(By Pastor Jean)

God’s love is everlasting. “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you” (Jer 31:3; CSB). God’s love never fails (Psalm 109:26), (1 Cor 13:8). God’s love is wide, long, high and deep and it surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:19). God’s love is forgiving (Mark 2:5). God’s love is compassionate (Matt 9:36, 15:32, Luke 7:13). God’s love is without limits (Rom 8:39). God’s love is sacrificial, “Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends” (John 15:13; NKJV). 1 John 4:8 tells us that, “God is love. (He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature”) (AMP). The Greek word used for God’s love is agape which means unconditional love which we see in the above verse, also John 3:16 and Rom 5:6-8. God died for all of us and we were all sinners but His love was so great that He endured a criminal’s death in order to save us from hell. God’s love has the power to change our lives and probably the best example of this in the Bible is Paul (Acts 9). After his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus he became a Jesus fanatic and wrote a large portion of the New Testament. Finally, God’s love is inspirational! Because of God’s tremendous love for us we can love ourselves and others with the agape love of God.

(by Pastor Norman)

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matt 12:36; ESV). I am sure we have all at some time found ourselves in a conversation where we slipped into careless words about someone or something; perhaps those words were critical or judgmental comments? God’s word encourages us not to be judgmental (Rom 14:10-13, Matt 7:1-5, James 4:11-12) or speak evil of anyone (Titus 3:2). Those first 5 verses of Matthew 7 always catch my attention. We are exhorted to remove the plank from our own eyes before we concern ourselves with the speck in someone else’s eye. In summary that means let’s judge ourselves before we judge or criticize others. In scripture, we are encouraged to be quick to listen and hear and slow to speak (James 1:19), treating or talking of others as we would want them to treat and talk about us (Matt 7:12). Let’s make sure we have the facts or truth when we discuss issues (Eph 4:25) and let love be our motivating force (1 Cor 13:4-7, 1 Peter 4:8). “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess 5:11; ESV. See also Heb 10:25). “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29; ESV). Wow! If we all entered our conversations with God’s word in mind, in His grace and love, what amazing, powerful places our churches would be!

(by Pastor Jean)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:19-21; NKJV). Earthly treasures, meaning our worldly goods and possessions do not last forever; they break and deteriorate with age; however, eternal treasures last forever and never wear out. In other words, there is nothing more important than Jesus! We get more understanding of these verses if we read Luke 12:33; NLT, “Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up for you treasure in heaven.” (See also Matt 19:21). When Paul was counselling Timothy, he told him the way to lay up earthly treasures was by giving and doing good works (1 Tim 6:17-19). We read an interesting verse in Matt 13:52 where the word “treasure” appears again, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple of the King of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old” (NIV). This implies that the kingdom of heaven is our treasure which includes both Old and New Testament truths. In summary, we are not to make money and “stuff” more important than our relationship with God and we certainly shouldn’t put our trust in those things. Instead, we should be looking for opportunities to bless others. Most importantly, we lay up eternal treasures by spending time with God and in His word.

(By pastor Norman)

God Himself said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5; NKJV). What an encouraging promise! However, I am sure that from time to time we can all have a day when things go wrong and we wonder where God is. Let’s remind ourselves of some scripture. In the word we read that God is our Shepherd (Psalm 23), we are His sheep or children (1 John 3:1) and if we seek Him, we will find Him (2 Chron 15:2). “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh 1:9; NKJV) and He also said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20; NKJV). Jesus walked with His disciples on the earth for 3 years and before He ascended to heaven, He told them (and us), “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you” (John 14:18; NKJV). God sent His Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ), to live in each of us (Gal 4:6, Rom 8:9-10). If the Lord lives in us nothing and no one can be successful against us and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:31-37). Trials and tribulation may come against but in Christ we are victorious, let’s also remember that God never changes (Heb 13:8, Mal 3:6a, James 1:17). We receive from God by faith (Gal 2:20); study the scriptures above to build up your faith (Rom 10:17) that God is always there for you. Finally, Jesus is preparing a place for us all in heaven (John 14:1-3) where we will spend eternity with Him.

(by Pastor Jean)

I like the Amplified Bible’s rendition of Heb 3:14; “For we (believers) have become partakers of Christ (sharing in all that the Messiah has for us), if only we hold firm our newborn confidence (which originally led us to Him) until the end.” What a marvelous thing to be a “partaker of Christ”! The word “partaker” means someone who shares in or partners with someone else. So, what exactly can we partake of? First and foremost, we can enjoy His love; there are so many verses that tell us how much God loves us (for example John 3:16, Jer 31:3). We can also receive His salvation; which includes forgiveness, healing, deliverance and protection. We share in His grace, the gift of the Holy Spirit, His guidance, wisdom, strength and ability. Not to mention the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) and the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:8-11). However, did you notice the word “if” in the verse above from Hebrews? We have a part to play if we are to enjoy the wonderful privilege of being a “partaker of Christ.” We have to hold firm our confidence until the end. What does that mean? Another word for “confidence” is conviction or firm trust. I believe it means we are to stay faithful to our beliefs about Christ that we had when we first became Christians and continue in that faith despite the challenges that may come.