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Shelburne Free Press https://shelburnefreepress.ca/?p=2464 Export date: Wed Jul 3 16:14:22 2024 / +0000 GMT |
Crossroads Community Church This week our dear Pastor was present at the Annual Wesleyan District Conference to obtain his commission as Reverend. Although he feels honored by this accomplishment he is also quite humbled by all his mentors. He still refers to himself as Pastor Don as in his heart reverence is attributed to the Lord God. We at Crossroads are very proud and feel blessed to have a pastor who loves God with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind and all his strength and feel privileged to know him as shepherd and friend. All the while his wife Barb supported him through love and patience and we praise God for her. We are grateful to God to have put wonderful mentors in his journey; Pastor Alan Vardy and with Pastor Peggy Evans from Dundalk Wesleyan Church, Director of Church Multiplication Rev. Mark Parker who was instrumental in planting Crossroads Community Church Shelburne and Rev. Don Hodgins who for the last 18 years held the position of District Superintendent for Central Canada Wesleyan Church. So this Sunday as Pastor Don and Barb were at Silverlake, Bob Sibeon lead the service. He welcomed everyone with charm and laughter. He humbly offered the service to God in prayer and the worship was angelic and joyful. Bob then introduced his lesson, “Today I want to talk about fear, it has been said that fear is false evidence appearing real and statistics say that the No. 1 fear we have is public speaking and the No. 2 is death, some have joked that at a funeral we are better off in a casket than giving the eulogy. All jokes aside, when we listen to the news we are bombarded with countless difficult situations, from mass shootings to natural disaster, all are depressing news and leave behind a spirit of fear. What is fear? It is an emotion induced by a perceived threat which causes entities to quickly pull away and hide, it is a survival mechanism of fighting for life, in some cases it is paralyzing, causing panic, terror and anxiety. All people have an instinctive response to danger. So how do we counter-act fear? We are not born to be scared ,the apostle Paul in his charge to Timothy told him, to be of good courage because God has given us a spirit of love, power and a sound mind, (2Timothy 1:7). Today we live where catastrophic events seem common and threaten our sense of security as Luke 21:26 says but when we are set aside by God he gives us hope, and a promise that Jesus will return for us, and we have no reason to fear,(Psalm 91:5). Let me give you good news, you can be free from fear by trusting God's word whether your fear is a small one like being afraid of spiders or a crippling one like fearing driving after a serious accident , listen to His word in Psalm 46:1-3 , “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble…God foreknew that fearful things would take place so he gave us encouragement beforehand, He sends angels to watch over us, He answers prayers when we call out to him and he draws out the love and the good in people. In an interview with a teacher after a school disaster, she explained,”I took a bunch of kids with me in a bathroom to shelter them and I prayed for safety. God answered and we were saved.” When we are crushed the best we can do is pray, when we are overwhelmed we can trust Him because he never fails,(1Chronicles 28:20,Isaiah 12:2, Revelation 2:10, 21:4). God loves us and never wants us to fear, He keeps telling us that He is there for us, (Isaiah 41:13). Some may say that fear is a sin but it is really a break in our relationship with God. When we fear we have momentarily taken our focus off Jesus and our trust off God. That is when we need to seek him and ask for His strength, love and support, gather with other believers to support one another in His grace. When we pull away from God and the church we start building a shell around us that thickens pulling us farther away from God and making it more difficult to mend the break in our relationship. A song writer wrote “I've built walls, a fortress steep and mighty that none can penetrate I am a rock, I am an Island, a rock feels no pain and an island never cries,” isn't that what we humans do to try and protect ourselves from pain? We keep people out, the truth out and worse yet we keep God out. Let us turn back to God for fear is a thief of joy and peace. And now Beloved I leave you with this promise And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Asherey Shalom! To learn more visit our website.. http://www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca |
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Post date: 2013-07-15 14:20:28 Post date GMT: 2013-07-15 18:20:28 Post modified date: 2013-07-18 15:49:53 Post modified date GMT: 2013-07-18 19:49:53 |
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