W0RK SMART!

First Evangelical Church has a Monday-Saturday "Six Challenges Prayer Guide" followed by PRAISE Sunday.

I like the way Saturday's focus is to Work Smart as it seems like a great way to be ready to work to be ready for a serene Sabbath full of PRAISE!

Jim Walker, editor of 4Memphis, sees work as a gift. He starts the November/December publications editorial page with the verse Psalm 90:17.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work

 of our hands for us; yes, establish the work out our hands.

The work that Walker commends goes beyond just the jobs that come with a paycheck. He, as always, applauds those who the peace & prosperity of our city.

"These Memphians work daily to help others who have such obstacles to overcome in their lives.....and it is done with God's love and provisions." Walker highlights those folks who give us a picture of the "Godly call to work quietly serving our fellow Memphians." (4Memphis, November/December 2022)

That my friend is what FEC calls "working smart".

BEHOLD: ONE WORD LOUD & CLEAR IN SCRIPTURE

BEHOLD---used 1,298 times in the Bible, KJV version. A word that shows up from Genesis to Revelation.....in Genesis with creation, (Genesis 1:29) with the prophets, "Behold, this is our God, "(Isaiah 25:9) through the New Testament (2 Corinthians 5:17) to  Revelation "Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5)

To behold music that will lift you up....

CLICK HERE https://www.facebook.com/FirstEvan/videos/578071259669891/ 

.....if you want to Fast forward to my favorite, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" at 47:13 or to 43 if you want an upbeat intro w/ soloist Effie Johnson) 

You will beholden to me if you do so.

MEDITATION CONTINUES....

Last Monday's passage meditation had me on a single verse---Psalm 143:8, specifically the last 2 lines of the verse.
This time the selection prompted prayers beyond family to prayers for friends---so many friends. Sisters in Christ who seem to struggle as I do when it comes to being confident in God's daily plan for them. Such wonderings require daily focus on scripture.
I prayed the verse especially for sweet KDS friend, Sandra, who was hospitalized for observation after a scary blood pressure event. Taking a few treats to Methodist Germantown to celebrate her recovery, I saw she had her Bible opened to that verse.  I had told her earlier I was praying Psalm 143:8 for her.

After  she was dismissed from the hospital, she shared this picture from her morning quiet time. 

Her morning cuppa---tea and truth. Her special Psalm143:8 teacup served as bookmark for that same verse in her Charles Stanley study Bible!  

Then........Sunday's "responsive reading" at church that week was from Psalm 143:8----of course it was.

God is gracious to keep me meditating on a verse until "I get it"!

The meditation continues so I'm excited to see all that He has for me within these 31 words!

GLORIOUS PALM SUNDAY!!

Johann Sebastian Bach said it well. "Aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

To that I say, "Amen!"

Today's Palm Sunday service at church, with orchestra, choir, readers and amazing vocalists (Ephie Johnson, Reagan Strange and Shekinah Toebbe) did just that!

The Lord was glorified and my soul was refreshed.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

NATIVITY SCENES FOR ALL AGES

Nothing says Christmas at our house like nativity scenes---whether terra cotta figures, snow globes, ornaments or a wall hangings of a simple "Babe in a manger".

At First Evangelical Church beautiful nativities adorn the hallways and even at off campus functions. 

This year the one that has brought me unique joy has been the cloth one in the children's area. Every time I walk by the characters seem to be in a different positions.

Once it looked like the Wise Men had been practicing their somersaults! Today the 3 Wise Men appear to be in a huddle.I'm not sure where the shepherds were or why the angel found repose on a near-by pillow. I just know I like the ideas of "little hands" finding joy there.

3 Rs in ONE'S SPIRITUAL LIFE

Yesterday's sermon had me remembering 3 Rs---Repent, Return to God and be Refreshed (Acts 3:17). Sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of life that we live overwhelmed and need refreshing. Times of refreshing can come---when we set aside expectations set by ourselves and others in repentance and turn to the Lord.

This time in Memphis.
This time in the eventide with my personal vespers.
This time for worship.
This time inside in my prayer chair

Last summer I also sought refreshment according to God's formula.

Last time in Maine. 

Last time at mid-day, not in the eventide.

Last time, as always, for worship. 

Last time outside in a place for quiet meditation within a sanctuary of God's handiwork. (Psalm 96:11-12)

I felt as if I had ascended the hill of the Lord and was standing in His holy place. (Psalm 24:3)

I'm not young per say but times of refreshing are needed at any age mostly inside my own home but  this sanctuary, in Camden, ME, also filled the bill. It was worth the visit,

GUESS WHO IS 92?

HAPPY "92" BIRTHDAY, JEAN! Psalm 92 vrses for your 92nd birthday!

 

Psalm 92:12-14 (my paraphrase) says the "righteous flourish and grow, firmly planted in the house of the Lord, flourishing in God's courts and "bearing fruit in old age; ever full of sap and green."
Those verses are a depiction of Jean Hoppe's life as I have known her. Just a week ago, she was cutting and pasting for the VBS hallways at church and attends a couple of summer refreshments, one of which was "My One Word," where her chosen word was pray.

Verse 15 goes one to speak of the very essence of Jean's soul to me. As she continues to declare that the Lord is her rock and He is upright, with no unrighteousness within Him.

What a testimony her life is to all whose paths she crosses. As one who has chosen to "number her days" and celebrate each of life's moments, God has given her a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12) She chose "pray" for her word. For the rest of us the joy deep in her soul and the resulting smile, makes us all smile as well!

CHOOSE: TO LIGHT THE CANDLE OF LOVE FOR THE 4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT

FIRST EVANGELICAL CANDLELIGHT SERVICE 2017!

Children sharing the Greatest Love Story ever told with word and song! (John 3:16, KJV)

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.

A perfect way to "light" the flame of love in one's own heart....

And to pass it on---candle by candle,
into the hands of other believers.

Believers rejoicing in the One
who is the light, celebrating
His birth together!

Love and light
filling the sanctuary.

A sanctuary of God's Presence
In every heart!

Merry Christmas Eve!

CHOOSE: TO BELIEVE

In the beginning God said..............and it was so.

And God said, "Let there be light : and there was light." And God called the light day and the darkness He called Night. (Genesis 1:3-4)

...God made the firmament, and divided waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (Genesis 1:7)

And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together....and let the dry land appear: and it was so. (Genesis 1:9) 

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,.......upon the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days, and years....and let them be for lights to give light to the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:14-15)

And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creature after his kind,.......:and it was so. (Genesis 1:24)

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed.....;to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the field, ...every fowl of the air....everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green plant for food: and it was so.  (Genesis 1:29-30)

AND IT WAS SO----SO...CHOOSE: TO BELIEVE!

**A BIG Thanks to Ron Man and the worship choir at First Evangelical Church for a glorious Palm Sunday service! I don't have a clue how "AND IT WAS SO" was illuminated on the cross as the service drew to a close, but it spoke to my heart and raised the hair on my arms all at the same time!!!