Let me begin with a note from Saturday. On December 12, my wife and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary. How time flies! I am unspeakably grateful for the precious gift the Lord has given me in Crystal. She has been a consistent channel of the love and grace of God in my life. And our relationship has been both a God-given means and motivation for sanctification. I married way out of my league. And being married to Crystal inspires me to keep striving to be a better man. I love her. I thank God for our marriage and all of its attending blessings. And I pray the Lord will give us many more blessed years - no, decades - together. Proverbs 18:22!
Early Sunday morning, I checked the weather report for the day (something I rarely ever do). The forecast predicted that it would rain all day long. It rained all day Saturday. So I assumed it was a fair guess that it would do the same Sunday. Wrong! As the day went on, the rain stopped, the clouds passed over, and it ended up being a beautiful, sunny day here in Jacksonville.
Our children's choir participated in our worship service and blessed us with their service, as always.
I thank God for all the guests who were with us in worship.
In our 10 AM service, I led the congregation in singing, "Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee." This is one of my favorite prayer hymns. I enjoyed leading the congregation is singing praise to God.
I preached a message from Philippians 4:4-5 that I entitled, "Don't Let it Stress You Out!"
May the Lord help me in my preaching!
Next Sunday's Message: "God's Answer for Your Anxieties" (Philippians 4:6-7).
Thank God for those who were added to the church today.
Last evening, the worship arts ministries of SMBC were in full concert. Shiloh is blessed to have many gifted and talented people in our music department who love Jesus Christ and are faithful in their service for Christ. Our children's choir, youth choir, young adult choir, men's chorus, praise ensemble, dance teams, and mass choir - along with our wonderful musicians - led us in a time of musical praise in celebration of the birth of Christ the King. I am grateful for the leadership of Roger Sears and very proud of our entire team.
The Dallas Cowboys lost 17-20 at home last night to the San Diego Chargers. I am disappointed. But I am going to cheer our team to victory this weekend over the undefeated New Orleans Saints. Yeah, I said it!
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who have been doing well in recent weeks, lost 10-14 at home to the Miami Dolphins.