Women of Promise

  by Ann Pace The Psalms are a source of comfort when we are hurt or fearful. The 23rd Psalm is one that is  often read at funerals to offer comfort to the family members left behind. I want to dive deeply  into the first verse because without understanding this verse, the psalm can be relegated to  simply words to recite at funerals. Verse 1 begins with the word “The.” Not just any lord is our lord…Our comfort comes from THE L ord - the triune God who created the universe, who offered himself as a sacrifice for our sin and  who daily leads and guides us as we go through this life. Is there any better Lord to have than  THE Lord? The second word is “LORD.” In most Bibles, when this word is in all capital letters it means the  divine name of God, Yahweh – in Hebrew. This is the most holy of God’s names and  encompasses His entire nature from friend to judge. How comforting to know that this infinite,  divine being cares for us, personally. Nex...

  Image Source: amazingfacts.org      Life can become so mundane sometimes.  We fall into our daily routines and dream of the weekend or vacation time when we can sleep in or break out of the usual hum-drum cycle of life.  Fatigue sets in and often we go through the motions of our lives, barely noticing everyone around us is doing the same thing.  It is easy to grow cynical or just plain grumpy when we have to repeat a task for the billionth time.  (Do the kids and/or animals really have to eat again? Will the laundry pile ever just stop?  That pile of paperwork is growing exponentially by the moment.  Do I really have to answer that question again? Maybe if I close my eyes the dishes will do themselves...) It is no wonder that depression and discouragement easily overtake us, leading to questions of the purpose of living.      What if we realized that God has a purpose for our lives?  Would that not make even the mun...

  What does it mean to be "Mission-Minded?"  Are each of us, individually, as families and as a church committed to following the purpose and calling of the church? Do we understand what our mission is? First, we are called to make disciples.  Matthew 28:19-20 is the Great Commission that the apostles were handed.   J ust before Jesus returned to heaven, He commissioned His disciples this way: “Going into all the world, make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you The apostles saw Jesus, spoke with Him and knew Him in a special way.  They were given the task of laying out for us exactly what we are to believe about Jesus and how to go about living for Jesus.  They had a special calling, but our mission is exactly the same as theirs, to make disciples of all nations.  As families and as a church, this means we equi...

     What is something that Ruth, Esther, King David, Joseph and Mary, and the twelve disciples all have in common -- other than their faith in God?  They were all ordinary people used by God in extraordinary ways! Each of these came from humble beginnings, yet were instrumental in God's plan of redemption and the gospel message. God Himself enabled them with the power to accomplish daunting tasks or deliver messages from Him in the face of opposition, ridicule and/or potential loss of everything that they had. The Bible is full of examples just like this, people that have no credentials or influence, yet were used to accomplish mighty tasks for God. They were chosen and enabled for the ministry to which they were called.      In the Old Testament, when a person was chosen for a special task they were often anointed with oil as a mark of God's power coming on them.  Aaron was anointed as the first High Priest of Israel in Exodus 29.  Later we...