New Beginnings Church of Astoria

In rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, Nehemiah and the people faced opposition and discouragement from everywhere. The godly principles Nehemiah followed combined with the presence of God through it all saw to it that not only was the task completed, but the lessons they learned are available for us to use today to defy discouragement.

We are to trust in God. God gives us specific instructions on how this is to be done so that we receive help from our God who is all powerful, ever present and all knowing in these uncertain times.

God promised the people wandering in the desert honey out of a rock if they would only listen to Him and turn to Him. Honey out of a rock....sweetness and pleasant things out of a hard, rough, place in life. This is available to us today, if we but turn to Christ the Rock.

The pool of Bethesda was a place of sickness and disease, filled with those awaiting a miracle healing. It is there that Jesus approaches a man laying there for 38 years and asks if he wanted to be made well. Into our darkest periods of life comes Jesus with the same request. Our answer is often similar to the man's, but God's mercy is so great that He extends to us not only a command, but the power to do what He says.

Toward the end of his life David, the great king of Israel, slayer of Goliath and psalmist, worshiper of God, looks back and makes an observation of all his years and trials he has faced. It is an observation that fits us today - we are never abandoned by God.

Old and confronted with bad news that he may now lose two more of his sons, the patriarch Jacob utters the words "all these things are against me". There are times in life when we feel the same, when darkness surrounds us and hopelessness enters as it did with Jacob. But God showed Jacob that all these things were working together for good, just as He will show us.

The best that God has is available to us, part of the path that God has ordained for those who believe in Him to walk. Don't turn away from the blessings as the Israelites did in the wilderness. God wants to bring you out, if you are willing to look to Him and see yourself the way He sees you.

In troubling times when anxiety is high it is important to remember that God's not only full of promises but that God is able to preserve us by His word. As God preserved the Israelites in the desert, so He will preserve and keep you, "upholding you by the Word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3)

During a difficult time in Israel's history, the prophet Isaiah shared a word from God as to how he would face those times. In today's world of pandemics, uncertainty, worries and anxiety, the word from Isaiah applies to us today. Isaiah found the Lord to be his salvation, his strength and his song. You're going to come through this singing if you belong to Jesus

The Magi came from the East to worship the young Jesus Christ. How did they know He was born and how did they know about ".....His star"? The answer lies in the scriptures, linked with God's plan to reach us and draw us into relationship with him, removing the barrier of sin.

SONG / MUSIC WRITTEN AND COMPOSED BY NIKOS KLINE

SUNG BY NIKOS AND AMANDA KLINE