Dear Church Family,
I pray this letter finds you blessed and in health. Matthew 11:28-30 contains a precious promise and appeal from Jesus. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Have you considered what yoke Jesus is offering? In His ministry He bore the weight of the sins of the world. He labored for the salvation of all mankind. That doesn’t sound light nor easy to me. So what is a yoke? A yoke is used for work, labor, and struggle. With a yoke two animals join their strength, pulling in mutual effort, struggling against the weight of a load or the resistance of a plow.
As Christians, we too often strive in our own strength alone. The problem is, we have more weakness then strength, and without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). In addition, all the works or righteousness we attempt comes out as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) My only hope is to yoke with Christ. I’m so grateful that when I do, His strength is made perfect in my weakness (I Corinthians 12:9).
If we can learn to take Jesus’ yoke of complete trust and let Him take our yoke of worries, cares and fears, what a burden would be lifted from our shoulders. There is a wonderful statement in the book, Desire of Ages, p. 330. “In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet.” (Emphasis added) Let’s learn from Jesus, obey His call and give Him our weakness, our fears, our self-reliance and enter the rest He promises.
Upcoming Events:
First, I would like to remind you to continue to pray for our Evangelistic series beginning October 24, and please do not forget your Operation Andrew Prayer Cards. Pray for those precious souls every day. If you don’t have a card, pick one up this Sabbath. It is not too late to start. Also if you have not yet signed up to help, please take some time to do so soon.
Free Community HEALTH EXPO September 14th: This will be an excellent outreach opportunity. Everyone can assist in making this program a success. All of you can pray. You can contribute financially to Health Ministries. Several of you are staffing the booths. You will also be a blessing to your neighbors, co-workers and friends by inviting, encouraging or even bringing them to the Heath Expo at the Science Spectrum between 2 and 5 pm on Sunday, September 14. They will thank you for it! Please share the enclosed flyer and feel free to pick up more from the church foyer.
The following blessings have been planned for our 11:00 o’clock Sabbath worship hour:
September 6, We will start our new church officer terms talking about the Body of Christ. One key passage to read in preparation is I Corinthians 12. We each are formed for God’s Glory (Isaiah 43:7) with abilities and gifts from the Holy Spirit. Each one of us is designed to be a “Vital” part of His body. I look forward to discovering with you more ways we can function as Christ’s Body!
September 13, Jeffrey S. Metherell, the Association Secretary and Director of Trust Services & Stewardship for our Texico Conference will be our guest speaker. His message will be entitled, “X Marks the Spot.” Please join me in praying for an extra blessing for our speaker, our church and our conference.
When Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire without seeing death, the mantle of God’s power passed from Elijah to Elisha. There are some wonderful lessons in this story recorded in II Kings 2, that I am looking forward to sharing with you! Join me September 20 for the message, “Double Portion.” Don’t miss out.
September 26th and 27th, we will have the privilege to host the “Names of God” seminar. These seminars are potentially life changing, and you will not want to miss the inspired presentations starting Friday night, September 26, 7-8:15pm and continuing through to Sabbath after fellowship lunch. More detailed information is enclosed. Note the Free Gift for each family attending.
Please pray for me as I pray for you!
God’s richest blessings,
Pastor Jeremy McCombs
PS: Your charitable contributions support our ministry and are deeply appreciated. For your convenience, there is an online avenue to give to our ministries and for easy access to our weekly church bulletin at www.lubbockadventist.org
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