Little Flatrock Christian Church

Dear LFCC Friends and Family,

After much discussion, we believe it is in the best interest of our community and congregation if we cancel all of our services and meetings until further notice due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.  We want to help protect the vulnerable, and we believe the best way to do so is to take our part in social distancing and following the CDC guidelines.  Please take this time to pray for wisdom for our leaders, the protection of our healthcare workers, and those who already have weakened immune systems.  We have many of those in our congregation, but we also extend our love and prayers to all around the world.

In the Spirit of Christian Fellowship,

The Elders of Little Flatrock Christian Church

Lent, the church-year season that begins on Ash Wednesday, is a time of penitence and spiritual renewal. Some people give up a luxury or vice during Lent as a form of self-denial; others undertake a project that benefits others.

The point isn’t to denigrate ourselves or to see how much we can do without. Instead, Lent helps us reflect on Jesus’ death. As Timothy Keller writes in The Reason for God: “The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”

If you will humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in His good time He will lift you up. 1 Peter 5:6

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.  —  2 Corinthians 1:7

A friend mailed me some of her homemade pottery. Upon opening the box, I discovered the precious items had been damaged during their journey. One of the cups had shattered into a few large pieces, a jumble of shards, and clumps of clay dust. After my husband glued the broken mess back together, I displayed the beautifully blemished cup on a shelf.

Like that pieced-together pottery, I have scars that prove I can still stand strong after the difficult times God’s brought me through. That cup of comfort reminds me that sharing how the Lord has worked in and through my life can help others during their times of suffering.

The apostle Paul praises God because He is the “Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3). The Lord uses our trials and sufferings to make us more like Him. His comfort in our troubles equips us to encourage others as we share what He did for us during our time of need (v. 4).

As we reflect on Christ’s suffering, we can be inspired to persevere in the midst of our own pain, trusting that God uses our experiences to strengthen us and others toward patient endurance (vv. 5–7). Like Paul, we can be comforted in knowing that the Lord redeems our trials for His glory. We can share His cups of comfort and bring reassuring hope to the hurting.

By: Xochitl Dixon in Our Daily Bread

We’re so accustomed to hearing the Bible’s “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, at weddings and other occasions that we may not really hear its meaning anymore. It can help to listen to something familiar said in different words. What new understandings of love does this paraphrase from The Message Bible reveal to you?

“Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always ‘me first,’ doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, MSG).

“I drop kindness pebbles in still water every day, and I watch the effect they have on other people’s lives. My favorite kindness pebbles are compliments. Drop a compliment and watch the ripple effect that it has in your life.”

Remarkably, these cheery words come from a father who has faced many dark, difficult days. In 6 Minutes Wrestling With Life, John Passaro tells of his daughter’s heart-wrenching battle with meningitis. The struggles didn’t make him bitter; rather, he frequently offers uplifting words on social media.

What if we followed Passaro’s example and complimented people regularly? Philippians 4:8 (NIV) instructs us to think about things that are noble, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. By extension, turning those positive thoughts into words causes “kindness pebbles” to spread God’s light in ripples throughout someone’s day — and, doubtless, through ours.

We welcome you to join us at LFCC each Sunday morning at 10:15 a.m. for the new sermon series over the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).

There’s a tale of a traveling priest who was confronted by a soldier in pre-revolutionary Russia. Rifle in hand, the soldier barked, “Who are you? Where are you going? Why are you going there?”

Instead of answering, the priest asked how much the soldier was paid — and offered double if the soldier would challenge him with those three questions each day as he passed by.

Those three important questions can guide us on our journey through the brand-new year ahead. For Christians, thankfully, the answers are clear:

• Who are you? “I’m a child of God!”
• Where are you going? “I’m going out into the world!”
• Why are you going there? “I’m going out of love for Jesus, who died for me!”

Place these questions and answers in a spot where you can see them each day. Then go forward confidently, knowing “whose” you are and what your purpose is.

This is the time of endings, but of new beginnings, too…
God sends us another year and maketh all things new…
Another hope, another chance, another road to take…
Another star to follow, and another start to make…
New beginnings, new adventures, new heights to attain…
Golden opportunities to work and build again…
New and higher aspirations, for the future days…
Seeking, dreaming, moving on to bright and better ways.

— Patience Strong

In Nepal, where blindness is prevalent due to under-funded medical care and a lack of eye doctors, ophthalmologist Sanduk Ruit has made it his mission to treat poor people. He’s performed more than 130,000 cataract surgeries to restore sight, sometimes walking for a week with surgical equipment in tow to reach patients. Dr. Ruit also found a way for replacement lenses to be made locally for less than $3 each, rather than buying them internationally for 100 times as much. The physician brings healing to remote villages and celebrates “big eye-opening festivals” with people who “were blind yesterday, and … are seeing today.”

At Christmas we celebrate the Word of God who came to live among us as Jesus, the light of the world. In countless ways since, God has brought light to those living in literal or figurative darkness.

We celebrate people, such as Dr. Ruit and the 650 doctors he has trained, whom God uses to cause “light [to shine] in the darkness” (John 1:5).

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:16

Expressing gratitude isn’t just a good thing to do; it also appears to be good for us! Indiana University researchers found that participants who performed gratitude-focused writing exercises felt uplifted, and were more likely to express gratefulness through generosity, even weeks later.

Furthermore, brain scans revealed increased gratitude-related activity even months down the road (New York Magazine).

Though the study was small, we seem to have a “gratitude muscle” that can be strengthened through exercise. If so, there may be more than we thought to the popularity of gratitude journals and Mom’s insistence that we write thank-you notes. Not to mention the biblical call to “give thanks to the LORD, for he is good” (1 Chronicles 16:34, for example).

Might God have hardwired us for gratitude — not only at Thanksgiving but year round — because it’s good for us as well as for those we thank? To that, we respond, “Thanks be to God!”