1st Chronicles 16:11 - Kayla's Korner

1 Chronicles 16:11 

“Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” 

The last few months have been hard for me. I felt like Satan was trying to tear me down anyway he could. I had two people decided to drop out of my wedding party. I was in the midst of preparing everything for vacation bible school, then I decided to get sick for a week, and finally we had people quitting left and right at work, which was making my job more difficult. Through all of this I never once turned away from God! If it wasn’t for the strength and rest that I received from Him, I wouldn’t have made it. 

Sometimes we don’t think we need God’s strength. We get in a mindset that we have it all under control and that we will keep it under control. What I think we are really missing is that God is in control! And, with his strength we can continue  His plan for our life. If you are someone like me, who always likes to take control of your life, I challenge you to pray this month for patience, and strength from God to

Creamy Frozen Lime Pie - Cheryl's Favorite Food Memories

Cheryl’s Favorite Food Memories… One of my favorite flavors is lime. As a kid we would have a contest to see who could keep a straight face and not react to the sour.  I never won, but I still love the tart sweet taste of those tiny green fruit.  I especial like key lime pie, but I’ve never been able to duplicate my favorite one from a “Stinky’s” restaurant in Florida.  However, my father-in-love had a freezer “no bake” lime pie he’d make. It is creamy and pretty fabulous, not only is it tasty but it takes hardly any time to prepare. Enjoy! sMILESnBlessings!

Creamy Frozen Lime Pie

Ingredients for 8 Servings

· 1 Prepared 8-inch (6 ounces) graham cracker crust       (I sometimes make my own & use a springform pan.)

· 1 pkg (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

· 1 1/4 cups (14-ounce can) sweetened condensed milk

· 1 cup evaporated milk

· 1/2 cup (about 3 medium size) lime juice

· 1 tsp grated lime peel

· Lime slices, berries or mint sprigs (optional)

Directions

¨ BEAT cream cheese in mixer bowl until smooth.

¨ Gradually add sweetened condensed & evaporated milks; beat until smooth.

¨ ADD lime juice & peel; beat on medium for 1 minute.

¨ Pour into crust.

¨ Freeze 2 hours or until firm.

¨ Remove from freezer & let it sit at room temp for 10 minutes to ease cutting.

¨ Garnish with lime slices, berries or mint sprigs.

¨ Serve immediately.

Blessed Assurance - Marc's Music Notables

It might seem unlikely that a blind writer of hymns living in a slum and a wealthy woman living in a mansion would have anything in common — but Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer, was a humble woman with a number of distinguished friends. Grover Cleveland, who later became President of the United States, met Fanny Crosby as a young man, and they became lifelong friends.

The friend in the mansion was Phoebe Knapp, the daughter of a Methodist evangelist. When she was just sixteen years old, Phoebe married Joseph Fairchild Knapp, a young man who went on to found the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The Knapps worshiped at the John Street Methodist Church in lower Manhattan, which is where Fanny Crosby also worshiped — and so a friendship was born. Phoebe, the wealthy matron, often invited Fanny, the blind hymn writer, to her palatial home.

Phoebe enjoyed music, and had a music room furnished with a collection of musical instruments. During one of Fanny’s visits, Phoebe invited her to the music room, where Phoebe sat down at the keyboard and played a tune that she had written. “What does that say,” she asked? Fanny clapped her hands in delight and said, “That says, ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!'” And so a hymn was born.

During her lifetime, Fanny Crosby wrote eight thousand hymns, many of which became famous — but “Blessed Assurance” just might be the most famous of all.

OTHER HYMNS BY FANNY CROSBY:

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home

I Am Thine, O Lord

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

Praise Him, Praise Him

Rescue the Perishing

Tell Me the Story of Jesus

To God Be the Glory

Having Faith - Kayla' Korner

Faith alone, has a big meaning. But, having faith in God is even bigger. I have always adored children, because their faith is so big and great! We as Christians should have a child like faith in God!

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6 CSB

2020 was a hard year! Some lost faith, some had their faith tested, and some grew their faith. When we start to slip away from our faith in God, it becomes hard to please God because we soon find ourselves living for the world rather than God. We become consumed in money, material, and pleasing people.

I challenge you all to have faith in God! It might be hard right now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I challenge you all to pray daily! Pray when you wake up, before you eat, before you go to sleep.
Blessings Kayla

Epistle to the Ephesians - Reece's Peace's

Epistle to the Ephesians

               We are midway through our sermon series on the Epistle to the Ephesians. We have discussed many of the theological points of the letter in our topics during the previous weeks. We covered family and foreigners, and we will discuss how we are bound together, our peace, and being filled. However, during this break, I wanted to take a moment and discuss some of the overall background of the letter.

The Epistle to the Ephesians is a letter that Paul uses to lay out his basic outline for salvation and the theology of Christ. The first thing of note is how early this letter was written. Like all of Paul's letters, Ephesians was written before any of the gospels. The early Christians who formed the churches like the one in Ephesus could not read about Jesus’s life in the gospel narratives. The only way they had to learn about God was through traveling apostles telling stories and letters that were sent to them like the one Paul wrote to the Ephesians.

               As you read through the letters from Paul, you will find that they are not nearly as easy to understand as the gospels. They were not written in a narrative format. There is no story. While the gospels follow a natural progression, from Jesus’ birth or the start of his ministry to the cross and resurrection, the letters do not. They may start with a theological statement based on the resurrection then move on to a statement about Christ’s place in heaven before Adam and Eve’s creation. They have no problem jumping through time to make their theological point. The reason for this is that the letters are not designed to inform the reader about Jesus’s life, like the gospels, but instead to inform the reader about correct theology. They are not about what Christ did, but instead, they care about what Christ's actions mean.

               The letter to the Ephesians does just that. It makes claims of what Christ means in our lives. It spends a particularly long time talking about the connections we have as a community in light of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. It explains how in Jesus we can come together as one in a way that we couldn’t without him, and how we can accept one another as Christ accepted us. It is a deep letter with many different turns.

The depth of this letter is why it takes us five weeks to cover the topic “No Longer Strangers.”

               At the end of this month, we will begin another series. The next series will discuss the Epistle of James. The letter from James is a fitting follow up to the Epistle to the Ephesians because of how different it is.  Often James’ theology has been seen as a counter to the theology present in Paul’s letters. Scholars have discussed in detail the differences that these two early Christians may have had. Yet, in all the ways they might seem different they both deal with the same God and the same salvation. Listen to all of our current sermon series and our following sermon series online to learn more about these two letters.