Dearest Jesus, King Jesus, in Your Name i pray this prayer for those who might just need it today, even right now: "Abba Father, give to us Your strength to carry the glorious burden, until You, and You alone say, ‘Lay it down!’ Amen!"
Deo Volente -- whatever God wants!
Pastor Kerry Willis
Prayer in the Spirit makes all the difference. It’s like the Lord sacredly leading us through a private entryway to experience the behind the scene workings of His Holy Kingdom." [Thoughts Lady Melba and i shared on the phone today]
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." Romans 8:26 NLT
Amen.
Pastor Kerry Willis
As disciples of Jesus, shouldn’t we always desire to live on the edge of faith, so that unless the Lord helps us miserable failure will be the only outcome? -kww
In John 6, the disciples are living on the edge when the hungry crowds on the Galilean hillside need to be fed. It seems impossible, nevertheless, the Bread and Fish King was their Lord. Yes, King Jesus.
Here’s the story:
"After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, "Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?" He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!" Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. "There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?" "Tell everyone to sit down," Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, "Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted." So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves."John 6:1-13 NLT
Let us only trust and obey!
Pastor Kerry Willis
A Parable: Saving Lives
When you walked into the foyer of the local church worship center that i once pastored in Harrisonburg, Virginia, just to the left sat a glass case where an old devotional book was opened to two pages that displayed this powerful story:
On a dangerous seacoast notorious for shipwrecks, there was a crude little lifesaving station. Actually, the station was merely a hut with only one boat . . . but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the turbulent sea. With little thought for themselves, they would go out day and night tirelessly searching for those in danger as well as the lost. Many, many lives were saved by this brave band of men who faithfully worked as a team in and out of the lifesaving station. By and by, it became a famous place.
Some of those who had been saved as well as others along the seacoast wanted to become associated with this little station. They were willing to give their time and energy and money in support of its objectives. New boats were purchased. New crews were trained. The station that was once obscure and crude and virtually insignificant began to grow. Some of its members were unhappy that the hut was so unattractive and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable place should be provided. Emergency cots were replaced with lovely furniture. Rough, hand-made equipment was discarded and sophisticated, classy systems were installed. The hut, of course, had to be torn down to make room for all the additional equipment, furniture, systems, and appointments. By its completion, the life-saving station had become a popular gathering place, and its objectives had begun to shift. It was now used as sort of a clubhouse, an attractive building for public gatherings. Saving lives, feeding the hungry, strengthening the fearful, and calming the disturbed rarely occurred by now.
Fewer members were now interested in braving the sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired professional lifeboat crews to do this work. The original goal of the station wasn't altogether forgotten, however. The lifesaving motifs still prevailed in the club's decorations. In fact, there was a liturgical lifeboat preserved in the Room of Sweet Memories with soft, indirect lighting, which helped hide the layer of dust upon the once-used vessel.
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast and the boat crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty, some terribly sick and lonely. Others were black and "different" from the majority of the club members. The beautiful new club suddenly became messy and cluttered. A special committee saw to it that a shower house was immediately built outside and away from the club so victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting there were strong words and angry feelings, which resulted in a division among the members. Most of the people wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities and all involvements with shipwreck victims . . . ("it's too unpleasant, it's a hindrance to our social life, it's opening the door to folks who are not our kind"). As you'd expect, some still insisted upon saving lives, that this was their primary objective---that their only reason for existence was ministering to anyone needing help regardless of their club's beauty or size or decorations. They were voted down and told if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast! They did.
As years passed, the new station experienced the same old changes. It evolved into another club . . . and yet another lifesaving station was begun. History continued to repeat itself . . . and if you visit that coast today you'll find a large number of exclusive, impressive clubs along the shoreline owned and operated by slick professionals who have lost all involvement with the saving of lives.
Shipwrecks still occur in those waters, but now most of the victims are not saved. Every day they drown at sea, and so few seem to care . . . so very few. Do you?
Give away your life... To The Lifesaver and let Him rescue the perishing through you.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”Words of Jesus, Luke 19:1
Pastor Kerry Willis,
District Servant 🛟⚓️
The year was approximately 1947. My mom, Lady Melba, was 5-years-old. Her dad, Lloyd Davis, was an east coast fisherman on a Menhaden boat. The place he was currently working was off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Melba’s mom, Irene, decided to make a trip from their home in Davis Shore, North Carolina, to Atlantic City to visit Lloyd.
One day as they were on the boardwalk, young Melba drifted into a bakery and came out with a huge glazed donut. Irene thought she had stolen it. She was wrong. The baker told young Melba if she would talk a while in her southern accent, he would give her a donut. Deal made. Laughter broke out.
My wife and i have lived in New Jersey now for 5 years and finally today we spent a few hours in Atlantic City. And yes, that story mainly drew me there. Also, i immediately had a huge glazed donut. i had to pay for mine, however. #dateday
Memories matter to me.
Pastor Kerry Willis
A friend texted me this morning asking how he could pray for me? This was my prayer request:
“Pray that the Lord will take the things i might not know how to navigate and that i will trust Him totally to be the Captain of His Church. Thank you friend.”
Jesus take the wheel!
Pastor Kerry Willis
