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First Assembly of God Newsletter January 2011 |
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Life is full of new beginnings. When we are born, there is a new beginning. When we begin school, there is a new beginning. When we move from our parent's house, with marriage, having children of our own, these are all new beginnings. And, when we begin a new year, we have another new beginning. There are some that would claim that these instances are not new beginnings, just circumstances, things to be lived through. But I want to be more positive than that. Scripture reminds us that in the beginning of life, God was there. In the beginning, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In the beginning, God is able to do abundantly more. In our beginnings are new opportunities. But opportunities are only opportunities, until we act on them. In these opportunities, we find that our faith is affected. Each time in Scripture it mentions 'beginnings' referring to Father, Son or Spirit, it requires some step of faith. When we say the words of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created..." we speak faith. When we repeat the words of John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," we speak of our faith. We cannot accept any of these portions of Scripture without it affecting our faith. Do you see the connection? In the beginning God, in the beginning was the Word. Why? Not just so that we may have the opportunity, which comes from beginnings, but also the faith to move forward in these opportunities on faith. It is not until we act upon the opportunity that our faith will begin to grow. I believe that when many Christians claim to be stuck in a rut, the truth is, they haven't made the most of their new beginnings. When we live out our faith, we find even more new beginnings. For John, the beloved disciple, who probably sat down some 60 to 70 years after Christ's ascension to write the well-known phrase, In the beginning was the Word...," we know that he experienced new beginning after new beginning as we read his version of the Gospel message, his letters, and finally the Revelation of Jesus Christ he received. I thank God that I am not the person I was five years ago. And I believe as I continue my life's journey, I am going to see many new beginnings. I believe that as we move from 2010 to 2011, we each have a new beginning , with new opportunities. How will you use them, and how will your faith in God be affected? Jesus can take ordinary people and do something miraculous. The fact is that if we accept Jesus' offer of a new beginning, as for forgiveness and Christ's leadership in our lives, he's promised that he's able to do abundantly more than we could ever do alone. It's as simple as that. May your new beginning in 2011 bring you many new opportunities to build your faith and strengthen your relationship with Jesus Christ! Happy New Year! —Pastor Jeff |
BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATOR NOTES
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Since you will hopefully receive this before the end of the year, I want to remind you of the IRS requirements concerning year-end giving that I mentioned last month. The general rule is: —Steve Parsons |
