A significant number of people in our congregation are currently asking themselves hard questions about their stance on COVID vaccines and the requests being made by their places of employment. Depending on how they answer these questions they could soon be searching for another job or facing other difficulties. What is the Biblical position? How should we think through these things? 

Since we are all a part of the same church body, these questions affect all of us to some degree even if our job isn’t necessarily on the line. Recognizing the difficulty so many of you are facing, I’ve spent hours over the past few weeks wrestling with these questions, poring over mind-numbingly boring research studies, and crying out to God for insight and wisdom. I still don’t know how best I can encourage each of you, but I want you to know that I am diligently praying for you -  that God would give you the wisdom you need for this moment. In my search for God’s wisdom in how to pray, I’ve been praying over you the prayer that Jesus prayed for his followers in John 17. While I can’t share the entire prayer, I leave you with these words from Jesus: “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” (John 17:13-19 NLT) No matter how you choose to answer the questions that are before you, I know that God’s grace is sufficient for this moment and I pray that God would “make you holy” by His truth. The Lord Bless you as you seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness!

By: Pastor Jay Mast

NLT: Psalm 100:4-5

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever,

and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

When we enter the month of November, I automatically begin thinking of the holiday Thanksgiving. The truth is we should always be thankful, not just at Thanksgiving. Sometimes we just don’t seem or feel thankful. We should but sometimes we do not, so how do I cultivate and get a thankful heart?

Paul tells us in Philippians in the 4th chapter in the NLT “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Then in Colossians the 3rd chapter he instructs us in this way “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God,”

Many an unthankful heart thinks of the things one does not have, or has a spirit of envy, jealousy of another person or some other venom the devil implants in our mind, which then effects our heart.

The Bible repeatably tells us to “Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.”

By: Pastor Steve Eicher

Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

  his love endures forever.

God never takes a break and he never stops loving us! The devil does his best to distract us from what God is doing in our lives. He tells us lies that make us question but, let there be no doubt that God is good! Even in the hard things that we can’t understand God is good! Even when we feel abandoned, God is there and he cares for us. No matter what you are going through just know that God is still in control and God can turn what the devil means for evil into good! We just need to continue to keep our trust and focus in him!

By: Michal Troyer