April 2021 Devotionals

 Wednesday Devotional - 4/21/21

Prayers

We want to continue praying for those within our community that have been sick with various ailments. I know that this is an ongoing concern, but we hear of new illnesses, new long-term problems, and other concerns every week within our church. We also must remember that our community is not just those who live in Suches, or even in North Georgia. It is everyone that we are connected to in our lives. Pray that God will continue to heal those people who are sick, and that he will make it known to them that they are loved, that they are prayed for, and that there are those concerned for them on a daily basis. 

If you have any prayer concerns that you would like put into this devotional for next week, please leave a comment on this on Facebook (@mountlebanonsuches), or reply to the email that this was sent on. One of the greatest gifts that God gives us is the ability to pray for one another!

Announcements

We have our 3rd VBS Volunteer Meeting this coming Saturday at 10 AM in the Fellowship Hall. Please come and work with us! This is going to be a great event that will reach our community for Christ. 

Also, we have partnered with VESSEL ministry to host their upcoming fundraiser on June 5th. The time will be announced soon. VESSEL is a ministry to college-aged and just out of college aged young adults in Union, Gilmer, Fannin, and Western North Carolina. To find out more about VESSEL, please visit their website at https://www.vesselministry.org/. 

Devotional

I have been having a bit of a writer’s block this last week concerning this devotional, as well as my sermon on Sunday. But as I was thinking on this, the thought occurred to me that the lesson for me, at least, is staring me right in the face. I have been asking others for ideas and help, which is what we are to do when we face difficulties in our lives. But why is that? Why do we seek the help of others, not only in times of need, but in times like this where you can’t think of what to do?

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (ESV) reads “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” This passage from the Old Testament is given in the middle of a long passage talking about working, about how God rewards those who work hard, but it reminds us that we are not to do the work completely alone. Just as we mentioned in the prayers part of our devotional, we pray for one another not only because it is good, but it actually helps people. This is a partnership that is between us as the individual, the one we pray for, and with God. This is the threefold cord that is not easily broken: us, others, and God as the head. 

As a church, we look at opportunities to work with other like-minded churches and organizations. Romans 12:4-5 says that “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, thought many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” We are all working towards the same goal: bringing those who have never followed Christ into The Way. Ephesians 4:16 states that “For whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” We all bring different gifts into the body of Christ, and for us to grow and flourish, we take up with others to accomplish this. We work with other groups and organizations to equip ourselves, but also to help equip them to do the work that Christ has given for us to do. 

So, when we work together in the body of Christ, we are truly doing Christ’s work. We recognize that we are, as 1 Corinthians 3:9 states, “God’s fellow workers”. We work for the sake of the kingdom, and we ask for help because it helps us to become the kind of worker that God wants us to be. When given the opportunity to help others with their problems, be they big or small, remember 3 John 1:8, which says “we ought to support people liek these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” 

Wednesday Devotional - 4/28/21

Prayers:

Let us remember the upcoming VBS that will occur from June 21-25. We are praying not only for a great crowd of kids, but that true kingdom work will occur! Pray that the leaders of the classrooms and all the workers have the right words to say. Pray that God will work in the lives of the children that are coming not just during the week of VBS, but right now to prepare them. Pray that God will also give us great weather that week. 

Be praying especially for those who are still sick in our community. We have seen many people within our social networks that have been fighting various illnesses. Pray that God will continue to heal them, and to bring them comfort. 

Specifically, please pray for Ethelene Jones (Pastor Matt's grandmother). She has been having failing eyesight, and is having real trouble with it. Also, pray for Stacy Dyer's father. Stacy is the associational minister for Morganton-Mountaintown Association. On Sunday, his father had a heart attack, and was given a stent yesterday morning. 

Again, if you have any specific requests that you would like included, please send them to this email. We want to pray for you especially!

Announcements: 

We will be having our next VBS planning meeting on Wednesday, May 12th at 2 pm in the Fellowship Hall. There is still time for you to come and work! Please attend if you are interested. 

The Suches Brushes will be meeting for the first time in a while on May 17th at 9 AM. More details will be forthcoming, but plan to be there! 

Vessel Ministry will be having their fundraiser at the church on June 5th. The cost is a minimum donation of $30. They will be smashing things! Also, if you have any old televisions, plates, lamps, or anything you think someone would enjoy smashing, please reply back to this email or Facebook post. Doug Serra will arrange for a pickup for the event. 

Devotional:

I was working yesterday out in the yard, getting the grass cut and getting some branches from a tree that had fallen. It got me to thinking: why is it important that we do work for the Lord? Isn’t it enough that we give our lives to him, and that we tell others about what he has done for us? I saw a great quotation about working for Christ. Someone said to a pastor, “I didn’t know you were in full-time Christian work!” The preacher replied, “Excuse me, but every person who has followed the will of God in their life is in full-time Christian work.” This thought is that if you call yourself a Christian, then you are always going to be in ‘full-time ministry!’

We are reminded of this in Colossians 3:23-24, which reads “Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord, not for human masters. Work because you know that you will finally receive as a reward what the Lord wants you to have. You are slaves of the Lord Christ,” When Paul wrote this, he was talking about the slave must obey his master, but he changed the way that slaves were to be viewed. As one writer stated, “Paul does not attack slavery, he transforms it. The slave knows himself the Lord’s freeman, transfigures the situation by acceptance, uses it to serve Christ, and looks beyond the earthly master, free of indignity and full of hope.” Our hope is always that Jesus Christ saves us, but we show that salvation by being a slave to the ultimate master. Our work, when we do it in Jesus’ name, is an act of worship. And when we do that work in a secular sphere, we are pleasing the Lord! 

As you study and think on this lesson this week, remember that God wants us to share his word with all those that we come into contact with. There are so many places that pastors are not welcomed anymore. The true work of the church, really, is not done by the pastor. The pastor leads, he protects, he advises, and yes, he does work in the community, but the entire congregation is set to the work as well! There are many doors that will open for you that would not be open to a pastor anymore. And when God gives you that door to use, please do! God will bless you through it, and will guide and protect you in it. 

Memory Verse:

Colossians 3:17 (NIV) 

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 

(This is a new feature of our devotional. I hope you will take the time this month to memorize our memory verse.)