Now Is The Accepted Time

 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 notes. You can watch/listen to the sermon here. I am so glad we are able to watch sermons online. I will say this, there is nothing like actually being present. I love being in church like Mary at the feet of Jesus. I will throw this in there, if not for the Martha's, no one would eat. I will just leave that right there. Now back to Bro. Linder's sermon. The title for his sermon was "Now Is The Accepted Time. His main text was taken from II Corinthians 6:1-2. In today's culture it's easy to get caught up in worrying about what other's might think about us. However if you are a follower of Christ, you really need to stop worrying about what others may think about you. It's time to make the decision to be a light for Christ. It's time to no longer be afraid to stand out and be a Christian in a very Non-Christian world. We are set apart by the Grace of God.  There is something about when you align your life with God, submit to His Word and Spiritual Authority that changes everything.  When you do this, there is no telling what God will do in your life. Now is the time, today is the day to take that action, take that step towards God. For the one who is wanting to know Christ it's making the choice to give your life to God. To be filled with His Spirit and baptized in His name. For those who have been following Christ, if it's been for years or you are just at the beginning stages, take the bold step to go where God leads you. To follow His Word. To walk in boldness in what God has for your life. When you do this the Glory of God will be revealed in your life. These qualities are present in the life of a believer: patience, endurance, purity, understanding, kindness, sincere and love.  When you truly are walking with God, He gives you great joy in your life.  His Grace carries you during the hard days. Not every day is perfect. Things happen. Life happens. Death happens. We are not promised tomorrow. So choose today, to walk with God. He is your joy. He is your peace. He is your provider. He is your strength.  One word from God can literally change everything around in one day. Something you have been waiting on. In one day God can bring that answer. When God's calendar aligns with your submission there is a demonstration of God's power. Today could be your day of liberty. Today could be your day of deliverance. Today could be the day of the answer you have been waiting for. God sees you, hears you and His answer is right there for you. God has a plan, lean into Him and trust Him. Put your hope in God. God is good.