Our Gifts To Each Other This Year

 

 

 

God's Gift To Everyone For All Time

 

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Christmas Bell

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Christ’s Bell

THE BELL

I KNOW WHO I AM

I am God’s child (John 1:12)

I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15)

I am united with the Lord (I Cor. 6:17)

 I am bought with a price (I Cor. 6:19-20)

I  am  a  saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)

  I  am  a   personal  witness of Christ.   (Acts 1:8)

    I  am  a  member of  the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27)

     I am  free  forever from condemnation of  sin (Rom 8:1-2)

            I   am   a   citizen  of  Heaven. I  am  significant.(Phil. 3: 20) 

           I  am  free  from  any  charge  against   me. (Rom. 8: 31 - 34)

           I  am  a   minister  of  reconciliation  for  God  (II  Cor. 5:17 - 21)

           I  have  access  to  God  through the Holy Spirit (II  Cor. 1:21– 22)

          I  am   seated   with   Christ   in    the   heavenly  realms   Eph. 2: 6)

             I  cannot   be    separated   from   the   love   of    God .   (Rom. 8:35-39)

           I  am  established,   anointed,   and   sealed     by   God.  (II Cor. 1: 21-22)

             I  am   assured    that   all   things   work    together   for   good   (Rom. 8:28)

            I   have    been     chosen    and    appointed     to       bear    fruit. (John 15: 16)

           I   can     approach      God      with      confidence    and      freedom. (Eph. 3:12)         
    I can   do    all    things    through     Christ     who     strengthens    me.  (Phil. 4:13)
      I  am   a   branch   of     the    true    vine.   A    channel   of    His     life.  (John 15:1-5)
       I am   God’s     temple   (I Cor. 3: 16). I    am    complete   in   Christ.   (Colossians 2: 10)
      I  am   hidden    with   Christ    in    God  (Col. 3:3). I   have   been    justified  (Romans 5: 1)
     I  am  God’s co-worker (I Cor. 3:9;  II Cor. 6:1)  I  am   God’s   workmanship  (Ephesians 2:10)
       I am  confident  that   the good  works  that  God  has  begun in  me  will   be  perfected. (Phil. 1:5)
     I have been redeemed and forgiven (Colossians f1:14) I have been adopted as God’s child. (Eph. 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know

Who you are?

 

Leaving a Legacy

 

Uncle Darrell

My uncle died shortly after Thanksgiving. He was a Vietnam vet, and had a very nice military funeral.

military honors

 

Darrell became a Christian within the last ten years or so, and it changed his life. He married a lady who was also a devoted Christ follower, and became active his church, impacting many people in the community. At the funeral, people shared how he had touched their lives in many ways.

His greatest desire was that his family and friends would see how his faith in Christ had changed his life and that He would do so for them if they would invite Him into their lives. He left a lasting legacy. I can only hope to do the same.

How will people remember you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Story of The Teacup

I went to a High Tea one afternoon at Community Chapel in Mauldin, SC. It was fun to meet new people and sing praise songs while enjoying a variety of teas. There were scones, sandwiches, fruit, and other treats as well. The best part, though, wa s the testimony of one of the ladies there.

She’s undergoing treatment for cancer and talked about her spiritual life during this time. She shared a story by Georgy that lifts her spirits and sustains her.

The Teacup

 

A couple went to England for their anniversary. They liked antiques and pottery, especially teacups. One day, in a beautiful shop, they spotted an exceptional cup and asked to see it. ”We’ve never seen a cup quite so beautiful.” As the lady handed it to them, the teacup shocked them by speaking and telling this story…

I have not always been a teacup.  Once I was just a lump of red clay. My master rolled, pounded and patted me over and over. I yelled, “Don’t do that. I don’t like it! Let me alone.”

But he only smiled and gently said, “Not yet.”

Then WHAM! He placed me on a spinning wheel and spun me round and round. “Stop it! I’m getting so dizzy! I’m going to be sick,” I screamed.

But the master only nodded and said quietly, “Not yet.”

He spun, poked, prodded, and bent me out of shape, then put me in the oven! I’d never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. “Help! Get me out of here!”

I could see him through the opening and could read his lips as he shook his head, “Not yet.”

When I thought I couldn’t bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully put me on the shelf. I began to cool. Oh it felt so good! This is much better, I thought. Then he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. “Oh, please stop!” I gagged.

My master only shook his head and said, “Not yet!”

Suddenly he put me into a much hotter oven where I knew I would suffocate. I begged, pleaded, and cried, convinced that I would never make it. I was ready to give up when the door opened. He took me out and placed me on the shelf. I cooled, wondering, “What’s next?”

An hour later, my master gave me a mirror. “Look at yourself.”

“That’s not me” I said. “It’s beautiful..,I’m beautiful.”

Quietly he spoke, “I know it hurt to be rolled, and pounded and patted, but if left alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it was painful in the oven, but without the heat, you would have cracked. I know the paint fumes were awful, but without paint, there would be no color in your life. Without that second firing, you would not have the strength to survive. Now you are a finished product. Now you are just what I had in mind.”

God knows what He’s doing. He is the Potter and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, exposing us to just enough of the right pressures that we might become a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

So when life seems hard, and you feel pounded and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you’re in a fiery furnace of trials and life stinks, try this…Brew your favorite tea in your prettiest teacup. Sit down, and remember this story and have a little talk with the Potter. (Isaiah 64:8)

What are you facing that seems overwhelming? A load that's too heavy to carry? God is there in the midst of it. As hard as it is to do, we can trust Him to know what He's doing, even if we can't see it in the process.