Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Joshua Miekley, missionary to Albania. His last visit to our congregation was 10 years ago. Welcome back, Mr Miekley!
His message was based on Psalm 39 --

¹I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. ²I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. ³My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, ⁴LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am. ⁵Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. ⁶Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. ⁷And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. ⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. ⁹I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. ¹⁰Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. ¹¹When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. ¹²Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. ¹³ O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

From the above passage, we learn of the 4 actions that occupy our struggle for hope after we sin

• We often keep our mouths shut, although this does not help us in our struggles (vs 1-3)
• We reflect on the futility of life; this world does not provide us with hope regarding sin (vs 4-6)
• We wrestle with our rebellion/sin, and must take responsibility for them (vs 7-11)
• We plead for mercy from God (vs 12-13), who is forgiving and loving. Our sins are forgiven through Christ, and we have hope!

Mr Miekley's message, in full and in context, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.

Am I a Servant?

Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Mr Tom Marinello, pictured with Bill. Mr Marinello currently serves as the interim President of   Tyndale Theological Seminary  in The Netherlands.  His message was based on Philippians 2 ---
³Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 
⁴Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. ⁵Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:   ⁶Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:   ⁷But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:   ⁸And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  ⁹Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:   ¹⁰That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  ¹¹And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We learn from the above passage that a Biblical servant --

• considers the interest of others as well as his own
• does not clutch at status even if it is rightfully his
• is conscious of humbling himself
• has the Lord Jesus Christ as his example of a servant 

Mr Marinello's message, in full and in context, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.

We warmly welcome our visitors today: Joel, Smitha, and Baby Mark:

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Mr Steve Modrzejewski. He continued his series of messages on the miracles of  the Lord Jesus.  Today's message was based on John 6:1-14 

¹After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
 ²And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
 ³And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
 ⁴And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
 ⁵When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
 ⁶And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
 ⁷Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
 ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,
 ⁹There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
 ¹⁰And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
 ¹¹And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
 ¹²When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
 ¹³Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
 ¹⁴Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

The above passage reminds us that we need the heart/faith of a child to be a follower of Christ. Note also that ...

• The Lord was motivated by compassion when He saw the vast, hungry crowd
• He will test us through our responses
• God is the Giver, the Provider, the Source of all things good
• We are to be thankful for what we have 
• "Little is much, if the Lord is in it!"

Mr Modrzejewski's message, in full and in context, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.

We welcome our special guest, Barb Abbot from Arkansas. She is on her way to Minnesota to visit her daughter, Debbie, and her family. Please pray for Debbie's husband, who recently suffered a ruptured appendix:

Worry and Anxiety

Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Mr Jon Gauger of Moody Radio. He is pictured with his wife, Diana, and granddaughter, Josilyn. His message was based on Matthew 6:25-34 ---

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Based on the above, here are 5 Reasons why we must not worry:

1. Worry does not work
2. Worrying causes us to live like pagans
3. Our heavenly Father already knows our needs (thus, is already acting on our behalf)
4. Today has enough challenges without having to add worry to the list
5. The Lord Jesus as asked us to stop worrying 

Mr Gauger's antidote to worry, as well as his complete message, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.

John 5

 Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Mr Steve Modrzejewski. His message was based on John 5 --

¹After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
 ²Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
 ³In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
 ⁴For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
 ⁵And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
 ⁶When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
 ⁷The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
 ⁸Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
 ⁹And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
 ¹⁰The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
 ¹¹He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
 ¹²Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
 ¹³And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
 ¹⁴Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
 ¹⁵The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole...

Jesus was on His way to a feast, and stops at Bethesda. The great multitude may be a picture of the nation of Israel, which wandered about in the wilderness for 40 years; or a picture of the world around us, waiting to experience relief and God's favor. The man with the infirmity experiences God's instant, miraculous healing, yet does not initially know who healed him. Is this another picture of a world that wants the benefits, yet does not know or want the Savior? Mr Modrzejewski's message, in full and in context, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.