The blog contains daily devotions and notes from the weekly messages.  We encourage you to review the notes during the sermon or through the week!  Most of the posts will have an audio and/or video link at the end of the notes.  From time to time the pastors will share other insights and devotions here.
 
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We realize it isn’t easy to always find what you are looking for, so we are in the process of organizing these blogs.  Click HERE to go to an index of blogs that reference our YouTube channel in order to get you where you need to go…

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Seize the Moment – Day 590

Belong

Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)               

 

Today’s key word is “BELONG”.

 

Isaiah 43:1 (NLT)               

 

But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. 

O Israel, the one who formed you says,

“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.

I have called you by name; you are mine.”

 

If you know me, but you did not know all my boys and they walked into the room, you would definitely be able to tell that they are from the Durham Clan! And then when you see their children, you can also tell that they are of Durham descent!

 

This promise was initially made to the people of Israel. The God who was and is and always will be told them not to fear, for He had paid the price and even knew them by their names! That same God sent His one and only Son so that He could ransom all of mankind with His shed blood.

 

 It is God’s desire that none should perish, and He is counting on those of us who already ‘belong’ to Him to share the message of grace and hope with those who have not yet responded to His loving call. They need to know that the price has already been paid for their sins. All they need to do is confess those sins and accept the gift of eternal life…the choice is up to them. Then they too would ‘belong’ to God the Father as His children.

 

We need to pick up on the sense of urgency that is all around us and share this message with a new boldness and love. Christ will be coming back soon! While no one knows the exact time, we need to make sure that everyone knows that Jesus loves them and wants them to belong to His family!

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 589

Rest

 
Today’s key word is “REST”.

Matthew 11:28-29 (ESV)   

 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

 

I find it fitting that today’s key word hits on the middle of the week. All too often, we find ourselves already tired from a busy week, and we are only halfway through it! We need to remember this verse and put it into practice daily!

 

A couple of weeks ago, Jerry challenged us to bookend our day with some quiet time. Time alone with God needs to be a priority to start our day. Many times, you will find that the scriptures you read in the morning will be used by the Holy Spirit to remind you of God’s promises just when you need them. Or it will be just the Word that someone in your life needs to hear. Then, to close out our day we need to spend some time talking with God to download all the stuff of the day and know that God will and is taking care of it. He promises us that if we come to Him, He will take care of us and give us rest.

 

We need to stop trying to carry everything on our own. Come to Jesus and lay those burdens down. Like the children’s church song says, “Our God is so big and so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing that He cannot do.” There is an insurance company that claims you’re in good hands with them, but I would rather be resting in God’s mighty hands, wouldn’t you?

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 588

Follow

1 John 2:5-6
 

Today’s key word is “FOLLOW”.

I John 2:5-6 (ESV)   

 

 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

 

Growing up in a time before personal computers, gaming consoles or cellphones, we played outside. And playing a game like ‘Follow the Leader’ was very commonplace. The toughest part was figuring out who would be the leader, so a quick game of rock/paper/scissors/shoot or eenie- meenie- minie- moe would decide whose turn it would be. And you had to do everything the exact same way as the leader, or you were out of the game.

 

Here we have one of the disciples who answered the call to follow Jesus reminding us that if we are who we say we are, then we will walk and talk like Jesus did. He directly calls out those who claimed to be disciples of Christ, yet did not have His truth and love in them, and said they were out right liars.

 

He wasn’t being judgmental, but rather was telling all the believers that the proof is in the pudding…what you say and what you do shows who you truly love and follow. Are you following what you want to do (selfish) or are you following what Jesus wants you to do (selfless)? Choose you this day whom you will follow!

 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 587

 Gather

Psalms 102:21-22 (ESV)              

 

For the next few days, we will be covering the seven key words surrounding the ministry here at FBC. These are words that we have had whole sermon series on, but if you are like me, you could always use a reminder to refresh your memory!

 

Our first key word is “GATHER”.

 

Psalms 102:21-22 (ESV)              

 

that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise,

when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.”

 

As we see the farmers around us harvesting their crops, we see a demonstration of gathering. That which they have planted, tended, and cared for is being collected to then provide for seasons to come, as well as give testimony of God providing a bountiful harvest.

 

In much the same way, as we gather together here at the church, we are giving praise to the Lord, declaring His goodness and thanking Him for all that He has provided, and for that which He is going to do in and through us as we worship Him. Yes, we could do that at home on our own, but we are called to gather together and testify of ALL that He has done in our lives SO THAT we may encourage others around us until He calls us home.

 

Much like a holiday gathering where you are able to catch up with family that you have not seen in a while, your church family wants to hear what God is doing in your life, for this serves to encourage each other until the day of His return. In this way, God will be glorified in and through everything we say and do.

 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 

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Live Like a Champion – Week 43

The Promise of Peace (Pt 3)

Ephesians 2:13-16 (NAS95)

 

We are in the third and final message of a three-week sermon to teach you how to live victoriously in God’s promise of peace. It is my desire that you will experience the power of the promise of peace in your everyday life, to the glory of God!

 

This promise is one of the most relevant promises we can manifest to our culture that is currently experiencing a national panic attack (or is it a temper tantrum?). We, the people of God, have the solution; so, let’s bring the peace of God (Jehovah Shalom!) that transcends all human understanding to the world (The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit), by first experiencing Him for ourselves and allowing His presence in us—God’s peace is Himself—to make us both holy and whole. We are called to pass the peace of God to others—the ministry of reconciliation that has been given to all followers of Jesus Christ!

 

Here is a very quick review that leads us into today’s teaching:

  • In the first week, I taught you about the promise of peace with God (vertical) from John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” Peace with God is your salvation with God—it manifests as your holiness as you learn to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind!
  • Last week, I focused on the promise of peace within yourself (internal) from Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Peace with yourself is your mental health or peace of mind—it manifests as your wholeness as you learn to love yourself as God first loved you (Ephesians 2:4-9) … through the grace which saved you and from which you draw all life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2-4).
  • Today, I conclude with the promise of peace with how we are called to pass the peace to others! Listen to our memory verse for this week: Ephesians 2:14. Paul says, “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.”

 

Peace with God that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus means that the promise of peace is not just a vertical and internal reality, it is our greatest witness as it brings external peace between us and other people. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 2:13-16 as he gives the larger context of our memory verse for today:

 

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

 

This is the Church’s mission! This was radical thinking for the first century Jewish listeners. It is still radical today! In their minds, God loved His people, but the Gentiles were not His people (Hosea 2:23). Passages such as what I just read and John 3:16 were shocking to them because Jesus was challenging the idea that God loved Israel exclusively. Jesus was declaring the parts of their Scripture that the people had ignored: God would ransom the Gentiles through the seed of Abraham—Jesus Christ. This is what Paul was talking about in Galatians 3 and concludes his argument about the seed of Abraham being fulfilled in Jesus Christ in Galatians 3:26-29:

 

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

 

Experiencing the peace of God in both our holiness and wholeness allows us to give God’s love and grace towards others because we have received (faith) and internalized (baptism) it in our own lives—we are now children of God (1 John 3:1). By the Spirit we are to build bridges with people to unite them in Christ alone—our peace through His shed blood on the Cross of Calvary!

 

This is the gospel work of the church—to be peacemakers! As Jesus declared in Matthew 5:9,
 
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

 

Let’s be clear though: God’s peace means that we can have peace with God, we can have peace within, and we can act without hostility toward others. But it doesn’t mean we can avoid all conflict. It doesn’t mean that the battle of the flesh or the brokenness of the fall or the prevailing darkness of the prince of this world won’t be brought to us. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

 

The gospel ministry of passing the peace is for every follower of Jesus because peacemakers are commanded to be ministers of reconciliation during this ancient conflict—we, the Church are a liberating force seeking to save that which has been bound up by evil and the fall! Paul explained this in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21:

 

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 

The ability to pass the peace to others is only possible because you have a peaceful heart yourself. The holiness of God (Christ in you!) manifests as your ministry of loving your neighbor as you have learned to love yourself. That is why I keep pointing out to you that these three directions of God’s peace align to Jesus’ teaching on the Greatest Commandments. Jesus taught us this in Matthew 22:37-39: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

 

Furthermore, Paul emphasized in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The “us” in this passage is critical to our ability to pass the peace. It’s not a “me” thing—it’s an “us” thing!

 

Why are we commanded to love others and pass the peace of God? Because we recognize that God loved “us” (all of us!) first. Our love for ourselves (and for others) isn’t something that we “work up”, it’s a recognition and submission to His love for every man and woman. It’s a love that is transferred upon us through the righteousness of God—His love dwells in our hearts!

 

Listen to John teach us this in 1 John 4:17-21,

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

We are brought back into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus’ relationship with His Father. The holiness or righteousness of God flows into our lives from the Father through the way of the Son by means of the Holy Spirit. As we become whole through the progressive process of sanctification, we become the answer to Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-26:

 

I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

 

The ministry of passing the peace that you first received is truly the work of the Holy Spirit! Allow me to pray for you and all of us, in agreement with Jesus’ promise of peace, that in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we walk as His people of peace. Let us pray … Amen!

 

You can listen to the message here:

 

You can watch the video by clicking HERE.

 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 585

Today’s hymn focus will be

“Near to the Heart of God”

 

“But as for me, how good it is to be near God!  I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.”

 

Dr. Cleland McAfee was a Presbyterian minister known as the pastor’s pastor. When tragedy struck the family, they would call on him for comfort. In 1903, the tragedy doubled as his own brother lost two infant daughters to diphtheria withing 24 hours of each other. The family was quarantined and could not attend the funerals and they could have people into their home to comfort them in order to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

 

Dr McAfee asked God to give him the words to bring comfort to his family, and felt inspired to write the following:

 

             O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God.

            Hold us who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.

 

He taught the song to his choir and they sang it outside the family’s home, bringing them comfort, peace and rest, just as it still does today.

 

We need to wake up to the fact that God is our shelter in the time of storm, allowing us to find peace and rest in the face of life’s turbulences.

           
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Ken reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 
If you would like to hear the song played, click on this link:
 

Near to the Heart of God

1
There is a place of quiet rest,
near to the heart of God,
a place where sin cannot molest,
near to the heart of God.
 
Refrain:
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
sent from the heart of God,
hold us, who wait before thee,
near to the heart of God.
 
2
There is a place of comfort sweet,
near to the heart of God,
a place where we our Savior meet,
near to the heart of God. [Refrain]
 
3
There is a place of full release,
near to the heart of God,
a place where all is joy and peace,
near to the heart of God. [Refrain]
 
 
 

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Seize the Moment – Day 584

 

A Way of Salvation!

Numbers 21

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, October 22.

 

There is a way of salvation!

 

Numbers 21 is a travel log with three stories of military conflict (1-3, 21-35) and one story of God’s righteous judgment against Israel for their grumbling and complaining, again.

 

But God … God made a way of salvation during His righteous judgment of their rebellion. Watch the scene unfold in verses 6-9,

 

The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

 

Did you know that Jesus used this story to illustrate God’s way of salvation through faith in Him? Listen to John 3:14-16,

 

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

 

There is a righteous judgment for rebellion, but God made a way for salvation to those who would put their faith in Jesus lifted up on the Cross for the forgiveness of their sins.

 

Seize the moment and put your faith in Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again!

 

God bless your day!
 
 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

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Seize the Moment – Day 583

A Eulogy to Miriam!

Numbers 20

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, October 21.

 

What do you want people to say about you in your eulogy?

 

Numbers 20 records the deaths of Moses’ brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam.

 

Miriam’s death could easily be missed. The end of verse 1 briefly records, “Now Miriam died there and was buried there.” That’s it!?! While the story continues for Israel, this was the end of the journey for Miriam.

 

Miriam was brave and bold! She was the older sister of Moses and worked with her mom to place baby Moses in a wicker basket among the reeds in the Nile, saving him from certain death and placing him in a house of privilege (Exodus 2:1-9).

 

Miriam had a vibrant faith and loved to praise God! After Moses delivered Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, Miriam led them in worship to God. Listen to Exodus 15:20-21,
 
“Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. Miriam answered them, ‘Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.’”

 

Miriam was not perfect, but she was forgiven and loved! Yes, Miriam gave in to her jealousy of Moses in Numbers 12, but Moses forgave her and prayed for her healing and restoration. Moses loved his big sister!

 

Miriam was chosen by God to do a great work! Micah 6:4 gives us God’s final word about Miriam,
 
“Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and ransomed you from the house of slavery, And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.”

 

Seize the moment and remember that you are chosen by God! Don’t let your past failures, present hurts, or future fears stand in the way of your faithfulness to God calling!

God bless your day!
 
 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

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Seize the Moment – Day 582

 

The Danger of Legalism!

Numbers 19

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, October 20.

 

Are you familiar with Jesus’ famous Parable of the Good Samaritan?

 

In Luke 10:30-37, Jesus answered a lawyer’s question about the Law with this parable. Jesus taught who our neighbor is by describing how it was a Samaritan, a person hated by the Jewish people, who showed God’s love to the dying Jewish man. To emphasize this point, Jesus’ story included two Jewish elite, a Levite and a priest, who avoided the dying man.

 

Yes, there was a deep racial tension between the Jews and Samaritans that informed this story and to this day, very relevantly, that gives Jesus’ parable the profound impact of teaching us to “love your enemy” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

But there is more to the story and that’s the scandal of Jesus’ parable!

 

Numbers 19:16 teaches what the Levite and priest were probably reciting to themselves when they responded to the man who was left for dead by moving away from him to the other side of the road:
 
“Anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.”

 

These religious men, like the lawyer who was trying to trap Jesus with his questions, were putting the letter of the Law before the heart of God. Jesus came to return God’s people back to the heart of God and the purpose of the Law—to deliver God’s people from sin to live as God’s image bearers.

 

Don’t let your religion blind you to the heart of God—Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10)!

 

Seize the moment and return to the heart of God by loving your neighbor as yourself, not allowing racism nor religion to prevent you from being an image bearer of God.

God bless your day!
 
 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

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Seize the Moment – Day 581

 

The Gift of Service!

Numbers 18

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, October 19.

 

Serving others is a sacred gift, not a job description!

 

In Numbers 18:5-7 God gave a sacred gift to Aaron and the Levites:

 

So you shall attend to the obligations of the sanctuary and the obligations of the altar, so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel. Behold, I Myself have taken your fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service for the tent of meeting. But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as a bestowed service …

 

The priesthood was a bestowed service—a gift from God! Aaron and his sons were given the gift of the priesthood, as well as the gift of the Levites to serve in the tabernacle system. Their very lives were given as a gift to the service of God.

 

Do you see opportunities to serve others as a gift from God?

 

I was recently talking to a friend who trains employees in customer service at a restaurant that is famous for their service. Many people learn to say the right things, but it is obviously not coming from their heart—they have the appearances of good service, but not the heart of a servant! They are fulfilling a job description, not accepting the divine gift of service.

 

Do you have the heart of a servant or are you just going through the motions of your ministry?

 

Seize the moment and “whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:23-24).

God bless your day!
 
 
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.

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