Pastor's article
Today as I write this newsletter, I am recovering from the flu and expecting my brand-new granddaughter, but as you read this I hope to be fully recovered and holding by newest blessing, Sadie. Things change, they always will and always have, and we become so accustomed to change we may get anxious or bored when things don’t change. As I pondered on what to write for this newsletter, I thought while things do change, one thing that doesn’t is God and God’s Word.
Being sick really stinks. My body aches, my cough hurts and not feeling like I have strength to do anything makes me miserable. So why would God let me be sick? I mean I am a preacher and everything! I am supposed to check on the sick, NOT BE ONE! Well, the answer to sickness goes all the way back to Genesis 3, this of course is the fall of man. God created a perfect world and as you know Adam and Eve sinned and that changed everything. They sinned and knew they were caught and God confronted them and brought on a curse. It is found in Genesis 3:14-21. I want to look at these verses, but I want to look at them in a different order. First, lets look at the curse for the man.
Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you will return.
This verse explains that our work on this earth will no longer be easy, we will struggle and ultimately, we will die. Sickness and death were not a part of God’s original plan, as a matter of fact, one day we will experience that in a place of no more pain, no more sickness and no more death.
Genesis 3:16.
To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.
Here while the curse includes pain in childbearing, the hope is childbearing. There is something about the excitement of a new baby. The promise of Sadie allows me to see God continues to bless us and see God’s miracle are still alive today. A new life is so important because it shows God gives us the assurance that while we don’t deserve blessings, he gives them to us. As we come to know the Lord, today we are new creation, in other words a new life.
Lastly, let’s look at Genesis 3:15.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.
Here we see that this broken world will not always be hopeless. The serpent, Satan, the prince of darkness will be crushed. And that is what we can rejoice. You see Jesus already conquered death and that allows us the hope to know, that God ultimately wins. We can experience victory, and that is the power of Easter. We all know that Easter is all about victory. Christ has already given us the victory and that one day all will be made new again. As we get ready to experience Easter 2026 this month, don’t overlook the power that Easter represents. As Sunday morning breaks with the SONrise, remember to come and celebrate it with others who can celebrate it too.
Oh, I almost forgot, don’t forget let’s look at Genesis 3:21.
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
During Adam and Eve’s curse-God still took care of them. I have never understood why their nakedness was the reason they knew they messed up, but God fixed it. Easter celebrates the victory, the hope, but also he fixes it until he returns.
Come let’s gather and celebrate the victory of Easter.
In Christ,
Brother Alan
MUSIC MINISTER's article
Every bass fisherman knows there’s a special window in the spring.
When the water temperature finally warms into that sweet range somewhere between sixty and seventy degrees the largemouth bass move into the shallows to make their beds and protect their fry. And when they move shallow, everything changes. Suddenly you can see them. You can spot the beds. You can watch the fish circle, guard, and hover like nervous parents. But seeing them doesn’t mean catching them.
So what do you do?
You cast over and over again. Right over the same spot. Dozens of times if you have to. Because you know that eventually if you stay patient that bass will bite. Not because you forced it, but because you stayed faithful to the rhythm.
Worship is a lot like that.
Every Sunday, we step into the “shallows” into a space where God is easier to see, where His presence feels closer, where our hearts are stirred in ways they aren’t during the week. And what do we do? We cast our praise, prayers, and attention towards Him!
When I compared worshipping with “not getting a bite every time”, what I mean is that some Sundays or any day rather, you feel life weighing down on you. So maybe you don’t feel the goosebumps from a song or maybe you don’t have clarity from a prayer but let me tell you something … that doesn’t mean our God is not working! If you remember in Luke 5 : 1-11, Peter went through the same thing, exhausted from fishing all night with nothing to show for it, but he was faithful and cast his net once more and received two boat loads! It was because Jesus was in the boat and Peter depended on Him. Peter depended on Jesus’ word than his own experience.
If anyone of you have ever thrown a topwater lure at dusk you know that the bass literally explode on the surface of the water! They make so much commotion that it makes me jump almost every time! Its because the bass usually strikes before I can see it. That bass usually circles, watches, deciding before it erupts the surface. Sometimes for me it seems that worship can be the same way.
God works beneath the surface. Comforting us, healing wounds, strengthening us, convicting us, and transforming us! Then at any moment, God breaks the surface of our hearts. We cast our lines because God is Worthy. That’s why Peter said, “but because You say so, I will let down the nets.”
Keep casting your praises and your prayers. God is worthy!
Much Love,
Tyler
Children's Minister's article
A while back I decided that for Children's Church each week, we would repeat the lesson that the kids had just studied in their Sunday School classes. It would help to keep track of the stories we covered and it would also serve to reinforce the lesson and give me a chance to encourage application of the principles learned that day. One thing I didn't anticipate was being "corrected" by these little darlings if I didn't tell the story exactly how their Sunday School teacher had shared in the hour before! Just this last week one precious soul insisted that the people put their coats ON Jesus' donkey and NOT on the road as the donkey walked along as He entered the city on Palm Sunday! I tried to explain that BOTH of those things probably happened, according to the Bible but...well, sometimes, we just need to be right! LOL!
I wonder if the disciples ever debated about the events surrounding their time with Jesus and how each one remembered them. The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all cover some of the same and a few different accounts of Jesus' time of ministry here. It's really interesting to read and compare the accounts of the resurrection from the four writers. For me, the differences actually add weight to the validity of each account. We can all go to the same parade and see vastly different things pass by! It doesn't mean one or another got the retelling wrong. It just means we are drawn to notice different aspects of any situation.
In Matthew's account, he describes a violent earthquake and an angel whose appearance was like lightning. This angel comes across very confident, first by rolling the stone in front of the tomb away and then sitting on it! He even gives very direct instructions to the women and concludes his speech with, "Now I have told you." (vs. 7) It feels sort of like a "mic drop" moment!
Mark seems to portray the women as meek and "hand-wringing" sorts. He records them asking, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" And even after the angel admonishes them to "not be afraid" and they hear his declaration...Mark's women are too afraid to tell anyone what they've seen.
Luke gives a predictably concise and fact-filled account. He adds a second "lightning"-clad being at the tomb but refrains from labeling them as angels, choosing to just call them men (shiny men, but still just men.) He also admits that the disciples thought the women were talking "nonsense." sigh
John leaves the other-worldly beings completely out of his account. He decides to focus more on the footrace that occurs as they race back to the tomb to find it empty as the women have told them. John may have had a little bit of a confidence problem since he feels the need to refer to himself as "the one Jesus loved." He also makes mention, not once but TWICE, that HE outran Peter to the tomb. Hmmmmm....
What stands out to YOU most from the accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection? As we step closer and closer to another Easter this week, maybe that ought to be something we sit down and ponder with Jesus. Set aside some time each day counting up to Easter Sunday. Read through the different accounts in the gospels. Ask God to show you interesting things you may not have caught before. Ask God to show you something new! And finally, ask God to bring meaning and application to your life. Don't let this Easter pass you by without learning something new about yourself and the God who sacrificed everything for you.
In Christ,
Marie