Gary Walter

God reminds us to place our trust and confidence in him, who alone is trustworthy. We can rely on him because we have proof that he has acted mightily for us. In Jesus Christ God assumed the burden of our sinful nature and cancelled our debt of sin. By his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has removed our sin and guilt forever. This fact gives us the confidence that when God calls us home we can stand before him trusting in what Jesus has done and not on what we have done. Do you need any other reason to move forward into the year 2017 confident that that your sins are forgiven?

Luke 4:18-21

Luke 2:8-15

Galatians 2:20 God has a gift for you this Christmas- it is the joy that you unwrap by focusing on Jesus, others, and then yourself. Don't wait until December 25 to unwrap that gift- open it now and enjoy it!

Ephesians 2:1-10 The truth is that, like the temple, all of us are continually "under construction." In the final verse of this week's epistle text, the writer insists that as men and women saved by grace, we are now called to incarnate good works. Because we are "in Christ Jesus," we can do more than build "good works." We can become a good work. We can be a good work. Turning our life into a "good work" is the ultimate fixer-upper project, the real lifelong construction project. Becoming a "good work" means reconstructing our lives into a living Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:4-14 Wherever you put down roots, God has plans for you - "plans for your welfare and not for harm," he promises through Jeremiah, "to give you a future with hope" (v. 11). The Lord promises to hear you when you call upon him and pray to him; God pledges to let you find him whenever you search for him and seek him with all your heart (vv. 12-14).

Mark 5:1-20, 1 Peter 3:15 We can trust God to empower us to tell our own story. If I thought this was something I had to do in my own power, I'd never open my mouth – but when I know that God is with me, you can't shut me up.

Romans 8:5-6, 12:1-2 Our minds have tremendous control over one thing: our behavior. The way we think determines the way that we live. It determines how we act towards others. This ultimately affects our ability to reach out to the very people God has placed in our midst.

Matthew 9:35-38 Many of us are very compassion-minded when we first become believers, and we want to tell everyone we can about Jesus Christ and what He can do for them. But after awhile, that fire inside tends to die down and we don’t sense the urgency of the moment like we once did. Over the next few weeks we’re going to be focusing on several different aspects of evangelism – how to have a compassionate heart; how to have a disciplined mind; and how to have the boldness necessary to tell others the story of Jesus.