It was Wednesday of this week and I suddenly had a thought.  I went in to the church secretary and asked her “Did I write my weekly column?”  She looked at me, thought for a moment and said “No, but you have time if you do it now.” Being forgetful is not uncommon for most of us.  A forgotten appointment, payment, meeting, or (horrors of horrors) a birthday or anniversary.  I do not know what causes forgetfulness, and there are those who suffer some neurological condition that causes loss of short term memory.

     Have you ever wished you could forget some things?  That you could, in some way, erase those things in your past that you are ashamed of?  Thoughts keep coming back to haunt you and you feel terrible.  Did you know that God has the capacity to forget?  There are those who have sought forgiveness from God, and will years later find themselves seeking forgiveness for sins He has already forgiven.  Just because you remember them does not mean God does.  The best part is, you will never have to answer for them. I thank God for His forgetfulness, and I hope you do too.

   Please come and worship with us on Sunday, and remember: EVERYONE is welcome here!

--Norm Russell

 The teams that will be playing each other on February 7 have gone through a grueling season to reach the Super Bowl.  This year marks the fiftieth year that the Super Bowl has been played.  I enjoy the game and am always anxious to sit down and watch it.  The other day I allowed my thoughts to meander and I figured if each game lasted three hours and I watched all fifty games then I have spent a total of one hundred fifty hours watching football.  That is equivalent of just over six days!!

This all brings me to the subject of time.  There is probably no more precious commodity for the human being than time.  We protect it, we cherish it, we hoard it.  It has to be extremely important as well as beneficial to us personally before we decide to release some time for some project.  Thus, we continue to hear such phrases as “I don’t have the time,” or “my time is too occupied” and etc. when someone determines their time is about to be imposed on.

God created time and how we use it is up to us.  He gives us each a twenty-four hour block of time.  How much of that do you set aside for His purpose?  If we take time for God, our lives will be blessed and we will be much happier.

Norm

Mark's Note: Another thought on time: There are 86,400 seconds in every single day. God gives you that many chances daily to decide something you might be doing is not in your best interest, and decide to change. Need more time? OK, take a whole MINUTE - He gives us 1,440 of them every day. Think it over... :-)

       The news that we are losing a major department store in our city has, rightfully so, created a rather depressive mood in our community.  Macy’s has always been a mainstay at our mall and now, with our loss of Penney’s, one wonders when the next shoe will drop.  This situation has exacerbated an already difficult employment situation.  People say the economy is rebounding and we ask “where?”

      There are no quick fixes for any crises.  It would be nice if we could simply wave a wand and everything would right itself.  Such is never the solution.  So, what is one to do?  First, each of us need to accept responsibility for ourselves.  We must become pro-active.  One Macy’s employee was asked, “What will you do now?”  Her response was quick “Go find a job.”  She is probably already looking.

      Second, rather than focus on the crises, search for opportunities.  This is a serious set back, but it does not have to defeat you.  More often than not, out of defeat comes major victories. Finally and most importantly, keep your focus on God.  He is still sitting on the throne of heaven and is in complete control of our world.  He has promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Rest in that promise. Please come and worship with us on Sunday, and remember: EVERYONE is welcome here! (ed: and we are not going anywhere until Jesus comes to take us home.)

-Norm

      Tomorrow is Christmas Day. We rejoice because people do take the time to reflect on the person of Jesus Christ. I know there are many in our world who are driven by political correctness that want to avoid any mention of Jesus during this time as some find that to be offensive. I have nothing to say to that.

       When Mary gave birth to Jesus, it was a difficult time for the nation of Israel. There was political dominance by Rome, there was a huge gap between the have’s and have nots. Spiritually, the people had become ignorant of God because many of the leaders would not open the Bible up to teach it to those on the streets. However, in spite of what was taking place around them, it was time for Jesus to make an appearance. The Bible says in Galatians 4:4 “In the fullness of time.” It was the right time determined by God. He did not allow anything to interfere with it. Jesus’ arrival  would change the course of human events forever. More personally God coming to our world has had a profound effect on each of us. I thank God He came. Because He did so, I have a hope of eternal life in His presence. How about you? Where are you going to spend eternity?

Come worship with us Sunday, and remember: EVERYONE is welcome here.

Norm Russell

It had been four hundred years since God had made any effort to communicate with humanity. That page that separates the Old Testament and New Testament in your Bible represents that span of time. Then, God sent Gabriel to Zachariah, the husband of Elizabeth to announce that they would have a son. They had been childless all their married life. Zachariah was skeptical which is to be understood. Eventually their son was born and they named him John.

The purpose of John’s coming into the world was to announce that a new day was dawning. That God had ended His silence and that the time He had determined had arrived. John was a fiery preacher. You did not have to ask what he meant, because he was plain spoken. He was to make ready the coming of the long awaited Messiah.
A new day dawned. We are in the midst of the Christmas season. People are rushing to the stores to make their purchases and are hoping to get it done soon. Let me suggest that you take the time for a new day to dawn in your life. Jesus came to our world to be a blessing. He wants you to focus on Him. When you do, be assured a new day will dawn in your life.

Please come and worship with us on Sunday, and remember: EVERYONE is welcome here.