THERE IS NO ONE LIKE MY GOD. There is NO one like my God. There is no ONE like my God. There is no one LIKE my God. There is no one like MY God! There is no one like my GOD! I could scream these words from my soapbox on the mountain peaks and hear my words echo multiplied times through the valleys and crevices below from now until my last breath … and it still would not be enough! I could never, ever even begin to exclaim and proclaim in the least, WHO He is – and ALL He is! All I know is, there is no one like my God! He reveals Himself in new and fresh ways each day, just as sure as the sun comes up and the sun goes down. It doesn’t matter what kind of a day I’m having, He’s with me! He dances with me on the mountain-tops and celebrates my good times and my joys with me. And just as easily, He rocks me in His chair when tears are about to spill over and I feel like I’m starting to come apart at the seams. Do I have those times? Yeah … just like you do. And yes, sometimes I can’t help but asking, “Why?” – just like a little child. I’ve even caught myself saying, “God, I just don’t get it! Can you please shed some light on this and help me out a little?” There’s those moments I feel as if I’m drowning and about to go under. But something in me rises up and screams, “No! I refuse to not come up again. I WILL not stay under!” Is that me? Well, perhaps a bit of it is. But mostly, it is my God IN me … giving me His power to surface and get on my feet and on dry land so I can start moving forward again! My heart is filled with thoughts of all of you – with things you share with us on Sundays at church, or throughout the week. I hope you know how much God loves you and values you. If our human hearts can ache with yours and we can reach out in compassion and hold you and pray with you … multiply that an eternity of a zillion times more … and that will still just scratch the surface of how He feels about you! Don’t ever, ever doubt His love. Don’t ever, ever doubt His power. Don’t ever, ever doubt His faithfulness. And don’t ever, ever live without His peace. Pursue Him with all that’s within you until you find it and lay hold of it – for it’s yours. Don’t waste the beautiful life and amazing future He has planned for you by throwing it away trying to figure it out on your own. Follow hard after Him, run to Him, grab on to Him and never let Him go! Show Him how much You love Him and want Him and need Him. Don’t just say words – put actions to those words. That proves to God that you’re serious. And He’ll run to you! He’ll come to be with you and never leave. He’ll come on the run with exactly what He knows you need – even more than you know it! Our God so longs for our faith to be so much more than an empty religion … He wants it to become our lifestyle, our way of life! He wants to be SO real to us, that we’ll feel as if we’ve had a glimpse into Heaven! Talking about Heaven, there’s a new book out that has become the #1 New York Times Bestseller, titled, “Heaven is for Real”, by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. I will not spoil the story, but I’m sure many of you have heard about the little boy who during his surgery went to Heaven and saw Jesus and then was sent back to his family. For some people, something like this is easy to believe, while others doubt it and write it off as some kid’s dream. But if you read this book … just read the words … this true story of little four-year old Colton will get into your heart. And what he says about Heaven and seeing Jesus will dash all your doubts and bounce your beliefs to a higher, more personal understanding of it all than you’ve ever had before. And any tool that God gives us to share His message of eternity – well I want to be right in the middle of it! This story is rock-solid proof that God’s purpose in allowing suffering to come our way at times is really just a springboard to a much larger platform from which to share His gospel. No, we never want to or would choose to go through the times that almost rip our hearts out … but if we’ll hang in there and hang on to God with all our strength … He’ll catch us and set us on a magnificent course that we never thought possible. And it most likely would not have been – if not for the suffering. But what a small price to pay is our suffering – if it means even one soul is spared from an eternity in hell! Once in Heaven, and we see the people there we introduced to Jesus, we will only be able to smile and say, “It really was worth it all … and if my going through that is why you’re here … then I’d do it all over again!” Understanding the magnitude of the price God puts on a soul (the life of His very Son), let’s look at what Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10: “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.” When we can finally spend ourselves at all costs through all sufferings for the cause of Christ and the sake of souls, I think we’ll grasp a bit more how much God loves each of us and what lengths He will go to, to bring us Home to live with Him forever!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- WE EXALT AND HONOR the Lord Jesus Christ for His literal presence in our midst each week as we seek to worship Him with our best! There is no place we would rather be, and how powerful was the Word from II Corinthians 12 as Pastor Doug shared more about the Gifts of the Spirit! We pray that we are making our God-given gifts available to God for use in His Kingdom!
- OUR SPECIAL WELCOME to Steve and Rose who worshipped with us this past Sunday for the first time! It was great to have you with us, and we hope that you were blessed and will join us again soon!
- IT WAS A PICNIC IN THE PARK - with a great turn-out, lots of food & fellowship, getting to know some of our new families better, and a consensus to move forward with plans for our church building as God leads & provides!
- LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH: 10:00 A.M. – PRAISE & WORSHIP, drinking in the goodness of our God and digging into His Word for the culmination of part 3 of “The 21 Gifts of the Spirit” sermon series with Pastor Doug. Don’t miss this – or the opportunity to bring someone with you that perhaps has not been in church ever!
- MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH: LABOR DAY … enjoy some extra-special time with your family on this holiday!
- NEXT SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH: 10:00 A.M. – A SPECIAL PRAISE & WORSHIP time honoring the 10th anniversary of 9/11 on this Patriot’s Day. May our hearts be drawn to prayer for our nation as we remember the many who have given the ultimate gift of their lives on our behalf – and for their families who live on without them.
- FOLLOWING THE SERVICE, we will have our CHILDREN’S FRIEND EVENT with pizza ordered in at Elevation North and then on to swimming and more fun! This is for little ones through fifth graders. Invite your friends!!!
- SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH: 10:00 A.M. – PRAISE & WORSHIP/FALL MINISTRY KICK-OFF with Sunday School classes beginning, and a Spaghetti Lunch & Movie to follow, with “make your own sundaes” to top it all off!
- PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . .
- WHAT A GOD WE SERVE who hears and answers and is always on time! Count it a privilege this week as you lift up your church family, including Eva, Shirley, Jimmy, Cherry & Johnny, Ernie & Audry, Larry & Gloria, Kay, Roger, Elsie, & several urgent & unspoken requests. Let’s especially remember to hold up all of our students this week!
- REMEMBER . . . “If there is some deep longing within that nothing on earth can satisfy, it’s because we were made for a different world: Heaven! ~ C.S. Lewis
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
