By Pastor C. Michael Haas Jr.
Fame Church of God
I trust you all had a blessed week. The rains tapered off for a few days and we are thankful for the couple of days of sunshine after the rain. I hear more rain may be expected, but we sure will enjoy the sun as long as it shines.
The week has been busy, but blessed here as many in other areas have faced flooding and evacuations because of severe storms and flooding. We pray for all those who have been affected.
Sunday morning service was beautiful in such a special way. Our Lord and Savior met us there and our faithful choir director, Sis. Leneze Avent, was back with us in service this week. The presence of the Lord was felt as she once again led our choir in worship to the King of Kings.
What a blessing it was to have her in service with us. We have truly missed her presence. Bro. T.J. Avent, who died Feb. 9, will forever be missed, but we know he is rejoicing around the throne of God today.
We had a great Sunday school lesson, then the Lord blessed us from the book of Jonah. Jonah was a hero and a villain. God had marvelous mercy on Jonah where God saved him from drowning by causing a great fish to swallow him up, then during his time for three days and nights in the great fish, he restored his relationship with the Lord.
So the Lord God anointed Jonah to go to Nineveh, that great city of three days’ journey. He went one day’s walk preaching the news and causing the entire city to repent, and called a fast even down to the animals: no food, no water.
Yet Jonah was mad at God for doing good to save those who were once evil. So in the case of the villain, Jonah was being prejudiced toward those evil people. Not remembering that God showed him the same mercy and grace, and yet saved him; how easily did he forget.
My friends, we must never get to a place in where we think we are better than others. For we were all lost at one time and if it were not for the grace of God we would not be where we are today! People need us to reflect Jesus. God is love and we must share that love. We must be an example of that great grace of God.
In short, we must change to be more like Christ no matter how old we are or how long we’ve been on this journey. We must allow Christ to change us daily to be more like him. There is always room for growth in Christ no matter who you are.
If we ever get to a point that we think we have “arrived” it is then that we have lost sight of growing in Christ Jesus. Let’s don’t ever allow that to happen. Allow God to continue to mold you and make you to be more like him in all you say and do.
Please keep the sick and shut-ins on your prayer list along with the Whitaker and Avent families. God bless you all and keep shining for Jesus!
