Faith

Pastor's sermon today...in a nutshell: (okay it's more than that today)

1-Live by your own convictions and THEN....(this is a big one!)*don't judge others by your own convictions.*
2-Abraham BELIEVED God before He did anything...God then said he was righteous.
When you believe God, it affects how you act.
3-It's not what we do...it's how much faith we have.
4-Run to forgiveness...God can make all things new.
5- God didn't take away the Old Testament to put in New Testament laws.
6- Legalism DOES NOT keep you holy!!!

"1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. " Romans 10:1-4


"6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
(Not Legalism but Christ) 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. " Colossians 2:6-15

"1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘ These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."
Matthew 15:1-9

"1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1-2

"1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony." Hebrews 11:1-2

I know it's alot to chew on....but good stuff. Hava great week!
Love n Hugs....Laura

Pictures-4th of July

Somehow....we managed to get a patriotic photo ;)

The Japanese Beatles MUST die....my brother, the landscaper, laid down a tarp and sprayed

the tree good....everything you see that is black is PILES of the bugs....it was sooo nasty!!! I think the next project at Mom and Dad's is chopping down the trees that seem to attract them.

Our little marshmellow girl is getting bluer eyes every day ;)

Isaac and Chelsey....always smiling ;) we call this: TWITTERPAITED......

Ellie is perfectly happy just to play with her toes...God has truely blessed us with her happy personality.

"Uncle" Logan came to have fun with us too.

Playing with Aunt Julie....

Ellie's first time with watermelon.....and she LOVED it!

We had a great relaxing day yesterday hanging out with my family....grillin' out....playing hillbilly golf and ending the day with awesome fireworks. It's a family tradition to go to the small town of Sibley, Illinois and enjoy the festivities there. The kids did great with the fireworks.

Gabe promptly wrapped his monkey arms around Daddy's neck and faced the opposite direction of the beautiful show. Every once in a while he would turn around and say, Wow! But the rest of the time he buried his face in Daddy's neck and said, "Go in car....go in car....all done....all done."

Then he fell asleep. Lil Miss Ellie just sat on my lap and took it all in then she too fell asleep. We got home late and they slept in til 10 this morning...it was sooooooo nice!!!

Hava great rest of the weekend!

Freedom

Galations 5
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
"1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
LOVE FULFILLS THE LAW
7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. "

Today I'm feeling really thankful.... because of all the soldiers who have left the comforts of their homes to fight wars for us and for our freedom. I'm so grateful to be in the USA for so many reasons.
But I'm also thankful for those who went before us to fight for spiritual freedom.
Galations 5 is one of my favorite chapters. Why? Because of this:

God loved us so much that He gave up His only Son to die on the cross for our sins.
That love fulfills the law....we are spiritually free...we are not in bondage.
We walk in the Spirit...we are not in chains of legalism or held down be religious spirits.
We are free to walk in love and walk in the Spirit! Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USOcPsol-1w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OggJ1pIPxUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNqUORIFV4I

Hava great holiday! Blessings n Hugs....Laura

No Control

Have you ever noticed, parents....how much "no control" we have over our children?
Seriously...one minute our 2 yr old is playing trucks calmly...and the next
minute I hear very faint squeaks coming from our 7 1/2 mth old. I spin my head around so fast that I get dizzy...because I know this isn't a normal sound....and see Gabe sitting on top of Ellie while she lays flat on her back and he is riding her like he rides his horsey. Yeah....
I hadn't moved that quick since I tried catching him from running on the highway....and trying
to take the pringles out of Ellie's mouth. Praise God for this thing he gives us called "motherly instinct". I like to think of us moms as butterflies and our antennas are the "instinct"...always alert...on call for anything and everything.

*sigh* I think this calls for prayer and fasting....Really, when I sit and think about it all...the big picture of parenting a child and raising them up to love God.
I have no control...really...our kids are totally in God's hands.

And so tonite....once again...I praise God for His goodness and faithfulness to us.
And once again...I lay it all at His feet and say, "Not my will but thine be done."
Because I can't do this parenting thing without Him. Not one day can be accomplished fully
without the Heavenly Father. And am I ever so thankful that He's always there to walk beside us and guide us along.

Pictures-Little Miss Ellie

I LOVE my Daddy!!

And I also love to play with my brother's trucks and tractors...Mommy is so excited!!!

My dedication day...Mommy was trying to take pictures of us.

This is what the real ladies do ;)

We actually managed to get a good picture!

Gabe likes to steal my passy...not cool....

Pretending like I'm shy...ha ha

Little Miss Muffett

I found Gabe's motorcycle...and I LOVE it too! (Mommy is so glad I'm not a girly girl!)

Guess I'm too big for my seat cuz Mommy found me trying to get out.

My toes are another favorite item of mine ;)

Almost 8 mths old!

I'm a big girl now sitting in Bubba's high chair.

Playing trucks with the boys...

Daddy taking me for a ride.

Hope yer having as fun of a summer as we are!!!

Pictures-The Gabester

Sneaking cookies and eating in the corner....caught in the act.

Playing together....he loves letting Ellie play in his bed with him.

Teaching his little sister how to dump the shoe basket out and play with ALL of them....

Playing with Daddy....his hero ;)

He thinks he's so cool because he has sunglasses AND a cell phone...thanks to Chelsey.

Caught in the act of playing in Ellie's bouncy seat.....way over the weight limit!

Found at the computer desk....with the keyboard in his lap.

Snuggling with Mee-Maw....the best of times...a rare quiet moment.

Community

Community is not easy. Somebody once said, "Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives." In Jesus' community of twelve apostles, the last name was that of someone who was going to betray him. That person is always in your community somewhere; in the eyes of others, you might be that person …

Forgiveness is to allow the other person not to be God. We all have wounds. We all are in so much pain. It's precisely this feeling of loneliness that lurks behind all our successes, that feeling of uselessness that hides under all the praise, that feeling of meaninglessness even when people say we are fantastic—that is what makes us sometimes grab onto people and expect from them an affection and love they cannot give.

If we want other people to give us something that only God can give, we become a demon. We say, "Love me!" and before you know it we become violent and demanding and manipulative. It's so important that we keep forgiving one another—not once in a while, but every moment of life. Before you have had your breakfast, you have already had at least three opportunities to forgive people.

To forgive other people for being able to give you only a little love—that's a hard discipline. To keep asking others for forgiveness because you can give only a little love—that's a hard discipline, too. Still, that is where community starts to be created, when we come together in a forgiving and undemanding way

.~ Henri Nouwen