Blessed Sunday to you all!

OMG! To quote one of the members of the Praise Team “It is on fire in here today!” Worship was an emersion in the Holy Spirit. The music was so inspiring. The readings were hard to hear but they spoke of how God, through the power of the Holy Spirit can change us from the inside out so that we can act according to His will and serve as he would have us serve. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow and may our worship continue to be inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit and feel like Holy Fire is all around us!

Sundays have returned to worship, laundry, grading papers and tonight, reading my first reading for the class on Christian Ethics. I am asking your prayers for me to understand as I take this class. I have a paper due on Wednesday. I have done the reading and I will write on Monday and Tuesday night.

Carme has her corrective breast surgery on Tuesday. Please keep her, David and Shaleena in your prayers.

Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.”

I once saw a wonderful illustration of this scripture. First the leader took an empty aquarium and filled it with small cannonballs and then asked the group if the aquarium was full. The response was “yes.” Next the leader poured pea gravel over the cannonballs watching it work its way down and through the cannonballs until it appeared the aquarium was full and then asked the question again, “Do you think it is full?” The response again was, “yes.” Next the leader poured sand over the gravel and cannonballs and appeared to fill the aquarium and asked the question again. This time the group was not so sure of their answer. Finally the leader took pitchers of water and poured over all of the filling in the aquarium until it was (you guessed it) overflowing. The illustration was to show how much God gives to us. God’s giving to us begins with Jesus. God gave us His best and all He had and even close to death Jesus continued to give when He forgave the thief who hung beside Him and told the man he would be with Him in paradise. God’s love for us is filled-up, pressed down, shaken to the bottom and then filled once again to overflowing. Just when we think God cannot give us any more love and any more blessings, He shakes them down and pours on more.

Jesus is the perfect model of a life given in obedient service to His Father who has learned His lessons in giving very well. God, through Jesus, gave His time, His mercy, His love, His grace, His forgiveness, His kindness, His heart and finally His life. We follow the greatest giver of all. I know I can never give as much as Jesus gave, but I can give my time. I can be kind. I can forgive. I can love. I can be merciful and I can let the love of God overflow through me to those around me.

Our family has been blessed in the last year with phenomenal gifts of love, grace and kindness. We have been shown a model of the godly life through the acts and generosity of others. We could never repay these kindnesses, but we can pass them onto others. Remember our plan to wake up each day and say, “Jesus, I love you and I want to serve you.” When we give to others then God can keep giving of His blessings and keeping them overflowing.

Take joy in the journey and enjoy the cooler weather! Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.