I’ve been reading the Apostle John’s 3 Epistles recently. At the end of the first book, he closes with these final words, “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” (1 John 5:21). I was expecting more of a “greet so and so” or “say hello to my sister in Christ” sort of thing. But instead, John ends the book with a warning, and it’s been causing me to pause and reflect on my own life. Is there something that I’m doing or allowing into my life that is taking the place of Jesus in my heart? Is there something that is crowding Him out? I’ve been realizing more and more how the things of the world, almost imperceptibly, sneak their way in to my life and cause me to shift my focus off of God and onto other things. I feel like these ending words from the Apostle John are like a marker in the road – a sort of ‘caution sign’ – to pause and reflect, before we get too far off course.
Are there things in your life that need some reflecting on too? In James 1:5, James tells us… “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” More than anything else these days, we need God’s wisdom to lead us and shine His light inside of us, so we can see what is hindering our relationship with Him. This is hard and humbling work, but so important.
May God give us courage, wisdom and grace as we continue to live for Him, each and every day.
❤️
TOMORROW from 10:00am to 2:00pm, we are hosting a session on “Identifying Loss and Letting Go”, with Karen Bayley from Hope Community Church in Strathmore. The session will provide guidance and tools to help process trauma and loss in our lives and deal with it in a healthy Christ-centered way. Whether you’re needing to process the challenges of this past year, the September 30th meeting, the ongoing Covid restrictions, or if you just want to learn some tools to help deal with loss, trauma and forgiveness, please consider attending. Please bring your own lunch, as food will not be provided.
Sunday School continues this Sunday at 9:30am for all ages. Kids – all ages to Junior High – please meet downstairs in the Fellowship Room. High Schoolers and Adults will gather in the Sanctuary to begin the study “Interlocked”. Each week we’ll be providing a link for the Adult Sunday School lesson. (Link is provided under the prayer concerns, entitled “Adult Sunday School Class”.) Feel free to print it or download it to your device and bring it along with you on Sunday.
All are welcome to join us at 10:30am for our Worship Service. Karen Bayley will be sharing the message with us this Sunday. We continue to observe the Provincial Covid guidelines of 1/3 capacity in our building. Seats will be available on a first come, first seated basis. If you are unable to join us in person, feel free to check out our Livestream option, available HERE.
And remember – turn your clocks BACK 1 hour on Saturday night!
Take care,
Delora
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