Take A Walk With Me

 Take a walk with me this Sunday for church at Bethel. Lift your hands in praise to the Lord with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a sweet presence of God that fills the sanctuary, it is humbling. Bro. Jonathan Walker steps up to preach. You can watch/view the sermon  here. He asked  the church to continue to worship and to dwell in the sweet presence of the Lord. He then proceeds to preach a sermon that is so much needed at this time. He encourages the saints to let Jesus rise above all the chaos that is going on in their lives. We all have problems. Yet, in all this, if we can realize that "It's all in Him", we too can rise above it. He was not diminishing all that is taking place. He was trying to get us to look up. To not stay so focused on all that was going wrong all around us. Jesus truly is the answer for the world today. If God be for us, who can be against us? We walk by faith and not by sight. Lift Jesus up, above our circumstances. For, If

 Take a walk with me back to my childhood church in California.  A fiery preacher is running back and forth preaching his heart out. Glance to the side pew and there you see his wife, Sue Dean preaching along with him in her own way with a smile on her face. She was Aunt Sue to me. She was my church Aunt. She was the one who prayed many prayers with and over me. As I always saw her do, she supported her husband, Reverend Eckard Dean when he started a church in Globe, Arizona. Over the years they would visit and she would check on me to see how I was doing. I remember in my younger years when my walk with God was being developed, she told me to stay close to God. To know His voice.  When I was in High School and she knew  God had placed a love in my heart for missions, she encouraged me to follow that path. When all my friends were getting married and having children, she encouraged me to continue on with my college education and use it as a tool to get me into the missions field. I rem

  Take a walk with me on a Sunday into Bethel. I don't take for granted these days. I love going to church, being in church and being a part of a church. I am so thankful for this place. The guest speaker for today was Bro. Tom Trimble.  He was there with his wife and daughter in law.  About two weeks ago I blogged about Anthony Trimble's passing away. When Bethel began to sing one of Anthony's songs, I saw the instant tears in his family. My heart broke. Instinct kicked in and I just went over and prayed/cried with Lysandra. I don't know her personally, but you don't need to when you are a part of the family of God. When one hurts we hurt with them. When one rejoices we rejoice with them. It's so vital that we carry one another when we see a need. We truly do need one another. Never walk a road alone. I ask that you continue to pray for this precious family. Bro. Trimble preached on "I know God Is For Me". His main text was taken from Psalm 56:9.  I d

 Take a walk with me back in time. It's my baby shower and I am getting ready to open my gifts. Little Joseph Ferragamo was so excited that I was going to have a baby that he decided he wanted to help me open my gifts. He was the best helper. I was still relatively new to Bethel. I had moved out here from CA, got married soon after and a baby quickly followed. There was a group of us that were pregnant all at the same time. Our kids over the years became the close friends. Birthday parties went from one month to the next. Fast forward four years and I am sitting on the pew in church with RJ. Next thing I know this little girl has managed to crawl under all the pews from the very front to mine. We were in what is now called the Davis Fellowship Hall. Jolie's parents were both involved in music ministry and were on the platform. She and RJ became fast friends and the next thing I knew he was giving her every girly thing I had in my purse. They remained close friends over the year

 Take a Sunday walk with me into church. I truly love my church family at Bethel. Today was a bit of a bittersweet day as it was a goodbye to my very good friend and our longtime music director and a whole bunch of other ministries at Bethel. I love the Ferragamo family dearly, I count Jen to be my good friend. I will miss her a great deal. I plan to dedicate a blog just to them in the coming week. I want to really think about what I want to say to honor them. I do want to share with you an outstanding  sermon preached today by Bro. Robert Linder who is originally from NY and now pastors in Ohio. He and his twin brother have the best sense of humor and it's always wonderful to hear them preach. I will do my best to convey to you his sermon today. I must confess, I was not in the sanctuary when he preached. I was in the Davis Fellowship Hall helping to set up for an Appreciation Lunch for the Ferragamo's. I did however watch the sermon online  when I came home and I did take not

 Take a walk with me into the sanctuary. Walk past to one of the two tables that had been decorated with great care. Take in each photo showcasing the smile of Kenny. Turn and pass the flowers and stop to see a large photo of a gentle soul who passed from this life at a very young age. Kenney Gabrielsen was quiet and kind. When I passed the pew he would be sitting in, he would give a gentle nod and sweet smile as I passed by. I wish I could tell you I new him better than I did, but I knew he was kind. Tonight, family and friends came together to give memory and honor to Kenny. Each person had a funny story to tell, one involved cake and lettuce. One thing is sure, he was deeply loved and is very much missed. Pastor Davis spoke with great compassion and shared his own memories. When you walk with the Lord and you lose someone no matter what age they are, you mourn. Even when you  mourn you have a hope and a peace. For we know that Kenny has gone on to his heavenly home.  To live is Chri

 Take a walk with me into the sanctuary. It's the best day of the week, Sunday. I love going to the House of the Lord and I absolutely love it that it's at Bethel.  When the first song began to play a tear ran down my cheek. Bethel was starting it off by singing, "I'm Here To Worship", written by Anthony Trimble. His death has caused our hearts to break. It was appropriate that we started the service off with this song. He loved to worship and I am confident he is doing just that in the throne room of heaven.  As Pastor and Sis Vicky came into the sanctuary, the church was singing this song. Anthony was like a son to the Davis' and their heartbreak was evident when they heard what was being sung. Then I watched my two heroes, lift their hands and worship. The tears still there, but with hands raised to worship the one who gives peace in times that we do not understand. I thank God for the Davis Family. Today Pastor Davis preached. We are blessed to have such g