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Hello OLC Family!
Welcome to another weekly update.
We pray that you will experience God throughout this week!
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Connecting Lives, Building Faith, Releasing Destiny
ENCOURAGING THOUGHTS
The Faithful Love Of God
Lamentations. It's a book in the Bible nestled between Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
It's one of those books that often gets skipped over for one of the more exciting or encouraging books in the Bible.
Genesis tells us the story of creation; Exodus, the story of Moses and the Israelites. Psalms give us encouragement, and Proverbs gives us wisdom. The gospels detail the life of Jesus; and the writings of the apostles give us further teachings that we can apply to our daily lives.
With all of those amazing books to delve into, we might be tempted to skip over some of the less popular books, like Lamentations, because they can be difficult to read.
Lamentations is quite literally a lament, providing detailed eyewitness testimony of the capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. It was a time of great suffering and horrific circumstances for the people of God.
It was sin that brought the destruction (Lam. 4:13), and the descriptions are graphic, and not pleasant to read. In chapter 3, the author — most likely Jeremiah — cries out,
" . . .My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost! The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss." (Lam. 3:18-20, NLT)
Even though most of us can't relate to the level of loss and suffering that the author of Lamentations experienced, we can probably all look at those words and relate in some way to the pain and hopelessness behind them.
Our lives have moments and seasons that, like the book of Lamentations, we'd like to just skip over. But it is in those moments and seasons that we can choose to remember and hold onto the love and faithfulness of God.
Look at the very next couple of verses in chapter 3 (vs. 21–23):
Yet, I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Through that terrible time, the author was able to hold onto hope when he remembered the faithful love of God. With God, there is always hope for restoration!
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"Yet, I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. ."
Lamentations 3:21-22 NLT
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Steve Holmstrom will be at Third Day Church for a special service this Wednesday, October 21st at 7:00 PM. All are welcome!
Behold The King Worship Band is holding a citywide worship night at the Tab Church this coming Friday, October 23rd at 7:00 PM. (1805 9th Ave North). Admission is Free! The Good Soil will be opening!
This Sunday, we are having a Baby Dedication! If you would like to have your baby or child dedicated to the Lord, talk to Pastor Wayne.
Thinking of getting Water Baptized? We're having a Baptism service on Sunday, November 1st! To find out more, talk to one of the pastors.
To see a list of all of our upcoming events, check out our website here!
"In everything we do, our heart is for generations to know and experience God."
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Missed a Message?
As always, if you missed a message from last week, you can head over to our website or YouTube page to watch it, or you can listen to it through many of the podcast services available.
Our Sunday Livestream is also available through YouTube.
Interested in joining a Connect Group?
Scan the QR code below for more information!
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