Foursquare Gospel Church Igbosere (Chapel of Blessing)

OUR DAILY BREAD July 1, 2018 Sunday WHAT IS GOD LIKE? Jennifer Benson Schuldt The Son is . . . the exact representation of [God’s] being.  Hebrews 1:3 Hebrews 1:1–10 Bible in a year : Job 20–21; Acts 10:24–48 To celebrate a special occasion, my husband took me to a local art gallery and said I could choose a painting as a gift. I picked out a small picture of a brook flowing through a forest. The streambed took up most of the canvas, and because of this much of the sky was excluded from the picture. However, the stream’s reflection revealed the location of the sun, the treetops, and the hazy atmosphere. The only way to “see” the sky was to look at the surface of the water. Jesus is like the stream, in a spiritual sense. When we want to see what God is like, we look at Jesus. The writer of Hebrews said He is “the exact representation of [God’s] being” (1:3). Although we can learn facts about God through direct statements in the Bible such as “God is love,” we can deepen our...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 30, 2018 Saturday LIGHT OF THE WORLD Lisa Samra Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.  Revelation 3:20 Revelation 3:14–22 Bible in a year: Job 17–19; Acts 10:1–23 One of my favorite pieces of art hangs in the Keble College chapel in Oxford, England. The painting,  The Light of the World  by English artist William Holman Hunt, shows Jesus holding a lantern in His hand and knocking on a door to a home. One of the intriguing aspects of the painting is that the door doesn’t have a handle. When questioned about the lack of a way to open the door, Hunt explained that he wanted to represent the imagery of Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.” The apostle John’s words and the painting illustrate the kindness of Jesus. He gently knocks on the door of our souls with His offer of peace. Jesus stands and pa...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 29, 2018 Friday PICTURES OF LOVE Amy Peterson I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.  2 John 1:5 2 John 1:1–6 Bible in a year: Job 14–16; Acts 9:22–43 My children and I have started a new daily practice. Every night at bedtime, we gather colored pencils and light a candle. Asking God to light our way, we get out our journals and draw or write answers to two questions:  When did I show love today?  and  When did I withhold love today? Loving our neighbors has been an important part of the Christian life “from the beginning” (2 John 1:5). That’s what John writes in his second letter to his congregation, asking them to love one another in obedience to God (2 John 1:5–6). Love is one of John’s favorite topics throughout his letters. He says that practicing real love is one way to know that we “belong to the truth,” that we’re living in God’s presence (1 John 3:18–19). When m...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 28, 2018 Thursday RING IN A DUMPSTER Julie Schwab Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  Matthew 7:7 Matthew 13:44–46 Bible in a year: Job 11–13; Acts 9:1–21 In college, I woke up one morning to find Carol, my roommate, in a panic. Her signet ring was missing. We searched everywhere. The next morning we found ourselves picking through a dumpster. I ripped open a trash bag. “You’re so dedicated to finding this!” “I’m not losing a two-hundred-dollar ring!” she exclaimed. Carol’s determination reminds me of the parable Jesus told about the kingdom of heaven, which “is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44). Certain things are worth going great lengths to find. Throughout the Bible, God promises that those who seek Him will find Him. In Deuteronomy, He explained to the Israelites that they would find Him when th...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 27, 2018 Wednesday UNLOCKED Amy Boucher Pye Once you were alienated from God . . . . But now he has reconciled you.  Colossians 1:21–22 Colossians 1:13–23 Bible in a year: Job 8–10; Acts 8:26–40 A boy born with cerebral palsy was unable to speak or communicate. But his mother, Chantal Bryan, never gave up, and when he was ten years old she figured out how to communicate with him through his eyes and a letter board. After this breakthrough, she said, “He was unlocked and we could ask him anything.” Now Jonathan reads and writes, including poetry, by communicating through his eyes. When asked what it’s like to “talk” with his family and friends, he said, “It is wonderful to tell them I love them.” Jonathan’s story is profoundly moving and leads me to consider how God unlocks us from the prison of sin. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Colossae, once we were “alienated from God” (Colossians 1:21), our evil behavior making us His enemy, but th...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 26, 2018 Tuesday SET FREE Lawrence Darmani Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1 Romans 8:1–2, 15–17 Bible in a year: Job 5–7; Acts 8:1–25 When I was a boy in the village, something about chickens fascinated me. Whenever I caught one, I held it down for a few moments and then gently released it. Thinking I was still holding it, the chicken remained down; even though it was free to dash away, it felt trapped. When we put our faith in Jesus, He graciously delivers us from sin and the hold that Satan had on us. However, because it may take time to change our sinful habits and behavior, Satan can make us feel trapped. But God’s Spirit has set us free; He doesn’t enslave us. Paul told the Romans, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–2). Through o...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 25, 2018 Monday SAYING GRACE David C. McCasland Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:17 Colossians 3:12–17 Bible in a year: Job 3–4; Acts 7:44–60 For many years, I’ve enjoyed the writings of British author G. K. Chesterton.  His humor and insight often cause me to chuckle and then pause for more serious contemplation. For example, he wrote, “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the play and the opera, and grace before the concert and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing; and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” It’s good for us to thank the Lord before every meal, but it shouldn’t stop there.  The apostle Paul saw every activity, every endeavor as something for which we should thank God and that we should do for His ...

BROTHER TUNDE BUSARI # SundayService # loyaltymonth # Spreadout # P PASTORSCORNER Theme of the year: New Heights (Lev 26:13, Phil 3:13,14) Theme of the Month: Spread Out (Zech 1:17; Isaiah 60:22) Topic: Spreading the Gospel to the Future Generations Should our mandate to spread the gospel be focused only on our own generation? Of course, we have primary responsibility to reach the people of our own generation with the gospel and to win them to Christ. We have been exhorted to complete the task of reaching all peoples in our generation. If we present the gospel to every person who is living today, have we completed our task? Do we not have a responsibility to future generations as well? Our task is to have a broader view of the gospel and its proclamation in the world. Jesus gave the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations and to teach them to obey His commandments. Now, was Jesus talking only about the nations of that generation or for ...