Prayers of blessing are much more than just hoping to get something good for yourself. The blessing of God opens channels of favor and paths of right-living within our hearts, and flows out into our families, our church, our community. We need to seek the Lord's blessing.

Prayer is about talking with God about what you need. And he knows what you need. And he's a loving God who is intensely interested in receiving your sincere prayers and answering. It's not a formula, it's not a guarantee of everything going your way, but it is an invitation to relationship with God.

As we prepare to enter the season of Lent, a vital practice of prayer is listening.

Give something back. Give something forward.

In our consumer culture, saturated by advertising and manipulation, we are accustomed to being baited and targeted. Was this what Jesus had in mind when he said he would teach his followers how to fish for people?

God sees you. And he is not content with that - he also wants you to see him.

On this Epiphany Sunday, we take a quick look back at Pastor Brenda's six-year anniversary, and then see the work of the Holy Spirit through today's readings.

We apologize for the audio quality, but wanted to share this special conversation with you. We can trust the goodness of God even through long-term illness and chronic health challenges.

The story we tell as Christians is dependent on this mystery - Jesus Christ, Son of God, Creator of the world come to dwell in the world he created as a creature, fully man, fully God.

We must understand that even though our story is constantly being written and there will be good days and there will be bad days, we are called to keep telling the SAME story. The love of God, the salvation of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit poured out on all people, the hope of the resurrection - this story doesn't change no matter what happens to us!