Springford Baptist Church

Sometimes we are surprised by the strength with which people going through very hard times, face each new day. Have you ever wondered how Jesus could live each new day knowing that what lay ahead for Him was the cross? It is apparent from Jesus’ conversations with His disciples that as He persistently made His way towards Jerusalem, He knew what awaited Him there. Still, He took time to pray; to teach; to heal; to express care and compassion; to rest; and to eat with and enjoy time with friends. Jesus’ life was not on hold as He prepared for what would happen on Good Friday. We know that difficult times could overshadow everything else. We could be robbed of the peace of trusting God as He extends to us the gift of each new day. When we feel uncertain about our strength to deal with what may come next, we can be strengthened by Jesus’ resolve. Our Lord Jesus continued to give of Himself and to engage fully in the days and the steps that led to the cross. Jesus received strength that was needed for His journey and so can we. Recall with me the words of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength.” We can claim this promise and look to our Saviour Jesus Christ as we pray and like Jesus receive strength for each day and each step of the way. We will pause tomorrow March 8^th at 1 pm for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER.

Looking to Jesus who gives us strength to live each new day, Pastor Lola

Our God of grace who knows us completely, once again we turn to You. We find hope in Your Son Jesus and the living of His life. This gives us hope for what our lives can be. When we are facing difficult times and when family and friends are facing difficult times, we choose to trust You. The warmth of the sun breaking through on a cloudy day is that for which we pray. When Your Son breaks through and shines light and warmth into our cloud covered days, we are grateful. Whenever we consider that Jesus knew that the cross was before Him, we are astounded by His courage and strength. We see that Jesus kept building relationships and responding to human need. He did not become so obsessed with the reality of the cross that He could think of nothing else. Jesus chose to give Himself fully to those around Him and we want to do the same. At this time, we name before You again those for whom we are praying. We think of their needs and invite Your strength to be sufficient for them. We want to learn more of what it means to trust You for the path ahead. Thank You God that endings can lead to new beginnings. We pray that we will not limit our expectations of what You can and will do. When we reminisce about the past, we find You there. When we look for sufficient strength from You God for today, we find You there. And when we wander down the unknown path of what could be ahead, we also find you there. Never for a single moment do You abandon us. With all the people in our world turning to You in prayer, it is remarkable to us that You hear every whisper and You move with love and grace to answer each prayer. We choose to cling to Jesus for the kind of strength He displayed in living each day with determination on His way to the cross. We utter these words in response, “Hallelujah, what a Saviour,” in Whose Name we pray. AMEN

In the recent snowstorm, we were very grateful to know that our prayers were answered as we hoped, when our older daughter arrived safely at her destination. It took much longer than usual because the roads were not ploughed and the visibility was limited. We were reassured because she could update us along the way over her car phone that she was making progress. I remember before we had this technology that there were urgent prayers and anxious thoughts until there was confirmation that a loved one had arrived safely. It can seem like an eternity when you are waiting to hear that someone you love who is travelling has got safely to where that person is going. We pray many prayers for safety and protection. When we do pray, we are choosing to place someone or something in God’s capable and loving care. Still, we do not feel at ease until we know that our prayers have been answered. God understands our anxious thoughts. God can speak His peace into our hearts when we are waiting for the outcome of our prayers. Consider this Scripture, “He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. “ (Isaiah 40;11) We long for God to gather us in His arms and to hold us close to his heart. When young children are feeling upset and troubled, we will hold them in our arms to reassure and comfort them. It is consoling to be embraced by love. Our God wants to embrace us and those for whom we pray with His love. This is why He sent Jesus to be our Saviour. As we continue to prepare our hearts for Good Friday and Easter, we can be praying to experience God’s loving and tender arms holding us while we wait for His answers. We will, with this confidence in God’s love for us, join together tomorrow March 1^st at 1 pm for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER.

Praying for our awareness of God holding us and those for whom we pray in His loving arms, Pastor Lola

Our God we come to You confident of Your loving care for us and for those for whom we pray. You do respond to us with tender understanding. Your tending of us is like the way a shepherd looks after a flock of sheep. We sometimes stray away from You and You bring us back. Thank You God that You gather us in Your arms and hold us close to Your heart. This is where we can feel safe. This is where we can be assured of Your love and Your protection. We think of the times that we pray for safety and protection from harm. The waiting for Your answers can seem to stretch on and we do want to keep our faith in You. When we can know that You are holding us close to Your heart, our fears are stilled. Sometimes we admit that we think we can only be okay if the outcome of our prayers is that for which we hope. God, we recognize a much deeper dimension of faith that trusts You whatever the outcome. This trusting does not come easy and is only possible when you hold us in Your everlasting love. Where we have assumptions about Who and how You are and how You will take care of our needs, please remind us to seek the truth of the way that you reveal Yourself to us. We want to be open to fresh insight into how You love us. We consider this time approaching Easter to be a gift. It is a time for us to acknowledge the degree of love that You have for us. Jesus, You were willing to give Your life to make us safe forever. Our ideas of safety can be so immediate and connected with here and now. We invite a view of being safe that encompasses the salvation that is only possible through Your Son Jesus. We think now of those dealing with health issues and test results that have been unsettling and pray for them and their families. God, please give us words of love to reassure people of their safety in being gathered in Your loving arms. In the Name of Jesus our Saviour. AMEN

Many of us will have enjoyed pancakes as Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday happened leading into the Season of Lent. Some Christians observe Lent in the 40 days leading up to Easter. This is intended to be a time of renewed faith and preparation to recall again the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. February 22nd is Ash Wednesday which begins the 40 days of Lent. For several believers, there will be something that they give up during Lent as a reminder of all that Jesus gave up when he gave Himself to save us from our sins. Something that we can all be challenged to give up in our desire to renew our faith in Jesus as our Saviour is selfish attitudes. We might be inclined to protest, “Oh I am not selfish! I am always thinking about others”! The truth is that all of us have to struggle with the tendency to put ourselves first. We are so aware of what we want and how we want things to turn out that surrendering to God and what God wants is a battle. Think about Jesus and His approach described in Ephesians 5:2, “Be imitators of God therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us…” In our prayers approaching Easter on April 7^th, we can be asking Jesus to replace our selfish attitudes with a sincere desire for and active living of a life of love that models Jesus Who loved us and gave Himself up for us. This will be the inspiration for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow February 22^nd at 1 pm. Please plan to pause for this time of prayer and commitment.

Praying that God will help us to, like His Son Jesus, give ourselves up, Pastor Lola

Our God we come to You now as Your dearly loved children. Thank You that You love us unconditionally as You continue to invite us to BECOME more of who You call us to be. We are humbled by the life of Jesus Your Son Who did love us and gave Himself up for us. We receive the assurance of His love when we consider His willingness to go to the cross for us. This is a significant opportunity for us leading up to Easter to renew our faith in You. Where our view of You has been shadowed by the cares of life, we want to have our vision cleared to see You for Who You are, a God of compassion and mercy. When we have been so occupied with trying to arrange the details of our lives and have put ourselves first instead of You, we ask for forgiveness. We thank you God that neglect of nourishing our faith in You can change. You continue to welcome us to seek You and to find You. Your divine work of restoration and renovation is always available. We are praying that You will convict us regarding what we put off and that these next weeks before Easter will be a time of intentional renewed commitment to You. Please create in us clean hearts and renew right spirits within us. As we choose to give up and to surrender to You our selfish attitudes, we pray that we will become more and more like Jesus. Thank You God that as many times as we consider the story of Jesus and His love, it never grows old. Praise You for fresh awareness of what it means to experience You with us. Thank You for hearing our prayers and drawing us and those for whom we pray closer to You. God we pray that the sincere desire of our hearts will be to please You with all that we are and all that we have. Please guide us as we choose to keep following You and leaving behind anything that would try to present itself to us as more important than You. Thank You God for the ways that You inspire us to allow Jesus to BECOME greater and for us to become less. Release Your love through us to our world longing for love that is real! In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

Love in action could sometimes go unnoticed. I saw a mother and daughter this week who were shopping together. They were laughing and talking as they came into the mall. It was obvious that they were enjoying each other’s company. How different this scene would have been if the daughter was hurrying her elderly mother along because she, “had other things that needed doing.” How different this would have been if the mother was complaining, “I hàrdly ever see you …” Instead, there was love in action as these two women were grateful for the present moment and grateful for the blessing of their relationship. I had another opportunity to see love in action when someone brought pecan tarts to share with coworkers. It is so essential in all of our relationships for love to not be the missing ingredient. Scripture clearly reminds us that if we do a host of commendable things, but we don’t have love, it means nothing! We read in I Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Love is the greatest because in heaven when faith and hope become sight, love will still remain and carry on for eternity. Love is now and always will be transformational. Actions become loving when the attitude with which we carry them out is loving. We see in the example of Jesus, loving regard for everyone. We can welcome the love of Christ that will radically change our relationships and the way we approach life. Another person’s day can have a hope filled outlook because we become known as people who are reliable in our loving response to each individual. We will need to pray and trust God to make His love the motivation and expression of our daily lives. We can pause to make God’s love in action the desire of our hearts and prayers tomorrow February 15th at 1 pm during our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER.

Praying that people around us will be certain they are loved because God uses us to communicate this truth, Pastor Lola 

Thank You God that we have experienced the certainty of Your love for us. Thank You that all of our understanding of authentic love is centered in You. We consider now people who for various reasons feel unloved and overlooked. Our God we know that You never overlook or disregard anyone. We want to be those who love in both word and deed. We have been witnessing people who regularly love with more than just words. Thank you for those who take time and go out of their way to love. We pray for honest assessment of why we do what we do. When anything other than love motivates our actions, we ask You to forgive us. We are praying for sensitivity to others that will guide us in the ways that our actions can best convey love for them. Thank You God that Your love breaks down the barriers that divide us. We pray against anything that would cause us to treat people differently or to exclude someone because of prejudice. Thank You that You look on us all with equal love and grace. We recognize that issues of injustice get highlighted for a time and then fade from sight. Please keep bringing to our attention where we need to pray and care and express love. When a diverse outlook causes uncertainty about how to best express love, thank You that You can guide us on a path of understanding that results in love being given and received. Please show us what needs to change in us for us to have a greater capacity for love and compassion. When we feel overwhelmed by the complexity of needs and the number of people who are looking to be loved, help us to do one loving thing after another to create a pattern of love. God, Your consistent love for us equips us to be people who love consistently. We make ourselves available to carry the message of Your everlasting love to a world desperately waiting for unconditional love that can only be found in You. In the Name of Jesus Who loves us and gave Himself for us. AMEN

So how about it? Where else have you been witnessing God’s love in action in this past week? When we are giving intentional attention to people around us, we will certainly be aware of ways that God can touch their lives with His love through us. On the weekend, I saw a Dad on the GO train who was getting his young daughter all bundled up for when they would get off at their stop. With the crispy, cold weather, it was essential that she have all her winter gear on to be protected against the polar conditions. This young girl looked content that there was someone making sure that she was well looked after. I also recognized a loving response to need when I saw a man who was asking for spare change and was given some money. I do not know how he will spend that money, but I do know that he was seen and cared about and love was extended to him. Since the catastrophic earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, we have seen several examples of people responding to help survivors and to support the families and friends of those who have died as a result. In our desire to be BECOMING more like Jesus, we cannot possibly become more like Jesus without loving as Jesus loves. Remember with me that Jesus said very clearly, “Love one another as I have loved you…” (John 13:35) When we are trying to determine what the loving things are to do in various situations, we can trust God to show us. This will be our focus for this week’s WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow February 8^th at 1 pm. Please plan to pause for this important time of committing to our God the ways we can love as He loves.

Expecting that loving as Jesus loves will lift people up, Pastor Lola

Our God of infinite love and mercy, You are for us the supreme example of love! Thank You for all the ways we have felt loved by You. We thank You for growing up experiences of being loved. Thank You God for the people You have placed in our lives to have us experience love when they show love in action towards us. We recognize Jesus as the One Who always knew what to do and what to say to show love. There are times that as much as we want to be loving, we are not sure what are the loving ways to respond. Sometimes we really do not understand what someone else is going through, but still we long for those individuals to feel Your love through us. Today we lift up in our prayers those who are experiencing mental distress. We pray that we will be available to listen to and pray for those who experience various forms of mental illness. Where some of us have travelled or are travelling that road, we pray for hearts that are open to your invitation to be loved and to love. God please guard us against putting on a brave front and not allowing anyone to know the pain we carry. Give us eyes to see when others are struggling with emotional hurts. We come to You today to pray for those who are desperate to the point of considering ending their lives. We pray that receiving assurance of love will permeate the darkness they find themselves in with the light of Your love. When we hold on to the truth that You never leave us alone, we are convinced of Your love for us. Please show us how to convey to those who need to hear it that You are available to love anyone who will turn to You. We want anyone who needs to know they are loved to receive that assurance because You have led us to love as Jesus loved. When our attempts to love fall short of Jesus’ example of love, we trust You to still use the love we offer to change an outlook of hopelessness to one of hope. We do offer prayers for those affected by the devastation of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We pray for people there who have lost loved ones as a result. We pray for emergency responders and medical personnel who are exhausted with their rescue efforts. Please demonstrate Your love for those who are living in fear after what they have witnessed. For all those trying to face another day and wondering how they will, we pray that those who are loving as Jesus loved with be what changes people’s outlook and expectations. Thank You God that this has been another week of looking to see love in action and thank You that You have chosen us to be part of this. In the Name of Jesus Who always finds ways to love that will reach people at their deepest need. AMEN.