Greetings to you all
As we enjoy the longer weekend following 4th of July, we hope these days have brought each of you refreshing times together with loved ones and a lot of fun as well.
Welcome to our connection time in Cafe Liberty tomorrow morning from 9:45 AM until Worship @ 10:15 AM.
We have so much to enjoy in the calling we cherish for the Gospel of Jesus to inform, inspire and ignite faith in each of our lives. At the heart of every Christ-centered congregation in Scripture is the simple reality of declaring Jesus as Lord of all aspects of life. To express our faith in His Lordship is more than a truth to confess. It’s also a vital part of experiencing the kind of prayer that is active, bold, honest and specific.
When we encounter disappointment or trouble in any area life, we are reminded of how deeply we need to turn to the Lord in simple child-like faith, to receive assurance and peace, even when we’re working our way through to a decision.
It’s in the sheer power of the Gospel, the reality that it is indeed good news that has a fresh application to each new challenge we face, that we can gain perspective.
When our tendencies toward doubt and discouragement are addressed directly in God’s Word, it is always with an uplifting focus on His sufficiency to carry us through those times of uncertainty.
A classic example of Gospel-saturated assurance for troubling times is found in the Epistle of James, Chapter 1, verse 5-6:
“If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and [wisdom] will be given him.
But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
These pointed promises include a call to active response and expectancy as well as bringing us assurance of God’s generous provision.
With the vital assurance that God’s generous plan is for each of us to be personally engaged in a growing experience of gaining wisdom, we can always be sure that a prayer in times of stress, trouble, disappointment or hurt brings us directly into the presence of the Lord.
How easily we can lose sight of God’s good news when stress sends us too deeply into ourselves. Forgetting that our first place of refuge is to bring the request directly to God is a common mistake believers make. How strange but true that even those who have tasted God’s goodness and redeeming love in so many ways may still slip into an apathetic pattern of forgetting to pray.
But fortunately, that kind of mindless negligence is a mistake easily solved!
The wording of James 1:5 is especially potent. In an imperative action-word, James simply says “Ask!”. How closely that tracks the unforgettable clarity of the Lord’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is so fascinating, because the letter from James is mostly likely the earliest of the apostolic epistles. He brings to the Jerusalem congregations a promise that flows directly from all that Jesus taught and demonstrated prior to His death, burial and resurrection. A powerful common theme between Matthew 6:6-9 and James 1:5-6 is this command to “Ask!”
We can conclude from the language and the urgency we find in the Epistle of James that even those earliest congregations in Jerusalem and the very heart of Israel needed to be reminded that asking God personally, confidently and consistently is a key part of flourishing in faith. In the word “Ask!”, he placed a key element in spiritual growth squarely in the “Can do!” category of the human heart.
What are you asking God for this weekend? What’s uppermost in your mind and heart as you manage multiple needs in and among your loved ones and friends?
It’s an awesome fact that each of us are called and commissioned to be actively asking God for His guidance, grace, provision and wisdom.
An awesome part of “asking God” is that these simple, specific prayers are part of way we learn to respond to the gracious guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We also know it can help so much to have a brother or sister in Christ who stands alongside us with empathy when we’re walking through a season of testing. One of the ways we seek to nurture a faithful and Christ-centered congregational life is by simply joining in a prayer of agreement with you. We welcome you to respond anytime via a reply to this email or with a call or text to let us know of a concern for which prayer and/or just a time to listen and confidentially bring those needs to the Lord together, would be desirable and timely for you.
How generously and gently the Shepherd of our souls draws us, stirs us and assures us of His goal for us to grow through prayer.
“Casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7)
Looking ahead:
Read the Word With Us!
I want to repeat this week an invitation to share in daily Bible readings, with one of the plans I’ve enjoyed using. It is the “blended” plan from Blue Letter Bible that covers the entire Bible in a year but in a different sequence that a traditional straight-through plan. Email me for a copy. You can use it to start a new Bible reading track anytime during the year. If you would like to link up on this and pick up where we are in July, let me know with a reply email or a text.
Family Fun and Fellowship Night on Saturday, July 20th @ 5:00 PM
In these busy weeks of summer, we hope you can join us on July 20th to enjoy food, games, fellowship and more. We so appreciate Ladies Ministry initiatives for outreach and fellowship and MANY thanks to Jessica Adams for leading this one!
Membership Orientation Evening: Tuesday, July 23rd @ 6:45 PM
As part of our goal to make fellowship, serving and involvement easily accessible to all, we welcome all in worship and seek to build the Body of Christ as co-laborers for Christ in our community. For this reason, we rarely talk about membership here at Liberty. We realize that joining the church is a matter of the heart and respect that freedom completely. However, we also want our shared mission to be meaningful and enriching to each person and family. We also invite members to participate in a ballot every two years to elect our Board of Trustees. A brief presentation and Q & A time with refreshments will be held here in the Fellowship Hall on Tuesday, July 23rd @ 6:45 PM. Please RSVP for us on the New Members sign-up sheet on the Connections table.
Here are our worship service live-stream links to enjoy and share! Thanks to you all for lifting up those who serve and for all the ways your prayers empower and encourage the “equipping of the saints for works of service for the edifying of the Body of Christ”.
View the service live online
- Directly from our Live page
- Facebook Live: facebook.com/LibertyWestminster
Listen to past services
- Podcast (audio) on our Past Services page
“To sum up, be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted and humble in spirit,
not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but
giving a blessing instead; for you were called for this very purpose:
that you might inherit a blessing.”
(I Peter 3:8-9 NASB)
In His love,
Pastor Joe
Liberty Church
P.O. Box 295
Westminster MD 21157
Website: https://libertychurchlive.com