Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5


Announcements:
*Join us at 6:00 as we study Gods word together.

Prayer Requests:
*Pastor Jesuel requests prayer for his daughter who was rushed to the hospital for a surgery on her neck ( remove tumor). 
*Pray for Elias and Gloria in their chemo. 
*Pray for the Hispanic church they are having a definite attack from the evil one. 
*Pray for our country, our leaders, state and local leaders.

Missions Moment: Zimbabwe 
Landlocked state in southern Africa.


Challenges for Prayer:Young people have watched idealistic visions fade to empty slogans and oppressive misrule. They constitute a huge swathe of the population, but have little reason to hope for improvement to their difficult lot. Pray for the ministries of:
a) Fellowship of Christian Unions – FOCUS(IFES) has 50 groups with 5,000 students served by five full-time and one part-time staff. In the midst of societal dysfunction the students continue to declare the gospel and help where they can to serve the practical needs of the people.
b) Scripture Union has had a decisive impact on the educated via its work in secondary schools. They impart life skills to younger students, work with orphans and children at risk and provide HIV/AIDS education. Camp ministry has been especially fruitful. Pray for more Christian teachers to nurture this work in their spare time.
c) African Enterprise impacts about 50,000 people and hundreds of churches per year with its youth-oriented Foxfire ministries. This ministry, going since 1980, has spiritually shaped many of the nation’s top Christian leaders.
Pray for the less-evangelized. Zimbabwe has been extensively evangelized, but areas of need remain:
a) The rural areas, often neglected for church planting and for sending qualified workers. Pray more will be called to this humble but vital task. Pray also for evangelistic outreaches and suitable literature distribution specifically to these areas.
b) The burgeoning cities, swollen with hundreds of thousands of rural migrants looking for non-existant jobs. Squatter settlements are multiplying and crime is on the increase. Outreach to the unemployed is a major challenge.
c) Less-reached peoples. There are some congregations in every indigenous people, but relatively few among the Tonga, Nambya and Dombe of the Hwange-Kariba area in the northwest (where the AoG have made a significant impact), the Kunda in the northeast and the Tswa in the southeast.
d) Muslims. They are a small minority but wield disproportionate influence on the country through foreign aid “with strings”, mosque-building and scholarships in Muslim universities. Most are Yao from Malawi, some are South Asian immigrants and a few are indigenous Shona-speakers. Little Christian outreach has been made to win them and churches are ill-equipped to do so.

​

New Every Morning
Psalm 19v1,2 “The heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge..”
Mankind marks time by days, months and years. Each morning he arises with hopes of a good day ahead, and each night he reflects on the past day, hoping tomorrow will be better than today. He recognizes a new month with..”I can’t believe it’s December already!” And new years are approached similarly..”Can you believe it’s 2021, last year just flew by!”
David and Solomon were no different..Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 12, measures the march of life, reminding us to celebrate our youthful days before we lose the spring in our steps.(12v5) And David, in the Psalms, looks at his daily existence and ponders eternity as well. He wonders if this is all there is or will death finally bring satisfaction like a new morning should have.
Psalm 71v17,18..” O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come..”
As the year end draws near, we might look back at how God has handled our lives so well in the last year while also looking forward to His care in this coming one.
Psalm 71v14” But I will hope continually, And I will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only..”
If God has brought me thus far, can I not trust Him for today, tomorrow, and everyday after, until my death? I need to be more aware of making Him my hope each morning and making Him my rest every night. As I see the new days, months, and years come and go; As I see nations war against God and each other, can any other thing can give me “Peace on Earth”?
Psalm 72 (read all) is the conclusion of one of the 5 books or divisions of the larger Book of Psalms. It reminds the reader that God, in sending His Messiah, has everything right where He wants it, both in time and in Eternity. V17-19 reminds us that “His name shall endure forever” not just day by day, And that, “The whole world is filled with His Glory”..
Dedicate each day to Him. If I assign His will and direction to my every moment, only then will I have a complete and satisfied life. In the morning praying..”Lord, use me today as You will” and at night “I pray Your Glory was better revealed to others by my service to You today”! On that final new day then, I will be satisfied in Him for eternity. Eternity will be the last “New day” that will ever begin that will not conclude with a night..(Rev.21v25) No more measured time.. Take time today then, “while it is still called today” to dwell on His word and ask Him daily to prepare you for His coming “New day”.
Pray..Father, thank You for Your care for me even when I haven’t acknowledged You for it. You are good and Your care for me is sovereign. Thank You for Your mercy and grace. I commend my entire life and being to You. Direct my steps and grow my faithfulness as You continue to “establish Your thoughts” in my life. (Prov.16v1-4) May every moment of my life be pleasing to You..In Jesus Name..Amen!

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Ezekiel 16v62..” And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.””

Luke 2v10..”Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day..A Savior, who is Christ the Lord..v14 “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men !..”

Matt.1v21..”And you shall call His name Yeshua for He will save His people from their sins..” ..Yeshua (Gk. Jesus) means The Lord is Savior..

​Ezekiel 16, like much of the OT, demonstrates man’s inability to remain faithful to the God who created him. Man is inherently sinful by nature. Born dead in his trespasses and sin. He is a reviler, one who complains against his Creator. He is an impure thinker and a blasphemer of God. Yet God according to His riches in mercy, sees fit to rescue men.
When Moses had led the children of Israel to the second rock to receive water from it..It had a different name than the first rock at Mt.Horeb. (Ex.17)Mt. Horeb’s rock in Heb. meant jagged rock.(“And when we see Him, no comeliness that we should desire Him”) But this second rock meant Elevated Rock.(Christ’s time on the cross, lifted up and judged for our sin) Both Rocks are obvious pictures of the Messiah, the Savior. God could have wiped out the Israelites right there for their continuous complaining and lack of faith but instead He showed great mercy to them and gave them the living water. (Numbers 20)
All along, man has been desperately lost and by his nature has warred against God and His goodness. And on the day of Christ’s birth, mankind is given a gift far beyond anything he ever deserved or could understand. “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is Given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders,and His name shall be Wonderful, Counsellor, Almighty God, and Everlasting Father,.” We deserved judgement and instead God gives us peace.
The shepherds never knew that they had no hope until Hope arrived, The Magii never realized they had no wealth or purpose until the King’s star arrived! God’s only Begotten was placed on earth at a specific time and place so that all people of all time would have the opportunity to be saved from their sins. Like men of old, men today are born lost and unaware that the Messiah has been born in a manger in Bethlehem to live a sinless life in order to rescue them..The Savior that we didn’t know we needed, to spare us from the judgement we so deserve..
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee O Israel..”
Pray...Father, Thank You for the Gift You sent to earth so long ago. Your Son, the only One who could save me from my sin. I didn’t even know I needed Him or how terribly I have treated You my Lord, Sovereign, and Creator. Have mercy on me anew as I remember the work that has been done for me on the cross. The Innocent life spent for me, the guilty..I rejoice in the Name of Yeshua, Immanuel..Jesus my Savior! Amen!

Good morning Plant Grow Harvest,

Memory verse for the week.
Lamentations 3:21-23
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.


We are working on remaining faithful in Perilous times and this verse is a go to remedy for reminding us of God’s goodness.


Announcements:
*Join us tonight at 6:00 as we study a God’s  Word together.
*Youth tonight at 6:00
* This Friday we will be at the rescue mission.
*Sunday night at 4:00 we will gather together to go Caroling around town and then meet back at the church for games and snacks. We will even have a piñata thanks to Charlie Alva.

Prayer Requests:
* Pray for Pastor Jesuel. He is back in Brazil with a terrible internal infection. His work in Guatemala continues while he is away. 
*Remember our missionaries in Peru, Africa, Madagascar, and all the others we support. 

Missions Moment: Uzbekistan 
Fertile, irrigated mountain valleys in the east, notably the Ferghana Valley. Desert and Aral Sea in the west.


Challenges for Prayer:
Uzbekistan is the strategic key to Central Asia, hence the intensifying struggle between the post-Soviet regime and the Islamist movements. The government’s “iron fist” policy is not deterring thousands of jobless young men from joining these movements. But much of the population is torn between these two and tired of the poverty, corruption and failure to progress. Pray for genuine change, reform and leadership that demonstrates uprightness and governs for the sake of the people. Pray that in the midst of the struggle, many may find true peace that only Jesus can give.Tashkent is the Islamic capital of Central Asia in terms of both numbers and influence. Islam is more a part of the Uzbek cultural identity than it is a faithfully practiced religion; folk/occult practices are deeply tied into the beliefs of mostly the rural Uzbeks. Since a burst of Islamic activity soon after independence, the government has reined in most Islamic missionaries and mosque-buildings and tightly controls and monitors all Islamic activity.