We are thankful for our earthly fathers. Through good times and bad, fathers care for us through their love and guidance. But our fathers need something that they themselves cannot provide; and it’s the same thing each and every one of us need: A Savior! Our Father in Heaven has provided all we need for eternal life in His name by giving the gift of His only son. Through Jesus Christ, we are no longer slaves to our sin, but we are called a new name: We are Children. We are Children of the Father!

God's beautiful words in Psalm 23 gives us a picture of just how great God love for us is shown ultimately in the Good Shepherd Jesus!

“How good it is to be a child of God! Our Lord not only knows, and reigns over all things, but we have a God who gets into the muck and messiness of life with us! Jesus was willing to roll up His sleeves and get His hands dirty to meet people in the midst of the struggle and dirtiness of their lives; and He did so with this purpose in mind–so that in walking with us in this life, we might be with Him always! We celebrate Our God, Immanuel–God who is with us!"

We gather together as the church to hear God’s Word, receive His gifts given to us in the sacraments, praise Him, and for the very important avenue of communication: Prayer. In the midst of the hectic lives that many of us live, added to the hard times we all at some times in life experience, prayer is an enormously important gift from God. This week in worship we gather to hear the prayer of the wealthiest and wisest man to ever walk the earth; King Solomon. In this King’s prayer, we find hope and courage in knowing that we have a God who listens to us in the struggles and joys of this life!

On Trinity Sunday we celebrate and remember that we worship one God who reveals himself to us in the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As hard for us to understand the vastness of God, there is comfort in the fact that he revealed himself to us and exactly how he feels about us in the person and work of Jesus. God loves us and shows that by giving us Jesus so that through the gift of faith in him that all the whosevers might have ever lasting life.

Pentecost, the Birthday of Church, is a time to remember the power of the Holy Spirit who accomplishes the great miracle of faith through the Word of God. The same Spirit poured out on that Pentecost day some 2,000 years ago continues to guide and lead the church, the Body of Christ, to be witnesses of Jesus in the places that God has placed us to make an eternal difference.

In the last words he speaks before ascending into heaven, Jesus entrusts and commissions his followers to be witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth! A mission that is still being carried out by the body of Christ, the church, today in the places that God has placed us to make an eternal difference in the lives around us!

When Philip meets an Ethopian one day on the road, he seizes the opportunity to teach and share about Jesus. The impact of that one conversation and the resulting work of the Holy Spirit not only impacted the Ethopian who was baptised but brought the message of Jesus to another place. This weeekend to we continue to celebrate the message of Jesus is one we continue to pass on and share as youth are confirmed in their faith and as they to continue to look for opportunities to share Jesus.

Two of the marks of the early church were generosity and suffering. Hearing about how they carried out being the body of Christ as they carried out the continual work of Jesus we find ourselves encouraged and asking the question about where Jesus would have us be people of encouragement and generosity today knowing too that for the sake of the Gospel part of our story may involve suffering too.

One of the greatest prayers in the Bible happens when the early church visits with Peter and John after their release from prison. One of the conditions of their parole is that they no longer talk about Jesus. How will the early church respond to this threat? What will they ask God for in prayer with such a great threat looming over them? And how will God respond to the requests they make? What will pray for this week and how will Jesus position us to make an eternal difference in the lives of those around us?