I have, at times, written my entire sermon on my phone. Just on the little keyboard on my screen. And that is because of a little tool called Autocorrect- it's such a helpful tool until it's not. There's a whole website dedicated to autocorrecting fails. There are some that are pretty funny…

Treat others AND think about others in the same way as Christ. In other words, not only do we have to say encouraging words and listen with grace- we have to truly mean it.

Scripture says that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to be angry. There are so many reasons why we should be good listeners. We should listen so we can understand one another and encourage one another, and we should listen because there are times when God is trying to speak to us.

We started a new sermon series by talking about using encouraging words to lift up others. Sometimes encouraging words happen best when we begin with prayer. We know many of you are dealing with things in your life causing pain and suffering. I hope you find encouragement knowing that the Horizons staff team prays for you each week. If you know someone who is hurting today, I invite you to not only tell them that you are praying for them but pray for them (sometimes we have good intentions, but we forget the prayer part). God gave us this great tool; I hope you will build someone up with your words today! Blessings, be well, and see you next weekend! -Pastor Mandy     Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29 NRSVUE)

My message this Labor Day weekend was about time. There is time for everything under the heavens.

To being part of a community that spreads love, kindness, and generosity both at home and in the greater community.

The best moments any of us have as human beings are those moments when for a little while, it is possible to escape the squirrel cage of being me into the landscape of being us. - Frederick Buechner

Hi, it's Pastor Mandy in Exodus 34:14, says that God's name is jealous. God is not jealous of us, but for us. And that's a really good thing.  It shows that God cares deeply for us and that he longs to have a relationship with us.  If there is no communication, there is no relationship, and if we are not communicating with God, we don't have a relationship with God.  Jesus tells us to communicate by asking and searching and knocking. These are action words. These are things that Jesus is telling us to do, steps to take, to know God, to communicate with God, because we know that God wants our attention.  So I hope you can find time today to ask God for what you need.  Blessings and be well.

The fear of God is the beginning of controlling our anxieties. And by fear- I mean standing in awe and surrendering to our God.   We serve an awesome God. Creator God is creative- have you seen the star-nosed mole? If not, Google it! Our Sovereign God rules over the massive universe; the farthest galaxy discovered so far is 13.3 billion light years away! And God only knows how much more we have to discover. We stand in awe when we think about what God is capable of. And when we can pay attention to God when things are going well, we will train ourselves to see God when things are not going well. I hope that you seek and surrender to God today.   I hope to see you next Sunday as we continue on with our sermon series. Blessings and be well. -Pastor Mandy

Matthew 6:34 says, "therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worries of its own right."  Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. It is little baby steps that we can take. And of course, that doesn't mean that we don't plan for the future. We have to think about the future.  But it means that if we're feeling anxious or we're starting to worry, we think about the next right thing that we can do in this moment, and that will often bring us back to the truth. If you're looking for the next right thing to do when thinking about how to study the Bible, I invite you to check out a study that the sermon series is kind of based on. And it's called Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado.