Good morning church family,
We are counting many blessings for our freedom, our wealth as a nation, and our provisions which are all blessings from God. We also give thanks for each of you, who make up The Church, the bride of Christ! Know how incredibly special you are!
GIVING THANKS:
* We give thanks and pay tribute to all of our Veterans and their families for serving in our Armed Forces, and for those who sacrificed their lives for our country.
* Thanks to Lisa Saracino for organizing our ladies night out time of fellowship last night. There were 15 ladies who attended and a great time was had by all. Here are some pictures to share:
PRAYER REQUESTS:
* For our continued spiritual growth in Christ , and for the lost to see God's glory.
* Irene Aschen has had struggles with breathing. She is maintaining balance with the meds that help her.
* Prayers for Meegan's job search.
* Esther and Rocko Aggrey will be traveling to Ghana on December 8th. Prayers for their safe trip!
* Prayers for Paul Woodard's Father who is not doing well. This is Brandy's Father-in-law.
* Gina Porto's husband, Ralph Porto passed away on Thursday morning. Gina is Maria Reda's sister. The wake will be from 5pm to 8pm on Thursday November 16th 2023 at the Brookfield Funeral Home. The Funeral Mass will be Friday November 17th at Saint Joseph's Church, Brookfield at 10AM. the internment is at Ferncliff Cemetary Hartsdale NY following the mass. Our prayers are with the Reda family and Gina at this difficult time.
COMING UP:
* This morning at 10:00 a.m. at the church building Nadine Keller will be leading the ladies Bible study …“Remember who HE IS” as we study the book of Exodus.
* The next two Tuesday morning LADIES BIBLE STUDIES will be on November 14th & 28th at 9:30. watch for the zoom link. Lisa and Mary Lou are leading this great study on the book of James.
COMING UP IN DECEMBER:
* 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.
* 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.
REMINDERS:
Let's remember to show our gratitude to God, and help those in need.
Thanks to everyone for providing food for our in-house Food Pantry and for Spooner House!
Our in-house FOOD PANTRY still needs a big boost in re-stocking. Anyone who can provide non-perishables, or even contribute a few $25.00 grocery store gift cards, would be helpful. The gift cards can be given to Ron who counsels many people who are in need, and this is a good work of the church.
Most everyone loves a cup of hot of tea or coffee or hot chocolate on a cold morning. Just holding the cup while it warms us up is what we need to take the chill off of the cold winter months, or even all year long. Some people prefer cold drinks such as iced coffee or iced tea.
Somehow a lukewarm drink is simply un-fulfilling.
Merriam Webster defines the word lukewarm as “moderately warm or tepid; lacking conviction or half-hearted.” “The synonyms for the word are also revealing: dull, apathetic, moderate.”
Lukewarm anything is not good for much. Can we imagine our Thanksgiving meals coming out of the oven lukewarm? or our food not being cooked through to be hot? Lukewarm food, is unhealthy because it is neither cold, or hot enough to kill the growth of sickening mold and bacteria.
Truthful story, our oven stopped working half way through the cooking process last year, and needless to say, it was not a pretty sight after 4 hours of cooking and we had to throw the turkey away. YES, the oven needs to be HOT, in order to properly cook or bake food so it is edible and edifying to our bodies.
Food poisoning is a result of Lukewarm food.
Jesus had some strong words about being lukewarm in our faith. He does not want a lukewarm Christian. He wants us to either be on fire, or cold. At least being cold, is honest, instead of acting.
Revelation 3:14-16
Jesus refers to our faith being lukewarm, as a state of apathetic uselessness.
This passage is an attempt by Jesus to get the attention of the Laodicean church’s congregation. And He made several points about having a lukewarm faith:
A Lukewarm faith limits the impact we can have for God.
People of Jesus’s day understood that lukewarm water was not as pure as either cold or heated water. It was stagnant, less healthy and not as useful. Jesus was saying that those who settle for less than full devotion to God will end up listless or idle. Being in a lukewarm state is in-effective.
Lukewarm faith leads us to rule our own lives.
Living a lukewarm faith is doing whatever we want to do, or whatever we think is the right thing to do, and not necessarily living by God's standards set forth by His word.
The church in Laodicea was filled with pride in their wealth of works, but achieved very little. The sin of these people wasn't being “half-Christian” or 50% committed. It was being unbelievers with 100% outer shell of commitment and zero percent of inner faith commitment. It was their ignorance to their true condition that Jesus was condemning.
We must be careful not to judge others as to whether they are hot, cold or lukewarm, or look down on someone's faith journey as we read in Luke 18:11-12.
Ultimately, it is God who will judge the hearts of all men. Romans 14:12 ” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.“
We each are only accountable to God ourselves, for He will be the one to determine our eternal destiny.
Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.“
Christianity is not 'cool' these days because in following Christ He asks us to “pick up our cross daily and follow Him” Matthew 16:24-26 . Christ's way is not man's way. Often what we are commanded to do, is in opposition to what the world tells us to do, and what the world celebrates!
Christians are looked upon with disdain, or “having something wrong with them” because we are different and we stand-out. We follow Jesus which requires us to walk the narrow path.
Our faith should be in continual growth mode. To live a life committed to changing our hearts, growing spiritually, and following the example of Jesus Christ.
With each passing day, it will become more and more difficult to be a TRUE CHRISTIAN as the values and morals of this world become more focused on materialism and move farther away from the TRUTH.
Let us be careful…because being lukewarm is a dangerous place to be. Why is that?
It is better to do what is right and good in the eyes of the LORD, than be “cool” by man's standards.
What does God say about these things?
John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
2 Peter :3:3 “In the last days, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.“
2 Timothy 4:2
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season:
correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.“
Remember that when we are ridiculed for our Faith, we are blessed!
Luke 6:20-26
“Blessed are you when people hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,
because great is your reward in heaven.
For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. '
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep,
Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.“
Peter wrote his letters to the Christians who were in need of encouragement, to be steadfast and continue in the way that Jesus had laid out for all of His followers; to keep on keeping on, in the midst of what they were going through.
1 Peter 2:20 “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.”
1 Peter 4:4 “They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
God's love for us is constant and eternal. He has given us EVERYTHING, and sacrificed his one and only Son. It's up to us, how much we value eternity, and return that Love.
In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus shares a few parables which help illustrate the level of commitment and/or dedication of where we are in our Christian walk.
Matthew 25:1-13 we read about the maidens who consider themselves friends of the bridegroom, but they don't live in a way that anticipates his return. They are focused only on how to make things comfortable in the present moment, not how to be faithful in their commitment to God.
Matthew 25:14-30 we read about the wicked servant who considers himself in the employ of the Master, but he's never offered his talents without reserve for the Kingdom.
Matthew 25:31-46 we read about the goats, who are surprised to be rejected by Jesus, whom they thought they were faithfully serving. But when it came time to pouring themselves out for the oppressed, they were not serving at all.
When Jesus used these parables to help shed light on these individuals who were complacent, clearly there is no middle ground here. We are either committed to the mission, and be 'all-in' for Christ, using our resources to further His Kingdom, or we are not.
We are either 'all -in' as a sheep following Jesus (our Shepherd).…John 10:14 “I am the Good Shepherd: I know my sheep, and my sheep know me.”
or ….. we are a Goat.
Matthew 25:31-33 goes on to say:
“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left“.
These words picture the final judgment that will occur when Christ returns.
Mark 13:32-33 “No one knows about the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.”
Hebrews 10:31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Christians need follow CHRIST with passion and at our personal expense, even if our life calls for it. For what we do in this life, directly affects us spiritually in our next life.
Life has a way of dwindling our flames and whittling us down. However we need to encourage everyone to grow in their faith walk, praying, encouraging, building each other up, to achieve the full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and help encourage those in a lukewarm state.
He already knows where we are on our faith journey and the challenges at stake. He knows, and He cares.
Let's not worry about being rejected by the world. Stay focused, and keep on keeping on!
KEEP SINGING:
Stand Up, Stand Up for JESUS
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the cross,
Lift high His royal banner,
It must not suffer loss.