity past, to save sinners. But as I complete another yearly read-through of the Bible, I am convinced that Jesus has been, and is, opening…
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Bodybuilding
When I was a child I played a lot of basketball, and honestly, I was good. When I grew up, I thought I was going to play basketball professionally. I was filled with potential and dreamed of playing in the NBA. Those dreams were crushed by my older, wiser, cousin when I was 12 years old. He said I had a better chance of winning the lottery than playing for the Supersonics, or any other team for that matter. Who knew I would actually grow up to be a “bodybuilder?”
It’s hard to tell by looking at me, but yes, I am a bodybuilder. Guess what? If you are…
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Reconciliation
This put Paul in an interesting position. He is the spiritual father of Onesimus, and the young man is very helpful to his ministry while he is confined to prison, but more importantly, there is unresolved conflict between Onesimus and his former master Philemon. Paul sends Onesimus back with a letter to his “beloved fellow worker” Philemon pleading with him to …
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Praying the Word
We were reminded that effective biblical prayer is a most urgent need for the church. Praying the Word of God is not new, so how can we pray His Word more effectively? We recently recited dozens of Paul’s model prayers for believers to glorify God, with eternity in mind. The biblical approach and inspired theology he uses are applicable to us today.
Let’s take this opportunity to dig into the Word of God to discover…
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Thanksgiving
As we look into the night sky, we begin to appreciate His greatness (infinitude), His power, His sovereignty, and His creativity in the diversity of His heavenly bodies and in the animals and plants around us. Each morning when we see the sunrise we can thank God for…
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Reading Into It
Churches also want to ask about a pastor’s Bible reading. For him to thrive, it should be much more than just for sermon preparation. How does he go about putting the Word in his heart? Does he still memorize scripture? What translation(s) does he use and why.
Then it is good to know how what he reads has influenced the way he ministers. Right along with that, it is a natural segue for…
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Being Light
Lately we’ve been considering how to become more missional and shine our light more brightly in the community around us. The light we share is Jesus in us, and it’s exciting to imagine all that He has planned for us!
I joyfully tell J.S. about all that God is doing…
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Trust
Election Day: Tuesday, November 5th, 2024.
I want to place before you two scenes:
One is a dry, hot, brown, deserted wasteland. Barely anything lives. Nothing thrives here. It’s a lonely, difficult place with no hope.
The other is a lush, green valley with a river running through it. Everything is vibrant. Birds are chirping, squirrels are running, and flowers are blooming. Trees provide shade and fruit for all. No one is worried when drought comes.
What’s interesting is those two places are…
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Unity
Paul says that we are not only to think about ourselves, but to consider the needs of others. Then he really goes counter-cultural to our society’s current love affair with “self-esteem” when he says to consider others more significant than yourself. Paul also points out that this attitude can only…
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First Love
For a moment, let’s consider this our prayer triplet, you, Jesus and me. Open and honest.
Ok, I’ll start… 55 years ago Patti and I began pursuing one another, spending as much time as we could talking, or just being, together. Even after curfew, we would fall asleep on the phone, just talking. I still love being with her.
Do you remember when…
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Be Encouraged!
This past Sunday, Matt shared a comment that had been attached to the Ministry Insight Tool (MIT) survey. It went something like this, “We're not waiting for the new pastor to come and fix us. We’re waiting for him to come and...
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Prayer & Paradise
The lush garden of Genesis and the glittering jewels of Revelation are meaningless apart from their Author, whose beauty is unmatched. In His presence is the greatest bliss, and to be thrown out of His presence is...
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Transformed by Prayer
Last Sunday, I preached about our urgent need for being closer to God, and that a primary way we can do that is through prayer. Are you buying it? That sounds kind of crass, but I want to challenge you to really think about it. Are you going to use your life that God has given you to...
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On Mission!
We celebrate weekly through the Featured Missionary portion of our Sunday service, hearing updates and seeing videos of our treasured missionaries. Those videos have been an especially exciting addition recently! We also have been blessed by some in person updates! We had the...
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Waiting on God
Last Sunday, Darcey Simmons presented the Pastor Search Team update. She emphasized how prayer and faith and the Holy Spirit’s leading are the team’s underpinning and has led them in developing a description of the church and our view or hopes for our next pastor. They will be contacting...
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Be Still & Know
As a career educator, I have gone “back to school” more times than I can count, and it is always just as crazy and intense when the calendar flips to September. Although there’s excitement in the air, this new season promises NOT a lot of stillness. Is it possible to “Be Still” in the middle of a packed schedule? Is this stillness referring to an absence of activity, or...
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Relationship
We were created for relationship. That’s an interesting concept. The word “relation” just means there’s some sort of connection. But if two people are in a relationship, that denotes intentionality and love. In the beginning, God created man but made a point of stating that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). And God didn’t create another being just to simply exist with the man. He created a “helper” for him – someone to be in relationship with him. That’s because mankind was made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). They were to be a reflection of the loving relationship that exists within God himself as Father, Son, and Spirit.
What we see then is that the foundation of relationships is love and that love is expressed through....
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The Joy of Serving
We are hard-wired to serve. Medical science has shown there are biological reasons we feel good when we serve. Studies have shown that people who volunteer/serve others can reduce mortality, lower risk of high blood pressure and lower risk of inflammation levels. Lowering stress levels while increasing your health, that’s certainly going to bring....
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Leading
Did you notice how it was perfect in design? Why would God create something so perfect that possibly no one would ever see? Why wouldn't He save some time and create something quicker and with less effort like a stage prop that gave the illusion of reality? The answer is obvious. Everything He does is perfect - that's who He is. Creation itself is a....
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