Spring Brook Congregational Church

Loved Saints, Mark 12:17 . ."Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." . . As disciples of Jesus all that we are belongs to God. However, the Lord will work through civil authority, keeping the peace, maintaining roads, etc. So then we are to give all to the Lord and pray for and respect the offices of civil authority.... Rendering together, Pastor Doug

Loved Saints, Snow, . . digging out together . . Mark 11:22 . . Have faith in God.... Jesus is speaking and because there is no preposition between faith and God some have it as 'Have faith of God.' I like the Message Bible - "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you." Embracing together, Pastor Doug

Loved Saints, Mark 10:43 . . whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Our greatness is measured in our service. Joseph of Genesis gives us a tremendous example, in spite of nearly murdered, sold into slavery, accused of rape, and sentenced to the dungeon, he chose to serve and thus the Lord raised him up. May we have the humility to serve no matter our state.... In service together, Pastor Doug

Loved Saints, Luke 19:3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, . . This speaking of Zacchaeus in a tree. The word 'who' in the Greek has the idea of interrogation, which is really to get to know who. He really wanted to find out who Jesus is rather than gawking at Jesus from a tree. To know the substance of Jesus. To be so transformed as he became we must seek the substance of Jesus and not be a 'me too.'... Seeing Jesus together, Pastor Doug

Loved Saints, Psalms 31:20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence . . The 'them' are you and I who have put our trust in Jesus. The literal Hebrew says 'the secret place of Your face.' There is a secret personal place of His love when we seek His face, a place that hide's us from the harshness of the world giving us rest.... In the secret place together, Pastor Doug

Saints, So I hear my wife and grand-daughter laughing, makes me smile. We need to pull away from all the stress and take a moment to smile. :~) 2 Corinthians 9:7 . . God loves a cheerful giver. ... We become givers because He Who is in us is a giver. Giving is to be of the heart, a heart of joy and gladness. To give out of duty is to lose the benefit of giving. So when we give let it be of the Spirit of the Lord with joy and gladness. Giving together, Pastor Doug

Saints, As we look around we can see more than ever how important our vote is, plan to vote and encourage others as well. :~) Leviticus 26:12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. ... What could be more exciting that having God almighty with us and calling us His own? This Jesus accomplished by His death, burial, and resurrection. We are called His temple and as we strive to make His temple His desired dwelling the His presence is made known. His Temple together, Pastor Doug

Saints, We celebrate Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, and pray for Philadelphia enduring violent riots and looting. 2 Corinthians 3:17 . . where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ... Liberty comes as we turn to the Lord, the liberty found in the Holy Spirit. Turning to the Lord is not a single act but multiple acts of multiple areas of our lives. This turning, yielding, and facing the Lord removes the vail of darkness and deception revealing His truth. Let's continue to turn to Him having His liberty. Turning together, Pastor Doug

Saints, Such a great day with the saints yesterday! Kenny and I are working on the sound for streaming but running into challenges, please pray. :~) 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; . . ... Unity is REALLY big in the eyes of the Lord, discord is one of His hated abominations. To be of one mind is not to be like robots with the exact same software, but it is to have a mind of unity realizing we can have differences and still be in harmony. What happened to the day we could disagree and still love each other? Many times our differences produce a symphony with many different attributes. In harmony together, Pastor Doug

Saints, Tomorrow will be wonderful in the house of the Lord, be sure to come or join our live stream. :~) Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. ... It cannot be stated too much, the Lord is good! We can count on His mercy, His grace, for it triumphs over judgment against us. His truth is sure, our rock in any circumstance. Let is draw near and cling to His goodness. Drawing near together, Pastor Doug

Saints, Unprecedented censorship; Google, Facebook, and Twitter are all censoring information that neither inflammatory or inciting violence but conservative ideas and opinions. This should alarm all of us; without the free flow of information our freedoms are at high risk. Please pray. 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. ... Love is the living force of God that remains and endures. Love is what makes everything else make sense, sacrificial giving, contentment even in the non-perfect, why any of us should be welcomed in heaven. Love, the greatest of all that supports hope and makes faith work. In His love together, Pastor Doug

Saints, Let's continue to lift our nation in prayer as judge Barret moves forward to confirmation and we have a presidential debate tonight. :~) Psalms 98:1 . . His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. ... Have gained Him the victory, the Lord has, past tense, gain the victory for Himself and for us. The redemptive work of Jesus was considered finished before the worlds were created, the victory is done. If we will have it, by faith we enter into it. Whatever the challenge the victory is ours in Jesus Christ. In His victory together, Pastor Doug

Saints, A special thanks to my wife Laura Lea and Kenny for filling in for me, they did a great job, thank you! :~) Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression. ... Jesus said that offences would come, life is filled with bumping into one another even with the best intentions. Discretion, glory, and the love of God overcomes theses transgressions, and because love is not easily provoked the discretion is hardly noticed. In glory & love together, Pastor Doug

Saints, Tomorrow promises to be a great day together, Laura Lea will be sharing (I'm presently out of town.) which should be really good. Let's support her the best we can! :~) Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ... There is a great desire in the heart of the Lord to guide His people. Jesus in John 10 states His sheep hear His voice. So as we draw near to Him with a whole heart, by faith we reach out with confidence that we are guided by Him in our ways. Confident in Him together, Pastor Doug

Saints, Thank God for His mercy that ALLWAYS triumphs over judgment when we call to Him with a whole heart. :~) Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the LORD, And your thoughts will be established. ... In Matthew 6:33 we are to seek His righteousness first, His righteousness are His works or activity. By setting ourselves out with the purpose of His activities our thoughts will be established, not go astray, giving us His peace. It's when we are too idle or 'bored' that we can drift and find ourselves in trouble yielding to our passions and whims. Committing to the Lord together, Pastor Doug

Saints, This coming Monday, midnight, is the deadline for registering to vote, now is the time to register if you are not. You can do it online or pick up a form at the post office. :~) Psalms 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; . .... Burden here means ones lot, indicating no one is without challenges. We are admonished to 'throw' at the Lord that irksome problem and the promise is that He will supply all we need to deal with it and overcome it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 Casting together with you, Pastor Doug

Saints, Judge Barrett with a blank note pad made me smile. Beautiful fall day, sunny and colorful, enjoy. :~) 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, . . ... Wait! Did you hear that? Jesus is returning, our blessed expectation, returning to take us now or out of the grave, He is coming. Such a comfort! We are to prepare our hearts and live our lives as though He will arrive now. Looking for Him together, Pastor Doug