Message from Jesus

This weekend we are going to be talking about a message we have from Jesus, summarized in a powerful prayer (John 17:11-19). Jesus prays that we be encouraged in our faith in the midst of a harsh and hostile world. He wants us to tell others that He set aside power and strength that was rightfully His, so that He could become like us and to die in our place to pay our penalty for our sin.  This is His mission of salvation and as we tell others, we are indeed empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Shary Frahm took this photo in Cambodia and captioned it “Completely calm and composed in the midst of urban turmoil!” It’s a good reminder that Jesus prays that we be encouraged in our faith in the midst of a harsh and hostile world.

Chaos and hate surround us in Palatine. Chaos and hate surround our missionaries, George and Shary Frahm, in Cambodia. Chaos and hate in the media (both traditional and social) surround everyone. But we are to be “In It, Not of It.” Jesus knew hatred, his disciples knew hatred, our missionaries know hatred, and frankly all those who follow Jesus will come to know it as well. In our country we actually have it pretty easy in this regard, but it’s there all the same. But God’s love and blessings surround us also!

How do you find enough peace in your world so that you can share a message of hope and love?

Please join us for worship this weekend — Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Central or Sunday at 8:00, 9:15, or 10:45 a.m.  -– either in person at 200 North Plum Grove Road, Palatine, IL or online.

See you in church!
Pastor Tom

Shary Frahm (right) in Cambodia, sharing Jesus’ message of salvation in ways both large and small.

“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.  While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” John 17:11-19