Friday, May 12, 2023

Happy Friday to you all! On this beautiful morning, I read these words from Paul's letter to the Ephesians....

                       "For by grace you have been saved through faith,
                           and this is not your own doing; it is the gift
                                            of God."    (Ephesians 2:8)

Somedays, when I am looking to strengthen my faith by pausing and spending time with Jesus, I will open one of our hymnals and just re-read the words to a song or two. These words are such great testimonies to the faith of the authors!  Today I read...
   
    "Every promise we can make, every prayer and step of faith, every difference we will make, is only by his grace.
     Every mountain we will climb, every ray of hope we shine, every blessing left behind, is only by his grace.
     Grace alone which God supplies, strength unknown he will provide. Christ in us our Cornerstone, we will go forth in grace alone."
   
Scott Wesley Brown and Jeff Nelson worked together in 1998 to bring together the words and music of this popular song from our Faith We Sing  hymnal. And today that song reminds me that not only is God's grace always available to us, it is, in fact, the only way you and I can ever hope to succeed at living our lives to the fullest. It is always God's grace that guides us and sustains us. And, whenever I might start to forget that by thinking that I am doing all this myself... God draws me once again to the remembrance of my own in-adequacies. 
 
Thank you Lord, for the gift of music to help me remember!

+++ This Sunday, Mother's Day, is the 6th Sunday of Easter.  Our lectionary takes us further into John's 14th chapter and has Jesus not only promising the Holy Spirit, but instructing us to love as He loves. And that is a mighty big order, huh? I will be thinking about that in my message, "He Abides in You". We worship at 8:30am and 10:00am and, of course, we will be "live-streaming" the 10:00am worship on the church's Facebook page. And, in case you're not a Facebook user, you can watch the completed worship service on our YouTube channel after it is completed! However you join us, do try to worship with us this Sunday! 

+++ Also on Sunday we will offer our monthly Service of Prayer and Anointing for Healing at 12:00noon. Join us in the Fireside Room if you have a need for healing or know someone who does. This informal time allows us to hear God's Word, enjoy the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and spend time in prayer for our needs or those of others. 

+++ I will be at Summerfield Village on Velasko Road next Thursday, May 18th, for worship at 1:00pm. You are invited to join us as we gather with our friends at Summerfield Village. 

+++ Sunday, May 21, Kaylee from Casowasco will be with us at 10am to share some camp songs during our children's message. Bring a friend so they can learn about camp too!  We have camperships available. Find more information by checking out page 3 or our May/June newsletter.

+++ And please sign up for our Church Picnic coming up on Sunday, June 4th! We have lots to celebrate on this day and what better way than with a picnic? We will provide hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks and we're asking you to bring a dish to pass for the day! But we need to know how many to plan... for so please sign up outside the Fireside Room! Thanks! 

Make this day a great day and fully rely on God's grace... always!   
​Pastor Jack