June 2023 Thought

The summer season is near (or is it already in full swing). This time of year brings us a new pace of life. More time outside, more time with family and friends, more time away for vacation, more time of contemplation. This season is known for fun and relaxation. I hope that we all can enjoy some of this.

Yet even in these days, I pray that we listen to the words that Samuel shared with the nation of Israel as he passed leadership to King Saul. "But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you." 1 Samuel 12:24 (NIV84)

May we make it our aim in these months to stop and reflect, that we may consider all the great things that God has done for us. We have been so blessed! He has loved us. He has saved us. And He keeps us. His blessings are new every morning! He guides us and aides us as we walk through our days on this earth. We have so much to thank Him for. May we take every opportunity to express our gratitude to Him in our quiet moments of reflection.

And then in these coming months may we serve Him faithfully with a grateful heart. May we give Him our best efforts of service as we seek to share the great things that He has done for us and desires to do for others.

I am praying that God would give us the opportunities to honor God and proclaim His love and the Good News of the Gospel to those who need to know all around us. As we identify those opportunities, may we then, willingly and joyfully, jump in and serve. Together, may God use us for His glory!

May 2023 Thought

It is good to take time to reflect on what God has done in and through us in the past. And we should also set aside time to dream and plan for what God might have us do in the years to come.

One powerful thought that ought to grip our minds and hearts is that God is not finished yet. He has a plan and He is at work completing that eternal plan. As we have come through the Easter season, we were reminded that many thought everything was over once Jesus died there on the cross. The death was brutal and the burial was a show of seeming finality. Yet we know better, since we have read the pages of the Bible and see that this was not the end…it was merely a part of the great work of God. No one took Jesus’ life, He willingly gave it, for us, so that we might be made alive even as He was made alive on the third day.

As we look around us, we may think that the end is near…that God has deserted us and left evil to have the day. But we would be mistaken! God is certainly at work. He is not finished…with you, with me, with His Church (both here in Candor and around the world). If we look closely, we can see the things that He is doing. We see those who are reading God’s Word and being changed by it. We see blessing that He is showering on so many. And most importantly we see the beautiful body of believers loving and caring for each other as Jesus commanded us to. There is much left to do. The opportunities are before us. Let’s not give up, but rather determine to be attentive to the leading of God for what He would have us do next.

We hold tightly to the words that Paul encouraged Timothy with - “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance…that we have put our trust in the living God…Command and teach these things…set an example for the believers…devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and teaching. Do not neglect your gift…Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” 1 Timothy 4:9-15 (NIV84)

April 2023 Thought

Celebrating the Resurrection. This is a focus for this month of April. We eagerly anticipate the upcoming Easter Sunday, when we will gather to rejoice that Jesus Is Risen…He Is Risen Indeed!

Truthfully, this is meant to be a regular focus for us as followers of Jesus. Each day we are reminded of our sinfulness and how we fall short of what God has for us. As we as a church at AMBC have been learning through this study of the Sermon on the Mount, we often do not live as those who are a part of God’s Kingdom. We have failed to obey Jesus' "own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do”.

But along with the reminder of our failure, we are reminded of the hope that we also enjoy. We are not stuck in this mire of failure, but rather, as Jesus was raised from the dead after suffering for sin on our behalf, we too shall be raised to a new life through faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus. So each day we are reminded of the victory we have through Jesus! And through the power of His Spirit we are able to live each day as those who understand the full depth of meaning in the teaching that Jesus shared on that mountainside.

Let’s choose to live in such a way that shows others our daily celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and His once for all sacrifice that gives us a new and abundant life.

“You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” — 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20

March 2023 Thought

Change is in the air. Things constantly change. They always have and they always will. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Even this winter we have experienced some cold and snow, but then also the unusual warm days. As the saying for Upstate New York goes, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes!”

The Spring season is just around the corner…we will move our clocks move forward on March 12th and then Spring will “officially” arrive on March 20th. It is a hopeful time of the year. We anticipate more sunshine, more green, more warmth, more smiles, more outdoor activities, more change!

Change is what God does, especially in our lives. Someone has said, “bringing hope and new life to people is God’s main focus.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come.” As we follow Jesus, old ways are to be left behind and we are to live differently, following the God Who has loved us, forgiven us, and saved us. It should be our desire to see God change us.

In these coming days we will prepare ourselves for the celebration of our Risen Savior. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the basis for the change among us. Let’s lament our sin, pray for forgiveness, seek His mercy, and hunger and thirst for righteousness. 

God is at work all around us. Just follow the news of His working in Asbury, Kentucky and how it is spreading to other college campuses and localities. We pray that it may come here as well. People in our community and even us here at AMBC need to be changed. We pray that God would be pleased to do His work in our midst as well…for His honor and His glory. “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

February 2023 Thought

One month is behind us in this new year. The challenge before us in 2023 is to deepen our relationship with our God through regular time in His Word and prayer. We have many in our church that are working through the Bible reading plan, the Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble. The tools needed for doing this are your Bible, the Bible reading plan and the daily commentary. This is an incredibly valuable practice - even if you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late - begin TODAY! And then, find someone else to discuss what you are learning through this daily effort.

On Sunday mornings at AMBC we continue to study the important teachings of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. (Messages can be found at the AMBC YouTube channel - follow the link at www.ambccandor.com). We have already seen the importance that Jesus is placing on living a life that is counter-cultural. As His followers we seek to take the lead from Jesus and not from this world as we live each and every day. These teachings are Jesus’ “own description of what He wanted His followers to be and to do”.

We’ve been reminded that our conduct flows out of our character - what we do is based on who we are. May we continue to grow in our understanding of God and His Word and then live our lives in such a way that the influence of our day to day experience points people to God and the truth that He has given all humanity.

January 2023 Thought

A new year is here…2023! As with every turn of the calendar to a fresh year, we evaluate that which has passed and endeavor to make changes in the year that is before us.

Our foremost aim out to be the deepening of our relationship with God. To know Him and follow Him better in the days ahead. One way we do this is a regular time of reading God’s Word and pausing to reflect on all that we have read.

Could I challenge us all to commit to such a worthy goal? A tool that Angela and I have used for the past couple of years is the Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble. This plan involves a daily Scripture reading along with listening to a brief 7-9 minute commentary on the reading by Tara-Leigh. You can find this plan at bible.com - https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/17553-the-bible-recap-with-tara-leigh-cobble. To listen to the commentary follow the links at http://www.thebiblerecap.com/start. The Scripture and commentary is also available in book form that is shown here in this newsletter. These links will also be found at the church website.

It all begins on Sunday, January 1st! Jump in and grow in 2023! This can definitely change your life!

Thought for November 2022

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. — Psalm 100

This is the month where we celebrate thankfulness. Certainly appropriate, but are we limiting ourselves? Are we too cautious? Is one day or one month of our year enough to express all of our thanks to God? I would suggest it should be a regular, moment by moment response to our God throughout each and every day that we live. Have we not come to realize that He is GOOD, His love ENDURES FOREVER, and His faithfulness CONTINUES even to our generation? I know that I have!

So in these days may we not withhold our thanks and praise from Him! Let’s shout for joy and worship with gladness as we praise His name. May we come out of our passive, reserved shell with truly expressive words and actions in the days ahead that have been given to us by our great God.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! — 2 Corinthians 9:15

Thought for October 2022

As a church we are just getting started in our Sunday morning study for the fall months in the book of 1 Peter.

This letter has been described as a “traveler’s guide for Christian pilgrims”. Written to believers that were scattered far from home, Peter reminds them that they are temporarily in the place they find themselves, strangers looking forward to a true homeland. During this time they were suffering - in fact, that key word “suffering" is used 16 times. Dr. Robert Gromacki says that Peter writes "to explain the relationship of trials to God’s purposes”.

This is a book that teaches them (and us) how to live, even when things are hard. Peter writes to give instruction as well as hope. This is what we need most in these days - an understanding on how to live and a hope that strengthens us and others!

As we seek to become better followers of Jesus, this could not be any more timely or important. I am praying that the combined study of 1 Peter on Sundays, along with the weekly devotionals highlighted by the book, “Not A Fan”, will aid us greatly in continually becoming the people that God desires us to be.

Let’s grow together!