Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a passionate worshiper and follower of God. In her pursuit of God, she gives us lessons for our own pursuit of Him. One of these lessons is seen in the verse above, when she was treasuring and pondering the things the shepherds shared from the angel’s announcement of the birth of Jesus. While that was a very special moment for Mary as she had just given birth to Jesus, we can treasure Him and ponder Him in our own hearts, too. For Jesus Himself tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also ( Matt. 6:21).”
Don’t let the word “meditate” throw you off. Biblical meditation simply means to think and ponder His Word deeply- about its meaning and application in our lives and about hearing His voice. It’s a very important spiritual practice in the life of the follower of Jesus. Biblical meditation feeds our soul (Ps. 1:2-3), gives us insight (Ps. 119:97-99), and is a way that we receive understanding from the Lord (2 Tim. 2:7). We think about what we value and treasure in life. Jesus instructed and warned us that we love what we treasure, so meditating on Him is a way to treasure Him and to allow Him to pattern our hearts after His. While there are many ways to meditate on God’s Word, I’m going to revisit the method I shared on Sunday. It’s based on the ACTS model of prayer: Adoration Confession Thanksgiving Supplication Let’s then apply ACTS to our verse: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt. 6:21)
Let us, along with the Psalmist say: "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day." (Ps. 119:97) Blessings in your pursuit of Jesus, Pastor Andy Please read Titus in preparation for Sunday.
As I sit down to type these words for the NewLife News the one word that keeps coming to mind is time. Thinking back to Sunday and the graduating seniors sharing their thoughts, advice, and plans, I am reminded of just how quickly time moves. Hopefully, we were all encouraged to hear the seniors and celebrate them as they start this new chapter in their lives. If you did not get a chance to see it, I encourage you to watch the streamed video.
We have only so many years on this earth. We have only so many hours in a day. What are we going to do with them? When I saw the seniors, I thought about what I would have said when I was that age and getting ready to head to Asbury College some 25 years ago. I never would have guessed I would have gone into counseling and ended up as a pastor at a CMA church. (I didn’t even know CMA existed when I was 17 years old). Where am I going with this, you ask? Don’t waste your time. Don’t assume we have it all figured out. Whether we are a senior in high school or years past retirement – let God lead your steps. In the legacy video I heard so many encouraging words about following God, keeping Him central and following Him. That doesn’t change when we get older. The devil can get us at 90 just as easily as he can get us at a younger age, if we take our eyes off Jesus. One of my favorite Scriptures – which has been made into a fairly popular secular song is found in Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Let us be in the moment. As Jeremy Camp’s song says “Keep Me In The Moment.” Let us allow ourselves to be in the time (season) God has placed us in, because He has a plan. He walks with us and we will benefit from taking the time to feel, to act, to respond, to be. NewLife, I encourage you to take every moment God blesses us with and cherish it. Take every chance and be in that moment. Love each other in those times. We don’t know what tomorrow looks like, where we will be or who will be around us. Today – give God glory and praise for the moment – for our season – for the time we have now. Blessings and Love, Pastor Kyle
Paul’s second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, was meant to spur Timothy on in his faith and in his ministry. It was also essentially Paul’s goodbye letter. We can learn much from Paul’s reflections back over his life and how he stayed faithful to Jesus, even as he knew his martyrdom was coming soon. An important part of our learning and soaking in all of this teaching from Paul will come through thinking over and meditating on what he was saying. Because, as he tells us, the Lord will give us insight and understanding (2:7).
Here is the list of things we reflected on in Sunday’s service:
This is not a complete list of things one could meditate upon from 2 Timothy! There are many topics that we didn’t have time to cover on Sunday. However, I suggest picking one of these bullet points and beginning your reflections there. The point isn’t to hurry through the list but rather to take a deep-dive with Jesus in one of these areas and allow Him to saturate your heart, mind, and soul with His Presence and transforming grace and truth. Let’s Keep Fighting the Good Fight! Pastor Andy Questions for Reflection
Set Your Church on Fire
Win this nation back Change the atmosphere Build Your Kingdom here We pray “Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective While the world seems to be in chaos, in actuality, God has a good plan. He’s always had a plan (Eph. 1:4) and thankfully, it’s a plan of redemption (Eph. 1:7). Somehow by His grace, we’re a part of the plan. Yes, this means as individuals we can each play a part (Rom. 12:4-5) but also collectively, as His Church. 1 Timothy is Paul’s letter to his son in the faith (1:2) on how to pastor and lead the Church through changing times, difficult situations, and obstacles. As only a father could do, Paul encourages Timothy and nudges him forward in what he needs to do fulfill his personal and pastoral call (4:11-16). God’s good plan also includes instructions in 1 Timothy for the Church as the ambassadors of Christ. Here’s a list of the things we’re to be about until He calls us home or until His return:
Let’s all take Paul’s words to Timothy to heart and let us fight the good fight of faith, Pastor Andy Please read or listen to 2 Timothy for Sunday. Questions for conversation and reflection:
Hey NewLife Family,
We had quite a journey through 2 Thessalonians on Sunday! The Apostle Paul packed a lot of meaning into a short letter. Here are a some highlights:
Now, may the Lord of peace Himself grant us peace at all times and in all ways! 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Waiting with y’all for His glorious return, Pastor Andy Please read 1 Timothy for Sunday. Questions for Reflection or Conversation
On Sunday, we studied Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, which was mainly a letter of reassurance to the believers there.
Paul was reassuring them about three main things:
Not only was Paul reassuring the Thessalonians about their faith and the sincerity of the message he preached to them, he was encouraging them to continue to live out their faith in Jesus in their daily lives. Paul also encourages us to live our our faith by:
Blessings, Pastor Andy Please read or listen to 2nd Thessalonians for Sunday..
“Lord, there’s nothing better than You.”
From the song, “Graves into Gardens” Dear NewLife Family, I want to thank you for taking the journey of remembrance with me this past week during Holy Week. Our goals were to remember, reflect, and refocus on Jesus this past week. On Good Friday: we reflected on how Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) because His days were coming to a close and it was time for Him to be taken up. He turned to Jerusalem because His path of Ascension was through the cross and nothing was going to stop Him from taking that path, not even His own preference (Luke 22:42). We paused to reflect on His suffering through which He paid for our sin and accomplished the Father’s will. At the Sunrise service, we celebrated that Jesus surprised Mary at the tomb by his Resurrection. As soon as He said her name, she knew it was Him! We each can know His voice in the same way because He promised His sheep would know His voice (John 10:4). In our Resurrection Services, we celebrated the Risen Savior! We paused to look at the reliability of the story, of the credibility of the eye witnesses, and we marveled that the angel said to be sure to tell the disciples and Peter (Mark 16:6, emphasis mine). Thankfully the Risen Jesus calls each of us by name to Himself to forgive us, restore us, and recommission us for His purposes. What a loving Savior we serve! Let’s continue to remember, reflect and refocus on Him in these days ahead! He is Risen! Pastor Andy Please read or listen to 1 & 2 Thessalonians for Sunday.
With our celebration of Palm Sunday, we have officially entered Holy Week. As we noted on Sunday, these are our three goals for Holy Week:
Thoughts to reflect on Preparing Him Room this week:
He stands at the door and knocks. He calls to us and offers to come into our lives and eat (have communion) with us. We must open the door to allow Him in. And, as we do so, He’ll begin to open up every room in our heart for Him. We do all of this so that the King of Glory may enter our lives and have time and space with us. Let’s Prepare Him Room! Pastor Andy Services for remembering, reflecting and refocusing this week:
Kyle, a minister of Jesus Christ by the will of God. To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at NewLife. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.
I write these words not from a prison as Paul did, but out of my office under the stairs. Thinking about how thankful I am for you all and the work being done for God's kingdom. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Colossians there are three things to do: Put to death — all sinful strongholds — sexual immorality, passion, evil deeds, idolatry Put away — anger, malice, slander, lying, filthy language, blasphemy Put on — tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, and ABOVE ALL PUT ON LOVE God isn't done with you. Our salvation is an amazing gift — but that is just the beginning. As long as we have breath in our lungs, we are called to live a life worthy of God. The only way to do that is to daily give our lives over to God — to put to death all sinful strongholds and to put away those attitudes and actions that hinder our relationships with other believers. Chapter 3:17 states "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Everything we do should be done in the name of Jesus. Our journey with God necessitates intentionality, trust, and faith. It isn't about how we earn our way — it is about Trusting God and following Him — step by step. This is my prayer for you — Colossians 1:9-14 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Amen
Philippians is often called the letter of joy. As we read it, we see Paul rejoicing in the Lord and giving thanks to Him time and again, even though he was in prison. This is Paul’s thank you letter to the church in Philippi for their gift for his ministry. He was greatly buoyed in spirit by their kindness and he felt the genuine love and fellowship behind their efforts, especially as Epaphroditus had to travel over 700 miles to deliver the gift to Paul in Rome. (Think of the planning and preparation the church underwent as well as their commitment to the Lord and to Paul to accomplish such a ministry feat as that. That’s a lesson in and of itself!)
Here’s a quick rundown of the pathways to joy that we talked about in our study of Philippians: Thankfulness, 1:3 Fellowship and Partnership, 1:5-7 The Affection of Jesus, 1:8 Paul’s prayer for the Philippians, 1:9-11 To live is Christ and to die is gain, 1:21 The Model of Christ’s Humility, 2:5-11 Counting everything as loss compared to knowing Christ, 3:8 Pressing toward the goal, 3:12 Eagerly awaiting our Savior from Heaven, 3:20 Having a disciplined mind/intentional thinking on these things, 4:8 Just as these pathways help usher us into the joy of the Lord, there are things that drain joy: Disunity, 2:1-5, 4:1-2 Grumbling, 2:14 Your stomach being your god and other idols, 3:19 Worry, 4:6-7 So, as Paul learned to be content in various financial situations through the strength of Christ (4:11-13), we need to learn the same thing through use and practice of these pathways. Let’s choose to rejoice in the Lord today, Pastor Andy |
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