(by pastor Jean)

“For I am the Lord your God who holds your right hand, who says to you, “do not fear I will help you “(Isa 41:13; CSB). See also Isaiah 41:10. There are times in life when we need God’s help, comfort and strength. God knows what we are going through and promises to help us. In the beloved Psalm 23, verse 4 we are also assured of God’s comfort, “Your rod and your staff they comfort me” (CSB). Other verses that speak of God’s comfort are Psalm 119:76, Matthew 5:4, Psalm 34:18 and Romans 8:26-28, to name just a few. Also, in Ps 23:4 God promises to be with us as we go through difficult things, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” (NKJV). Remember that one of the names of God is Emanuel which means God is with us (Matt 1:22-23). See also Joshua 1:9, Matthew 28:20. We may not always feel God’s presence, but we must believe and act on it by faith. Not only did God promise to be with us but that he would never leave us or abandon us (Heb 13:5). It is often difficult to pray when we are facing trials but Romans 8:26 promises us that the Spirit, “intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words” (AMP). Praise God that He is always there for us with His love and comfort no matter what we are going through.

(by pastor Norman)

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7; NJKV). What a wonderful promise! To pray is to bring our requests earnestly to God, prayer was a central commitment for the early church (Acts 2:42). We are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:16; NKJV), constantly (Rom 12:12), remembering also to give thanks to God for answering our prayers (Col 4:2). Our personal prayer needs to be in private, just us and God (Matt 6:6). In the gospel of Matthew Jesus gave us a basic, framework for prayer it includes praise and worship, requesting that God the Father’s will be done on earth, that He would meet our personal needs, protect us from evil, forgive us and enable us to forgive (Matt 6:9-13). We can base our prayers on the Lord’s prayer but Matthew urged us to avoid long repetitious prayers (Matt 6:7). We pray to our Father in Jesus’ name (John 14:13). Our prayers must line up with God’s will (1 John 5:14) which we can find in His word (John 17:17; 8:31,32) then we can be assured that he hears us and will answer our requests (1 John 5:14-15). Finally, we must pray in faith! (Mark 11:24). James, the brother of Jesus, warns us that doubts will negate our prayers (James 1:6-8). Remember we can build up our faith by time in the word! (Rom 10:17). Let’s pray!

(by pastor Norman)

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7). When we believed in and asked Jesus into our lives to be our Lord and Saviour (Rom 10:9-10) He came into our lives as the Holy Spirit (Gal 4:6). We are God’s temple with the Holy Spirit living in us (1 Cor 3:16). The disciples of Jesus first received the Holy Spirit when Jesus met with them after His resurrection, “He breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22b; NKJV). After Jesus’ ascension, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3,4). This second experience with the Holy Spirit was an empowerment for ministry and living the Christian life (Acts 1:8) and is also known as the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus had to be filled with the Holy Spirit while on earth to empower Him to perform all of His signs, wonders and miracles (Matt 3:16). The apostle Paul (Saul) preached and ministered by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4,5; 1 Thess 1:5). If we ask in faith Jesus will baptize us in the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). This Holy Spirit power gives, “life to your mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11; NKJV), in other words health, healing and wholeness. If we allow, this same Holy Spirit will change and mature us to be more and more like Jesus (2 Cor 3:18; Gal 5:22,23; Titus 3:5) and empower us to spread the gospel with signs, wonders and miracles (1 Cor 12:7-11). Now that’s exciting, how is your faith for the power of the Holy Spirit to work in and through you?

(by Pastor Jean)

“Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things” (NKJV; Jer 33:3). The Hebrew word for “call” means a cry for help. We are told that if we call on God for help, He will answer us. David, in Psalm 31:17 was calling on God for help when he was being persecuted by some wicked men. Then in verse 22 we read, “You heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help” (NLT; see also Ps 18:3,4; 50:15). There are numerous verses in Psalms where the Psalmist called out to God for help and God delivered him. The prophet Isaiah urges us to “Call on Him now while He is near” (NLT). Joel likewise tells us that, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32; NLT). Then we read the New Testament equivalent of this verse in Rom 10:13, where Paul quotes those very words of Joel. (That is how we become a Christian, by simply calling on God to save us). Jesus of course taught us to call out to God but he used the word “pray” and He said that when we pray, we can be assured of an answer (John 17:7,16). There are times in life when circumstances become overwhelming and all we can do is cry out to God for help, knowing that we do not have the answers. Always remember that God does have the answer and He is wanting to help us. Do what the word says and, “call on God” and leave the rest to Him.