Dear Church Family, Life likely will never be exactly the same due to the coronavirus. I am reminded of Matthew 9:17. “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled , and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Our Lord is referring to His new, internal truths of forgiveness and spiritual cleansing and how they cannot be attached to the old, external traditions of Judaism. There likely will be some old traditions in life that will be done away as new practices take their place. I trust that we will be able to flex and adjust to the new ways that the Lord may have in mind for us all. May the Lord grant you the grace to be flexible in these changing times. Have a wonderful day! In His Matchless Grace, Pastor...

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Dear Church Family, This morning I read this verse as part of my morning devotions. “ The King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes,” Proverbs 21:1. This is one of my favorite proverbs because it applies so frequently in our day to day lives and it saves us from saying things to people when we would be better off allowing the Lord to work. When it comes to a wife convincing her husband, having a potential employer to choose the best employee, or directing a political ruler to move in the proper direction there is no substitute to letting the One who created everything out of nothing to work on a person’s heart. May you trust Him to work on the heart of others and to frustrate less as you wait form Him to work on peoples’ hearts. The birthdays for the rest of May are as follows: Gage Wood 23rd Kaylin Swartz 24th Bill Sprit 31st Mariah Kovac 31st Have a great rest of the week! Pastor...

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Dear Church Family, People ask me about how the virus has influenced my day to day schedule. I usually answer that I’m not doing different things, but I am doing things differently. I have never preached to a laptop computer before, or had meetings on Zoom before, or visited so many people via the phone before. The same things are being done in different ways. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul writes, “ We are His workmanship in Christ Jesus to do good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do.” We are God’s craftsmanship. He is crafting us so that we can do good works that He planned for us to do before we were ever created. Those good works include thing that He wants us to do despite the virus. Keep on doing good works, in perhaps different ways, that God has prepared for you to do. Be a Blessing Today, Pastor...

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Dear Church Family, It is an odd feeling to be in the church sanctuary on Sunday morning with only two other people in attendance. We know that the church is not the building. It is the people who are part of the body of Christ that make up the church.  So it really does not feel like church. During this pandemic, I have learned that being together matters more than I thought.  Loving one another at a distance is safe and the right thing to do. It demonstrates our obedience to the governing authorities and our love for one another. As Paul wrote in Romans 13:8, “ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves has fulfilled the law.” So let us love one another, for the time being, by being separated, knowing that Spirit produced love will hold us together while we are apart. God bless you, and keep you, and may His face shine upon you. In His Bountiful Grace, Pastor...

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Dear Church Family, This is a time of loss. We have lost our security, our economic stability, some have lost loved ones, and others have lost good jobs. With loss comes grief. As followers of the Lord Jesus we too grieve, but not as the world grieves. In I Thessalonians 4:13 we read, “ But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as those who have no hope.”  We grieve too, but in a way that is different than the world. Our grief is informed by the promises of God in His Word. That is why when a loved one passes who knows Jesus we can say that they have “fallen asleep.” It’s only a temporary separation. We have a very real hope while we grieve. The same is true of any other loss we experience. It too can be reframed by God’s Word. He is in charge bringing  glory to Himself and good to His people. Below is an email that I just received from Pat Bennett’s daughter. Pat went home to be with Jesus last week. Her family is grieving as those who have hope. Have a wonderful day. See you on Sunday. Pastor Joe “Hi Pastor Joe, Thank you so much for your call and prayer with me last week. Due to the Covid 19 virus, only ten people can be at the funeral; however, there will be a live webcast of the service. The funeral is this Friday, the 24th, at 12:00 noon. The link is not active yet, but can be found on the Dostal Bokas Funeral Home website. Here is the link to Pat’s obituary with info on the webcast. The link should be active for 90 days, so if someone would like to view her funeral and is unable to do so on Friday, they can see it later. https://www.dostalfuneralservices.com/obituaries/Patsy-Bennett-3/#!/Obituary If you could share this with your congregation, it would be appreciated. The members of your church have been so amazing with their prayers, cards and gifts. I can’t thank you enough. Blessings,  Sue Linder (Pat and Bob’s daughter)  Bob...

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Dear Church Family, In Luke 22:31-32 our Lord said to Peter, “ Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Of course, Peter did not think that he needed to have his faith strengthened and he fell as Jesus predicted. It’s interesting that our Lord prayed for Peter before he failed and that He prayed that Peter would be used in a powerful and redemptive way after his failure. Our failures do not take Jesus by surprise. Why does His grace and forgiveness surprise us? They shouldn’t. As the old hymn states, “Wonderful grace of Jesus; greater than all my sin.” Unlike Peter, we should embrace His grace and forgiveness even before we need it. Some of you enjoy sending birthday cards to friends in the church family. Here are birthdays for the rest of April. Sue Freshly and Olivia Carafelli (16th), Scott Carrel (20th), Juliann Canonico (25th), Ian Kovac, Anthony Warner, and Etheleen Werstler (26th). May we all embrace His grace and forgiveness before we need it. God bless you and stay safe in Jesus. By His Grace, Pastor...

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