Pastor Don’s New Year’s Message
And a plan to help you through the next few months
Dear friends, we once again find ourselves unable to meet for worship but thank goodness for modern technology that we can still be the church. So here's a plan for anyone to continue to find encouragement and hope. Please take time to read through this email and you are welcome to send it to whoever might benefit.
I
know that the customary way to share the incoming new year is to say, “Happy
New Year”! I got to thinking, what does that even
mean? A wish for us to be happy this
year? A hope that our year brings health
and prosperity? Or is it just a way of
saying, “I’m thinking of you”? All good thoughts for the upcoming new year…. but
As a Christian Pastor I’m more inclined to want more to be said than just a
wishful sentiment. My deepest hope for
you is that you would have a “God-blessed year!” By this I mean for Jesus, our Emmanuel (God
with us) to be with you in all situations and at all times, on mountain tops
and in the deep dark valleys and for you to truly know Jesus personally as the Shepherd
of your soul.
As we entered 2020,
our theme for the year was entitled ‘Seeing God With 2020 Vision’. Our hope was that as we looked into God’s
Word, we would get to know God better and know his will for our lives. Little did we anticipate we would have such
an extraordinary year with this Covid 19 pandemic to deal with. We now enter 2021, and it appears this virus
is not going away any time soon, so we continue. But how we continue is of extreme
importance. I realize, as you do, the
toll this is taking on our mental, physical and emotional health, our relationships,
our finances, our social and recreational life, etc. Through it all, I believe we are all in need
for something (or someone) to believe in.
We need that something to be stronger than us, to be immovable, solid,
trustworthy and personal. Should we
look no further than the One who is all those things, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Therefore, we continue, not as a people
without hope. So I offer you the theme “Same
God, New Year”, for 2021 worship, study and messages.
It is my hope
that we can be encouraged to see God more clearly. As we begin our journey through
this year, it is important to know that God is the same, yesterday, today and
tomorrow, despite what we humans are going through. Sometimes
I wonder if my vision of God is blurred by what’s going on around me and to
me. One thing I do know is I am guilty
of making my God out to be much smaller than He really is.
I wonder if you
share my desire to know God better and have your faith in Him enlarged. If you are feeling spiritually dehydrated,
then you are in the right place. It’s
when we are weak and thirsting for help that we open our minds and our hearts
to seek God and find the “Living Water” that totally satisfies and refreshes
the soul. Jesus understands our weak
moments and dry times. Listen to what He
promises to those who seek him. In John 7:37-38, we read, On the last and greatest
day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is
thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever
believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from
within them.”
UPCOMING
Join Your Pastor’s New Year’s Resolution
If you are
interested in seeing God more clearly, finding God in the mess, finding God’s
message in the mess, then I invite you to come with me for 12 weeks of Discovery.
It is composed
of 3 sections to help us deepen our understanding of God’s characteristics and
His will for our lives. In order to do
so, we shall look into the Old Testament for the Hebrew names of God ; We will follow a reading plan through the
gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John); and finally we will discover more about
God and make applications out of God’s Word from our weekly reading.
“DISCOVERY”
SUMMARY
Discover God’s character and expand your faith
1.
Through the Hebrew NAMES OF GOD
2. Through a 12 week GOSPEL
READING PLAN (January to end of March)
3. An encouraging message
from THE WEEKLY READING (This will also become the source for that week’s
virtual message that goes out via Talbotville U.C. website, you tube and facebook).
If you would like to receive this study, you just need
to register with me by sending an email to pastordonmac@gmail.com
by January 10. I will only be sending
out the weekly study to those who respond.
During the study of the Gospels, you can “reply all” to share an insight
with others or just “reply” to me if you want to respond to me directly. The only cost is your time and commitment to
make the study of God’s Word as your 2021 New Year’s Resolution.
Hoping and praying for you
to have a God-blessed new year!!!
~ In His service and love,
~Pastor Don
