Thursday, February 27, 2020

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Lenten Devotion

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24

The word devotion is described by our digital friend Mr. or Ms. Google as “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.”
With a religious meaning, devotions are “prayers or religious observances.”
I want to briefly just express my gratitude for:
    a)  those who speak on Sundays, be it a sermon, a scripture reading, or an announcement at the end of the service;
    b) those who teach on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings to help the choir singers and instrumentalists (piano and bells) be as good as they can be;
    c) those who offer study groups to help the attendees learn to put God more in their lives not just on Sunday or weekly but daily.
I want to share two separate quotes from page 134 of The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren (a professional colleague of Ray McGee if I am not mistaken) whose book was studied last fall in Lisa and Steven Sicklesteel’s weekly class;

“A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle” and later on the same page…..
….
“We are commanded to love each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other, accept each other, honor each other, bear each other’s burdens, forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each other, and many other mutual tasks. These are your family responsibilities that God expects you to fulfill through a local fellowship. Who are you doing these with?”

Russ Wilcox

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