From the Pastor’s Desk:
Recently I read a story about a man who bought a knife from a certain company. He was very happy with the sharpness of the new knife, however after a couple of weeks, he sent a letter of complaint to the knife company complaining that the knife was no longer sharp. The company responded that for the knife to remain sharp, the customer must sharpen it. This story reminded me of what can happen in our lives as we try to live in this present world. There are times when we must sharpen our focus on the things that are most important and it is with this in mind that I want to share with you our theme for 2026; “RE-IGNITE” Life has a way of dulling our senses to the things, purpose, and plan of God and if we do not re-ignite our lives, we will find ourselves getting further and further away from God’s original design, purpose, and plan. With this in mind I want to ask several questions specifically for you.
*Are you happy with where you are in life?
*Do you believe that God is happy with where you are in life?
*If Jesus were to return right now, would He find you truly in love with Him?
Life has a way of pulling us down to just a survival mindset when God wants us to thrive in our relationship with Him and fulfill His purposes in our everyday life. We must have a re-ignition in our personal lives and in the church if we are going to be faithful to our call in this present world.
With our focus upon God’s will, we will begin the new year by calling every person in our congregation to join us in PRAYER AND FASTING. In the past, I have ask our people to fast coffee, social media, television, or some other item that is important to them, however this year I want us to get back to the basics of prayer and fasting. I am asking for the first 21 days of this year (January 1-21) that you join me in fasting one (1) meal a day and that you use that time to pray for yourself, your family, the church, and our nation. I will elaborate more upon this subject another time, but it is vital for us. Throughout the scriptures, we see how prayer and fasting moved the hand of God to intervene on behalf of His people. Our God has so much more for each of us if we will tap into His presence. Our people have been attacked physically, emotionally, spiritually, and in relationships. The enemy of our souls wants to beat us down and render us ineffective for the kingdom of God. In Matthew 17:20-21, Jesus said, “if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” If we will give ourselves to prayer and fasting, I am convinced that God will re-ignite the fire of His Holy Spirit in our lives and we will move from a place of complacency, apathy, survival and frustration to a place of celebration and victory. It will be easy to find excuses to skip this time of devotion, but this is God’s will for you. My prayer is that God RE-IGNITES my life, my family, my church, and revive our nation to the call and will of God.
SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER – in the November newsletter, I shared with you our goal for the Sunday morning prayer meeting. We are asking that a minimum of 5 people commit to coming and praying once a month in the sanctuary starting at 9:30am and ending around 10:10am. This prayer time will set the atmosphere for the morning worship service and enhance the presence of the Holy Spirit for the people of God. Perhaps you are not in the habit of coming to Sunday School so this would be a great time for you to offer yourself to the Lord. It will help Pastor if you sign up at the welcome center if you are willing to participate.