We live in a world where almost everything is fast paced. We find it difficult to wait. How long have you waited for something? We are like children and the experience of waiting for Christmas morning to open the gifts under the christmas tree.
We expect everything to be at our fingertip once we have the desire for it. It is the world we find ourselves living in. We are getting used to it.  If we need information, we get easy downloads, quick emails, and dinner prepared in a few minutes.  In all our impatience, God finds ways to make us wait. Waiting and faith goes hand in hand. The prophet Isaiah tells us that those who wait on the Lord will have new strength.
Advent is about faith and waiting. It is a time when we wait for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.What are you waiting on God for this year? This morning, let us remember the years of silence God’s people waited for the birth of the Savior. The story of Jesus’ birth gives us assurance and joy, even though the wait lingered for decades, the Lord came through at the right time.
May you share with someone what you are waiting for. May you encourage someone who is weary of waiting, that God keeps his promises.

Isaiah 40:31.

On this morning after Thanksgiving, I can only thank God I am alive. My testimony is that God has kept me alive.

During my late teens, I was involved in hospital and prison ministries. I would go to the prison and take sardine sandwiches for the prisoners. I would also visit the hospital ward at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Liberia. On one of those occasions, I ran into a patient who was a victim of a hit-and-run. After sharing the message of the Cross with him, he shared with me a testimony. He told me he’d never been to church, but on the day he was struck by a car, he remembered calling the name of Jesus. He believed that name saved his life.
Reading Psalm 103:15-16, we are reminded, “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower in the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone.”  When something happens to us that involves this life God has given us, we realize how fragile and fleeting life is. With all the things we have to do, we sometimes forget the gift of life God had given us.
These words of the psalmist are both simple and haunting. It made me pause and reflect on how uncertain life can be. As I lay in bed this morning reflecting on this psalm, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude for just being alive. In my whirlwind of gratitude, I urge you on this morning after Thanksgiving to just pray and ask God to receive your thanks for this incomparably wonderful gift of life.
God bless you. Please stay safe.

Memory verse: Psalm 103:15

Grace and peace to you this morning. 

Everyone has a habit that is hard to go away. Some habits are good, while some habits are bad. It is difficult trying to do away with a bad habit. It can be hard to resist its enticements. Few days after “quitting,” we are back at it again. No wonder James tells us, Our feeble attempt of trying can be a miserable disaster. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…” (James 1:2).

There is nothing more difficult than denying ourselves. James further points out each person is tempted when a person is dragged away by bad desires and enticed. There is something about our nature that clings to our “self.” We are powerless to fight it. We need the help of God.  The things and habits one struggles to deny are brought out. It harms the body and restrain the soul.

James tells us that testing develops perseverance, a dedication to grow and mature in Christian patience and wisdom. Perseverance includes the disappointments of our failures in trying to leave bad habits.  This is where God comes in. God gives us wisdom generously without finding fault.  God is our help and strength always.  Let us be joyful in this gift of wisdom from God. It will help us discern an unhealthy desire and to work in disciplining ourselves.

Have you asked God for wisdom to withstand temptations?

Memory verse: James 1:2.

Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ. It is my prayers that you continue to experience God’s peace in these unsettled times. I read Numbers the eleventh chapter this morning. It began with the words, “Now the people complained.”  

Complaining can seem like a favorite pastime for many of us. We complain about the weather and what we have to wear. We complain about food and find nothing to do. We complain about traffic and technology.

Complaining was second nature for Israel during the wilderness years. In numbers 11, Israel was only three days into their wilderness journey when they started to complain. They complained about their hardships and the wilderness food. They wanted something different from the manna they had to eat, day in and day out. The food they had eaten in Egypt seemed so much better.

Life, like the wilderness, can be hard, but when we complain, we fall into the devil’s trap. When we complain, we tend to glamorize what we don’t have. Did they really have it better in Egypt? Somehow the people completely forgot the hardships they had endured there as slaves. When we complain, we tend to see life in a distorted way. Grumbling flows from people who think they deserve something better.

Paul calls us to do everything without grumbling. Is this possible? Yes, when we learn to concentrate on God’s grace in Christ. Yes, when we learn to thank God in our hearts and through our utterances. How can we complain so often when we know we are loved by God? His grace can move us from grumbling to gratitude.

May God bless you as you start your week. Please stay positive and entertain positive thoughts and conversations. Please stay safe.

Memory verse: Philippians 2:14

Saints of God,
Each one of us has experienced a time when we have to say goodbye to someone. It must have been a friend, a loved one, or a co-worker.  Saying goodbye can be very difficult. Promising to keep in touch with others is not a substitute for physical presence. Having fond memories of our loved ones is beneficial for a time. These can not compensate for a person’s physical presence. Little wonder so many tears are shared when it comes to saying goodbye.
We can not avoid goodbye. Despite the tears, goodbye can be good for us. Every season has an end. Saying goodbye to a neighborhood, a church, or a job is difficult, but can be welcoming for new opportunities. Life is not static, it is fluid. God calls us on a sojourn that is brief. 
Paul in Acts 20 bid farewell to the church at Ephesus. He prayed. They embraced him. They shared tears because Paul had told them that they would not see him again.  In their tears, they exercise faith in God. We will all say a few goodbye along the way, some of them would be final. Just know that God has a better place for those we say goodbye to. God has a better place for us also.
It is my prayers that God will continue to strengthen our faith to embrace and understand situations that come our way.  
God bless you. Please stay safe.
Pastor Amos.