Notes of Faith February 8, 2025

Notes of Faith February 8, 2025

Philia – Love

All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Titus 3:15

In the early 1680s, William Penn made a treaty of friendship with a Native American chieftain named Tamanend. Penn built a port city on the Delaware River to serve as a governmental center. He knew the word philia meant “friendship,” so he named his city Philadelphia—City of Brotherly Love. Penn had experienced persecution, and he wanted to build a city where people loved and respected each other.

Every city, town, church, marriage, and home should have the spirit of philia. In Christ, your husband is also your brother; your wife is also your sister. The Bible says that within the faith we should be “gentle, not quarrelsome” with each other (1 Timothy 3:3). The apostle Paul said, “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all” (2 Timothy 2:24). In Titus 3:15, Paul spoke of those who loved (philia) him in the faith.

Ask God to give you philia, and let’s love each other as friends in the faith of our Heavenly Father.

In a good marriage the husband and wife are also friends. Friendship means companionship, communication, and cooperation. This is known as philia.

H. Norman Wright

There are other Greek words that we translate love which we will look at on another Notes of Faith. Let us practice philia, loving one another, in humility, thinking others as better than ourselves, sacrificing our needs and concerns for others, with the hope and prayer that they will listen to God and do His will by coming to Jesus in faith believing that He is the only way to be saved!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 7, 2025

Notes of Faith February 7, 2025

Missing the Mark

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest soccer players in the world. Last year at Euro 2024, he missed a penalty shot. He felt he’d let his team and fans down. The great athlete’s face twisted into pain, and he couldn’t keep from weeping. His tears dominated the headlines the next day.

If an athlete can weep over a missed shot, shouldn’t we be able to weep over our sins? There are a few occasions in life when we can’t help but cry when we see the mistake we made, the sin we committed, or the harm we did. Matthew 5:4 says, in the Amplified Bible, “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted].”

The closer we come to the Lord, the more sensitive we become to sin in our life. We know we are bankrupt without the Lord, and we mourn our sin. The Lord not only forgives us; He also comforts us.

Spiritual mourning is the godly sorrow that produces repentance, and it is blessed because it leads to life. The more you have of this kind of mourning in your life, the more blessed you will be.

Colin S. Smith

James 4:8-10

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

We must humble ourselves, recognize that we need to be forgiven before forgiveness can be offered by God. We continue to sin every day, though some think they do not…they are wrong. Humbly coming to the throne of grace in true contrition, confession, with a desire to pursue holiness and righteousness, opens the floodgate of compassion and grace from our heavenly Father. Draw near to the only One who can set you free from the chains and suffering caused by sin.

Ps 51:7-13

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,

Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins

And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from Your presence

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And sustain me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will be converted to You.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 6, 2025

Notes of Faith February 6, 2025

Humble Service

Serving the Lord with all humility.

Acts 20:19

Billy Graham said, “In Heaven there will be many believers who never received any acknowledgement while on earth, yet they faithfully prayed and humbly served Christ. I believe their crowns may sparkle with more jewels than the philanthropist who endowed the church and whose name is engraved on the plaque in the narthex.”1

When we realize we are spiritually poor, we’re able to come to Christ in a spirit of humility and receive the riches of His grace. That disposition of heart leads to effective service. Some people serve Christ to impress others, and they “preach Christ even from envy and strife” (Philippians 1:15). But those who are humble of heart are able to serve the Lord in a way He truly blesses. Peter said, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5).

Are you poor in spirit? One of the ways you can tell is by evaluating your daily service for Christ. Let’s all rededicate ourselves to serving the Lord with all humility.

May our gratitude find expression in our prayers and our service for others, and in our commitment to live wholly for Christ.

Billy Graham

Acts 20:19-21

serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I often pray that the Lord will keep me from a prideful attitude, using me for His glory, while I do not even know how He used me…as if my shadow passing over someone gives them a blessing from God that I never see happen. This is truly my prayer…to be used by God without even knowing that it happened so that my mind cannot think of patting myself on the back or receiving some reward. It is good enough just to know that God is using me.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 5, 2025

Notes of Faith February 5, 2025

Our Spiritual Need

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

In 2023 a Florida deputy was accused of street racing because, as it turned out, he wanted to impress his girlfriend. People get into a lot of trouble trying to impress others. We’re all guilty to some extent, aren’t we? It’s our pride!

Jesus had a better idea. He blessed those who were poor in spirit. He said, “Great blessings belong to those who know they are spiritually in need. God’s kingdom belongs to them” (Matthew 5:3, ERV). When the Lord spoke of being poor in spirit, He meant the opposite of everything that’s summed up in the word pride. Those who are poor in spirit have a proper assessment of who they are without Christ. As the International Children’s Bible puts it: “Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy.”

When we recognize we are spiritually bankrupt, we’ll understand the wonder of God’s love for us through Christ. We cannot impress anyone, not even ourselves. But Jesus loves us nonetheless, and through Him alone we find the Kingdom of heaven.

The indispensable condition of receiving the kingdom of God is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty. To the poor in spirit, and only to the poor in spirit, the kingdom of God is given.

John Stott

We love God because He loved us first…

We cannot really love whom we do not know. We must learn to know God to love God and then we will be able to love one another!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 4, 2025

Notes of Faith February 4, 2025

Pursuing Happiness

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.

Philippians 4:11

“All men...are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These famous words from the American Declaration of Independence have been criticized by some who say that Americans believe it is their right to be happy.

In modern terms, happiness usually refers to laughter—an emotional response to life’s circumstances. It is worth noting that there is no reference in the four Gospels to Jesus laughing (though He undoubtedly did when appropriate). Far more prevalent in Scripture is the notion of joy and the idea of contentment. Contentment is the idea of finding joy in the will of God whatever the circumstance. Jesus didn’t laugh in the Garden of Gethsemane as He contemplated His future death, but He was content with God’s will for Him at that moment.

True joy and contentment are found in the Person of Christ. Our pursuit of happiness must lead us to joy and contentment in Him.

If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.

Charles Spurgeon

Phil 4:11-14

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

If you cannot be content in the circumstances in which you find yourself, you will never find contentment, always wanting more.

Pastor Dlae

Notes of Faith February 3, 2025

Notes of Faith February 3, 2025

God Wants You Happy!

O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Psalm 84:12

A cynic once defined Christians as people who live in fear of someone, somewhere, being happy. That is, the cynic had the impression that God wants to make life burdensome and difficult. A person who believes that has never read the Bible. Thirteen times in the Old Testament we find the phrase, “Blessed is the man who.”

What does blessed mean in Scripture? In modern English translations it is often translated as “happy” or “joyful.” In other words, God wants us to be happy and joyful in life and gives us instructions on how to achieve that goal. We are blessed when we walk in God’s ways (Psalm 1:1), when we trust in God (Psalm 84:12), when our sins are forgiven (Psalm 32:2), when we dwell in God’s presence (Psalm 65:4), when we rely on God’s strength (Psalm 84:5), and more. God would not have provided ways for us to be happy and joyful if He did not intend for us to be so.

Meditate on these and other verses which promise blessedness. It is there for the receiving for all who seek it God’s way.

Seek for happiness and you will never find it. Seek righteousness and you will discover you are happy.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Matt 5:3-12

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Replace the word blessed with the word happy for that is what blessed means. If you want to be truly happy … there is work to do, not the theme of don’t worry, be happy. It does not work that way. Seek the Lord. You will find happiness.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 2, 2025

Notes of Faith February 2, 2025

Safe Place: Face Your Fears

Two Equals One

by Jimmy & Irene Rollins

Longevity requires navigating life’s seasons together.

We as human beings have a universal fear of change, but where does that fear come from? These transitions in life change us, but why do we so readily assume the worst? In our experience this has most often been a result of our differences. Differences in communication style, differences in needs, differences in our upbringings — they can cause tension whenever it seems the rules have changed or another element has been introduced, and now there’s some insecurity.

Often our fears are rational; they come from something we experienced in our past that we don’t want to experience again.

Maybe your parenting styles differ and you’re afraid of causing your children the same trauma you experienced in your childhood. Instead of working together to find balance, you make your spouse the villain and fight each other.

Maybe a change in job was the beginning of the end of your parents’ marriage, and now you don’t want your spouse getting that promotion. Your spouse doesn’t understand the source of your fear, so it just seems like you don’t support their dreams.

Whatever the fear is, love requires us to face it. Only then can we build on our marriage and grow together.

There is a tendency to assume we know best. There’s a sense of security in a “known way” of doing things. No matter how much we love one another, it’s often altogether too tempting to hold on to our way — to being the one who is “right.” The irony is that we have often overanalyzed the other’s methods but never even considered why ours are so important to us. There was a certain group of people in Scripture who held on to their way of doing things without consideration for a new way. Jesus talked directly to them on a number of occasions — they were known as the Pharisees. Jesus told them,

Speaking of blindness: Why do you focus on the speck in your brother’s eye? Why don’t you see the log in your own? — Luke 6:41 The Voice

Love has no fear.

We put our spouse under a magnifying glass, but we’re afraid to look in the mirror. We need to confront our fear and contain it. Before we determine that our spouse’s way of doing things is wrong, we need to evaluate our way: Where does this fear come from? Why is it so important to me to do this my way? Often you will be able to trace your fear to a specific origin. Don’t keep this information to yourself — make your spouse aware of your feelings. This is all part of owning your emotions — it’s something we call “extreme ownership.”

Some may say they don’t want to change or they look at changing as a person as a negative thing, but change is required for positive things such as learning and growing. By definition, we can’t improve if we stay the same.

Remember: Love has no fear. And Scripture tells us that love “rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Love also does not judge, and it is not arrogant. Which means that when our spouse expresses their opinion or way of doing things, we don’t assume a position of superiority. Love should compel us to consider their approach and their feelings. What naturally results is a melding or unification of methods. The two become one, stronger through each new transition.

Excerpted with permission from Two Equals One: A Marriage Equation for Love, Laughter, and Longevity by Jimmy and Irene Rollins, copyright Jimmy Rollins and Irene Rollins.

There are many truths and commands in Scripture that are hard to live out in our fallen nature. We are okay with some but others bring out our selfishness and desire for mine, mine, mine, or me, me, me. I have said this before, but I believe that true love requires sacrifice and in many instances much sacrifice. Let us seek to follow God’s Word to the letter and be a great sacrificial lover of others.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 1, 2025

Notes of Faith February 1, 2025

The Four Loves: Agape—Our Love for God

We love Him because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

The New Testament was originally penned in Greek, and there are four different Greek words translated love. The word agape represents the essence of divine love—God’s own special love. It’s the love God has for us and the kind of love He gives us for Himself and others.

Osborne Gordon, a nineteenth-century British pastor, said, “There is no soul so pure and heavenly that it can throw back upon God all that love which He lavishes upon us. God loves us infinitely more than it is possible for us to love Him; but whatever feeble flame of love is kindled in our hearts and goes up as a sacrifice to Him, we are only giving Him of His own.”

That’s a good description of agape. The greatest command within Scripture is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37). It’s the Lord Himself who gives us the agape that allows us to do that. Let His love set your heart on fire, and return it like sparks flying upward to Him.

Our love of [God] is nothing more than His love to us, reflected back upon Him, the source of love.

Osborne Gordon

1 John 4:7-12

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

I have learned of love in sacrifice and try to teach others to see an expression of their love through sacrifice for another. God’s greatest love for us was His greatest sacrifice in sending His Son into the world to die for us. Love is expressed in many ways as is given to us in 1 Corinthians chapter 13…

1 Cor 13:4-8

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails

Let us strive to be more like the character of God in our love.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 31, 2025

Notes of Faith January 31, 2025

Diligently

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NLT

“Let me show you this Bible verse I found today!”

That simple statement—or one like it—may be the single most effective tool for training our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It’s personal, conversational, Scripture-based, and meaningful. We’re to be personally committed to reading God’s Word, and as we uncover its great truths, we should share them with our children, at home or on the road, when getting up or going to bed.

This doesn’t require a Bible college education or a seminary degree. It’s not just for ministers and missionaries. It’s the great privilege of every parent and grandparent to share from the overflow of our hearts and minds.

To return to the Scriptures, we must all take responsibility for our family’s spiritual and emotional health and well-being. Decide today to strengthen your family through the study of God’s Word.

When we help the younger generation to love, serve, and honor God, we…welcome the blessings of God into generations to follow.

Pastor Allen Jackson

Prov 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

Ps 1:1-3

1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Being in the Word of God every day will make your day better and those that you interact with throughout the day because you did. The Holy Spirit will bring Scriptures to your mind that you may use them for your benefit and the benefit of those around you. May you be blessed by the Word you read and meditate on today!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith January 30, 2025

Notes of Faith January 30, 2025

Supremacy

For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

Joshua 2:11, NLT

We use the word supreme to indicate someone or some group that serves as final authority. The Supreme Court, for example. Or Supreme Commander. Or Supreme Leader. But what is the ultimate supreme authority on earth? It is God and His Word. The teachings of the Bible are true and authoritative, and they’re wiser than the rules of men, the laws of congress, the opinions of politicians, or the ideologies of universities.

To truly reform our world, we must return to the Word of God as the ultimate authority. If we’re going to return our families to hopefulness and our churches to revival, it will be on the basis of the authority of Scripture. If we’re going to solve societal problems, it must be through the application of the wisdom of God’s Word. Tim Chester wrote, “We accept the supremacy of Scripture because we accept the supremacy of its author.”1

It begins with us. Is the Word of God the supreme authority over your life, governing all your attitudes, works, actions, and habits?

To say that Scripture is supreme is to say that the Bible has authority in everything that really matters—time and eternity, earth and heaven, humanity and God.

Tim Chester

2 Peter 1:16-21

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased" — 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Not having a relationship with God, man is left to himself as the supreme authority of this life. He may uplift another human being as the one who wields authority over all, including the Word of God! The truth will stand firm and expose false claims. God and God alone and His Word that He has spoken through His servants on earth is the supreme authority on earth! God reveals Himself through His Word and the Living Word, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit who lives within a true believer. Seek the Lord God while you have opportunity. There will come a time when it is too late.

Prov 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.

Pastor Dale