Blessings to you, loved ones.  My prayer for you this week is that the Joy of the Lord will fill your hearts to overflowing, spilling out onto those around you and drawing them to Him.  Here’s the scoop on BBT.

You didn’t miss last weeks update.  I didn’t write it.  By the time I had my thoughts organized enough to provide some kind of comprehensible summary of what i planned to say it was Saturday afternoon. After preparing my notes I just forgot that I didn’t post anything for the week.  Though this blog seems to serve primarily as a vehicle for introducing the topic of the week, it is also a way of connecting with those interested in what happens at our church who do not or cannot attend.  So I apologize for my failure to deliver.

It was a tough week for everyone.  Several were out and some who came did so despite sickness and pain.  Cathy and Ruth were missing because they were at the hospital with Benny, who has developed some kind of infection in the leg that he injured that is resistant to the antibiotics they have tried thus far.  Based on Cathy’s Facebook post yesterday he is still there.  Edith was out because of pain in her knee.  Priscilla made it but her knee is acting up and she was not able to drive the bus.  Kimi was with her but struggling with her own health issues.  Tim was also there but having a little more trouble than he has been.  Lupe is still in rehab.  Keep these in your prayers.

I did not upload a podcast for the Sunday school because it was more of a discussion than a lesson and the participants would have been hard to hear.  Priscilla talked with us about the gift of tongues, and I appreciated what she had to say.  I spoke on the problem of sin.  There is a podcast episode and video from Facebook for the message.

This week I’m going to give a message that is as much for me as anyone else who may benefit.  We are all facing challenges that can sometimes get us down.  We know all the right answers, but sometimes they don’t seem to be enough.  How can we “rejoice in the Lord Always” as Paul instructs us to do in Philippians 4:4?  Sometimes things like that are the last we want to hear.  We may think, “Easy for you to say!”  Part of the answer is in the next few verses, which we have often read together.  But to put it in the simplest terms, we must choose to rejoice.

It isn’t just anything we’re rejoicing in, and that’s where the key is.  Anything else that might make us happy is temporary.  So too is anything that brings us down.  But the Lord is forever: always present, always good, always loving, always providing all that we truly need.  When we think about Him, talk with Him, and remember all that He is to us, then He will become the source of our joy.  We can make a choice to rejoice, and we will find the strength when we go to the source.

It would bring me great joy to see you on Sunday.

Love you all!

Larry