'prayer' Tagged Posts
June News
First Church Family, I pray that you are enjoying the end of spring. I’ve had opportunities to be out in my gardens and offered prayers of thanksgiving for the health and strength that God has provided me to tend to His creation. Have you ever noticed that God knows our needs and provides? We certainly needed the rains we received at the end of May. And though God is not a heavenly rain man, those rains were provided.…
Our Heart Breaks
First Church Family, First Buffalo, then Laguna, and finally Uvalde. What should our response be to the horrors that continue to pervade our country due to gun violence? Innocent victims, this time including 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders have been sacrificed needlessly. Of course, there are numerous possible responses, most of which lead us into the theatre of politics. We won’t go there. But we do decry such violence as evil. And we pray: * For the innocent victims. “LORD,…
September News
Dear First Church Family, I pray this newsletter finds you in good health and spirits. This past week has had its share of bad news: chaos and death in Afghanistan after our troop withdrawal, pain and loss in Haiti in the after-math of a powerful earthquake, flash flooding in western North Carolina and Tennessee that took lives and destroyed property, and rising COVID numbers in our community and state. I shared recently that September is one of my favorite months…
Trust in God
First Church Family, Monday is my sabbath. It is then that I take care of my gardens, catch up on devotional reading, and spend time with my family and friends. This past Monday I worked outside, canned vegetables for the winter, and caught up on some family things. But also, I monitored the plight of Haitians trying to recover from its latest challenge, watched in disbelief as Afghanistan was quickly turned back over to an oppressive regime, received information that our…
Psalm 27
First Church Family: I pray you are well and are staying warm in the winter cold. My devotions this morning led me to Psalm 27. The psalm is a psalm written by David, just like Psalm 23, around which we are worshipping. David begins Psalm 27 in similar fashion to his message to God in Psalm 23: The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid?The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger,so why should I tremble? (vs. 1) There is a…
Serving the Community
JANUARY 20, 2021 Dear First Church Family, My prayers remain with you during this time, and I covet yours as well. Though our world still reels from the COVID onslaught and seems divided to a magnitude I haven’t experienced before; every day I am reminded of the powerful presence of Almighty God and the hope brought to us through the gift of our Savior. Last week, I was honored to be a part of a number of people gathered in-front of our hospital to encourage our health…
Spirit of Unity
JANUARY 8, 2021 Friday Morning First Church Family, On Wednesday, before I was aware of the horrific events in our nation’s capital, I wrote my Newsletter letter to you that was emailed yesterday. So much has happened since then. The events in Washington, D.C. were despicable, violent acts of terror and tyranny. Our nation is broken as never before in my lifetime, and we are all grieving the presence of division, distrust, and hatred. As followers of Christ, we denounce…
19 Spiritual Things to Do During the COVID19 Pandemic
19 Spiritual Things To Do During the Covid-19 Pandemic Read Psalms (19th book of the Old Testament) and Hebrews (19th book of the New Testament). Pray for 19 people each day. Spend 19 minutes reading devotional materials each day. Read the Bible for 19 minutes each day. Email, text, call, and/or send a card or letter to 19 people. Pray for at least 19 minutes each day. Find 19 ways each day to say, “Thank you, God.” Spend 19 minutes…