CELEBRATE JESUS! And that’s exactly what thousands of women
did this past weekend at the Women of Faith conference in St. Paul … we
celebrated the Lord God of the universe as we worshipped Him and lifted up His
Name, exalting Him and praising Him!
What a powerful time together in the unmistakable presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ … fifteen of us, plus six friends whose group joins with ours each
year. We are growing! And we pray and anticipate what will take
place as God meets with us! It’s like
Ken Davis, Christian comedian, said at the start of the first evening - when he
gets up in the morning, he asks himself, “I wonder what God is going to do
today?!” Hopefully that’s how you feel
about your days, too – that you can hardly wait to see what God will do! Ken emphasized that we need to believe that
God is the author of joy … and then said that some of us need to send some
missionaries to our face!!! Whatever it
is we are believing for, we need to believe with ALL our heart! Perfection is not a requirement … we just
need to be engaged in living life fully alive! Ken challenged us to not wait until tomorrow
to live fully – but to do it today! Soon
we were lost in the beautiful sounds of Cece Winan’s voice as her songs led us
straight to the throne of God in pure worship.
“For Your glory, we’re taking territory … waging war … for Your glory!” I love how she stated that “when you
recognize who Jesus is, you cannot help but worship Him! And when you get a glimpse of Him, He takes
all of your attention!” May our
attention always rest on Jesus and not be interrupted by distractions that seek
to diminish our worship. Soon we were
challenged by Sheila Walsh’s words spoken powerfully in her Scottish accent …
“One Word, one Hope, one Song, one Name:
Jesus!” She reached out to the
many women in the arena who were feeling broken beyond repair, and she told
them, “That is why Jesus came! He’s seen
our movie and still He loves us! We are
broken, but redeemed!” Then Sheila
reminded us that this is not our home – she reiterated, “We’re not home,
girls! In Heaven, we’ll live fully as we
were intended to!” It’s true that the
enemy wants to take us out, but if you read the account in Luke chapter 4, you
will see how Christ combatted the enemy with the Word! Connection draws us closer to God. Condemnation drives us farther away. As God’s children, we will rise above the
rubble – and her beautiful singing of “I Will Rise” resonated in each of our
hearts all throughout that huge convention center as she closed her session
with us. The message that Liz Curtis Higgs
brought to us was so timely, as she talked from I John 3:1 how God’s love fits
all, covers all, hides us … it is truly the only “one-size-fits-all”. We compare ourselves with others, but we
should not. We are God’s beloved and He
loves us … as beautiful to Him. It’s
time for us to start seeing ourselves as God sees us! Psalm 149:4 tells us that we are beautiful
with God’s salvation ~ crowned! We are
His … loved and chosen! God’s treasured
possessions – that is how we are described in Deuteronomy 7:6 … His people, treasured
by Him! Liz helped us grasp this a bit
clearer by telling us that just like we all think our babies and grandbabies
are the CUTEST and the BEST … God sees US the very same way! Did you know that your picture is in God’s
photo brag book?! Do we really get
it? We are HIS … so let’s live for
Him! Let’s celebrate Jesus, the One who
delights in us! And … more to come next
week!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Sam who celebrates this week; may your
life be blessed and uplifted in the days ahead!
A SPECIAL WELCOME to Meryk who came to worship with us this past
Sunday for the first time; God bless you!
SUN, OCT 28: 10:00 A.M. –
PRAISE & WORSHIP with the final message of “Living Beyond the Shadow of
Victory!”
SUN, OCT 28: 10:30 A.M. –
KIDZONE CHILDREN’S CHURCH with
Verla; invite a friend and learn together!
WED, OCT 31: 7:00 P.M. – BIBLE STUDY in the book of James /
at 905 El Dorado St SE in Owatonna
THU, NOV 01: 7:00 P.M. –
BIBLE STUDY in the book of James / at 165 24th Place NW in Owatonna
SUN, NOV 04: 10:00 A.M. –
PRAISE & WORSHIP with message on “God’s Perfect Timing!” / with Communion
SUN, NOV 04: 10:30 A.M. –
KIDZONE CHILDREN’S CHURCH with
Verla; don’t miss this exciting experience!
PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . . Harold’s dad, Lynn, Johnny, Jimmy,
Spencer, Kay, Lundstroms, Seykoras, God’s hand of blessing as we move to our
new church location this week, for wisdom in voting, for revival in us and passion
for God!
REMEMBER … “May the Lord continually bless you with heaven’s
blessings as well as with human joys.”
Psalm 128:5
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
