It all Depends

Have you ever faced an extremely tough situation? Maybe you are facing a hard circumstance right now? Maybe your boss is making it so hard for you at work, it's hard to show up everyday. Maybe your spouse isn't showing the appreciation or support you really desire. Maybe the stress of trying to pay all of your bills and stay afloat is weighing heavily on your shoulders. Maybe you have lost or are in the process of losing a loved one as you read.

Whatever the situation we face, the results of our lives often depend on our response!

Numbers 20 reveals this amazing principle on the significance of our response. You have to understand that Israel was no stranger to the power and miraculous hand of God. They witnessed the plagues God brought against Egypt so Israel would be set free from slavery. They witnessed God open up the Red Sea so they could walk through on dry ground. They witnessed God provide manna in the desert and quail when they complained about more options.

Yet in Numbers 20 they are in the dry desert, hot and thirsty without any water. However, instead of responding in faith and with confidence in a God who has been taking care of them they respond with negativity, complaining, and quarreling.

This is in great contrast to how Moses and Aaron respond. Numbers 20:6 says Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. Every time Israel faced a tough situation they complained and got negative. Every time Moses and Aaron faced a tough situation they fell facedown and sought the face of God!

No matter what siutation you face today or in the near future you have two choices...to complain and become negative or to seek God. If you complain and become negative it will only feed your fears, unbelief, discouragmeent and anger. If you seek the face of God you will receeive strength, peace, hope, direction and most of all God's presence. Let's choose to run to God and trust in Him with every situation. We will be glad we did.

Alpha Course Kicks off this Sunday night

We are so excited to kick off the Alpha Course this

Sunday evening @ 5pm.

Come for a free meal and a relaxed environment as we discuss some tough questions of life. Since Alpha is a more relational atmosphere, you can ask any question and have great discussions. Learn more about Jesus, the Holy Spirit and what the Bible actually says.

We rent out the chapel at First United Methodist Church on the corner of Oak & Biddle downtown Wyandotte (71 Oak St.)

Letters to God

You are a Letter from God (By soul fuel Dare 2 Share Ministries)

Have you ever wanted to write a letter to God? If you sat down right now to compose a message to the Creator of the universe, what would you say?

I think most would go with the whole series of "why?" questions...why me God? Why did my parents divorce? Why am I depressed a lot? Why did you make me this way? Why are things turning out like this? Valid questions to be sure - and also ones that God is not threatened or angered by. Life is sometimes plain and simple awful, and it is human nature to point our finger at the sky and blame the One in charge - right? That is certainly something Tyler Doherty could have done, and no one would have blamed him.

Who is Tyler Doherty? Well that's not his real name, but he is a real 8 year old boy who went from an easy going, soccer playing childhood to the darkest journey anyone could ever face when one simple word entered his world: Cancer

In the process of his battle with this deadly disease, Tyler had to quit his beloved sport, lose his hair and eyebrows, and face a daily battle with a reality that could crush the spirit of anyone on the planet. But Tyler had an unshakeable relationship with God...a childlike faith that turned his pain and discouragement into a community transformation. That's why the letters he writes to God are not about the "why," or even about him. Tyler writes to God about other people and their problems, and in turn becomes a living letter from God to everyone around him.
And now his story has the chance to transform - not hundreds - but literally millions of lives through the movie Letters to God.

I can't say if I would have the faith that Tyler had when facing a giant of that size, but one thing I have in common with him is that I, too, am a living letter from God to the people around me. And if you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, this statement is true about you: Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts (2 Corinthians 2:2-3).

This truth formed the foundation of Tyler 's outlook on life. He wrote pen and ink letters to God on behalf of others, and in turn God used him to be a beating heart letter from Jesus Christ. His deepest wish was that the sad, hurting, and broken people in his world would come to know God. We've been granted an unbelievable opportunity - haven't we? Every day God is texting the world through our eyes, our words, our attitudes, and our actions. The ink from our hearts bleeds onto the paper of our world, painting a picture of Jesus Christ.

So what kind of living letter are you? The answer to this question can be found in another question- What kind of letters are you writing to God?
Your prayers are your letters, so if they are generally composed of complaints, questions, and self-focused requests, then that is the kind of God the people around you will see.

How about we all start a new letter writing campaign? One that asks God to touch lives and heal the pain in our corner of the world. One that begs God for the salvation of our friends who don't know Him because they haven't trusted in Jesus Christ as their only hope of salvation. Let me start this campaign with a letter from God that changed me to the core of my being:

He was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God's paths to follow our own.
Yet the L ord laid on him
the sins of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Remember, the ink that God is using to write His message to the world through you was paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Don't waste this precious gift with selfish and self-centered prayers and living, rather make each day a magnificent composition to your Savior, then watch Him write His message of unconditional love and salvation to everyone around you!