As I walked up to the grocery checkout I noticed the clerk was sitting on a chair waiting to scan items. It seemed a bit different, and so I studied the woman’s face to see if it might tell me more of the story. Behind her glasses, her eyes were squinting slightly and her eyebrows furled down with a concerned look. When I observed these things, I prayed silently in my heart – Lord, reveal to me how I can help her.
“For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.” - C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
A popular song we sing at church is Revelation Song (written by Jennie Lee Riddle). This song has a beautiful melody with lyrics inspired by Revelation 4-5. These chapters describe an amazing celebration of God’s creation, redemption, and victory. It builds to a crescendo of worship that begin with the angels and flows to the entire heavenly hosts, and then to all of creation. Revelation 4-5 is a fascinating read.
"Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." I Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)
Love is powerful. It’s what changes the world.
We’ll revisit love again in a few moments. But first we must talk about “faith”.
Faith often is explained as this intangible force that we need to live. It’s hard to explain and even harder to identify.
I don’t know if that’s true.
Some of our High School students and a few adults just got back from LIFE Conference in Orlando, Florida. This is a denominational event that only happens every three years and was the first time EVER that the youth of Neighborhood Church in Chico have attended. This has typically not been a well-attended event by west coast churches. However, this 6-year God-given dream finally became a reality on July 4th, 2022.
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires”. Psalm 37:4 NLT
God knows what the best is for all of us. If we take delight in Him, spend time to learn about Him, to love Him, to honor all that He is and ask, He will give us the desires of our heart. This is how God led me from an early age to acknowledge and grow the gift of love for “Littles” that He gave to me.
As far back as I can remember I have had a sense of love for kids. I remember playing “school” with my girlfriend and being the teacher, not realizing then that it was a preface to my career choice. I did not understand back then that this deep seeded love I have for children is a God given gift to me.
From the desk of Amy Wadlow
I love being a part of something bigger than myself. It not only keeps me from living in a self-focused place, but I get excited knowing so much more can be accomplished when we work together as God intended, each of us using our own gifts, skills, talent and calling.
If you’re newer to our Neighborhood Church family and still figuring out our lingo, we are a part of a larger denomination called the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA).
One of the most beautiful things in the world is seeing a child bubbling over with joy. Children find joy in the simplest things and express their joy so easily. When I hear the word joy, I picture animated smiles and laughter, energy and exuberance.This is the outward manifestation of what is happening inside our heart. But joy doesn’t always look this way. Sometimes it is a quiet steady confidence and gratefulness deep in our heart that enables us and strengthens us to keep on going when we are fooled by our emotions that we don’t want to go on, or that we just can’t.
Sunday, May 15th, was our second week in our summer series 1000 Names of God, where people shared testimonies that revealed different names of God in their life stories. Hearing testimonies is one of my favorite things about Sunday morning service. Testimonies are so life-giving; they tell the story, or as I like to say, adventure of what God has done in their life during trying or uncertain times.
While I have many testimonies of what God has done in my 61 years of life, this is the testimony God placed on my heart to share with you.
After 30 years of full-time ministry, I’m thrilled to get a sabbatical leave for the next three months! My plans include reading the books I haven’t been able to read, visiting and learning from peers, some travel and time to reconnect with my family. The biggest shift for me will be time away from walking through crisis with people. There is always someone who is needing prayer, counsel, or help, and to have a bit of time without the pressure of grief will allow me to reset for the next season.
Leading a “simple life” in our modern culture is not held in high esteem. Simple is often seen as boring, “less than" or lacking interest.
Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
While Leonardo is known for his incredible art, his contemporaries spoke of his kindness and generosity with others, saying that "he was so generous that he fed all his friends, rich and poor…"
Simplicity has always had generosity and openhandedness at its core. The concept of loving people and using things (motto for “the minimalists”) is coupled with a ruthless trust in God that He will always provide for what we need.
Psalm 103:8–12 (NLT) A Psalm of David
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
When you think of the God of the universe, how do you imagine him?