Daily Devotions

Today's Bible reading: Genesis 12-14; Luke 5

Scripture:

Genesis 14:22-23 “But Abram said to the King of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing that belongs to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich!”’

Observation:

Abram had a commitment to trust God for his provision. 1) Despite being the elder, he gave Lot first choice of a territory for his flocks when they parted (Lot’s choice got him in the middle of territorial wars); 2) Abram took his men to fight the four kings who had ravaged Sodom and taken Lot. After his victory, he tithed to Melchizedek, king of Salem, as unto the Lord; 3) And when the grateful King of Sodom offered Abram the bounty of his battle, he declined because he did not want to create any dependence on him and to clarify that his intentions in battle were not for goods; 4) ultimately he kept his dependence on the Lord along with his loyalty.

Application:

I must understand that not every ‘opportunity’ that comes my way is a blessing from God. I must repeatedly clarify for myself and others that God is my source and have my spiritual senses alert to know when to turn down opportunities that might seem wonderful and providential.

Some questions I should keep active are;
• Is this from the Lord?
• Is it clear that my provision depends on the Lord rather than my wise choices or on others?
• Do I prefer others ahead of myself?
• Do I tithe on every blessing?
• Am I really dependent on the Lord? How can I test that dependence?

Hello Sonrise!

I trust that all is well with your beginnings in 2012. Whether it’s school, work, family activities, recreation or church life we get a fresh start.

The picture shown is a display of our Sonrise LifeTrack courses set in a baseball diamond format. It’s an intentional process to provide a path for people to get to know our church family and life involving four seminars. On Sunday January 22nd we will offer CLASS 101 ”Discovering Our Church Family” from 4 to 8pm. If you are new around Sonrise or you know it’s time to ‘step up’ please plan on attending this seminar.

We will be starting a Financial Peace University Course with Dave Ramsey on Sunday January 15 at 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to this free preview night. The full course costs $ 100 per family. Talk to Al Miller for more details.

Sonrise is also hosting an event called ‘Couples Night Out’ which is promoted by World Vision on Monday February 6. Couples Night Out has the simple but effective vision to engage couples in an evening of fun and faith. Phil Calloway will speak at this event; Phil is a comedian and author of 22 books with a focus on the humorous side of family life. Tickets are $5.00 per couple and are available at Connections this Sunday. I encourage you to bring some friends along for a great night. This will be widely advertised and is one of four venues in Greater Vancouver so the 400 tickets may well sell out quickly.

I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday. Night Church begins again at 7pm with a new series entitled ‘Wild Goose Chase’ with Mark Batterson.

Blessings,

Pastor Stan