I’ll never forget having to sit down with someone named Johan once a week for at least two hours. Johan was disciplining me and walking me through My Utmost for His Highest, a devotional written in the 1910s by theologian Oswald Chambers. Johan was an amazing man who was great at asking probing questions, guiding me through scriptures, cross-references, and applying God’s word to my life.

Every week, he would give me a memory verse; this was the first one he ever gave me, and it is the first one I give to our eighth-grade students during bible time. 

This verse is self-explanatory; how can we remain pure in a dirty culture? How can we externalize the cleanliness that God has instilled in our souls? It is simple: read and obey God’s word.

The word of God carries divine power because it is the Holy Spirit within you who “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The word of God develops spiritual strength, knowledge, wisdom, and renews your mind (Romans 12:2). How did Jesus respond when Satan tried to tempt him? Jesus wielded the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

In your life, you are in a spiritual battle with the kingdom of darkness and your flesh. You cannot live a defensive life all of the time; God has given you his word, as well as the power and authority to cut through the enemy’s schemes.

Let me encourage you: you cannot be spiritually healthy while starving for the bread of life (Matthew 4:4). Sometimes in life, you may feel like you need more faith or to work harder, but what you might need more of is knowledge of God’s character, wisdom, and equipping through His word (1 Cor 13:2).

Please do not live the Christian life without hearing God’s voice, experiencing his grace, and power in your life through quiet time in his word. God has given me so much encouragement at a time when I most needed his truth applied to my situation, and it has helped me tremendously.

Many of you are familiar with my experience (P. Chance) and the time when I felt called to ministry. However, as I reflect on my life, I believe God was preparing my heart for that moment. I’ll never forget my grandfather telling me Bible stories about Noah, Moses, and Jesus. This piqued my interest in learning more about God, and I’ll never get bored with it.

Above, in Psalm 78, we see the importance of taking responsibility for training the next generation and not hiding the truth from them, even if it hurts their feelings. Our children can handle it, but it begins sooner than we realize. Have you kept these realities from your children and grandchildren? Are you sitting down with them to teach them God’s message through the Bible or telling them an old Bible story? Are you taking them to church and making it part of their routine and telling them why it’s important? Are you praying alongside them, allowing them to lead the prayer? Are you loving them, demonstrating patience and compassion, and showing genuine signs of grace and encouragement?

In ancient Israel, there was a clear distinction between generations that did an excellent job of teaching the next generation and those who believed it was someone else’s responsibility. The best gift you can ever give your family is Jesus Christ. You do not need to know everything; simply use what God has given you, grow in your knowledge, love deeply, and trust him.

Our love for Jesus should be evident in how we care for others. When Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love me?’ and then said, ‘Feed my sheep’ (John 21:17), He was telling us to align ourselves with His concern for people, not to make Him fit into our own agendas. This kind of love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8: ‘Love is patient, love is kind…’ It’s the love of God in action, not just a sentimental feeling.

When we serve others for the sake of Jesus’ name, the Holy Spirit fills us with God’s love, allowing us to share it with everyone we meet. This love keeps us faithful to Jesus, even when it seems irrational to the world. This faithfulness is a result of the Holy Spirit’s work within us.

    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” – Psalm 20:7

If you weren’t born under a rock, you’d be aware that today is Election Day. It would be unwise not to share some biblical truth about the setting we find ourselves in. No, I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, but rather to remind you to relax and hopefully provide some perspective.

I love what the Psalmist wrote above; I believe it is still true today. Most people believe in the chariots and horses that we see today. Political systems, political figures, media outlets, and national ideals. Where has this led us? We the people have made politicians idols, sworn more allegiance to a temporary nation than an eternal kingdom, we are more concerned with being right than loving our neighbor, we have become so proud, egotistical, bitter, and self-righteous, and it has all led to so much division.

My question is, would Jesus be pleased with this division? Is being right the greater priority at the expense of obeying the commandment from God himself to love your neighbor, especially when it is difficult?

Please go out and vote according to your faith and conscience. It is your responsibility to care for the nation in which God has placed you. However, I want to remind you that the peace that God provides in knowing that we are citizens of a perfect kingdom and that he rules over everything is priceless. Please rest in that truth.

What I want to convey to you today is that the United States of America is man-made, localized, temporary, imperfect, and led by sinful humans. God created the Kingdom of Heaven, which is universal, eternal, limitless, and perfect, and it is led by the Holy and Sovereign King of Kings. Be cautious about putting all of your hopes in one place.

Pastor Chance

“Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” – Hebrews 12:15 NLT

Somewhere along in your journey in life, someone you cared about or admired said things like:

– “You’re awful at this!”

– “Why do you always mess things up?”

– “Can you ever get anything right?”

– “You’re just not good enough.”

Those hurtful words might have been spoken long ago, but they still linger in your mind today, sometimes with the same sharpness as when they were first said. I’ve seen many athletes give up because someone told them they weren’t capable. Instead of refining their skills or addressing their weaknesses, they shut down. Some even walked away from their dreams.

Are you clinging to past remarks that were meant to tear you down? If so, I’m genuinely sorry that happened. But consider if those words bypassed the guard of your heart. Maybe you’re reluctant to start something new because someone keeps reminding you of your past mistakes. Maybe something a parent or an ex said is holding you back.

If disappointment isn’t dealt with healthily, it can turn into bitterness. When we hold onto disappointment, keep discussing it, and remind others about it, bitterness takes root in our hearts. Living a life full of potential becomes unattainable because we’ve anchored ourselves to that negative moment. Instead of replaying the negativity, it might be time to release it. Start listening to the God who has inscribed you on the palm of His hand. 

I love an old quote “Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick.” Let me end on this, what God knows about us is more important than what others think, especially when it is in the past. 

Hey Advent Family,

Welcome to the last day of week 4’s devotionals in our series about Hope. Today we focus on Romans 8:28

We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Most probably, you’ve heard the funny story about the monks in the Middle Ages, copying very important church documents by hand. Different rooms in the monastery were designated for the copying of different documents. On a day like any other day, one of the monks started shouting from one of the rooms.

“We’ve missed it. We’ve missed it.” All the other monks ran to the room and asked him, “Who has missed what?” He was still shaking his head in disbelief and said, “We’ve missed it. I read the original manuscript. We missed the “r.” The word is: celeb-r-ate.” This is just a funny little story, but words can really make a world of a difference.

That’s also true about today’s verse. Most of us learned it as, “all things work together for good for those who love God.” Just to say quickly, there are quite a few Bibles where the original language is translated as in the translation we used today, and many prominent New Testament scholars also encourage this translation.

Listen again and spot the difference: We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

The sentence starts with, “we know.” As we’ve journeyed this last week, we know that there’s a knowledge that comes through beholding King Jesus and giving careful consideration to what we discover. We know that God promised to renew his whole creation. We know the resurrection of Jesus shows that this promise is busy going into fulfilment. We know that Jesus is the Christ: the anointed King who leads this project of renewal. Through Jesus and by the Spirit, heaven and earth – the two spheres of God’s creation – have been joined together, and the Kingdom of heaven is coming on earth: Hope as it is in heaven can now be on earth.

For this purpose of God, we are called. And here comes the word that makes a world of difference: we know that in everything God works for good, with those who love Him. God works with his children, who share their Father’s heart and vision for his creation. Children who pray with His Spirit for a world groaning, because it still awaits total renewal. God is at work with those who love Him, for good in everything. Just like when He created in the beginning, God is again busy with a good work. But this time He shares this work with us. 

And remember, new creation, unlike the first creation, isn’t created out of nothing. God is taking the old and making it new. Nothing is too broken, too bad, too far-gone that God cannot bring new life from it. This is the hope we have been saved into, and because God chose to work with us, this is the Hope we represent. I can think of no higher calling and purpose to live for.

Where things are still broken, we partner with God, beginning with prayer. We also give ourselves in prayer to work with God. And then we use our resources, abilities, and gifts to work with God to make things new, trusting the Spirit to lead us.

We have come to the end of this series, but the conversation about how we can be Hope-carriers in homes, places of work, and communities has just started. Please stay engaged and journey together.

And so, we pray: Our Father, let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. By your Spirit, help us to continue to behold King Jesus and learn about your Kingdom. We give ourselves for this hope-bringing mission: empower us and use us. For the glory of the name of King Jesus, we pray this. Amen

And always remember Jesus Loves you and so do I. 

Pastor Will

Good Morning and welcome to day 4 of this weeks’ devotionals in our series about Hope. Today we focus on Romans 8:26-27

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

“Read your Bible and pray every day, pray every day and you will grow, grow, grow.” This was a song we grew up with in Sunday school. Maybe calling it Sunday school wasn’t such a good idea, because many things we learn in school, we never use again. For many people, when they read today’s verses, they think Paul is just reminding us that prayer is important. And when we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will help us. Of course, this is very encouraging. Paul includes himself in the “we” that don’t know how to pray as we ought to. So, I’m not the only one struggling with prayer. And the Spirit will help me too.

But when we see the larger vision, we have spoken about so far this week, we realize that what Paul is writing about prayer is much more than just a reminder to do something we as Christians ought to do. Paul is showing us what it looks like to be God’s glorious children in a world that still awaits total renewal.

When we share in Our Father’s vision for his whole creation, a creation that God loved so much that Jesus gave Himself to die to guarantee a better future, we are called to participate in making that vision a reality. Through the Holy Spirit, that future, and God’s love that made it possible, is already working in us. What does this work look like and how do we participate? This is our calling to prayer. When we are confronted by the brokenness in a world that is groaning, longing to be made totally new, we groan with this world in prayer, because that is what the Spirit is doing within us.

Isn’t it true that, many times when we see the brokenness in homes, places of work, or communities, we don’t even know how to pray. But because we believe, on the one hand, that all will be made new, and on the other hand, that God the Spirit uses us to pray for Our Father’s kingdom to come and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven, we can remain prayerfully present, even if our prayers are just a sigh. The Father Himself uses those prayers to bring about signs of His New Creation.

Prayer is also what we see when we behold King Jesus and His kingdom work. Now, his Spirit helps us to share in this work, by becoming people of prayer. This was one of the first identity markers of the church. They were a movement that shared in the prayer ministry of the King by His Spirit. 

And, like Christ, we don’t pray from a distance. We pray as people who feel the brokenness of creation in our own bodies. That’s one of the reasons we can really be present in prayer where the world is in pain. Paul already likened the groaning in creation to birth pains. When we groan with the Spirit in prayer with creation, those prayers are used by the Father to birth new dreams and visions, new vocations and strategies to bring hope to specific places of brokenness in our world.

And so, we pray: Spirit of the living God, thank you for making your home in me. Here I am so that you can pray through me. Thank you, Father, that we can trust you to take these prayers and do even more than what we asked for or even imagined. In Jesus’ name. Amen

And always remember Jesus Loves you and so do I. 

Pastor Will

Good Morning Advent Family,

Welcome to day 3 of this weeks’ devotionals in our series about Hope. Today we will talk about Romans 8:23-25

and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Vision isn’t daydreaming or wishful thinking. It is a future somebody already sees in his or her mind. As Stephen Covey famously said: “Begin with the end in mind. Everything is created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint.”

One of the fundamental things this week’s passage invites us to consider is sharing in the vision of the renewal of the whole creation. Even our bodies will be made new, Paul writes. And living with this vision will bring hope.

Paul writes we were saved into this hope. Hope usually refers to our human capacity to believe that the future is going to be better. Hope can become a vision when we already see what this future can be, and we live with this end in mind. But Paul is talking about much more than mere human hope and vision. 

Paul is saying that the Spirit of God is living and working in us. He often uses images to help us understand the Spirit’s work in us. One image is that of a deposit. A deposit is a sum of money that is put down that guarantees the full payment to come. Another image is an engagement ring. Engagement rings, like deposits, are given to guarantee a particular future. The Spirit working in us is like that: A guarantee in the present that we will reach God’s promised future of new creation.

But the image Paul uses in today’s verses actually flips things around. The concept of the first fruit of the Spirit, or the Spirit as the first fruit, is a harvesting image. The harvest is the end the farmer has in mind. But the first fruits are part of the crop that has already ripened. It’s a sign in the present of what is to come. Interestingly, Pentecost was the festival during which Jews offered the first fruits of their harvest to God. With this image, Paul is saying that the future renewal of all creation that God promised is already present and working in us through the Holy Spirit. The future comes to inspire us in the present to live in the light and by the power of New Creation.

This is much more than mere humans envisioning a better future. This is the One who created everything, Who fills our capacities for hope and vision with His Spirit. By the Spirit, we see the future of everything: New Creation, when behold King Jesus. And by the same Spirit, that new creation is already at work in us.

In a world full of quick fixes where things that cannot be quickly fixed are usually replaced, we are empowered to live with a different end in mind. God doesn’t replace what is broken; He renews. His Spirit empowers us not to give up when things and people are still broken. With patience, endurance, and resilience, we keep working with the Spirit to create signs of new creation in the present, thereby anticipating the final renewal of everything. This is how we bring hope to homes, workplaces, and communities.

And so, we pray: Thank you, Father, for saving us into this glorious hope. Thank you for Your Spirit as the first fruit, guaranteeing the future you promised and working in us and through us to create signs of that future. We praise You, in Jesus’ name. Amen

And always remember Jesus Loves you and so do I. 

Pastor Will

Day 2 in our devotional series about Hope and today we will focus on Romans 8:21 & 22

“because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; “

“Class, you can go home early today if you draw me a baboon,” the teacher said to her grade one students. “But listen carefully,” she added, “you may not draw if you think of a pink baboon.” And with that, nobody could draw because everybody was thinking of a pink baboon. Everybody except Johnny. He finished his drawing quickly and rushed to the teacher’s table, gave the paper to her, and started running out of the class.

“Johnny,” she called him back, “did you not think of a pink baboon?” “No, Ma’am,” he replied and turned around to run again. But his teacher persisted: “Johnny, then what did you think of?” Johnny answered: “I can’t tell you, ma’am, because I’m scared you will tell my mother.”

After promising that she wouldn’t tell his mother, Johnny told his teacher about the little kitten he picked up the previous day. He hid this kitten in his cupboard and his mother doesn’t know about it. He just wants to get home to see if this kitten is alright.

Keep this story in mind as we talk about the power of vision. Vision helps people accomplish things that otherwise seemed impossible. Vision brings focus. Vision aligns people to work together. Vision is a picture of the future that inspires because it gives hope. This is true in any environment, but much more so if this vision is birthed by God and shared with people by His Spirit.

In this week’s passage, we are invited to consider this vision. Paul’s letter has been leading up to this point. Unfortunately, many have stopped at personal salvation and never continued the journey. That’s one of the reasons many Christians are so hung up on what we shouldn’t be thinking of, like the pink baboon, and never give careful consideration to the vision God now shares with us as His children. The vision of the future where the whole creation is set free from corruptibility and decay and all is filled with God’s glory. But, like Johnny in the little story, when our attention is grabbed by a purpose larger than ourselves, we accomplish things that otherwise seemed impossible.

People often disqualify themselves from being a person that lives with vision because they don’t see themselves as leaders. But vision is actually part of our birthright as God’s children. That’s what Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished: being set free from the past through inclusion in His death, we were raised with the King for His glorious purposes in our world. Paul writes that creation knows that God already shares this vision with us as His children. If creation knows this about us, why will we then disqualify ourselves?

Vision also empowers us to face our current realities, even when they are difficult. Paul writes about a groaning in creation because it still awaits total renewal. But he likens the groaning in creation to birth pains. The vision God shares with you is so powerful that it inspires belief that even suffering can become a birthplace of new life. This is the hope-filled mindset we are enabled by the Spirit to live with and when we give this vision of a renewed creation the proper consideration, it will become the lens through which we view everything: even our homes, workplaces, and communities.

As we prayerfully consider these Scriptures, let’s trust God to use us to share this vision with others. 

Let’s pray: Father, all glory to you, for the freedom you have given us in Christ. A freedom to live for a much larger purpose. Holy Spirit help us to ponder these things and share this vision with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen

And always remember Jesus Loves you and so do I. 

Pastor Will

This week we are going to be focusing our devotionals on Hope again from the point of view of Paul from Romans 8:18-28 and today we focus on verses 18-20

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope;

“Back to basics.” That’s what people often say when things go wrong. When people aren’t doing their best, or there’s confusion and things get difficult, go back to the basics. This can be very good advice, but sometimes our perception of the basics is the real problem. Then the only way forward is to do the hard work of re-thinking the “basics.”

When it comes to our faith, fundamentally it’s all about a Person: Jesus Christ. But sometimes what is said of Christ in the Bible differs from our idea of the basics. Paul starts this section with the phrase “I consider that…”. In other words, “here’s how I think.” And then he writes about the hope of the whole creation, even amidst suffering. When Paul beholds King Jesus, the whole of creation comes into view.

For many of us, this isn’t how we learned to think about the basics of our faith. This week’s passage can then seem very complicated. That’s why many people skip over it. But it actually gives us an opportunity to align our thinking with the fundamentals of our faith.

The basic story in the Bible is about all of creation. God created heaven and earth, things unseen and seen. A wonderful, beautiful, powerful, and yet delicate and fragile reality. God placed humans as His image bearers into this heaven/earth creation with God-given authority. The purpose was to take the Eden project and to fill the whole earth with God’s glory. And when humanity rebelled against God, the whole creation fell into the condition of suffering.

But even in that moment, Paul writes in today’s verses, creation itself had hope. Why? Because creation knows “in its bones” something many Christians need to discover as the basics of our faith: The Creator God never abandons the works of his hands. God doesn’t replace what is broken – He renews.

In Revelation 21 John writes this vision of a renewed heavens and earth. That’s also when God told him to write: “Behold I am making all things new.” Paul most probably died long before John wrote these words, but Paul already lived with that basic mindset. This is the mindset the Spirit wants to help us to live with because, as Paul also writes, we as children of God now represent this hope. That’s why creation is on tiptoes with expectation for God to reveal His sons and Daughters.

There’s so much more to say about this, but for now let’s think through these basic things: It is right that everything God has created, including families, workplaces, and communities, has an inherent hope. And King Jesus, in His death and resurrection, guarantees this hope will not be put to shame.

And when we work with the Spirit of Christ to bring hope, be it in families, at work, or in communities, this mindset will help us to know our work will never be in vain. We are not like those fixing a car destined to drive off a cliff soon. We already represent the future of a whole creation made new, to a world that is still suffering. That, basically, is our calling as God’s children.

And so, we pray: Heavenly Father, all praise to You for your faithfulness and that we can know a hope that will not be put to shame. Holy Spirit give us insight into these basic things Paul writes about. In Jesus name. Amen