Ministries

Chain of Lakes Videos

Select a link below to view past videos of worship services. For all past worship services go to https://vimeo.com/chainoflakes/videos Don’t forget to also check out Pastor Paul’s blog

September 24, 2023
“Life Giver” – Following the Holy Spirit
Video shown above

September 17, 2023
Guest preacher, singer & storyteller T. Mychael Rambo

September 10, 2023
“The Power of the Congregation”
Hear a special singing ensemble at 56:40

September 3, 2023
“Going to the Movies” – Star Wars

August 27, 2023
“Going to the Movies” – Barbie

August 20, 2023
“Going to the Movies” – Nemo

August 13, 2023
“Finding God” – in Nature

August 6, 2023
“Finding God” – in Communion

July 30, 2023
“Finding God” – in Baptism

July 23, 2023
Christmas in July

July 16, 2023
“Wrestling with God? Hold On” – Guest Preacher Rev. Gene Orr

July 9, 2023
“Being Presbyterian”

Daily Devotions

Comments about the devotion can be emailed to pastor@colpres.org

Daily Devotions September 25 - September 30, 2023

Monday, September 25
Read Genesis 1:1-2 When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
This past Sunday, Pastor Paul started a sermon series on the Holy Spirit called, “Life-Giver.” He focused on following the Holy Spirit. This week we have the opportunity to learn and re-learn from passages in the Old Testament that speak to the reality of the Holy Spirit.
In the second verse of the Bible, we read that a “wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” The wind is translated from a Hebrew word, “ruah.” The “ruah” is known as the spirit or Holy Spirit. Right in the first story of the Bible the Holy Spirit was active.
In the NRSV translation (which is used at Chain of Lakes) we read that the wind of God swept over the face of the waters. This activity of God in other places in the Old Testament is compared to an eagle hovering over it’s young.
The idea of “hovering” might not initially strike us as positive. When we were kids, we probably didn’t want our parents hovering over us. However, the idea of “hovering” is one description of the Holy Spirit that can clarify its actions. The Holy Spirit is active and present in our lives; the Holy Spirit is waiting to act; the Holy Spirit is waiting for each of us to acknowledge the Spirit’s presence.
What does it mean to you that the Holy Spirit hovers over your life? Please share.
Tuesday, September 26
Read Psalm 104:27-30 These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
The Hebrew word translated as “spirit” in verse 30 is the same word as in the Genesis passage we read yesterday— “ruah”. When the Spirit is sent out the face of the ground is renewed. We might think of a mountainside of beautiful flowers that shares the dazzling colors of creation. This reflects what the Holy Spirit can create.
he Spirit comes to us no matter what our age or our life-situation. We can be renewed by the Spirit late in life or early in life.
The writer of this Psalm shares that the Spirit comes from God. In today’s verses we read that people’s stomachs are filled in the right time and people are filled with good things. When the Spirit doesn’t come or God’s face is hidden from us, the people are in trouble. When the Spirit leaves a person, the person physically dies.
We can also understand that when the Spirit leaves a person that person experiences spiritual death.
The renewing by the Spirit doesn’t depend on us. It’s not like we read about “five steps to renewal by the Spirit” in the Bible. Our task is to pray for the activity of the Spirit in our life.
Could you dedicate yourself to praying every day for the activity of the Holy Spirit in your life? Please share your thoughts.

Wednesday, September 27
Read Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,”even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Like yesterday we read about the Holy Spirit in a psalm. This time the writer of the Psalm questions whether it is possible to escape the presence of the Spirit.
The writer concludes that it is impossible to escape the Spirit. The Spirit is present in heaven, in Sheol, at the farthest limits of the sea (perhaps miles from the surface). Even if the person wanted to disconnect from God by engaging in “dark” activities, God’s Spirit is still present. Our own actions don’t separate God from us. It’s impossible to escape from God.
What does it mean to you that it is impossible to escape from God? Please share.

Thursday, September 28
Read Ezekial 37:1-8 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ”So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them.
This is the most significant chapter in the book of Ezekiel. The man, Ezekiel received a vision from God. He was brought out by the Spirit or the Holy Spirit into a valley of bones. Ezekiel watched as the breath of God, or the Spirit entered the bones. The bones became human.
Metaphorically the bones represented the people of Israel who at that moment were in exile and seemingly far from God. But God had not left the people. The people just couldn’t acknowledge or recognize God. The spirit brought people from death to life. We might think of some part of our life that feels like death. Maybe it is a physical reality or a situation where we feel that we have little way of escaping. The Holy Spirit can lead us out of this place. If God could restore dry, old bones, God can restore us.
Perhaps your prayer today is, “restore me, O God to new life.” What does that mean to you? Please share.
Friday, September 29
Read Isaiah 44:1-8 But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, “I am the Lord’s”; another will be called by the name of Jacob; yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,” and adopt the name of Israel.Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let them proclaim it; let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be. Do not fear or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
Even in a desert the Spirit can bring new life. The language of this passage in Isaiah seems like the language of Psalm 139. We are formed and helped by God and have no reason to fear. The Spirit is always with us.
Through our faith we never face a dead end. God can always help us out of situations in which we find ourselves.
Finding new life is not going back in age. We can be old and find new life. Instead finding new life is connecting and acknowledging the Holy Spirit.
What are some ways you’ve found to be helpful to connect to the Holy Spirit? Please share.

Saturday, September 30
Read Joel 2:28-32 Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit.
Parts of this passage in Joel were quoted by Peter in his speech at Pentecost. (Read Acts 2:14-21)
The Spirit will fall on everyone. God does not prevent the Holy Spirit from coming to any of us. God wants us to experience the Holy Spirit and to be led by the Holy Spirit.
Unfortunately, we often can be intimidated by the Holy Spirit. Because we can’t control what happens we might close ourselves off to God. We do this to our own spiritual peril.
Have you had times when you’ve experienced the Holy Spirit? You had an experience that is similar to what Joel was describing in these verses.
If you’ve had an experience like this, please share!

Daily Devotions September 18 - September 23, 2023

Monday, September 18
Read Luke 10:29-37
But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The story of the Good Samaritan is easily one of the most significant stories of the Bible. The story has so much depth that we could read it every day for thirty days and still see something new on our thirtieth day of reading.
One of the challenging take-aways from the story is a response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
Neighbors might be many different people to us. They might be people who live in an adjacent house or apartment; they might be close friends who we would trust. Most likely our neighbor would not be someone who has a different world view than us.
But here Jesus is suggesting that our neighbor could be this type of person. Samaritans and Jews had vastly different world views. Both religions came from the same starting point, but they had gotten to a point when Jesus lived, that Samaritans and Jews were enemies. They had a different world view. But in this story a Samaritan was helping a Jew.
The story concluded with the lawyer—the person who asked the first question—saying that a neighbor is a person who shows mercy. From this story, we learn that our calling from God is to share and show mercy to all people—especially people who have a different world view than us.
How hard do you find it to share mercy with someone who has a different world view? Please share.
Tuesday, September 19
Read Psalm 103:1-14
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.
Verse eight in this Psalm is one to memorize.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
This is the perspective that God has for us. As followers of God, we are called to have the same perspective towards our neighbors—especially people who have a different world view than us. Oftentimes it’s anger that leads us to have problems with a person who has a different world view. We see the person as less than human; we are quick to criticize; we might try to convince the person to change his or her views and conform to the views that we have.
The best way to relate to a person with a different world view is to be like God—merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We can take hope in that this perspective of others is possible to share—even if it seems extraordinarily difficult. God is willing to help us be merciful people. Sometimes God is waiting for our prayers.
Do you have a story of someone sharing mercy with another person? Others would love to hear more about your story.
Wednesday, September 20
Read Matthew 9:10-13
And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting[b] with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
The Pharisees had a vastly different world view than tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors were agents of the Roman government. They were often corrupt. Pharisees often saw themselves as righteous; they didn’t see themselves as sinners. But here was Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus came to call sinners to his way.
Sometimes a way to relate to someone with a different world view is to invite the person out for dinner. Have a meal with them. Only talk about your differences if it seems to be a healthy and safe space to do so. Having dinner with someone who is different turns the person into a human for us. We can see the person’s strengths and weaknesses.
With whom can you have dinner in the next week?
Thursday, September 21
Read Ephesians 4:11-16
He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Speaking the truth in love is a way we become mature followers of Jesus. As we read in this passage, when we speak the truth in love we grow up.
Truth and love need each other. Speaking the truth without love can be judgmental and even harmful to the other person. Sharing love without sharing the truth can lead us to enable actions by another person that are not healthy.
You might have a person who has a different world view to whom you would like to speak the truth in love. An important way to do this is to first establish the love you have for the person. Go out of your way to convince the person that you care for them. Your care is authentic and especially real. You want the person to know and trust this.
From this atmosphere of love, you can speak the truth.
Do you have a story of speaking the truth in love with someone? Without sharing names would you consider sharing the story?
Friday, September 22
Read Romans 13:8-10
Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10

To keep a person who has a different worldview as a friend, it’s essential to see the person as a neighbor. The person is not an enemy. Different views don’t have to make people oppose each other. As a neighbor you don’t have to change the other person’s mind or try to convince the person of the error (as you see it) in their ways.

Instead focus on love. And keep speaking the truth (see yesterday’s devotion.)
How hard is it to see people with different world views as your neighbor? This view of being a neighbor is not based on geography, of course. This view is based on the idea that everyone is our neighbor at some level.
Is this hard for you? On the scale of 1-10 with ten being the highest, what number would you give yourself? Please consider sharing your number.
Saturday, September 23
Read Psalm 75
We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks; your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds. At the set time that I appoint, I will judge with equity. When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants, it is I who keep its pillars steady. Selah. I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,” and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn; do not lift up your horn on high or speak with insolent neck.” For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed; he will pour a draught from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. But I will rejoice forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
It’s easy to judge people with different world views than us. We might want to feel superior in our views; or we might want to look at the person as diminished because of his or her views.
This is not the way of faith. Ultimately God is the one who judges. We are not called to judge others because God can do this.
Do you have a hard time resisting judgment or letting go of your judgment to God? If this is so, what is hard about resisting or letting go of judgment? Consider sharing your responses to these questions.

Daily Devotions September 11 - September 16, 2023

Monday, September 11
Genesis 12:1-3
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Some people look at this reading as the start of the Old Testament. The reading begins the story of God’s relationship with a group of people. In verse two, we read that God told Abram to go to a different land because God would make a great nation. In this reading, nation doesn’t mean a nation like the “United States” or “France” or another current nation. It means a group of people who are connected to each other. In this case it means a group of people who are connected by faith to each other.
It is not far-fetched to paraphrase this reading to say that God would make a great church.
Pastor Paul shared in his sermon yesterday that there is one church. The church is made up of followers of Jesus Christ. A spiritual connection happens between followers of Jesus. So even if people worship in different congregations, people who are disciples are part of one church. The origins of being the church comes from this story in Genesis.
Take some time today to talk to someone who attends a different congregation. Celebrate with that person that the two of you are part of one church.
Do you feel a connection with people who worship in other congregations? Please share.
Tuesday, September 12
Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Yesterday we read in Genesis 12:2 that the word “nation” was in a command by God. In today’s reading the word “nation” is found in this command from Jesus. We read in verse 19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations …”
In this case the word “nations” comes from the Greek word, ethne. When Jesus shared this verse he didn’t only mean the nations that existed in his day. He also meant future nations.
The word, ethne is more than a description of a political state. Ethne means a group of people who are connected to each other. If we push into this command, we can see where Jesus was encouraging the apostles to develop the church.
In his sermon on Sunday, Pastor Paul shared a definition of a church as “a dynamic network of friends leading and experiencing personal and social transformation as they follow God.” This definition of a church is what Jesus encouraged his followers to create and develop.
What are your thoughts about this definition? Please share.
Wednesday, September 13
Matthew 16:13-20
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

In this story Jesus told Peter, “You are Peter, and on this rock [on you] I will build my church.” This is one of two places in the gospels that Jesus used the word church. The other place is Matthew 18:17.
The English word, church, comes from the Greek word, ekklesia. Ekklesia is made up of two parts—ek and kaleo. Ek means “out” and kaleo means “call.” Ekklesia is a group of people who are “called out” of something. They are called out of the values of the world. Values like power and abuse and hate. The church is called out to live by different values. These values are personal—the Fruit of the Spirit: love joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These values are also social—justice, righteousness, and peace.
The church should look vastly different than any other organization in the world. As you pray today, pray that the church will look different. Pray that the church can be called out to live these very precious values.
When have you experienced the church sharing different values than the world? Please share.
Thursday, September 14
Ephesians 2:11-22
So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Verses 19-20 share another definition of the church:
“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.”
One can see how these verses form the biblical foundation for the Purpose Statement of Chain of Lakes Church.
In his sermon on Sunday, Pastor Paul shared that one church exists. Even though eighteen congregations exist in Blaine, one church exists. All those congregations are part of the one church.
Being a disciple or follower of Jesus means you will have an instant connection with other disciples who participate in other congregations. As we read in Ephesians you are citizens with them and members of the household of God.
You might think of a family member or close friend who participates in another congregation. The two of you are part of the one church. How exciting to be part of a movement that is intended to change the world!

Friday, September 15
1 Corinthians 12:12-26
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect, whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

The Apostle Paul shared in this reading that the body of Christ—the church—is one. One church exists. Verse 13 explains this well, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
Chain of Lakes is a PC(USA) church—Presbyterian. But the people who are part of the church are part of one body. We could paraphrase these verses from the Apostle Paul to say, “Presbyterians can’t say to Lutherans—you are not part of the body. Presbyterians can’t say to the people from the Church of Christ—you are not part of the body. Presbyterians can’t say to those who don’t have a denomination—you are not part of the body. Everyone who follows Jesus is part of the one body.”
This isn’t an easy reading to follow because throughout history people have thought of their brand of church as the only brand or a superior brand. But the Apostle Paul is clear that this way of thinking is wrong. We are all baptized into one body—Presbyterians, Lutherans, Church of Christ, non-denominational people.
All of these denominations are made to enjoy or drink of one Spirit.
What does this passage mean to you? Please share.
Saturday, September 16
Acts 2:37-47
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts,praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Pastor Paul preaches on this story from Acts on special occasions at Chain of Lakes.
Read the story closely. The Holy Spirit moved among the people. People were speaking in different languages (some believe that the people were speaking in tongues). But despite the cacophony of noise everyone could understand what everyone was saying.
Awe came upon everyone. Awe is a three-letter synonym for wow. It’s as if “wow” came upon everyone.
The church exists for people to have these experiences of “wow.” For an individual congregation to have power, the people must have these experiences of “wow.”

Reflect today on your experiences of “wow” in a church. They will define the power that the church has in your own life. When is a moment that you’ve had this type of experience? Please share.

Events

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Community Gardens

Chain of Lakes Church is excited to offer a Community Garden Ministry next to the new church building at 2650 125th Ave NE, Blaine, MN 55449. It’s just east of Malmborg’s Garden Center on 125th Ave NE in Blaine or .8 miles east of Radisson Rd on 125th Ave NE, Blaine.