Good morning Church family,
GIVING THANKS:
* London Stephen’s surgery went well! Praying that her hearing will be as good as new!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
* Angela Weber’s mom Connie fell this past week, prayers for her while she deals with many health challenges.
* Ray’s brother Mike Fernandes had foot surgery this past week. As you know Mike lost his wife Teri so he is struggling on many levels.
* Dorothea Cooper’s son David lost two close friends this past week.
* Teddy Bonadio is having many health issues and will be having tests done soon. Their grand-daughter Emma who was here this week from Kentucky, went to the hospital for a kidney stone. Prayers all around for the whole family are appreciated.
* Continued prayers for the Yaglowski family as they grieve the passing of their son Henry, Jr. There will be a wake at Abriola Funeral Home on White Plains Road, Sunday after worship from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Our hearts go out to them at this difficult time.
* The Young Adults group met last Friday and had another fun get together and bible study. Thanks to Zach and Tori for leading this effort.
COMING UP:
* TONIGHT is the Talent Show at 6:30 p.m.
Admission: Bring non-perishable foods for the Spooner House
Please bring some appetizers to share for the time of fellowship afterwards.
Bring a friend and have FUN.
SUNSHINE MINISTRY MEETING – After worship April 14th
There will be a Sunshine ministry meeting right after worship on Sunday April 14th. All are welcomed to be part of this evangelistic local outreach! Thanks to Ron & Lisa for leading this effort.
TUESDAY LADIES BIBLE STUDIES THIS MONTH, 9:30 a.m. via zoom:
STUDY – GENESIS.
* Tuesday, April 9th
* Tuesday April 23
Thanks to Lisa and Mary Lou for leading these studies. Please see Mary Lou to get a copy of the book.
FRIDAY, APRIL 19th 7pm- 10pm SECRET SISTER REVEAL & PRAYER WALK
Want to know who your Secret Prayer Sister is?
We will be having the Secret Prayer Sister reveal on Friday, April 19 at 7pm. at the church building. After a potluck dinner and the reveal ,there will be a prayer walk.
Prayerfully all sisters participating will be able to attend. A list has been posted on the auditorium doors so we can get a headcount of who can attend.
Please note that our April Saturday morning Bible class on April 13th will be cancelled so we can focus on the Fellowship and night of Prayer & Prayer Walk.
Stay tuned for more details.
GIVE-A-WAY DAY….Saturday April 27th will be here soon. This will be a wonderful outreach to the community. See Pat Keller with the items you would like to contribute & stay tuned for more details.
CHURCH DIRECTORIES ARE BEING UPDATED:
Pat Keller has placed lists of members names and contact information on the back table. Please take time to review your information and get back to Pat with any corrections.
SOLAR ECLIPSE – April 8th
Here is a link regarding the Total Eclipse which is slated for Monday, April 8th.
This event is gaining much attention with hotels booking to full capacity in parts of the country that fall in the path of the darkened areas from the eclipse.
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If only the world could be in as much awe with the SUN that rises daily. Every sunrise is breathtaking and a gift from the LORD, we just need to get up early to watch it! PRAISE our CREATOR for His Power, Mercy and Grace on each day!
WAITING ON GOD
The Hebrew word for wait is Qavah which means to wait actively with anticipation, hopefully watching for God to act. The most familiar passage in scripture where Qavah is quoted is in “Those who qavah upon the Lord will renew their strength.”
In the scriptures, the word “wait” means to hope, to anticipate and to trust. To hope in the Lord requires Faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments and enduring to the end.
Patience is one of the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit –
Waiting on God, is tough and painful. Everything about our humanness wants things to happen…NOW. We want everything at microwave speed but God doesn’t work like that. Good things require patience.
God stands outside of time as we know it.
While we wait on God we need to remember that God has our best interests at stake, and most of all, He loves us!
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus“.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a seed.
Seeds take time to grow. Walking hand in hand with God brings us to a life of spiritual maturity.
God’s plan for our lives requires patience. He calls us to come before His throne with thanksgiving, even if we are still waiting for His answer. He wants us to fix our eyes on Him, while we wait in His waiting room.
The scriptures are filled with biblical accounts of those who waited on the LORD. God promises us in His Word that He will direct our path, but waiting on Him to show us the way, is sometimes difficult and painful. Yet God in His loving omniscience, knows what is best for us both now and tomorrow, because His perspective is eternal. He can see the whole magnificent quilt, when we see only one strand of the quilt. He is the potter, we are the clay, always molding us and shaping us for His glory.
Abraham waited a long time before God gave him any children. David waited 15 years to become King of Israel. But they both had clear and specific promises from God about what would happen in their lives. They believed in God’s promises.
JESUS waited on God throughout His physical life here on earth…He waited for his disciples, He waited for the crowds, He waited patiently during the mock trials, He waited for his crucifixion, He waited for glorification, and He is waiting to return. God in all of His glory, is the only one who knows when Jesus will return for his bride, the church.
We do our best to plan and prepare for things in our lives, yet life is un-certain. We set goals and strive to achieve these goals, and often our plans and goals are put on hold, and we enter a time of waiting. We realize how little control we have on the timetable of our lives. Our timetable is infinitely in God’s hands.
We endure physical waiting... (healing from illness, infertility, etc)
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!“
Emotional waiting…..(grief from the death of a loved one, or grief from a divorce or job loss)…
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?“
Spiritual waiting.…(A family member you may be praying for to return to the LORD or give their life to the LORD; or wrestling with a personal struggle, or sin that you need God’s help to strengthen you to overcome).
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
A few tips which can help us while we wait on the LORD…
Acknowledge God’s sovereign control of all things…
Come to terms with our dependence upon God…
Be on our knees seeking spiritual strength ..Pray.
Be patient and still…
Trust Him… – and
Seek Him…
Don’t give up...
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen, is eternal.
KEEP SINGING:
GOD WILL MAKE A WAY
“See, I am doing a new thing..I am making a way.”
God will make a way,
when there seems to be no way,
He works in ways we cannot see,
He will make a way for me.
He will be my guide,
Hold me closely to His side,
With love and strength for each new day,
He will make a way,
He will make a way.
HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.”
He who began a good work in you,
He who began a good work in you
will be faithful to complete it.
He’ll be faithful to complete it,
He who started the work will be faithful to complete it in you.
If the struggle you’re facing is slowly replacing your hope with despair,
or the process is long, and you’re losing your song in the night.
You can be sure that the Lord has His hand on you,
safe and secure,He will never abandon you.
You are His treasure and He finds His pleasure in you!
He who began a good work in you,
He who began a good work in you
will be faithful to complete it.
He’ll be faithful to complete it,
He who started the work, will be faithful to complete it in you.
The apostle Paul encourages us to focus our thoughts on good things from above….in
….whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.“
“The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak,
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
they will soar like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.“
As we wait for the LORD,
may we place our HOPE in HIM…
to gain NEW Strength and RENEWAL …
as HE lifts up our wings,
so we can RISE UP like eagles.
As we wait for the LORD, let us RUN and not become weary.
“Continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever! Amen”
In Him,
Bruce & Paula