January Newsletter

Hope for the New Year
From Your Pastor
I want to talk to you today about hope for the New Year. What does the New Year have in store for us?
I know one thing for certain and that is, if you have made Jesus the Lord of your life and if you have stayed in His Word, then you will have the hope that does not disappoint.
I want to encourage you to get into the Word of God like you have never done before so that God can speak to your heart through His Word.
The Word of God is not only the Book from God (2 Timothy 3:16). but it is the book about God. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, nd is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, for instruction in righteousness."
2 Timothy 3:17 says. "That the man of God may be complete (mature), thoroughly equipped for every good work."
In the Word of God, God reveals Himself as our Creator, our Sustainer, our Judge, and our Hope in this world and for eternity.
We find from the Word of God that God is our Creator. Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them, male an female, He created them."
We are spirit-beings lie God. We possess a soul and we live in a body made out of flesh.
We are born again, we are born of the Spirit of God and we become one spirit with God Himself (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Once we are born again our hope is in Christ Jesus. The lost world has no hope. The world places its hope in natural, temporal things that are passing away, but we have hope in eternal things. Praise God forever!
Our hope is a confident expectation of God's goodness. We can hope and then believe in something good is going to happen to us. Because it is!
God is our Sustainer. Isaiah 40:30-31 says, "Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength...they shall mount up like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Now that is good news!
Our hope is in God our Sustainer every second of every minute of every day! He will sustain us with His mighty power! 
Our strength is in Him.
God is our Judge and He will judge the world. Ezekiel 33:11 says, "I have no pleasure in death of the wicked. Turn from his way and live. Turn, turn, from your evil ways..." God's will is that all come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "...He is longsuffering towards us not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance."
But for us believers, we have Christ! Colossians 1:26 says, "...Christ in you, the hope of glory." You have the very hope of glory living on the inside of you!
We have the blessed hope- Titus 2:13- "Looking forward for the blessed hope and HIs glorious appearing."
Our judgement is only for our works during our short time on earth, not for sin. Our sin has already been taken care of.
Our hope is in Christ Jesus so we do not have to fear the judgement that unbelievers will face.
The year ahead should be a great year for you as you trust in Jesus and stay in the Word of God.
My prayer for you is that "the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).
May God fill you with abundance in every area of your life for 2023!