Higher Ground

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Good morning church family,
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“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars
    he puts the deep into storehouses.

 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

    let all the people of the world revere him.

 For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;

    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations.

 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people he chose for his inheritance.

 From heaven the Lord looks down

    and sees all mankind;

 from his dwelling place he watches

    all who live on earth—

he who forms the hearts of all,

    who considers everything they do.“

The image below was taken by the Webb telescope…
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GIVING THANKS:
*    Margaret's brother Bill came off of the oxygen and he went home to his house on Wednesday.  Margaret is home from Florida and her brother Tom will bring Bill home to Connecticut next week Lord willing.  They were able to get Bill a place at Wesley Village in January. God is good.  Thanks to everyone for your prayers.
*    Thanks to Zach and Tori for leading the Young Adults get together last weekend.  They had a great turn-out and here are some photos to share:
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PRAYER REQUESTS:
*    Continued prayers for Sam Walkup who has been in the hospital this past week with many challenges.  They removed his breathing tube and thankfully he is stable and making daily strides, but he is still in a fragile situation dealing with a cardiologist and nephrologist.  The family is very grateful for your prayers and for the baby steps of improvement he has made thus far.  
*    Continued prayers for Randy Springer who is still recovering from his spinal fusion surgery last week. He still has a way to go, but thanks to all for their prayers for him thus far.  
*    Prayers for Helen Haddad a member of our family, who is 98 and fell this past week. She is not doing well.
*    Mike Fernandes, Ray's brother is in need of prayers as he deals with several health issues.  His grand-daughter Mallory is also in need of prayers.
*    Prayers for Joe Nuzzo for his recent surgery.
*    Prayers for all who have lost loved ones as the holidays can be very hard.  
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COMING UP:
*    Just a follow up from a previous announcement.   Saturday, December 2nd at 11:00 AM  Lisa Carpenter Skigen is having a memorial gravesite service for Mel Skigen at the Long Ridge Union Cemetary, 156 Erskine Rd. Stamford, CT   for those who are interested.  She is inviting everyone back to her house for lunch after the service.  
*    Saturday, December 9th at 10:00 AM LADIES BIBLE STUDY at the church building.  Flo Repecko will lead the next study  “Remember your strength” as we continue the study in the book of Exodus.

*    Saturday, December 9th 4-6:00 p.m. The Meriden Church of Christ is hosting this workshop:

 

Dear Brethren,

Sneak Peak & Reminder: Potter's House Presentation

 

You are all invited to a special Bible based Pottery Demonstration entitled “A Journey to The Potter’s House” on Saturday December 9th from 4-6PM. 

The Link below gives you a Trailer to this wonderful presentation! Please share and announce to your congregation.

 

 

 

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION

Nowhere is there a more vivid example of the relationship between God and His people than is seen in the relationship between the potter and their clay.

A Journey to the Potter’s House is a unique 90 minute program that brings you face to face with God in a way that will forever change the way you understand His working in your life.

You will see what Jeremiah saw as he watched the potter take the clay through various stages, fashioning it into a useful vessel and like Jeremiah, you will grow in your understanding of how God can use all of the circumstances of your life, even the most painful ones, to fashion your life into a vessel of beauty, worth and purpose ” a vessel of honor, fit for the masters use.” 2 Timothy 2:21.

We hope you would share and announce this event so you and your congregation can join us. Registration is Required because we believe that this will draw a large audience. Please have members register online using the QR code on the attached flyer or through the link below.

 



*    Sunday, December 10th right after worship in the fellowship hall,  Jay Repecko will give a presentation on the SIBI studies being offered to everyone.  
*    Tuesday, December 12th at 9:30 a.m. will be the last Ladies morning Bible class via zoom for the month of December as they will take a break for the holiday.
*    Saturday December 16th – Families with Young Children will have a Christmas party here at the building from 9:00 a.m. to noon.  Thanks to Derin & Kristen for leading this effort.
We recently watched a documentary of the James Webb Space Telescope that was launched in December of 2021.  The Webb telescope is the successor to what we all know as the Hubbell telescope.  It is pretty incredible to watch how this man made machine was created, and what it can do.   The telescope is slated for a 20 year operation and the images of our solar system are breathtaking.
This article was taken from Science & Astronomy by Rebecca Sohn,

When Webb launched on Christmas Day of 2021, it was the culmination of decades of work by NASA scientists and engineers. The launch went off without a hitch, as did the numerous steps of the telescope's deployment in the following months. In mid-July, Webb released its stunning first images. The infrared telescope will help us see almost every part of our universe in greater detail, including the most distant galaxies, allowing us a glimpse into the past.

“Within days of [the telescope] coming online in late June 2022, researchers began discovering thousands of new galaxies more distant and ancient than any previously documented — some perhaps more than 150 million years older than the oldest identified by Hubble,” editors of the journal Science wrote in a statement. The journal named Webb as its Science Breakthrough of 2022, while the journal Nature chose Jane Rigby, Webb's operations project scientist, to include in their list, “10 people who helped shape science stories” list for 2022.

“What's more, the telescope is capable of collecting enough light from astronomical objects — ranging from birthing stars to exoplanets — to reveal what they are made of and how they are moving through space,” the editors of Science wrote. “This data has already begun to reveal the atmospheric composition of planets hundreds of light-years from Earth in great detail, offering hints as to their ability to potentially support life as we know it.”
IMAGE OF A PHOTO WHAT THE SCIENTISTS CALL THE PILLARS OF CREATION:
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The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula has long been one of the Hubble Space Telescope's most iconic images. But though the telescope, which detects mostly visible light, captured the structure’s impressive clouds, the “creation” happening within them was hidden. Now, Webb's infrared imaging has managed to capture it in the form of numerous protostars. Appearing as tiny red dots against the smoky backdrop of the pillars, these collections of dust and gas, each many times larger than our solar system, are stars being born.

“These young stars that we see in the image are not yet burning hydrogen,” Derek Ward-Thompson, head of the school of natural sciences at the University of Central Lancashire in the U.K., told Space.com in October. “But gradually, as more and more material falls in, the middle becomes denser and denser, and then suddenly, it becomes so dense that the hydrogen burning switches on, and then suddenly their temperature jumps up to about 2 million degrees Celsius [3.5 million degrees F].”

The image was created using different colors to represent mostly invisible infrared wavelengths, said Anton Koekemoer, a research astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore who put the image together using Webb’s data, told Space.com in October. 

The only visible parts of the image appear blue — those would look red to us. As the radiation increases in wavelength, so do the wavelengths of the colors, with red parts of the image, such as the protostars, emitting radiation about six times the wavelength a human eye can see. Images like this one not only show Webb's capabilities as an infrared telescope, said Ward-Thompson, but could also help us understand how stars form, including our sun.

Astronomers who are learned in the science of outer space, have pin-pointed and defined stars and how they were created,  black holes, comets, nebulae, exoplanets , galaxies and more.  

Additional images captured by the Webb telescope show God's glory and His awesome creation:
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How incredibly blessed we are to be able to peer into outer space with these spectacular and vast images.   
Yes, man created the telescope, but our God created the heavens and the earth – Genesis 1:1
Whether we see spectacular images of outer space or not, we walk by faith and not by sight.
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As human beings we are faced with daily decisions to focus on earthly things, or the spiritual things of God.  To seek the spiritual high ground, is to rise above the world and  temptation, and follow our Savior.
The scriptures call us upward to higher ground, to turn our backs on the petty,  the trivial and the unworthy,  and to take instead the high road of uncompromising integrity.  We are to stand on higher ground with the One who Himself is High and Lifted Up.
Psalm 36:5 “Your unfailing Love, Oh Lord is as vast as the Heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.“
Psalm 147:5 “Great is our LORD and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”
Isaiah 14:14  “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
Isaiah 55:9 “For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.“
Higher ground calls us to soak up and read God's word daily, to live by the Spirit and walk in the light.  To control our thoughts and our actions.
Dr. Caroline Leaf is a Christian cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology and a BSc Logopaedics specializing in cognitive and metacognitive neuropsychology.
Since the early 1980‘s Dr. Leaf has researched the Mind-Brain connection and did some of the initial research back in the late 80's showing the neuroplasticity of the brain. During her years in clinical practice and her work with thousands of underprivileged teachers and students in SA and Africa as a Communication Pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist, she developed an original theory of how we think as well as tools and processes that have transformed the lives of patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), learning disabilities (ADD, ADHD), autism, dementias, emotional mental health issues and has shown thousands of students and adults and corporations how to use their mind to detox and grow their brain. She currently teaches globally at conferences and churches and to secular audiences on these topics. Dr Leaf is also involved in the global ECHO movement training physicians worldwide on the mind and she has a panel of top neurosurgeons, neurologists, MD's, ob/gyn's, endocrinologists and neuroscientists that she consults and does research with. She has many YouTube, podcasts and video clips that she produces, reaching millions globally. Her passion is to help people see the power of the mind and the link between science and God as a tangible way of controlling their thoughts and emotions, learning how to think and learn and finding their sense of purpose in life.
Dr. Leaf shares the connection between thoughts and overall success in life. “Thoughts are real things – they occupy real estate in your brain.  'Bring all thoughts into captivity.'  Our brain is designed to do that. And when you do, your brain will start operating correctly.  
To bring every thought into captivity is referred to in scripture – 
2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Dr. Leaf advises ”  to begin focusing on positive thinking.  Negative thoughts like, you're not going to get healed;  you're going to die;  you'll never get promoted,  need to be captured and cast down.  You CAN resist them.  Never let thoughts like these go unanswered, Instead, think to yourself..”I'm not agreeing with that thought because that is not what God has promised me.”
Dispel negative thoughts.
Dwelling on higher ground brings us to a higher level of thinking.


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STAY IN GOD'S WORD..
Matthew 4:4 ““Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” 
1 Samuel 30:6 “David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.“

James 4:8 “Come near to God, and He will come near to you.“



PRAISE HIM…
2 Corinthians 10:5 “I will bless the LORD at all times, His Praise shall be continually in my mouth.” 
Psalm 34:1 “I will extol the LORD at all times, His praise will always be on my lips.  My soul will boast in the LORD, let the afflicted, hear and rejoice.”
WORSHIP HIM…
Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy , to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Psalm 63:1-4 “Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands.“
Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”
WALK IN THE  LIGHT…
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.“

PRAY…

John 14:13-14 “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.“
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” 
FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST…. All of the Gospels share the message of Jesus Christ. Stay in the word and hone in on what God says about our faith walk.
Focusing on God's glory, the hope of heaven, our purpose in life – to make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,  brings us to a higher place.  To strive to become spiritually mature and have the strength, courage and the ability to help others.
In Psalms 147:4 we read “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”

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We serve an AWESOME GOD.   
KEEP SINGING:
HIGHER GROUND
I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining, every day;
Still praying as I on-ward bound,
“Lord plant my feet on higher ground”
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on heaven's tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay,
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim is higher ground.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on heaven's tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
I want to live above the world,
Though Satan's darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on heaven's tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height,

And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I'll pray till heaven I've found,
“Lord lead me onto higher ground”
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on heaven's tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

LISTEN TO OUR HEARTS
How do you explain
How do you describe
A love that goes from east to west
And runs and deep as it is wide?

You know all our hopes
Lord, you know all our fears
And words cannot express the love we feel
But we long for You to hear

So listen to our hearts (oh, Lord, please listen)
Hear our spirits sing (and hear us sing)
A song of praise that flows (a simple song of praise)
From those You have redeemed (from those You have redeemed)
We will use the words we know,
To tell You what an awesome God You are,
But words are not enough,
To tell You of our love,
So listen to our hearts.

If words could fall like rain
From these lips of mine
And if I had a thousand years
I would still run out of time

So if You listen to my heart
Every beat would say
'Thank You for the Life, thank You for the Truth, thank You for the Way.'


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“Even the stars Praise His name!”  Psalm 148



We are so blessed to be united through our faith in Jesus Christ.  He keeps lifting us higher, and higher.  In Christ, the mountains become smaller and the obstacles easier to overcome.  He lifts US up higher to make the difficulties lower, as we press on the upward way and leave them all behind.  

Through the Holy Spirit we gain new heights as we come closer to our spiritual, eternal home in heaven.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we look forward to eternal glory.

As a child of God, we have joy and hope in knowing the LORD will, and is planting our feet on HIGHER GROUND.


The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Bruce & Paula




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