Weekly Message/ Prayer Request

Acts 2:42 Men’s Fellowship

“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: ‘Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.’” Zephaniah 3:16-17 NKJV

Zephaniah was a prophet during very turbulent times in Judah. It was a time of political upheaval as the imminent transfer of Assyrian world power to the Babylonians was beginning to take shape. An element of independence was beginning to reveal itself in Judah as King Josiah took over from a four decade rule from King Manasseh. So the time was right for a revival and dramatic reforms and therefore people were very hopeful for the future.

Yet, Zephaniah’s message was not one of celebration. Instead the message brought forth was about how the ‘day of the Lord’ was quickly approaching. The people were to ready themselves for the divine judgment which was about to take place at the hands of the Babylonians. People were called to prepare themselves for a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, trumpet, and alarm ( see Zephaniah 1:15,16,18).

In many ways I feel this message is very timely to our day. Throughout the world much political upheaval is taking place with various reforms beginning to take shape. This is leading to many people experiencing hope for the future. But like Zephaniah, I believe our focus should not be on any political situation and therefore rest in any worldly hope. Instead we must stay focused on preparing for the ‘day of the Lord’ because it is quickly approaching.

And we must always remember, that even during the height of the storm ‘the Lord your God is in your midst’ and that ‘The Mighty One will save’. Nothing should distract us from seeing the message the gospel shares with us. For God is faithful and truly loves all of us.

How much does God love us? One only has to consider the statement mentioned at the beginning where Zephaniah said ‘He will quiet you with His love’. This is an immeasurable amount of love that He has for us. There is no way to even quantify how much love this is.

This love is so great that (1) it will show us that we are loved to such an extent that we will desire nothing, truly nothing else, ceasing us to ask for anything because we will have everything; (2) it will cause us to be so amazed at the depth, width, and strength of His love that it will result in the utterance of no words. This is the love of a thousand suns.

As believers, we live under the mighty hand of God by His love. Nothing in this world can separate us from this love (see Romans 8:35). For even during the fire that all of us face on this side of eternity, God’s truth rings forth and will be the steadying hand there to keep our course straight.

Let us look at the words of God in Psalm 91:

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 NKJV

Therefore this message is not just about ‘the day of the Lord’; this message is one of love. For God cares for all of us with such an immeasurable amount of love that He will rescue any one of us from any situation we find ourselves in. No trouble in this world can prevent Him from finding us. Therefore as the Psalmist said, all we have to do is set our love upon Him.

My prayer is that all of us begin to see His love in our lives and set our love upon Him. I pray that all of us will see this saving grace and come to know Jesus Christ. His fingerprints are everywhere in the providence of life. Nothing escapes His sight, therefore we should never fear.

May God continue to bless all of you this coming week. I look forward to sharing more time with you as we continue to share life together…


Prayer requests

Ernie – pray for the health of his wife

Keith – thanks for Ernie in bring him tonight to the meeting

Carmine – pray for the personal problems of a friend while she is going through a divorce

Tim – pray that he will be able to raise up his child with Godly wisdom

Ramon – pray for a business opportunity and that the Lord will reveal His will in this opportunity

Steve – pray that a friend’s husband will pass his driving test so that he may gain employment

David – pray that the Lord will enlarge his capacity to know Him

Mark – pray that I will have stronger work relationships that I may be able to demonstrate the love of Christ, pray for continued humility at work

***Pray for relationship building throughout the Northshore Christian Church

Continued prayer needs

Monte – praise for new employment with Direct TV

Kelcy – praise for the success of his mother’s surgery, pray for the surgery of Al Moran’s shoulder, pray for pastors and staff

Dick – pray for strength in new employment

Joe – pray that his condo may sell and that he may finally be settled here in Mukilteo

Craig – pray that he will receive the blessing of health and guidance during the next few weeks

Norman – praise for the health of daughter in dealing with her seizures

Larry – pray for leadership in leading group of men with CTL, pray that the marriage ministry will begin to make a larger impact on the Church

Gary – pray for strength in working with IRS, pray for stepdaughters in their struggles

Chad – pray for continued seeking of purity in his life

*** pray also for the men’s ministry in developing Godly leaders


Future Meetings

Please make note that the next meeting is back in the Fireside Room at Northshore. Here is the upcoming meeting schedule:

Wednesday, March 12th, 7:00-9:00 pm, regular meeting in the Fireside room at Northshore Christian Church

Wednesday, March 26th, 7:00-9:00 pm, regular meeting in the Fireside room at Northshore Christian Church

Wednesday, April 9th, 7:00-9:00 pm, regular meeting in the Fireside room at Northshore Christian Church


Challenge

May we find peace and power within our inner being in order to build unity throughout the Church…

Memory Verse

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 2 Corinthians 1:21,22 NKJV

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