Jesus is the Vine

We are off and running with our 21-day fast to Easter (March 10-30, 2024). If you haven’t started yet, today is a great day to join us! I hope you are encouraged as you spend time with the Lord during this season. I know many of us are not only fasting to increase our dependence on Jesus, but we are fasting for answers from the Lord about particular situations and circumstances. We are joining together to see souls come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. And not just any soul; we are praying for those people in our circles who will not go to heaven if Jesus comes back today. I join with you in agreeing for salvations

of these individuals as we both fast and pray.


Additionally, we are reading John 15:1-17 daily during our time of fasting and focusing on John 15:5 specifically.


“I am the vine; you are the branches.

If a man remains in me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit;

apart from Me you can do nothing.”


Jesus is the vine; He is the source of life…both now and eternally. We must remain in Him through active dependence and loving obedience. When we do so, we will bear much fruit. Why? Because we are attached to the Life-Giver, Jesus. So what happens when we detach or no longer remain in Jesus? We have no spiritual nutrition, we have no source of life; we can do nothing.

Jesus isn’t putting us down. On the contrary, He is allowing us to receive from Him what the Father has given Him. Did you catch that? When we remain in Jesus, you and I experience our Father the same way Jesus experiences our Father. That is simply amazing! Jesus is willing to allow the fullness of God to run through Him to us as we fully remain in Him and increase our dependence upon Him.

I am praying for you as you engage in our time of fasting. May your dependence upon Jesus increase, may you bear much fruit, and may you have the assurance that your situations and circumstances are fully handled by our Father in heaven. And may we see those specific individuals for whom we are praying to be saved to come to know Jesus this year!


-Pastor Paula


3-14-2024

2024 - It’s Time!

There is a certain urgency the Lord has placed on my heart as we enter 2024. It’s time to take hold of the promises of God and the prophecies He’s given us over the years. I am reminded of Jesus’ words that we can’t place new wine in old wineskins (Luke 5:38-39).

In other words, we can’t just take Jesus and insert Him into our lives. Our lives must be made completely new by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit within us. Holy Spirit, thank you for showing us what we need to discard as we move into the newness You are bringing to us.


It’s Time!

The first and best thing we can do as Christ-followers is pray! I encourage you to continue or start a pattern of prayer in your lives in 2024. Together, we kick off this year with a focus on prayer. We join with Assemblies of God believers around the world in united prayer January 7-13, 2024. Stay tuned for an email next week which will include our prayer points.


All Church Prayer – every Wednesday, January 3-February 21, 2024.

You don’t want to miss these building blocks of learning and coming together to agree and pray as the Holy Spirit directs our church.

We don’t always know what God is going to do in us and through us, but we do know it always starts and is fueled by intense (intentional) prayer. Join us for these power-packed times as we join together in prayer and discover what it means to encounter Jesus afresh and anew!


I am excited as we venture into 2024 with an expectation of wonder as to what God is doing among us!

I know God has the BEST in store for us, for YOU!

Please don’t miss a moment!

It’s Time!


-Pastor Paula


12-27-2024

Generosity Challenge

A couple of Sundays ago, I challenged us to live generously on a daily basis. I will continue our generosity series on Sunday, June 25. This will be a meaningful service as we talk about generosity around the Lord’s Table. We will partake of Communion together, recognizing the most generous gift ever given – God’s gift of His only beloved Son (John 3:16). You don’t want to miss it!


Let me refresh your minds on a couple of thoughts from God’s Word.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NLT  

‌

6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

 

The law of sowing and reaping is always in effect where God is concerned. And giving is a matter of the heart. Generosity does not always have to do with money; it’s a lifestyle mindset. If we are stingy,... click here for the full message.

6-16-2023

You Do You!

Have you heard this small one-liner lately? I’ve heard it spoken when someone is expressing a particular style, an opinion, a plan of events that is perhaps not popular or deviates from the norm. It is somewhat of an embracing of an individual’s personality and style. There is most definitely something to be said for being true to one’s individual likings and not conforming to others’ expectations. God has certainly designed us uniquely; each of us is beautifully fashioned by our Master Designer. Therefore, you are indeed a masterpiece.


For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10


We are custom-designed by the Creator. And when we are made new through the wonder of salvation, we are... click here for full message


4-24-2023

I still have my Quarter...

I still have a quarter on my desk from this time last year.


Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”     Matthew 27:37-39 (NIV)


As our thoughts in February often swirl around the concepts of love, may this simple email remind us...  click here for full message.


2-20-2023

Is THAT in the Bible?

Not everything you’ve grown accustomed to hearing, saying, and maybe even believing is from the Bible.


Live your truth!


This popular Instagram post went wild this year. Celebrities telling us to seek out and find our own truths and then living those truths. The thought is that each individual must seek and find his/her own truth and live life to the fullest based on self alone, not being told by others what to do or how to live. In the face of peer pressure, we are encouraged to not succumb to other’s perceptions or society’s standards of how each of us should conduct our lives. 


I get the notion in the slogan that each individual should not live life based on another’s expectations. The quest, however, that is promoted is that each of us should look within ourselves to find our truth. The supporters of this mantra want us to defy the status quo and shake off any external standard. They instruct us to define our own truth. It doesn’t matter what our “truth” is, only that we live it with self-integrity. It even seems that the most degrading lifestyles are celebrated for “living their own truths”. This self-actualization is somehow the epitome of this “woke” generation.

I’m sure you’ve ascertained the danger...  click here for full message.


1-26-2023

And Wonders of His Love

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, Jesus. That’s love. That’s the wonder of His love.


And that’s just the beginning of His love. His love is eternal. His love provides. His love secures. His love calms the storm inside of us. His love is greater than the starry sky or the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world. His love knows the numbers of hairs on your head (today and again tomorrow) as well as the number of your days on the earth. His love holds you when you are without strength and cheers for you when you win a battle. His love reaches to the lowest valley and extends far above the

highest mountain peak.


His love is so great…and yet His love is extended to every one of us individually. His love is wonderful!


Joy to the world! The Lord is come!

May the wonders of the love of God fill your heart and your home this Christmas.


With love,


Pastor Paula and Kelly

12-23-2022