Hey Church,

Maybe you’re like me and your mind goes in a hundred different directions when you quiet yourself before God and pray. Tuesday I was in my favourite prayer space but hardly praying. My body was present but my mind meandered. My to-do list for the week was hijacking my prayer time and it soon became the single focus of my prayers.

Frustrated, I turned to a familiar passage in Matthew to bring some order to this run-away prayer time. Matthew 6 is where you find “The Lord’s Prayer,” but I was drawn to verse seven. The Message version reads this way:

“This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.”

As I regained control of my racing mind, I made a choice to let the rest of my time with God be a time of accepting the truth I had just read.

God knows what we need before we ever ask for it, so we can relax and rest when we come to our Abba Father in prayer. He has a much better prayer list for you and me than we do for ourselves. I pray you grow in appreciation for the depth of God’s love for you. And I pray you become attentive to God’s dreams and plans for you and recognize that these are more valuable than your own.

Amen,
Pastor Kevin-

Hey Church family,

Last weekend Pastor Greg gave us a clear reminder of the consequences of our wandering from God - which in the case of David led him to horrific sin. All sin steals life and misses the dream God has for us.

But as we learned from David’s story our God is a God of amazing grace and pardon (read David’s confession in Psalm 51). Yesterday marked the beginning of the season of preparation for Easter. What a great time to take stock of our own lives and ask God to show us where we are missing the mark…and ask where He wants us to repent and return to Him. God’s voice is always one of invitation and conviction, never condemnation.

Consider how you might open yourself up to God in this season. The E100 group that I’m part of has decided to observe Lent together. God has already challenged me to give up something that is drawing my attention away from Him, so that I can be free and have more space in my life to be intentional with Him. Interestingly, the word Lent literally means “spring.”

Who knows what season of new life and renewal God might have for you as we move towards celebrating His defining act of conquering death and sin through His resurrection!

“…Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart… Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate...” Joel 2:12-13

Joy!
Rita

Hey Church,

I have never experienced Jesus’ love to the depth that I have this past year. Jesus has been teaching me more and more about His fatherly love for us. We just celebrated our son’s 1st birthday, and I can still remember the day we brought him home and thinking, “What now?” Tya and I would sit for hours inspecting every inch of his body, every wrinkle in his skin and movement he would make. As Kohen got older and struggled with different sicknesses, there were many days that our hearts ached for him.

Through these challenging times, Jesus has shown me how His interactions with us are very similar. After God created everything in Genesis, He sat back and said that it was very good. In moments of struggle, pain and hardship, He is there with us. Jesus desires to walk with us through good and bad and actually have a relationship with us. The psalmist puts it beautifully when he writes,

"You have searched me, Lord,
and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways."

Jesus is all about us and desperately wants the opportunity to walk intimately with us. I have now experienced the love and affection that Jesus has for all of us at a deeper level. He is smitten with us, His greatest creation. I hope you’ll allow that truth to percolate in your mind and settle in your heart this week. Would you carry this truth into your worship this weekend?

Be blessed.

Scott