Springford Baptist Church

In this Valentine month of February, our Sunday services and our WEDNESDAY PRAYERS TOGETHER will be focusing on places where we can recognize love in action. When we see love in action, then we can know that God is at work. Scripture from 1 John 3:16,18 asserts, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Dear friends, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” The reality of love is demonstrated when it is more than words. We can know that carefully spoken words do convey love and genuine care for another person. However, Jesus demonstrates that love is more than words. When we find ways to put love into action, then we are following the example of Jesus and becoming more like Him. Love in action leads people to wonder why we are acting in loving ways. The answer is that we have received love from God and want to express that same kind of love to others. Where are we seeing love and how can we pray that God will guide us to love with actions and in truth? I saw love in action demonstrated last week when I visited with a couple who have been married for over 60 years. She is now living with dementia and requires extra help and support. The love that this man continues to have for his wife is obvious. He is attentive to her and really makes an effort to understand what she is trying to say to him. The family has made changes in the set up of the home and are arranging for the two of them to remain in their own home for as long as possible. Sometimes this requires a family member staying overnight with them. In most cases, we do not have to think long to determine what are the loving things to do in various situations for the people around us. We can pray and ask God to show us how we can best convey love in action. Then we can trust Him to enable us to follow through with His abundant love. This is what we will be committing to prayer tomorrow February 1^st at 1 pm when we participate in WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER.

Praying for all the ways that God will inspire us through prayer to put love into action, Pastor Lola

Our God Who loves us so completely, we thank You for our experience of being loved by You. We find in Your expressed love for us the possibility of believing that we too can live lives characterized by love in action. It is because of the way that Your Son Jesus gave Himself for us that we can know what is love. We wonder what it will mean for us to lay down our lives for those You have given us to love. We want to love without resentment. Only You can bring about this kind of love in us. In the times when we carry a heavy burden in providing love and care, we pray that we will persist with loving. In the times that our love is not acknowledged or appreciated, we pray  that we will love anyway. When we wonder how to best express love for others, we trust You to show us. And God please keep us from getting so caught up in our own concerns that we make the excuse that we do not have the time or capacity to love with actions and in truth. Today, we do pray for all those living with dementia. We trust You that they are deeply loved by You. When confusion and fear unsettles them, we pray that love in action will reassure and support them. We pray for people in their lives who will find ways to reach them with love and compassion. Our prayers also extend to those who are family and friends to those living with dementia. When they feel separated from their loved ones by this condition, we pray that Your love will cause them to find ways to hold them close. As we remember people we have had in our lives who lived with dementia, we thank you for the journey shared. We are grateful that they are now safely with You and that all their cares are washed away forever. Thank You for our memories of them and lessons learned in loving them. We also pray for those who are just beginning to see signs that their loved ones are entering dementia and are uncertain about what the future will hold. God, we recognize that loving in every context requires courage. Please fill us with the courage needed to keep on loving. Guard against the feelings of discouragement that might cause us to give up when we wonder if our love is enough. We know that Your love God is always enough for us and for those we need to love. This powerful force of love is only possible because of You. We want to always remember this. We invite Your love to continue to transform us and to fortify us to be people who love with determination and who give others reason to believe in You and to trust Your everlasting love. In the Name of Jesus Who loves us and gave Himself for us. AMEN.

I was recently visiting someone who is being cared for at home. She is very weak and requires constant attention and care. When I was speaking with one of her caregivers, I recognized how much this person really cares for this woman. It is certainly not easy for anyone who is in a caregiver role. There are paid professional caregivers and there are family members and friends who act as caregivers. It is so important for people who need care to receive that from people for whom it is more than a job or an obligation. We can experience in our relationship with God One Who does care for us deeply. We read in I John 3:1 “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us , that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are…” In knowing that God’s loving care for us is real and lasting, we can be inspired in the ways that we care for others. We can also be sincerely grateful for those in our lives who genuinely care for us. It is a gift to have people in our lives for whom we care. Sometimes it can feel like a heavy weight of responsibility. This week in our prayer time together, we will be praying for God’s blessing and encouragement for all caregivers. We will renew our awareness that God is our source of strength when care is required and that we can be given capacity to love and care as He loves and cares for us. Please plan to join us tomorrow January 25^th for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER at 1pm.

Praying that God will allow us to recognize the depth of His care for us and to available to care for others in this same way, Pastor Lola

Father God, thank You for the depth of Your love and care for us. We know that we are always on Your mind and in Your heart. Today, we also give thanks for all those who act as caregivers. Thank You for those who are used by You to convey care for others and to bless their lives in this way. We know that this can be demanding for those who give of themselves as caregivers. Please allow those who are caregivers to know how important and necessary are their efforts. We think of those who provide care at home and in hospitals and care homes. Often they become tired and overwhelmed. We pray that You will renew their strength and help them. Our prayers also surround those who need care. We pray that in their need they will encounter You and Your love for them. We ask that when people do receive care that it will confirm Your care for them. With so many staff shortages in hospitals and care homes, we pray for the day to day challenges of providing good care. And our God we do pray for accurate perceptions of care needed. Sometimes the most vital needs could be missed or overlooked. You are a wise God Who can guide us in all of our relationships to take the effort to know what each person in our lives needs. Forgive us for the times we act more out of our needs than the needs of others. Thank You God that You keep on demonstrating care for us and teaching us how we need to care. Please guide our words to express care for anyone we meet. Please open our eyes to see what someone else needs from us and to willingly respond. God we come to You in our brokenness and need. We receive Your love and anticipate that as You have lifted us up, You can lift others up through us. We pray for this to happen. In the Name of Jesus, Who cares more for us than anyone else ever could. AMEN.

I like to go ice skating. Either at outdoor rinks or indoor arenas, it is great to glide around the surface and to experience the freedom of movement. Next Sunday afternoon, we will be skating in Tillsonburg with some of our Youth Group and anticipate that being an enjoyable time. One of the things about going ice skating is recognizing that there is a risk of falling. Even an experienced skater can hit a rough patch and lose balance and fall down. If we allowed the reality of a potential fall to deter us, then no one would take that risk. The exhilaration of skating is only possible if we take the risk. This parallels our Christian experience. When we choose to follow Jesus, there is the risk of having times that we lose our footing and fall down. There are various circumstances that could cause us to fall. Some people might be reluctant to make a commitment to Jesus because of concern that they will not always avoid mistakes and slips and falls. Praying and trusting God to help us is a key strategy to employ when it comes to taking the risk to live our lives for Jesus. There is a Scripture that can offer us encouragement when we confront a fear of falling. In Jude 24,25 we read, “To Him Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious Presence without fault and with great joy; to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever.” Tomorrow, January 18^th, when we pause for our weekly WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER at 1 pm, wewill thank God that He really can keep us from falling. God can keep us on our feet ready to serve Him and to glide into the discoveries of who He wants us to become.

Looking to God for the courage to move into the places God is calling us and to trust Him to keep us from falling, Pastor Lola

Our God thank You for the opportunities that You provide for us to move in time with You and Your Spirit. We are keenly aware that it does require courage to take risks for You. There is the risk of falling and finding ourselves inadequate for the tasks You lead us into. In these times, we want to rely on You and to look to Your strong arms to hold us up and to keep us from falling. Currently, we are praying for extreme wisdom for those who face the challenges of trying to bring peace in the Ukraine. We cannot see where the answers will lie, but know that You God have answers to what is beyond us as human beings. We are deeply troubled by the violence that we see continuing there and pray for Your intervention to bring this war to an end. We pray for other places of conflict in communities, workplaces, medical facilities, schools and homes. God, in all these places we pray for those who are listening for You and asking You to guide and assist. We pray for those who have grown so tired with all the complexities to navigate. We pray that they will look to You for the courage and strength required. In a world where we are faced with everyday decisions about justice and making the choices consistent with Your love and grace, we want You to keep us from falling. We do not want self preservation or a desire for the easy path to be more important to us that taking bold steps for You and Your kingdom. When we recognize that You God are accompanying us and asking us to remain upright and strong for You, we want to be true to that calling. We think of all that weighs us down or threatens to weaken our resolve. These are the impediments that on any day could find us buckling under pressure. Instead, we want to rely on You to do Your work in keeping us from falling. In this vital activity, our prayer is that Your enabling strength will highlight You God, not us. Prevent us from ever pretending that we can be strong enough on our own. We always want to openly admit that only You can keep us from falling. In the times that we have relied on our own limited strength and have inevitably fallen, we thank You that You help us back to our feet. You God enable us to move forward for You. We take courage because You are the reason we have for courage when we are afraid of falling. When You have kept us from falling, we want to be deliberate in giving You God our Saviour all glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forever. AMEN.

Here we are anticipating the gift of the new year before us. As in the past year, there will be many opportunities in 2023 to turn to God in prayer. When we pray, we are asking God to guide our steps and to hold us and those for whom we pray close to Him. Consider the Scripture from Jonn 14:6 where Jesus declares, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, but by me.” I had a recent experience that reminded me of the importance of how we trust God and live our lives of faith knowing that Jesus does provide for us the Way to God our Father. Over the holidays, our oldest daughter and I were again hiking on the Bruce Trail. Winter time hiking can present some additional challenges. One of them is following the trail blazes where there is deep snow. Sometimes the markers just aren’t visible. At a certain point on the trail, we were along a steep section of the escarpment and we came to a wooden ladder buried in the snow and only barely visible. This ladder, which was tightly secured, made it possible to descend and we came down to ground level safely. As we approached the bottom, we could see 2 hikers who were looking intently up at us. It was only as we made our way down through the deep snow, that they could realize where the path was for them to ascend. We talked with them briefly and encouraged them on their upward way. Afterwards, I reflected that there are times when we are prayerfully following the life path that God has marked out for us and it will make it possible for others to find the path as well. This week, for our Wednesday Prayer Together tomorrow January 11th at 1 pm, we will be trusting God in prayer to guide us on His path for us and through us to help others to also discover Jesus Who is reliably the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Thanking God that He has sent Jesus to be the Way to God for us, Pastor Lola

Our Loving God, You have inspired us with Your Presence in this year that we now leave behind. Thank You God for all the times that we have experienced Jesus Your Son walking with us and showing us the way to You. We think of the occasions when the path has been uncertain and we have wondered which way to turn. Sometimes we have searched for where to place our next step and have not known. In these times, we are so grateful that we can trust Jesus to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Thank You for those times when we have known where to walk because of others who have made it possible to see the path to follow. We are humbly praying today that You will allow us to also be the means of others regaining direction and finding their way to You. With all that is happening in our world that could obscure the path to follow, thank You that You have provided Jesus to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We want to keep coming near to You God our Father by trusting Jesus. In moving forward from our celebration of Christmas, we want our focus to remain centered on Jesus. How is it that You want us to respond to the unstable world in which we live? How do You want us to extend care for those in need? We consider God how today and the days to come can see us growing in our faith and desire to follow You consistently. While we do not know what is before us and what measure of blessing or adversity may be ours, we actively seek You. Our prayer is that as we face illness, we will find Jesus to be our Way to You. When we know sadness and loss, we ask that Jesus will guide us to find refuge in You. When our lives and circumstances do not go as planned, we want to be determined to look to You to show us the Way, through Jesus. In the times when we feel overwhelmed by the intensity of all the needs of people around us, we look to You to guide us in the way to respond.  Throughout this new year 2023, we ask You to accomplish what You intend in us and through us now and always in the Name of Jesus Who has revealed Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. AMEN.