Joe Toy Newsletter below

TGIF=Thank God I'm Forgiven! Thank God for that Baby in a manger who grew to be our sacrificial Lamb! Thank God for the free gift of salvation, faith, forgiveness, and eternal life! Thank God always and pray with expectation and thanksgiving!

Thank you for your prayers yesterday for our grieving family. God was with us and the family. God gave the parents strength to share during the funeral. Can't even imagine how without God. Their testimonies show that God is answering prayers and drawing them close during this horrific loss of their two year old. When we get to the end of ourselves, God is there and Travis shared how he has cried out to God because he cannot do this on his own. God is faithful! The pastor reminded us that we may never understand some of God's plans but we can know He promises to work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called by Him. Amen! We are praying for all of you who are clinging to God right now. He promises to be with you always. Receive His loving help and compassion.

Some of our devotionals speak into this today. TWFYT reminds us about doubt we often face in crisis and grief of loss. They remind us, as Travis is experiencing, "True faith only goes into operation when there are no answers." God is using many of us who have already traveled through some of these hard things to comfort others. The Upper Room discuss the "Power in Prayer" to our "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" who comforts us, prepares us and uses us to comfort others. Ask God for help and for whom He may be sending you. Sometimes just His presence through us is all that is needed. Just listen and love. We usually have no answers for the "WHY's". Don't even try. God's ways are not ours, but He is always at work for good and is always there when terrible-in-our-minds things are allowed. Just be present and love and allow God to love and comfort through you. And keep praying like crazy for peace beyond understanding and for God's loving presence to be received. Remember all Jesus endured and how His heart often broke for His very loved children. Allow Him to comfort and love through you and try to allow Him to love and comfort you.

I end with Harvest prayer's blog today reminding us of the power in prayer. It's a reminder about praying for and receiving Jesus' power. It's about expecting the miraculous love and power of Christ to come alive in, through and around you. Pray for that power to love, comfort and bring healing, hope and new life to those He is sending you to. Pray into that for Sun. (we are expecting many visitors who need to know Who that Baby is and how He has changed your life and can change theirs) Who are you inviting and bringing along? Who are you praying for God to send and draw to Him? I simply have invited several people and they have accepted and say they plan to come. Pray for all hindrances for that to be gone, for God to draw and for strongholds to be tore down as He brings new life, healing and hope alive. I am praying with thanksgiving and expecting to see some miracles on Sunday. Pray in faith with me! God has some great and miraculous plans coming to life as we continue to work on living and loving like Jesus! Amen! and PTL!

We have been given the free gift of love, faith, and hope and are empowered to share it. This year pray into and share the greatest gift ever! The gift that keeps on giving! God's love! Amen!

TWFYT:

UR: Power in Prayer

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

My mother was 52 when she died of a heart attack. She had not been a heart patient and had been healthy, so her sudden death came as a great shock to my family and me. We did not talk much about my mother for fear that talking about her would cause more hurt.

But during that time of sorrow and trouble God was with us. My mother was a God-fearing and God-loving person. She had taught us to love God, and our family continued to pray in the morning as we always did when she was alive. My dad kept on praying for our family’s comfort, and many friends and relatives also prayed for us.

With so much prayer I started to feel peace and comfort within me. I especially felt that the presence of God was with us all. God’s love and the support of our family and friends helped us to overcome our great loss and helped us to live life normally again.

We are all sent by God to help and support one another in times of trouble. Whether we know someone well or not, we are called as Christians to hold others in prayer as together we are all united in the body of Christ.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Dear God, thank you for your love and comfort that gives us strength to keep going even in our darkest times. Amen.Harvest Prayer Daily Devotion:

Joe Toy:

Prayer Concerns:  Pray for Mardi Gras Outreach February 7-14, 2024

December 2023 “...and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” Dear Friends,                 As the angels brought a message of hope to the shepherds about the birth of the Messiah, so we continue to spread the good news of the gospel in the Triangle Area of North Carolina.  In late November, a team of six engaged the crowds waiting for the Raleigh Christmas Parade with the good news of Jesus.  We were given great liberty to walk the parade route passing out thousands of gospel tracts and reminding the crowds of the importance of God’s love expressed to the world in the giving of His Son to save sinners. As the parade began, we moved off the route, so the folks could enjoy the parade. It was way cool to have one of our friends come up and say, “It’s the bus station preachers,” and then shake our hand.  It shows us that our consistent witness in Raleigh is touching lives for eternity and our labors are  not in vain, so we press on with the gospel.

It is hard to believe that fifteen weeks of college campus ministry is over for the semester. We have spent two days of the week at UNC and NC State preaching, witnessing and passing out gospel literature. I have focused all of my preaching on the gospel of John attempting to make Jesus an unavoidable issue. For the first eight weeks, I spoke on the seven miracles of Jesus and His resurrection.  The last seven weeks were spent on His seven I am statements.  Each week, we were able to pass out lots of tracts and engage many students in conversation.  One young man asked me at UNC, “Do you believe in fatalism or free will?” That is a loaded question.  But after discussing God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, we were able to converse on God’s plan of salvation and our need to trust Christ.  A few weeks later we met Chris, who is an alumni, but has found himself in a place where he has walked away from a previous profession of faith.  He now struggles with the brokenness of life that sin brings.  It was a joy to challenge him to return to Christ in repentance. I have seen him a few times since then, but he is still not where he needs to be. Eli and Isaac belong to a campus ministry called Wellspring.  These young men are on fire and boldly preach Christ and witness to their fellow students consistently.  It is a joy to work with these young men and encourage them in the task of evangelism.  They are truly an inspiration and the Lord is using them mightily to rock their campus for the Kingdom of God. Pray for these young men to be steadfast in the Lord. We finished up our college football outreach with a team of ten people at Carter Finley Stadium for the big rivalry game between UNC and NC State.  It was awesome to have a big team as the crowds of people flowed to the stadium.  We were able to break into three teams and cover more of the crowd.  Usually, we begin our outreach  three hours before game time with gospel preaching and literature distribution.  Most of the time we don’t have much gospel interaction, but there are those divine appointments that occur.  As Zack Brady was preaching, a crowd of ten Muslim students engaged him in dialog. Zack did a great job pointing out the flaws of their world view and showing them how they need forgiveness of sins that only Jesus can provide.  It was a great encounter and an awesome way to end our night. The Moore Square Bus Station in Raleigh has been a weekly outreach for over two years.  Recently, there has been an uptick in crime, which has increased the police presence.  We continue to preach the gospel and pass out literature.  It is not uncommon for seven bibles to be picked up from our literature table.  In the midst of the troubles many are being counseled and helped.  Pastor Jeremy stopped by from the Raleigh Dream Center and led one man to Christ last week.  Much gospel seed is being sown and we have a group of faithful men and great support form the churches who helped provide for some of the basic needs of the men and the women. Pray for this outreach to bear much fruit.  Thanks for all your prayers and support. God Bless. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! Our mailing address is: 57 N Chaucer Way Kittrell, NC  27544   Contact:  EMAIL Facebook:  OAMPhilly                     JoeToy Website:    OAMPhilly Open Air Ministries, Inc. What happens weekly with OAM, Inc.? ​Find out here: OAM Facebook page

"For unto us a Savior has been born! he is Christ the new born King!" Rejoice!

Good Morning Reborn in Christ, Hope-Filled, Family! Contemplate that salutation as you pronounce it over you and our fellowship! God put on flesh and came to live among us that we might have the opportunity to be reborn in Christ, be filled with hope and enabled to complete our mission together as we spur each other on in faith. What joy we can know as we grow in sharing our hope and inviting others to walk with us as we learn to live and love like Jesus better. Pray into that and pray into Sunday's festive Acts 2:42 type of worship service we will celebrate together and with invited guest who don't know Jesus or us yet. Father, Thank You for love and new life. Thank You for being with us always working all things together for your glory and Kingdom. Move us to be Your hands and feet, to share our hope well and to help others find new life in You. Please tear down any strongholds or barriers for those you are sending Sunday. Thank You! In the name of Jesus we pray as we ask for new life, Jesus' love and for healing and hope to come alive. Thank You! Amen! (pray something like that often for Sun and prepare your heart to allow God to use you.)

Sunday's message will be all about pondering who that baby in the manger is and how that affects our lives. We will use a lot of the Gospel of John we have just completed. Who is that baby to you? How has He affected your life? Be prepared to share that on Sunday. Charles Stanley has a great thought about that in His devotional today. Check it our below! God has some great plans for you, us and some people He is drawing to Him for Sunday! Rejoice, pray and prepare to bring and live the Good News!

Today will be a very hard day for our family as we bury two year old Hunter, our niece's son. We covet your prayers. Thank you. Many of us know grief and are experiencing some real hard things this year. As I have been ministering in this with myself and many of you, I am constantly reminded of my hope, my solid faith, God's ever-present love and care and His compassion. Today as I read Psalm 42 from ODB (open your Bibles and read that and 43 out loud) I was reminded of the last episode of season 3 of the Chosen. Asaph had prepared a Psalm to read to David with a choir humming behind Him. POWERFUL! Watch it and listen to and contemplate that Psalm today as you thirst after God and put your hope in Him. God is there with you with open arms of love and comfort and He may be stirring you to be His comfort as well. Love like Jesus. Be present, still, and share His love and compassion.

Yesterday I was questioned by one of our seasoned, solid-in-faith homebound members about something that was troubling him. How could our God allow death and suffering. He knows the answer but His empathy and compassion were bubbling to the surface and he is struggling with his having questions of God. God loves us and loves we when we question for understanding, healing and wisdom. Think about the virgin Mary wondering how she would become pregnant when she was still a virgin and trying to wrap her head around all that was being prophesied over her. Think about the "thick headed" disciples questioning Jesus all the time. It is ok to seek God for understanding and wisdom and discernment. Don't allow Satan or your own thinking to cause you to question your faith or motives. I'm always crying out to God to help me become a disciple maker, why I am failing, who am I supposed to disciple when it seems like no one is available or wanting to. He knows our hearts. He made us. And He allows and helps us through whatever we are facing step by step including questions for understanding. And we have to know that sometimes, He won't reveal the whys or answers to our questions and learn to be ok with that and continue on in faith. Some things we will never understand this side of heaven as we continue to grow in faith and journey with Jesus. That is a fact. Remember, we walk by faith not by sight. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts not like ours. Seek and love God with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding. (that's a command. some things we can never understand) Acknowledge God in all your ways and trust Him to lead you step by step--even through and forward in grief and questioning. He loves you! He knows you.

 At Christmas we celebrate Hope, Healing, Joy and Love coming and putting on flesh. God wants to incarnate those thing in and through you as you allow Him to put flesh on His Love, Healing, Hope and Joy and walk around displaying them wherever you wander. 

Yes we often wonder as we wander. But we do know our Savior and His love is real and perfecting and everlasting. Receive it, dwell in it and share it today. God is love and Love lives in you and comes alive through you. God knows who will come and who will not. Many are choosing Hell. Shake the dust off the flip flops and place those Hell-bound ones in God's hands and look for where He is at work and join Him. But for those He is drawing and sending you to, love like Jesus. Who need to hear who that Baby is to you and hiw he changed your life?

I end below with a photo of my Harvest prayer starter guide for today (no time to type it) pray through those things as we experience God threading His love through our lives, actions and preparation time with Him. He is speaking to your heart right now and pronouncing His love over you. Sit in it a spell as you prepare to follow Him today. Go! Love like Jesus. Know Christ and make Him known! Amen!

Charles Stanley:

ODB:

Harvest Prayer Starters for today:

It's beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas! What a beautiful morning with just a little snow to make things merry and bright--and no shoveling! Merry Christmas!

Good Morning Broken and Healing, Tested and True, Worshiping in the Storms, Showered with Love, Grace, and Mercy Children of the King of the Universe! Is that you? It sure can be! God is God and we are not. It's impossible to fathom and comprehend all His ways. But it is possible to know and understand that He has our best in mind always, even when we face some very hard testing of our faith, stretching of our faith, and even grief. He wants you to know and be assured that He really loves you, is with you and will help you through whatever you are facing today. Allow God to comfort, strengthen, grow and use you. He does have great plans awaiting the other side. Choose joy! Receive His shalom!

Some days, like this morning, it's very obvious that God is speaking to my heart with something for me and/or others. Last week and continuing into yesterday was not the most fun vacation yet Karen and I were able to choose joy, see God's hand in everything, praise Him and just know that He is at work. His ways are truly not ours and His plans don't always match our expectations, but so what? He knows best! And we have learned to trust Him, receive with thanksgiving His presence and stretching and peace. Yesterday continued the pattern of sickness, storms, and our plans not quite happening as we thought. BUT GOD! PTL! He always has something good in the works! Yesterday Karen started with my cold from last week on her very busy transition day back to work. God awoke me at 1:30 and we had a great quiet time. Expecting to be able to take a nice nap after I sent the blog before working on Sunday's message and plans, I turned around to find water lapping at my chair (my office is in the basement). This hasn't happened in the 4 years we lived here. (Didn't know our house came with a wadding pool!) God allowed Karen the grace and strength to have a pretty productive day. He also, showed me His loving presence with allowing me to complete Sunday's stuff and the strength and wisdom to get everything cleaned up and drying out. And He allowed me to sleep in until 3 this morning, healed and refreshed. PTL! He is really for us in spite of what we may think or our circumstances and His mercies are new every morning! PTL! I really love God and how He works! It's always something different, new, unexpected, exciting and cause for joy and thanksgiving. However, we sometimes have to choose those things and look for the silver linings as we try to count our many blessings. Wonder what all God has in store for today! Whatever, His grace will be sufficient and I have the opportunity to choose joy and receive His shalom. PTL!

Today, I believe God has a word for some of you too as we engage with Him through our devotionals. What's He saying to you? Journal it and discuss it with some friends and choose joy and receive shalom. Charles Stanley speaks about God's restorative mercy. He begins with this thought, "Today, you may be wondering, Can the Father bring joy and meaning back to my life? Can He really heal me of all my regrets?" Well, we all know the Sunday school answer to that, but do we really know and believe and experience the truth? Are we able to make the transition to receiving His loving best and choosing joy? Try to turn off the noise inside your head, of your circumstances and of the chaos all around and still yourself to know and receive. Next I read ODB about learning from our scars. How often have we wrestled with God? How many of us have that "limp" from His reminder and blessing? How has that been transformative as you shed your old ways and nature and step into your new name more fully? As I was meditating on that, I couldn't help but think about Paul's thorn in the flesh. Lo and behold I open TWFYT talking about that and being broken, restored and used by God as He and/or we humble ourselves. What "thorn" is keeping you humble and reliant on God? We remember who we were and how we used to be with regrets and Satan loves to keep bringing those failures to mind. Turn off that noise! You are forgiven--MUCH--Always! Humble yourself. Dying to self sometimes includes letting those past things go and refocusing on our Forgiver, Healer, Restorer. As I was recounting the new lives of Jacob/Israel and Saul/Paul, I started praising God for my new life and His growing me into His man doing His plans. Then I opened the UR reminder of celebrating with all our hearts as we remember and see and know God is at work! Even in the storms, we can choose to count our blessings and refocus. We may not feel like dancing but tapping toes to the beat of a great praise song or hymn can lead to happy feet that want to dance with Jesus! Try it! Keep building those gratitude lists! God is for us and His ways are not ours. Rejoice and keep trusting and growing in faith and usefulness!

So as if that wasn't enough, the last thing I did was open my prayer starter book with these prayer starters. Yes God is speaking to you and wants to speak to someone through you today! PTL! Pray along with me..."Praise God who has invited you into His circle of fellowship through Jesus Christ. Thank Him for His invitation to love Him with all your being (Mk.12:33). Confess to God that sometimes you don't love and honor Him as you should. Commit yourself to Deut. 10:12: 'To fear the Lord (YHWH) your God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve [Him] with all your heart and with all your soul.' Ask God to enable you to fulfill that commitment today. Think of the oldest and youngest members of your family today. Ask God to meet special needs of those two people. [I can't help but think of and pray for the Henley family at the loss of their 2 year old and the funeral Thurs. And how He wants us to minister to them?] Thank God that His love spans the generations. Pray that the evangelistic outreach of your church will be driven by simple love for people. Ask that any pride or self-will will be confessed and repented. [pray for our evangelistic worship and brunch Sunday to draw many to God and new life and for God to use each of us well] Pray that the knowledge of Christ will be spread throughout the world, even as tiny seeds grow into vigorous plants (Mk. 4:31). Pray for faithful preachers of the gospel (Mt. 24:14). [pray we would all be one, with words and deeds] Ask God to make you alert to the needs of unsaved people you know. Pray that God will show you practical ways you can minister to them and ultimately show them how to believe and become disciples of Jesus." Pray for me as I spend the next two days visiting and loving on our homebound members. (Health, wisdom and overflowing love and joy. Thanks!)

God is Love. He loves you beyond measure! He is with you always! And He is working all things together for those who believe (or will come to believe). He created you for such a time as this and is working you into your best in Christ and for His purposes. Yes sometimes it's hard to see it and know it, but it's always true. (I can't imagine what the HENLEY'S ARE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW? But I do know that as they journey through this, God will be there holding them and ready when they are to come to His shalom.) I'm praying for all of you to journey well and with God always! I'm praying for you to be able to choose joy and continue to grow in faith. I love you all! Wish I could give you a big hug right now! God really does love you, know and care! Rejoice! 'Tis always the season for that! Again I say rejoice!

Shalom to you all!

Charles Stanley:

ODB:

TWFYT:

UR: All My Might

David danced before the Lord with all his might. - 2 Samuel 6:14 (KJV)

On the last day of the school term, I went to my daughter’s class. The teacher had turned on a radio to entertain the children. Most of them were sitting and swaying their little bodies to the music. Then a very popular Christian song began to play, and the children jumped up from their desks. Gleefully they began singing along and dancing in unison. They all knew the dance moves for that particular song.

I was fascinated as I observed how one song could immediately change the atmosphere from calm to full of energy. I thought about the power of music and how in 2 Samuel 6:14-16, David “danced before the Lord with all his might” as he brought the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. I remembered also how Jehoshaphat appointed people to sing and praise the Lord, which changed the outcome of the battle they were facing. (See 2 Chron. 20:21)

From that day forward, as I offer my praise to God each day during my prayer time, peace and assurance flood my soul. I feel God’s presence and see God acting in my life whenever I worship through songs of praise. This thought keeps me joyful throughout the day and gives me assurance that God is always with me.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Dear God, help us to appreciate the importance of glorifying your holy name. We sing our heartfelt gratitude to you. Amen.

Good Morning Very Loved, Forgiven, Purposeful Perseveres! Oh Yes! Pronounce that out loud over you and us with much joy and thanksgiving! Your are very loved creations of God--His masterpiece! When we confess and come to Christ in repentance we are forgiven--always! We were created for God's purposes and when we come to Christ, we are gifted and enabled to complete them. We come just as we are and grow into who we were created to be and now able to do all the great things we were created to do. Our part is to stop, repent, trust God, choose joy and persevere in faith, on step at a time, as we complete our assignments until He calls us home. The Good News is that we are able to do so because God is with us working all things together for good and guiding our steps, providing all we need each day, and empowering us to complete our assignments well. That just blows my mind sometimes! Praise God. Trust and follow well. Choose joy and be blessed and a blessing today! 

You know we were all one way and now another and as we run our races well we will grow into other ways as we journey to become more like Jesus. He has something good very day and stage of our lives. He sees you. Loves you. Is with you every step of the way from cradle to grave and has so many great plans for you. Rejoice! Yesterday I again had the pleasure of visiting our 103 year old member Doris Hausman. What a joy! She is still worshiping and serving our Lord as she can with what she got where she is at. That can be you everyday as well. Yes she is in a wheelchair in a nursing home but that doesn't matter. She knows and loves Jesus, prays all the time, brings joy to staff, residents and visitors and allows God to love through her. And that is all we need to choose to do as well. Does she have hard days? Sure, even hard hours, BUT she is able to repent when she grumbles and has a pity party, praise and refocus on God and choose joy as she allows Him to comfort, forgive and lead her to her next assignment. That's all God requires of us as well. Choose joy, trust, obey and be used as you are where you are with what you got. Live and love like Jesus! Period! Turn off the noise of circumstances. Choose joy and allow God to use you. That's Jesus' easy yoke that brings many blessings alive. Here's a photo from yesterday with daughter Sally. Notice Doris always carries a Jesus doll with her and even sleeps with Him as a reminder that he is with her always. He is with you always as well! remember that!

Today this song came to my mind as I read Charles Stanley devo. More Love. More Power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q539OrgDxk0.

As we continue to work on becoming who we were created to be and doing more of the things we were created for more better, we need God and His power. Still yourself today. Worship with this song and receive His love, power and strength to fulfill your purposes today and for the rest of your life. He is with you, for you, and cheering you on! And wanting you to choose more too. Hammer down!

Here are our devotionals for you today to contemplate with God and some friends. What's God saying to you? What do you need to repent of? Who might you help with refocusing and choosing joy? Who might help you? What is one thing that will help you to take the next step of faith? Do it! What is something measurable that God is revealing for you to do and what will you do about it? More of Christ and less of me! When I am weak, He is strong. Father, give us willing hearts, moving feet and more of You, more love, more power, more of You in our lives and more of You overflowing to others today. Come! Have Your way with me! Use me well and grow me into all You have planned for me! Thank You! I love You and rejoice to do what I can with what I got for Your glory! Bring more alive! Thank You as we seek to become more like Jesus and ask in His name for His glory. Amen!

We are learning to live and love like Jesus more better! PTL! Rejoice I say! More love and more power are available to you today--everyday! Rejoice and cry out for them and receive them with joy as you go, follow and love well!

Charles Stanley:

ODB: read Isaiah passage. What's God saying to you? Let go, let God and move forward with him!

TWFYT: What's the most important thing for you to do today? Will you do it?

UR: What can you give as an offering to God and blessing to Him and others, just as you are and where you are right now? Receive His sufficient grace as you journey forward in Christ!

Paul wrote, “[The Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” - 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

Every Christmas I get a little depressed. In this season, Christians do many things to make life brighter for others. But I can’t do the majority of them since my age prevents me from driving or doing much physical activity.

One Christmas, however, I kept hearing the song “The Little Drummer Boy.” It changed my focus from what I can’t do to what I can. The lyrics of the song explain that the little drummer boy couldn’t buy a gift or do something brave for the Christ child, so he didn’t think he had anything to offer. But then he realized one thing he could do: play a song for Jesus.

So I quit thinking about what I can’t do and started concentrating on what I can do. I can pray; I can be cheerful and friendly to those I meet at the senior center; I can celebrate Jesus’ birth at my church. Sometimes God helps us to do things we don’t realize we can. And God will honor even seemingly small actions if they are done to glorify God. So like the little drummer boy who played his very best for Jesus, we can do our best and honor God with our service.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Dear Lord, help us do our best for you in whatever ways we are able. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Updates:

Sarah will be sending some out later. PTL! Maura (our granddaughter) is home and heading to day care today. Please continue to pray for full healing, health for Eric and Racheal and rest and refreshing. Thank you!

As soon as this sends, we are on vacation. PTL that the family doesn't need Karen to babysit today and that we can celebrate our 19th anniversary today and get ready for our flight to Florida early tomorrow. Pray for nice weather. It's suppose to rain all week down there and for refreshing and fun for us. Thanks!

Last evening I received a call from a distressed friend. She and her husband are going through a lot and both are depressed yet seeking God. I was able to refer her to Sarah (counseling should be with same sexes). Thank God for Sarah and her wisdom of resources and shepherding heart. Pray for her as she covers for me this week. Pray for this couple to find shalom, provision, wisdom, and joy.

Pray for Mike Laise. He is preaching for me on Sunday. God spoke to his heart yesterday and gave him a good word for Sunday. PTL!

Pray for all of us to continue to grow in faith and to be able to choose joy more quickly. I am including the Harvest Prayer from yesterday again below. It is a powerful prayer to pray over you and for others. Maybe share it with a friend in need. The couple above came to mind when I prayed it again this morning.

Good Morning Joy Choosing, Growing in Faith, Praying, Friends! This is the day the Lord has made! Rejoice and be glad in it! Joy and choosing joy continues to be the theme as we move toward God's shalom.

Below are our devos today that continue the themes of joy, faith, peace and the importance of small groups and huddling with friends. What's God saying to you and what will you do about it? Choose joy! Grow in trust! Follow God with some friends. Complete your journey here well! God loves you and created you for such a time as this. Rejoice! And receive His shalom. Amen!

Have a great week! Promise, no more blogs until next Mon. However, God will speak to you as you engage with Him on your own or with some friends. Rejoice! Shalom!

Harvest Prayer Blog: from yesterday.

ODB:

UR:

From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. - Psalm 22:10 (NIV)

For as long as I can remember, my father was not present in my life. During my childhood, I struggled and felt sad when we had homework regarding Father’s Day or when I heard from friends about how their fathers were the center of their families.

When I was in middle school, a friend invited me to church. Many of my friends and their families also attended the church. Occasionally, I was filled with longing when I saw the fathers there with their families.

In high school, I met a girl who loved God. One day she and I discussed faith. She had also been brought up by her mother, and she too had experienced the difficulties of not knowing her father. She told me that since becoming a Christian, she had come to know God as her father.

Her testimony deeply resounded in my heart, and tears streamed down my cheeks from the inferiority I felt for being without a father. She then shared with me scriptures that comforted her. That day I understood the spiritual meaning of having a heavenly Father who created me. And I was greatly comforted.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Father God, thank you for the comfort of knowing we have life in you. Help us to comfort our brothers and sisters as you have comforted us. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.TWFYT

Charles Stanley:

Please pray for Mike Laise as he brings God's Word today and for Sarah as she leads worship. Pray for any kids that come to connect to God as we have no Children's Church teacher available today. Ask God to raise up a few more helpers for that.

Good Morning Teammates! Even though in many ways this week of vacation could be deemed the week from Hell for us, Karen and I were able to choose joy as we allowed God to give us rest, His peace beyond understanding and to experience His unfailing, even refining, love. Thank You Lord! In the midst of sickness, and a washout rainy week, we learned that Karen's ex-sister-in laws family had a major tragedy (we are still very close with this part of her ex's family and numb right now). Karen's niece and our kids cousin lost her two year old son in his sleep on Thurs. with no apparent cause at this time. We will be burying him Thursday. Please pray for the Henley family, especially Paige and Travis the parents. We just got their photo Christmas card on Friday. Ask our God of comfort and peace to come and be very real to them and to help us minister to them all.

I really had no intention of restarting my blogs until at least tomorrow, BUT GOD! He had other plans, so here I am trying to recount and recall all He has been revealing this morning. He awoke me with a headache and sore throat and a dream or vision of some plans for us, so I got up at 1:30. Please bear with me as this may get a bit long. (I guess He wanted to make up for lost time!  Actually, He used this down time to bring to light a ton of things for me and for us together. I'm still trying to process and this blog will be an attempt to journal some of all He is revealing. Thanks Lord!) Lord open all of our hearts and minds to hear Your heart and discern Your revelation for us individually and as Your Body. Thanks! Lead us into much more of You and Your plans in 2024. And Lord bring dreams and visions to our St. Matts Vision team for our gathering in Jan. As we ask in Jesus' name and for your glory. Come! Amen

I think what God is showing me is that He does have a future and hope and some great plans for us that need some processing with the leaders of our church. We know that our bishop has called us to become a dynamic movement of God as we get to know Christ more and make Him know more all around us. We know His plans for us include learning to live and love like Jesus as we bring Him to life to those He is connecting us to. We know we need to find a few more connection points to those He is drawing besides our bread/pantry/clothing ministry. We have been praying and seeking and receiving. It's time to continue to do that as we move towards enacting His will, plans and way for us. Keep asking Him to reveal what's for now and what's for next and discernment and a willingness and hunger to become disciple makers. We are birthing in prayer His next steps for us. Keep up the good work team!

Over the past few years, God has been leading and growing us from B.E.L.L.S. and realizing He wants to use and is sending each of us. He has led us through several challenges as He continues to help us grow into the people we were created to be and preparing and readying us for our purposes for such a time as this. God really does have great plans for us being revealed each step of faith and growth with Him. Thanks Lord! We are completing the Become Me in '23 Challenge and God recently revealed to me that for next year He wants to expand on that with the Become More in '24 Challenge. More of Him and less of me! Become more of who we are in Christ and become more better at fulfilling our purposes. Amen!

Today He wants us to just listen, dream and receive as we sit at His feet prayerfully, open-heartedly and engage with Him through our devotionals. In each one he revealed a piece of the puzzle to me today. What's He revealing to you? Charles Stanley reiterates God's Mission or plan for us. ODB reveals the how to for growing into His plan. The UR speaks into His provision for this plan. (He always provides Where He guides and we are His provision too). And TWFYT reminds us of the cost we need to assess to see His plans come to life. As you study there today ask God to give you a word or two to work on next year and for some people to process with. As I finished my time with God the Harvest Prayer blog was in my email. End with praying that and save it to pray often. May God bless you with ears to hear, hearts to respond well and many dreams and visions of His plans for you and us. And may he bless us with others to process, pray and plan with. he is speaking and we do have a future and hope. may we all choose joy as we grow in faith and trust as he leads us to the new thing that is springing forth in our midst! Shalom!

Please pray for Mike Laise as he brings God's Word today and for Sarah as she leads worship. Pray for any kids that come to connect to God as we have no Children's Church teacher available today. Ask God to raise up a few more helpers for that.

Good Morning Teammates! Even though in many ways this week of vacation could be deemed the week from Hell for us, Karen and I were able to choose joy as we allowed God to give us rest, His peace beyond understanding and to experience His unfailing, even refining, love. Thank You Lord! In the midst of sickness, and a washout rainy week, we learned that Karen's ex-sister-in laws family had a major tragedy (we are still very close with this part of her ex's family and numb right now). Karen's niece and our kids cousin lost her two year old son in his sleep on Thurs. with no apparent cause at this time. We will be burying him Thursday. Please pray for the Henley family, especially Paige and Travis the parents. We just got their photo Christmas card on Friday. Ask our God of comfort and peace to come and be very real to them and to help us minister to them all.

I really had no intention of restarting my blogs until at least tomorrow, BUT GOD! He had other plans, so here I am trying to recount and recall all He has been revealing this morning. He awoke me with a headache and sore throat and a dream or vision of some plans for us, so I got up at 1:30. Please bear with me as this may get a bit long. (I guess He wanted to make up for lost time!  Actually, He used this down time to bring to light a ton of things for me and for us together. I'm still trying to process and this blog will be an attempt to journal some of all He is revealing. Thanks Lord!) Lord open all of our hearts and minds to hear Your heart and discern Your revelation for us individually and as Your Body. Thanks! Lead us into much more of You and Your plans in 2024. And Lord bring dreams and visions to our St. Matts Vision team for our gathering in Jan. As we ask in Jesus' name and for your glory. Come! Amen

I think what God is showing me is that He does have a future and hope and some great plans for us that need some processing with the leaders of our church. We know that our bishop has called us to become a dynamic movement of God as we get to know Christ more and make Him know more all around us. We know His plans for us include learning to live and love like Jesus as we bring Him to life to those He is connecting us to. We know we need to find a few more connection points to those He is drawing besides our bread/pantry/clothing ministry. We have been praying and seeking and receiving. It's time to continue to do that as we move towards enacting His will, plans and way for us. Keep asking Him to reveal what's for now and what's for next and discernment and a willingness and hunger to become disciple makers. We are birthing in prayer His next steps for us. Keep up the good work team!

Over the past few years, God has been leading and growing us from B.E.L.L.S. and realizing He wants to use and is sending each of us. He has led us through several challenges as He continues to help us grow into the people we were created to be and preparing and readying us for our purposes for such a time as this. God really does have great plans for us being revealed each step of faith and growth with Him. Thanks Lord! We are completing the Become Me in '23 Challenge and God recently revealed to me that for next year He wants to expand on that with the Become More in '24 Challenge. More of Him and less of me! Become more of who we are in Christ and become more better at fulfilling our purposes. Amen!

Today He wants us to just listen, dream and receive as we sit at His feet prayerfully, open-heartedly and engage with Him through our devotionals. In each one he revealed a piece of the puzzle to me today. What's He revealing to you? Charles Stanley reiterates God's Mission or plan for us. ODB reveals the how to for growing into His plan. The UR speaks into His provision for this plan. (He always provides Where He guides and we are His provision too). And TWFYT reminds us of the cost we need to assess to see His plans come to life. As you study there today ask God to give you a word or two to work on next year and for some people to process with. As I finished my time with God the Harvest Prayer blog was in my email. End with praying that and save it to pray often. May God bless you with ears to hear, hearts to respond well and many dreams and visions of His plans for you and us. And may he bless us with others to process, pray and plan with. he is speaking and we do have a future and hope. may we all choose joy as we grow in faith and trust as he leads us to the new thing that is springing forth in our midst! Shalom!

Charles Stanley: Our Mission

ODB: Read and meditate on Prov. 3: 5-18. WOW! Our how to!

UR: (Our Provision) 

If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. - 2 Corinthians 8:12 (NIV)

I once participated in children’s ministry at a church in an impoverished community. As Christmas approached, my colleague announced that the church would host a celebration and invite children from a local orphanage. Since the children in the church were in need themselves, I didn’t expect them to offer anything to the children from the orphanage.

On the eve of the Christmas celebration, I was surprised to see the children bringing gifts to church. It turned out that in early December, the children had worked together to collect discarded water bottles. They used the proceeds they received from recycling the bottles to buy gifts which they presented to the children from the orphanage. Our children opened my mind because they succeeded in doing what the verse above states. Even though our children were living in poverty, they gave what they had to the children in the orphanage to show their love and care.

It is easy to feel burdened by difficult circumstances and think, Why should I give while I am still lacking? However, God gives us the strength and the ability to do God’s will. We can all offer something to help the children of God.

TODAY'S PRAYER

O Lord, give us the strength and ability to do good for our neighbors. Amen.TWFYT: Count the cost

Maybe start with this and end with this today!

Harvest Prayer blog:

Charles Stanley: Our Mission

ODB: Read and meditate on Prov. 3: 5-18. WOW! Our how to!

UR: (Our Provision) 

If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. - 2 Corinthians 8:12 (NIV)

I once participated in children’s ministry at a church in an impoverished community. As Christmas approached, my colleague announced that the church would host a celebration and invite children from a local orphanage. Since the children in the church were in need themselves, I didn’t expect them to offer anything to the children from the orphanage.

On the eve of the Christmas celebration, I was surprised to see the children bringing gifts to church. It turned out that in early December, the children had worked together to collect discarded water bottles. They used the proceeds they received from recycling the bottles to buy gifts which they presented to the children from the orphanage. Our children opened my mind because they succeeded in doing what the verse above states. Even though our children were living in poverty, they gave what they had to the children in the orphanage to show their love and care.

It is easy to feel burdened by difficult circumstances and think, Why should I give while I am still lacking? However, God gives us the strength and the ability to do God’s will. We can all offer something to help the children of God.

TODAY'S PRAYER

O Lord, give us the strength and ability to do good for our neighbors. Amen.TWFYT: Count the cost

Maybe start with this and end with this today!

Harvest Prayer blog:

Good morning Joyful, Rejoicing Worshipers! We will hear a lot about joy and rejoicing today during worship as we light the Joy Candle on our wreath and explore joy in the Gospel of John. I think back several years when we explored a different spiritual virtue each month. Maybe one of those virtues might be a word God is leading you to work on next year as you work out your salvation with fear and trembling and work on becoming more of the person you were created to be or doing more of the things you were created to do. God has plans for you and is at work in you and all around you to bring His perfect will and plans to life. REJOICE! The spiritual virtue for Jan. was joy. I think about how we get to choose joy often since that study and have been working on that virtue myself since then.

Joy is a choice we get to make despite our circumstances. Joy flows from an active faith life where we know God is always at work bringing His will to life, that He never forgets us, and is working all things together for good for those who believe. He is working ALL things together and may allow some trials, testing and hardships into your life as part of that working all things together. So, choose joy as you trust Him to be with you, carry you, teach you, prepare you, stretch you and use you for His glory and plans for you. Check out our devos below as they do tie to this theme of trust and joy and the peace beyond understanding that you can know in Christ. We will start with Harvest Prayer's blog for today about praying for that.

You all have purposes no matter your age, circumstances, faith level or gifts and abilities. God knows, cares and has something just for you just as you are. One of the most important purposes in our Good News Delivery Co. is the role of praying. Prayer is vital! And what's cool is everyone can pray and learn how to pray more effectively as you practice praying. Check out this quote from Harvest Prayer's blog today: 

Prayer Pointer
“Ministry without prayer becomes work in the power of the flesh. Prayer without ministry is complacent Christianity.” —Anonymous

May you grow in faith as you trust God more, choose joy and come to know His peace. Rejoice and worship well today! Shalom!

Harvest Prayer Blog:

ODB:

UR:

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. - Luke 2:4 (NIV)

Every year, many of us enter the Christmas season with a vision of the perfect Christmas. We dream of smooth and safe travels, gatherings filled with laughter, no one sidelined by illness, gifts perfectly selected and joyfully received. But rarely do we get that ideal Christmas!

Even the first Christmas was not perfect. The government had issued a decree, so Mary and Joseph packed what they needed and made their way to Bethlehem. As she neared the end of her pregnancy, probably the last thing Mary wanted to do was leave her home and her community of friends.

Maybe in this first week of Advent some situations are already far from ideal. Family tensions, financial burdens, health challenges, work-place stress — any and all of these can steal our joy. But God comes to be with us in the life we have right now, not the life we wish we had. Circumstances we resent won’t change the truth of Christmas. The first Christmas in Bethlehem is a powerful reminder to us that God comes to be with us in places and circumstances that are sometimes less than ideal — offering us the light of eternal love.

TODAY'S PRAYER

Gracious God, we need your presence with us in all our circumstances. Come this Advent, we pray, and meet us in the reality we are living right now. Amen.

TWFYT:

Wagner's Newsletter:

Greetings from cold and snowy Minnesota, As we sit in the living room of Luke & Rachel’s home in Minnesota, holding our newborn grandson and watching the snow(!), it is hard to believe that classes at RVA finished just two weeks ago. Over the last few weeks, we have witnessed God’s perfect timing again and again. A New Grandson We arrived in the US just 10 days ago. Three days later, we were on a train to Philly where we boarded a plane to Minneapolis. Arriving that afternoon, we enjoyed family time together and made plans for the next day, as we anticipated waiting a few days for this little one to arrive. Those plans changed quickly as we joyfully welcomed Cayden Thomas into the world the very next afternoon! God’s perfect timing - amazing! Getting over jetlag while enjoying a large dose of baby snuggles has been a wonderful gift to our weary minds and bodies. Finishing Up at RVA Our last weeks at RVA were quite full, as expected, celebrating an early Christmas with concerts and fun parties before sending our dorm boys and students off for the December term break. We also had some unexpected things to navigate. Missy had been dealing with a cracked tooth since May. The repair worked for a time, but early in November it began hurting again. A week before our departure, she was having the tooth extracted. Thankfully, this is much easier and cheaper in Kenya where we have an excellent dentist. Again…God’s perfect timing as we could deal with the tooth before leaving and not have to figure it out in the US.   As part of the process of preparing to leave, we also scheduled regular physicals and other medical check-ups. The doctor that Brian was supposed to see was not available; and instead, he met with a different doctor. One of the questions that came up was a low resting heart rate that has been noticed in the past, but not really a big concern. This doctor decided to run some extra tests that turned up an issue for which Brian is not showing any symptoms. That led to even further tests right before we left Kenya, including a cardiac MRI on the morning of our departure. Again…God’s perfect timing, as these tests were easy to schedule, relatively inexpensive, and fully covered by our overseas insurance. The Next Steps Now that we have a diagnosis in hand along with extensive testing data, we are scheduling doctor appointments on this side of the ocean to figure out exactly what is going on and determine the best course of treatment. We’re thankful for our Kenya connections as one doctor contacted another, who contacted another and ultimately got Brian an appointment with a pulmonologist this next week. We are in the States, able to get excellent care, with the time and space needed to do the follow-up necessary…God’s perfect timing! Prayer Requests PRAY that the doctors will be able to discern the cause of the excess pressure in Brian’s heart and develop the best treatment plan. We are so thankful that this has been discovered before it causes any noticeable symptoms and long-term damage. PRAY with us for accurate test results, clarity on the cause, and good treatment options. We are grateful that we have time to work through this.   This next prayer request just turned into a PRAISE! Micah has been diligently searching for a car and prayed about several options with God closing the doors each time. Earlier today, he and Lynnsi purchased a car! We’re thankful for this provision for them which allows us to use our own car throughout the next nine months. Upcoming Schedule We will travel back to PA early this coming week and spend about ten days there before driving back out to Minnesota for a family Christmas. As our travel plans begin to solidify for 2024, we will share more frequent updates to let you know where we will be and when. We would love to have time together while we are in the States.   Thanks for standing with us in prayer. You are a blessing!   Brian & Missy

Good Morning Praying Friends! You prayers are being heard and releasing God's power and will on earth and in the heavenlies. PTL!

Couple of updates:

Glad Ketner has been moved out of ICU to a regular room. She is alert and tries to talk but hard to understand yet. She will be moved to a rehab in the near future. Praise God for the healing that is coming and pray for shalom over her and family and for wisdom for the staff.

Maura Specht (Pastor Don and Karen's granddaughter) has been moved to CHOP for a higher level of care. She has RSV and is on oxygen.

The Canfield family and Caleb continue to heal from bad colds

Lori Rohrer has been able to move forward with resolution with insurance companies after her accident. the car that hit her was cited and deemed at fault. However the driver gave false insurance info. Pray for provision, resolution and shalom.

Pastor Don and Karen will be flying to FL Tues. (Lord willing) to visit his mom and Terry. There will be no blogs next week.Pastor Don is feeling exhausted and a bit under the weather. Pray for healing and for God to go before them with favor. (Mon is our 19th anniversary! WOW! How did I get so blessed! Pray for Karen--you can only imagine what it's like to live with me! )

Thanks for praying!

We light the JOY candle tomorrow. I love how God keeps bringing up the theme of joy and ties things together as we sit at His feet and engage with Him through our Bible readings and devotionals! I'm going to let you check them out and engage with God through your own quiet time. Remember to ask what's going on in this passage? What is God saying to me? What measurable thing will I do in response? Who can I process this with? God is speaking to your heart right now. Turn off the noise and tune out the chaos. Be still and know! He loves you and has some good things in store for you, even today, even in the chaos as He brings His peaceful presence and joy alive through your faith. Rejoice! 

See you tomorrow at 10 in person or on Zoom. Sounds like tomorrow will be a day filled with showers of blessings, God's downpours of love, and a day of being washed whiter than snow! Rejoice! Reign our Lord and King!

Let's start with the Harvest Prayer devo for today as we release God's will together! 

You Kingdom come Father! Your will be done! May we glorify You and pray as you would have us and worship by responding well to your leading today. Cleanse us. We are purified In Christ. Thank You! May we incarnate Your Son, joy, healing and hope today. Come. be glorified! Amen

December 9 - Opening Earth to Heaven’s Influence “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will” (Romans 8:26-28). Search the Scriptures and you will search in vain for any prayer in which Jesus didn’t know what His Father wanted done. There were a few times when He was surprised (e.g., the faith of the Roman centurion compared to the faithlessness of His own people). However, even in those instances, He would wait to understand what God wanted done, and then He would pray in perfect, sinless harmony with God’s purposes. Through that praying, the will would be done on earth, just as in heaven. His role, as the Second Adam (of both earth and heaven, dust and Spirit), was to bridge the two realms, invoking heaven’s presence and power through the mediation of His earthly nature. Heaven and earth intersected in the man Jesus and opened earth to heaven’s influence. Through being joined to Christ Himself (by virtue of His atoning death and His Spirit residing within) heaven and earth intersect in us too. Our praying also opens earth to heaven’s influence as well. Through our intercessions, we act as a conduit through which the power of the Lord can flow through us to reshape the fallen creation back into something that suits God’s purposes. That is the thrust of Romans 8:18-30. We are to discern what God would have us pray, rather than simply to pray, “God do this, if it be Your will.” Holy Spirit, I am a weak created being without Your power!  I am never at a loss for expressing my heartfelt needs to God because Your groaning bursts forth on my behalf, aligned with the perfect will of the Father.  You allow heaven and earth to intersect in me…a deep and holy realization!  How I give thanks for the privilege of praying the purposes of God into reality upon earth!  --Adapted from Power Praying (Hearing Jesus’ Spirit by Praying Jesus’ Prayer) by David Chotka.   Prayer Points Praise the God who lays claim to the entire world and all that live in it (Ps. 24:1). Thank him for the food, shelter, and clothing that sustains you and gives comfort to your life. Confess the times when you have failed to acknowledge God’s riches in your life. Commit yourself to examining your acts of stewardship. Ask God to give you a heart of liberality, knowing that all you have comes from him (1 Chron. 29:14). Ask God to show your family new and creative ways to share the abundance of your lives with families who have much less.

Charles Stanley:

TWFYT:

ODB:

Good Morning Thankful Pray-ers! Thank God it's Friday is pretty irrelevant for those who are retired, people that work on weekends and those serving the Lord 24-7. However, celebrating Thank God I'm Forgiven daily is a great exercise and helps to keep our focus right, our attitudes joyful, and our lives on track. This season between Thanksgiving and Christmas is usually a blur and a reminder of how quickly time moves along. Instead of getting all bound up in the busyness, stress, and even grief this season can bring, let us commit to stilling ourselves and focusing on God with much thanksgiving and praise. Try it and watch and see how your attitudes, actions and joy level changes. Be still, know and overflow with gratitude. He came so we might live! PTL! Enjoy the life you are living in Christ. Again I say rejoice! Joy to the world flows through joyful worshipers like us! Amen!

According to some Christmas songs and hymns 'tis the season of joy, the season of love, the season to be jolly and merry. We have the opportunity and get to choose joy because of Christ's coming, His finished work on the cross, and the gift of salvation and faith given to us. Rejoice! Choose joy today as you offer many thanksgivings and praises to our Father. We just completed reading through the Gospel of John challenge we began in Sept. PTL right? And we are winding down the Become Me in '23 Challenge where we have been working on words God led us to to help us to grow into the people we were created to be and to become better at fulfilling our created purposes. PTL! I have seen much growth and experienced that myself this year. God has used these challenges the past few years to help us grow in Christ and to teach how to go live and love like Jesus better. PTL and keep at it! What word is God revealing to you to work on next year as we seek to Become More in '24? Great fruit lies ahead as God uses us well and grows us into His greater things!

We are finishing up reading and meditating on John 20 and 21 this week. We've been asking the questions weekly, "What's going on in this passage? What's God saying to me? What is a measurable response I will pursue to what God is saying?" I added the challenge for you to process these things with someone besides what we have been discussing on Sundays. Why this challenge? To help us learn to hear God better and to understand how we can help others hear and grow as disciples of Jesus. We are commissioned to make disciples. How are we doing? "Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if He were me." We are challenged to know Christ and make Him known as we work on becoming a dynamic movement of God. Those will continue to be challenges for us at St. Matts for the year and years ahead. What's your part?

The failure of many churches at vitality and growth has been created by the failure to make disciples. Church is not about gathering in a building an hour or two a week and listening to some talking head babble on about his thoughts. Church is about being Christ's body with Him as the head leading us to what's now and what's next in our journey to become disciples that reproduce disciples that reproduce disciples of Jesus. That happens as we adapt to our context and follow Jesus, becoming more like Him and doing the things He is doing. All of that takes prayer and each of us fulfilling our created purposes for such a time as this. What's your part? Talk to God about that and process with some others as you discover some measurable ways to move towards that. God has plans for us. Future fruit is beginning to blossom and bud. PTL! But we need to stay connected to God and following Him to His plans and new things along the way. We need to stay supple and open as we carry out our assignments and we need to keep checking in and evaluating how we are doing and what may need to change or be focused on. We even need to expect and be ready for some pruning along the way. That is being the best stewards of all God has given!

Last night our Support Team had a lengthy meeting as we sought God, worked through and tweaked our budget to follow His provision for us into 2024 and beyond. If the provision dries up, whether that provision is finances, laborers, or God's open door we need to know that, make His plans and adapt. God provides where He guides is a fact and what we need to focus on and adapt to constantly if we are to become a dynamic movement of God. And that is our goal and focus at St. Matts. Who knows what lies ahead? Only God but we get clues along the way as He reveals our next steps. Our leadership team is that vision team for us as well and are committed to meeting quarterly with the finance team next year to assess our progress and seek God's leading for what is now and what's next. We are committed to becoming a dynamic movement of God and flourishing in Christ well into the future or to pour ourselves out and do what we can with what has been given until there is no more and only God. We are learning to rely on Him more fully and follow well as we learn to live sacrificially and love lavishly like Jesus. Thank you for doing your part and choosing joy and to have an open-handed approach to follow Jesus with us. His best lies ahead! Amen!

Everything of value in Gods Kingdom is birthed from prayer and carried out through prayerful, faithful servants that love God and long for His Kingdom to come and will be done. Servants who do what they can with what they got as they follow the Holy Spirit to their created purposes for His glory. And that is our Good News Delivery Co. called St. Matts. Rejoice! Keep seeking, releasing, receiving, birthing and empowering through prayer as you move more fully into your purposes! God has some great stuff for you! Thank God I'm/You're  Forgiven and being used by God! Rejoice!

Prayer Pointer
“It is not possible to explain the power and effectiveness of the New Testament church without reference to prayer.” —Anonymous