Weekly Announcements
THANK YOU RC For giving to: Shoebox Blessing (50 Boxes!) & F.I.S.H. Food Drive (638 LBS Of Food!)
Dec. 1...Christmas Party Following Service
Dec. 14...Women's Christmas Brunch 11am (RSVP)
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'What's Up' at Your RC??
From Pastor Sheli's Weekly 'Prayer & Praise' email
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"Where Love Reigns!"
Good Afternoon Church Family! God is able and faithful! There are so many things I can think of in my life to be grateful for this year! I feel like David in Psalm 40:5, "Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbered." There are so many wonderful works that God has done in my life and I am so thankful for each one. So often in life we can let the issues of the day or the circumstances around us cloud our minds to the reasons we have to be grateful. A perfect illustration of this is what happens in Washougal when the clouds come in thick and heavy. You can look toward the gorge and you can't see past the hills. The clouds cover up the fact that there is a gorge and that there is mountain behind it. You can't see what is actually there because of the clouds but the mountain IS still there. The devil comes to kill, steal and destroy and he tries to bring in clouds of worry, doubt, fear, and anxiety. He tries to cover up the fact that there is a mountain of things we have to be thankful for because of the goodness of God! But you know what?? The mountain of reasons to be grateful is still there. And guess what... clouds don't hang around forever and when they clear we can see clearly! We can't loose sight of the truth that we know that we know God has been faithful and He will continue to be faithful! We declare His wonderful works because it brings Him praise but it also helps us to see the truth. As we praise, our praise dispels the clouds of the devil! It helps us to see past the fluff of the enemy to the truth of what God is doing!
That's really what being thankful comes down to... knowing what is true. The older I get the more I praise for things in advance or before I even see them. I have learned from experience that when I pray in faith believing, God hears my prayers. When I declare His word over my circumstances I know that things will change because I have seen the faithfulness of God in the past. So, even before I have seen the answer I can praise because I know that God has been faithful before and He will be faithful today and tomorrow! Each of you have stories of God's faithfulness in your life. Things that He has done that at the time were life changing and inspiring! I know because I have heard you testify!! That is the truth of who God is in your life... He is faithful! The enemy is cunning and he knows that he can't just come straight at you and steal away your memories of the goodness of God. So, first he helps us to get our focus off of those things and putting them on the cares and concerns of the day. Before we know it, the praise we had been declaring has evaporated. Then the condensation of life and it's worries starts to cloud up our vision until we can't see clearly anymore. Can you see how clever he is? But when we know the truth of how he works we don't have to go along with his plans!!! The greatest weapon against him is never loosing site of the wonderful works God HAS done so that you continue to praise Him for what He IS DOING and that carries over to praising Him in advance for what He IS GOING TO DO!! Our giving thanks daily keeps us in a place of praise & worship and God inhabits the praises of His people! We can actually keep the clouds of the enemy out of our lives by staying in at attitude of thankfulness. Being thankful daily we can begin to declare and speak of the wonderful works God has done! Like David said, they are more than can be numbered so we have enough to thank Him for and not run out of things! If you are having trouble remembering the good things God has done, take time to write down as many as you can remember and then take time to keep track of every wonderful work He does in your life! You will begin to see that throughout your day God is continuing to do wonderful works and your list will grow and grow!! Don't wait for November and Thanksgiving Day to recount the reasons to be grateful. Make a choice to live a life of thankfulness unto the Lord and to stay in a perpetual state of thanksgiving!
Our prayer for you and your families is for a blessed, peace-filled Thanksgiving this year! That your hearts would be filled with gratefulness for all God has done and that will be added to as you spend time with family and friends this year. We are also praying that you will be reminded of all the reasons you have to be grateful this year and all the wonderful works from the past! We know from experience that living a life of remembering the goodness of God is living good!! (Or in our case "Livengood"!!) Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Redeemed Church Family and Extended Church Family!!! Blessings, Pastors Sheli and Steve