PASTOR'S CORNER

John 7:37-39 As a young man, a teenager, really …… Jonathan Edwards set down on paper a series of thoughts and practices to help cultivate his growth in grace. Edwards then re-read this list at least once a week to keep his mind focused and renewed.  The result was that he became a man of humble godliness, who was to become a significant spark used to ignite one of the greatest revivals known to history.  A young Jonathan Edwards said when he wrote his 70 resolutions “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.”  One of the 70 resolutions I want to look at is his 28 th resolution which reads “Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.” As we approach a New Year, a new chapter in one’s Christian

Psalm 119 (selected portions) What are some of the Christmas phrases we hear every year? “Tis the season to be jolly” “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas” “Dreaming of a White Christmas” But! What about the famous saying from Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol”   “Bah Humbug” .  Because many feel this way at this time of year!  Is this how you feel this Christmas season?  If your answer is “Yes!” you’re not alone.  During all the joyful songs, smiling faces, cheerful parties, gifts, and good wishes, many lonely people are crying or dying on the inside.  And sadly a majority of us don’t even see it; because they hide it so well.     Canada Psychology Today said “Yet for many, the Christmas period is a far cry from Norman Rockwell's post-war American ideal of family gatherings overflowing with gifts and laughter. Rather it's a period with at least some kind of disappointment, anxiety, or even