| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us” Our Bible verse for today: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Get ready for the New Year” I’m sure most of us are more than ready to celebrate the New Year. We’re ready for 2020 to be over and we believe that 2021 will surely be better. Therefore, we should be eager to move forward into it. I think we still have a couple of tough months in front of us with respect to the pandemic but after that, surely things will get better. This past week I’ve been working on the New Year’s sermon which I will preach at Oak Hill Baptist this Sunday (the 27th). In preparation, I’ve spent some time thinking and praying about Paul’s great declaration in Philippians 3:13-14 about leaving the past behind and pressing forward into the future (what a great New Years theme!). Another statement I came across which was enlightening and helpful came from a book a friend gave to me recently. The title is “The Valley of Vision.” It’s a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions, most of which were written in the 1600s. They are deep, profound, and powerful. At the end of one of those prayers (a prayer which contained a lot of big requests made by the man doing the praying), he concluded with the declaration, “I ask great things of a great God.” Yes, what a mighty God we serve! He does truly great things. And so, we shouldn’t hesitate to ask great things of Him. However, … the truth is that God seldom sits on His throne in heaven, waves a magic wand, and instantly and miraculously brings about stupendous changes in our lives. Instead, the way such things almost always happen, is with a combination of God’s power and our personal responsibility. God combines His power with our participation and together we move forward accomplishing wonderful things according to His will. So yes, we do ask great things of a great God, but then we must also roll up your sleeves and put some effort into doing our part to bring such things about. 2021 certainly can be better than 2020 for all of us, but it will take great works of God’s mighty power, along with prayer and vision and effort on our parts. I invite you to join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church for the New Year’s message this Sunday. Our worship service begins at 10:00. You can join us in-person, or online on the Oak Hill Baptist Church Facebook page, or on our website at www.oakhillbaptist.net. The service will be live-streamed on Facebook beginning at 10:00, and it will also be recorded for later viewing on Facebook and on the website. Let’s begin to celebrate the New Year by getting our minds and hearts ready for it. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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