September 8, 2011
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Choose Life


In Deuteronomy 30 we find Moses near the Jordon River, preparing to relinquish leadership to Joshua before crossing into the promised land. It is his farewell speech of sorts to this band of Israelites whom he had led out of Egypt many years earlier. After reminding the people of all that God had done for them during those 40 years in the wilderness, and telling them all about the "land of milk and honey" they were about to enter, he gives them an interesting challenge: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Now choose life..." vs. 19

 

Why do you think Moses told the Israelites they needed to choose? Don't you think they should have gotten a break after all they'd been through? But no. They still needed to decide every day to reject or choose life. They needed to choose to "...love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life..." vs. 20  

 

Every day we get to choose to walk in the covenant of faith with our God or wander through life doing it our own way. Every day we get to look for God's voice and presence in our times of deepest sorrow or allow hopelessness to invade our soul. Every day we get to live in fear or choose to put our life into the safekeeping of the giver of life.  

 

Friends, we get to choose.  

 

We don't have a choice about how long we live or when we will die. We don't even have a choice about what will happen to us or our loved ones tomorrow.  

 

But we can decide - every day we are alive - to "choose life."  

 

Choose life.

 

Greg  

 


Coming This Month
Sunday, September 11 at 6:00 PM: A Wake-Up Call For God's People

Join Christians world-wide for a wake-up call to the church on this eve of the anniversary of 9-11. This two-hour simulcast will be shown in over 300 churches in the US and in over 200 countries around the world via satellite. It features:

Anne Graham Lotz (daughter of Ruth and Billy Graham) is a Bible teacher and stirring speaker. She will speak from the book of Isaiah, urging the church to wake up and be ready for the Lord's return.

Joel Rosenberg is a NY Times best-selling author, speaker, and expert on Bible prophesy. Joel will share with us how Bible prophecy is coming alive through current events that are happening right now all around us.

The four-time Dove Award winners, Selah, will lead worship.

Several churches around the valley are sponsoring this. The two closest to us are:
  • Calvary Community Church, 12612 N Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix 85029 (west side of I-17 between Cactus and Thunderbird) 602-973-4768
  • Palm West Community Church, 13845 W Stardust Blvd, Sun City West 85375  623-546-2980
For more information, or to find the location that's nearest to you, go to www.annegrahamlotz.com. We strongly suggest you attend this event at a local church; however, you can also access this event on your home computer on Sunday night, providing you have connection capabilities. The website will guide you through the set-up.

Please Note: This is the second Sunday of the month, so there will be no Sunday morning fellowship on September 11th. But please make plans to attend or watch the event above.

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Monday, September 12: Women's Book Study will meet at Enid's House at 7:00 PM. We are studying Max Lucado's Fearless. This week we discuss Chapters 9 & 10. Call Enid for directions at 623-486-5164.

Please Note: This is the second Monday of the month so there will be no meeting at Peace Lutheran Church.

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Life Recovery: Healing From Loss
Begins September 27

Why would I need to attend a grief recovery class?

Have you had losses, either recently or in the past, and you find it hard to move on? Are you experiencing depression, lethargy, fatigue, anger, lack of interest in life? Society tells us to just "put on a happy face" and get over it, but sometimes it's not that simple.

We believe there's a better way!

Healing from Loss is a 12-week faith-based program that will take you through a series of steps to help you understand, process, and heal your broken heart. It involves weekly attendance, reading, reflection, homework and sharing.

Our fall workshop begins September 27, 2011 and runs every Tuesday night for 12 weeks. Call Greg at 602-622-1488 if you have questions or would like to participate in the workshop. If you know someone who might benefit from this program, please speak with them and give them Greg's number.

 

Empowering People for Faith ~ Equipping People for Life ~ Helping People Heal

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