Great Song

Here's a song we will be doing this Sunday. Take some time and worship our awesome Lord.

Give Thanks - It does you good!!

We know that the Bible strongly admonishes us to be thankful. I believe it is one of the hallmarks of a person full of faith, trust and the Love of Jesus. Today in the Warren paper there was an article that a study out of Univ. of California has once again shown the teachings of the Bible to be true. (Now there's a surprise) Here's an excerpt from the article: "Gratitude leads people to act in virtuous or more selfless ways," said DeSteno, whose research was published earlier this year in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science. "And it builds social support, which we know is tied to both physical and psychological well being." Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California, Davis, said those who offer gratitude are less envious and resentful. They sleep longer, exercise more and report a drop in blood pressure, said Emmons, who wrote "Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier.

Give thanks to the Lord today and everyday. It pleases those around you, it pleases God, and hey, it does you good. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

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Thankful

As our nation celebrates Thanksgiving this Thursday, it would be good of us to take some time and be thankful. I Thes. 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always: pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." And Eph. 5:19,20 says to "speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I have a friend that for the past ten years has every day written down 5 things that he is thankful to the Lord for. It has revolutionized his life. He told me that he has become perpetually thankful all the time. That does not mean that everything has always gone the way he would choose, but it does mean that he, with thanksgiving, trusts the Lord.

I encourage you this holiday season to make intentional strides to be a more thankful person. Not only will your life be more joyful, but so will the lives of all those you come in contact with.

Mayflower Compact

In thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, my brother, Mike, has been teaching at the Equip 412 classes at church on the Pilgrims. As most of us know they were governed by the Mayflower Compact. It's a very short document, and what I want you to see is that a stated, primary goal of their life/journey/settlement is for the "Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith..." We truly have a great heritage.

Here is an excerpt from the Mayflower Compact:

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

A Babe Ruth Original?

So, in preparing for the sermon on Sunday I was looking through some of my old baseball cards. (That statement there should make you a little curious as to what I spoke about.) I came across a set of 6 Babe Ruth cards that I have had since the mid 80's. (I seem to remember purchasing them at a little junk store in Erie) I looked them up on the internet to find out the history of the set and the value. They were a set of cards put out in 1928 by Fro-Joy Ice Cream company during "ice cream week". I have the complete set.

I saw that some of them were selling for $5000 on e-bay. Now, keep in mind that I have 6 of them. That means they could be valued at a whopping $30 Grand.

But here's the problem. There were also many, many, many fakes made of these. And obviously, mine are fakes. They are nice cards and they are pretty old, but they were not made by the Fro-Joy Cone company in 1928. I find mine selling on e-bay for 99 cents. They look very similar to the original. The only major difference is the creator. Who made the cards?

So, it is with people. Because people are made in the image of God, (Gen. 1:26,27; 9:6) we have value. We are the original. We are not cheap imitations. The world is continually bombarding us with the worthless copy idea. Convincing people that they must look and be like everyone else. That is such a lie. The only thing that makes us valuable is our Creator and the only one He wants us to be like is Him.

Please see your value as you are created in His image and as you look at others, see their value too. We are not just copies worth 99 cents. We are the real thing and we are worth Jesus' death on the cross.

Sunday Announcements

This Sunday at Praise

We will finish our series on "Worshiping God, Loving People" on Sunday at 10 am. The message is titled, The Worth of a Human Being - Image IS Everything! I encourage you to read and ponder Gen. 1:26,27 You are extremely valuable. We will be celebrating the Lord's supper together.

We will be having the second part of our Thanksgiving History Series at the Equip 412 service on Thursday night at 7 pm. If you have any interest in learning about our amazing, godly heritage then come out and be blessed as Mike Rohlin continues the series. Also, this 2 part series is available on DVD in the bookstore.

I am very excited about this year's Christmas Eve Service. It is on Dec. 24th at 9:00 pm. It will feature the Voices of Praise Choir and many other Christmas songs as well as the beautiful, gospel message of Christmas. This is a service you will want to bring all your family and friends to.

I love you all. Let's come together ready to worship our amazing King Jesus. He is so good and so worthy of our praises.

Continue to pray for the NYSUM team in New York City. They will be ministering there until Tuesday.

Good History

I have been very concerned that our culture is ignoring the Thanksgiving Holiday. Does it seem to anyone else that we have gone directly from Halloween to Christmas? I suspect that this is so because it is not easy to commercialize Thanksgiving.

With that in mind, tonight at PF, we will bring in my brother, Mike Rohlin, who is a true Historian. He will be teaching about the real history of the Pilgrims. You will learn about what caused them to seek out the new world. You will hear about the amazing, miraculous hand of God along the way. And you will see the great foundation that they laid for our nation. This is one of the richest periods of the New World's history and it is filled with the Divine Providence of God. You do not want to miss this two part series.

Also, we will plan to have it broadcast live over the internet at 7 pm, so join in from your home if you are not able to attend. www.worshipplace.org

I John 3 & 4

Love is a really good thing! I know that is quite obvious, but sometimes it's good to point out what we have heard our whole lives because we become desensitized with the familiar.

Here's a challenge for you this week. Every morning before you see any people, let me encourage you to read I John 3 & 4. Maybe one day read chapter 3 and the next day chapter 4. Do it for an entire week and ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit in order that you can love. Just watch what happens.

PF Sunday Announcements

Here are Sunday's announcements at PF. Thanks Eric and Stacy Clark. You two are quite creative.

Rachel's mission trip

Here is a video detailing what Rachel Johnson is doing on her YWAM Disciple Training school. Rachel has been with us since since her days in high school. God is truly doing great things in her life. If you would like to contribute to her mission, let us know. teens@worshipplace.org

A Father loving His kids

Most of the time our two boys, Zachary and Jason really get along excellently. They play together and genuinely enjoy each other. As I watch them play, in this case football, I often think of the truth in Psalm 133. "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.... For there the Lord bestows his blessing."

When our boys are playing well together, I love it and I want to do anything to encourage that behavior. That usually means getting down on the floor with them and doing some tackling myself. I as their father am extremely pleased with them. I think that is exactly how God, our Father feels when His Children are walking in Unity. He desires to reward that behavior and I think it also makes Him want to get down on the floor with us and join in the play. How about that for an image of our loving Father in Heaven.

Visionaries

Sunday morning I asked the people at Praise Fellowship to answer this question: If money were not an issue, what is your vision? What do you want to see God do?

We had people write their visions down on 3x5 cards in keeping in line with Habakkuk 2:2 "Write the vision down and make it plain on tables, That he may run who reads it...."

I just got done reading about 75 of the visions that some of our people wrote down. Wow!!!! I am hanging out with some amazing visionaries. There is such a hunger and desire to see God be who He says He is. This is indeed a season to dream. No matter how great our plans are, God's are bigger. He has the audacity to desire that the "whole earth be filled with His Glory." :-)

So, my encouragement to you is to dream dreams that God has put on your heart. Share them with other people and then take action as He leads.

Why not here, why not now, why not us?