Church Notes

My brain tends to process better in images than text.  That said my notes from church often take a pictorial format with words scattered throughout the page.  My wife grabbed my sketch toward the end of the service and penned the accompanying verse.  I love the verse she selected because it reminds me that, when we have fallen and find ourselves in a dark place, God is there to lift us up and provide the light we need to climb back onto His path.   I am thankful for a God that shines his light into the dark places, filling them with hope, forgiveness, and love. 

Micah 7:8Amplified Bible (AMP)

8 Rejoice not against me, O my enemy! When I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me.

One twig at a time

How does a bird build a Nest?   One twig at a time.  I had this thought as I sketched the above piece.  If you have ever spent time looking at a finished birds nest, it is hard to believe that something so well designed is constructed from gathered bits and pieces.  The finished product is constructed with a keen eye and by design.  Each piece is purposefully selected and strategically placed.  This same thought hit me as I read John 1:1-18.  God's master plan was laid out from the beginning.  Each piece fitting perfectly together through the Old Testament, leading us on a journey that would result in the firm foundation of Grace, we know as Christ. 

   

John 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a]it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John.⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses;grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and^[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.