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Dennison First Church of God, 403 N. 3rd Street, Dennison, OH (2026)

06/08/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 8, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply…Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring…Then the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the LORD, have spoken!” – Isaiah 58:9-11, 14 (NLT)

“Then”

It jumped out at me today as I was reading Isaiah 58. One word repeated over and over again. “Then.” In and around all of those “Then” statements were commands, corrections, and admonishments. God was reminding the Israelites of why they were in the predicament they were in and how not to let it happen again. They had forgotten something that we often forget. Our covenant with God is exactly that. A covenant. It is an agreed-upon contract between two parties. God reminded His People that He would do His part. But they had to do theirs.

Take a look at all God desires to give in the verses above. Salvation. Healing. Protection. Guidance. Answers to prayer. Refreshment. Strength. Life. Honor. Satisfaction. All wonderful things that come from His Hand. Things He loves to give. Things He longs to give. Things He promises to give. But His people have to do THEIR part. They have to be faithful. They have to seek Him first. They have to follow His lead and His commands. They have to love Him first and best and treat others the way that He treats them. The blessings of God flow out of our covenant with God. We can’t live however we want and expect God to just ignore it. He’s the King of the Universe. Not our Genie in a bottle.

God loves us. And like a good, good Father, He loves to bless and enrich our lives. But His primary goal for us is that we become like Him, holy and righteous. He’s not interested in us becoming spoiled children who believe they can do whatever they want, and He will clean up their mess and bail them out. He wants us to learn to love Him with all of our hearts as He loves us with all of His. As we do that, THEN He releases all of who He is to us. Covenants go two ways. God will do His part. Let’s make sure we do ours. THEN… That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/07/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 7, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.” – Isaiah 58:6-7 (NLT)

“Worship That Blesses God”

One of my favorite cartoons, which I relate to way too much, is a single-frame picture of a pastor leaving for church and his wife seeing him out the door. As she adjusts his tie, she smiles and says, “Today, let’s switch things around. How about if you’re grumpy at church and charming at home?” Ouch.

Today at church, many of us will say prayers, sing songs, listen to sermons, and maybe even take communion. All things that we intend to worship and honor God. But in the midst of all those wonderful things, some of us will also say hurtful things to our spouse, yell needlessly at our kids, gossip about someone, and be critical and petty about something that doesn’t really matter all that much. Do we really think God accepts our praise when we do such things?

Isaiah points out the Israelites’ fasting as an example of their religious hypocrisy. While fasting was supposed to be a way of drawing closer to God and leaning in to more of His holiness and righteousness, it wasn’t. More of God should make us nicer, kinder, more selfless, and more generous. Isaiah points out that people were being ignored, abused, and overworked instead. One commentator suggested that some people who were fasting assigned their workers/servants more work so that they wouldn’t have to exert themselves while fasting. Others most likely took out their “hangryness” on those around them. Really godly of them.

The fact of the matter is, as much as God loves our songs, prayers, praise, and preaching, He loves us living out His Holiness even more. When we treat our spouse with respect and gentleness, God is blessed. When we are patient with our children as our Heavenly Father is with us, God is blessed. When we hold our critical tongue, swallow our words of gossip, and extend grace instead of judgment, God is blessed. If we truly want to fast in a way that honors God, then we need to worry less about what we put IN our mouths and pay much more attention to what comes OUT. Because that’s the kind of worship that blesses God. That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/06/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 6, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.” – Isaiah 57:1-2 (NLT)

“They’re Dancing!”

I was visiting with a man who recently lost his brother. His brother was a really good guy. He loved the Lord and was well-loved by the people who knew him. Most people agreed that he died way too soon. As I visited with the man whose brother had passed, I told him how sad I was and gave him a big hug. The man nodded and said, “Yeah, I’m sad too.” Then he got a big smile and said, “But he’s not sad. He’s up there having the time of his life. He’s up there dancing!” I laughed and said, “No doubt!”

He was right, you know. If the dead brother was full of joy and life on THIS side of heaven, we can’t begin to imagine how much fun he’s having now! Death may be sad for those of us who are left behind, but not for those who have died in the Lord. We may grieve. We may weep. We may have to fight the depression and darkness that seem to accompany losing someone dear to us. But everything we know about heaven tells us that people there aren’t grieving at all. In fact, they know joy in a way that they never had before.

Please hear my heart. I’m not trying to minimize the impact death has on those of us who lose someone dear to us. But the problem is that we tend to look at it from a purely self-centered perspective. We’re focused on what WE’VE LOST, not what they HAVE GAINED.

That’s what Isaiah reminds us of today. He points out that people who die before their time are getting a gift from God. They get to be spared future evil. They don’t have to deal with pain, sorrow, struggle, sickness, or any of the thousand other evils that we experience here on earth. Maybe that’s why the people who have near-death experiences say that they didn’t want to come back. What they experienced after death was beyond anything this world could offer. And they knew that life was just a breath compared to eternity.

I share this to give you both hope and encouragement. If you’ve experienced a loss, you have every right to grieve and weep. Some losses leave big holes in our lives. But make sure you realize you’re grieving for YOU, not them. If they died in the Lord, they’re not weeping or crying at all. They just bypassed all the years of heartaches that those of us left behind have to deal with. So if you’re sad, it’s okay. Be sad for you or for anyone who is feeling the loss with you. But when you think of those you’ve lost, don’t be sad for them. Be happy. Trust me, they’re not depressed in death. They’re DANCING! That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/05/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 5, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” – Isaiah 55:9-10 (NLT)

“When It Feels Like No One Is Listening”

I wish I could tell you how many times I’ve preached and wondered after it was over if anyone was even listening. I’ve often wished I had pastored black churches. Those churches give you feedback! Instead, I see people smile and nod, and, if my people drank enough strong coffee that morning, the occasional “Amen!” But still, did it make a difference? Did God really speak through me that day, or was I just making noise? Honestly, it’s not always easy to know.

That’s why our passage today is really reassuring to me. I can’t control how people respond or don’t respond. I can only control how I listen to God as I prepare. God’s promise today gives me hope and peace. Read it again. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

When I read this, I was reminded of the story of the farmer planting his seed. Some grew, and some didn’t. But as Jesus unpacked the story, He made it clear that there was nothing wrong with the seed, which represented the word of God. The problem was with the soil, which represented the hearts of people. God’s Word is Pure. It is Powerful. It is Life and Hope and Truth. Whether people are challenged, transformed, inspired, or untouched tells us more about their hearts and their openness to God than it does about God’s Word.

I write this to encourage those of you who, like me, have preached or taught or shared God’s Word and felt as if it did no good at all. Take heart from our verse today. God will cause His Word to prosper. It may take time. It may take some further watering or cultivating. It may take some of the soil of people’s hearts getting plowed a bit. But God will take care of all that. You just do what God calls you to do and spread the seed. He will take care of the harvest. That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/04/2026

📣 FREE COMMUNITY GIVEAWAY! 📣

Looking for clothing, household items, toys, books, or other useful treasures? Come shop our FREE Giveaway at Dennison First Church of God!

🗓 Saturday, June 6th
⏰ 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
📍 Dennison First Church of God
403 N. 3rd St., Dennison

We have a variety of gently used:
👕 Clothing
🧸 Toys
🏠 Household Items
📚 Books
🚲 And much more!

Everything is completely FREE and open to everyone in the community.

Please help us spread the word by sharing this post with friends, family, and neighbors. We look forward to seeing you there! ❤️

06/04/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 4, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

“God Knows What He’s Doing”

I remember some years ago when I was really disappointed in God. We were a church plant, meeting in a hotel, looking for a better, more permanent place. And I thought we’d found it. After a year and a half of searching, a school building became available. It was close, it had all the various types of rooms we’d need, and we were assured the school district would give us a good lease price. I was CONVINCED that this was our new home. That is, until I got a call from the school superintendent letting me know they were going to keep it. I was crushed. When I hung up the phone, I got on my knees beside my desk chair and said to God, “Are you SURE you know what you’re doing?” Ever been there?

A couple of weeks later, I got a call from one of our members who had heard about a church that had closed. I was so depressed, I didn’t even want to go look at it. But I did. That church ended up becoming our new home and allowed our church to flourish and grow beyond what we had ever imagined. Yeah, God knew what He was doing.

The Lord reminds us in our passage today that the reason we struggle so much with what God does or doesn’t do is that He doesn’t think like us. I love how He uses the word “higher” in describing His different view of things. God sees the big picture. He sees not only where we are, but also where we’re going. We see what we want. He sees what we need. We get stuck in the now. God sees with eternity in mind. Higher, deeper, broader, longer…you name it, God sees things that way.

God also THINKS differently than we do. God not only thinks about us, He thinks about everyone who is involved. He understands all the complexities that don’t even show up on our human radar. When I thought about that school, God thought, “Not bad, but I have something BETTER.” He knew the building would be better. He knew we’d be able to own and not just lease. He knew how receptive the neighborhood would be to us. He knew about the building up the street that we would end up using for our children’s ministry. God’s thinking was so many levels beyond mine that it made me ashamed for ever doubting Him. Our God is not only a GOOD God, He is a SMART God. You can trust Him. He knows what He’s doing. That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/03/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 3, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.” – Isaiah 55:7 (NLT)

“Getting What We Don’t Deserve”

Don’t you just love it when people get what they deserve? I mean, like in those “instant karma” videos on YouTube. A guy pulls up beside someone on the freeway and starts yelling at them for driving like a maniac. He then starts driving like a maniac and wrecks his car! Or when a couple of bullies try to rob an older guy who is getting money out of an ATM. They attack him, not knowing that he is a martial arts expert, and he ends up knocking them both out.

Things like that tend to appeal to our human nature. We enjoy it when people get what they deserve. That is, until WE are the ones getting what we deserve! That’s when we don’t want karma or justice or payback. We want GRACE!

Fortunately for us, God’s not like us. He doesn’t enjoy people getting hurt by their poor decisions. He’s not pleased when people suffer the consequences of their actions. Pain, punishment, and payback are not God’s desire for us. Grace is. Healing is. Redemption is. That’s why He sent His Son as a Savior, not an Executioner. “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to SAVE the world through him.” – John 3:17 (NLT)

Hundreds of years before Christ came, God revealed His plan through Isaiah. Take another look at our verse for today. “Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.” Can you hear the heart of God in that? He doesn’t want us to get what we deserve when we’re wicked or going our own way. He wants us to TURN. He wants us to CHANGE our ways. He wants us to REPENT, which means to change our minds. Because when we turn toward God, He RUNS toward us with mercy and forgiveness.

Listen to the heart of God today. He doesn’t want you hurt. He doesn’t want you to suffer. He doesn’t want you to keep on the path you’re on until you’re broken or crushed or humiliated. God doesn’t want you to get what you deserve. He wants to give you what you don’t deserve. Grace. Will you let Him? That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/02/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 2, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” – Isaiah 55:6 (NLT)

“Immediately Obedient”

One of the prayers I find myself praying these days is asking the Lord to help me be “immediately obedient” when He speaks. There are a few reasons why I’ve found this to be important on my own journey of faith.

One reason is that I’ve discovered how comfortable I can get with flaws in my life. God speaking to me about something that’s not as it should be is like walking into the bathroom and finding I’ve got a crack in the mirror. The first time I see it, I think to myself, “What an ugly crack! I need to do something about that!” But I don’t. The next few times I see it, it’s a bit distracting, but not as much as at first. After a while, I don’t notice the crack at all.

It’s the same with God’s correction. The longer I live with the flaws that God shows me, the more comfortable I become with them. I go from “I need to do something about that,” to “Yeah, I probably ought to change that,” to “What flaw?” The dangerous part of growing insensitive to God’s voice is that the stuff God points out is always stuff that will erode my soul, cause problems/pain for me and/or others, and create distance in my walk with Him.

Another reason it’s important to respond immediately to God is that some doors close or opportunities are missed, and you may not get another chance. Or at least, not without some pretty severe consequences. I’m thinking of a friend I had in high school whom I convinced to go to Youth Camp with me. He wasn’t a Christian, and one night, he was under pretty intense conviction in a service to give his heart to the Lord. But he didn’t. He went home unchanged. I ran into him some years later, and we had lunch together. He told me he was on his third marriage in ten years and confessed that he knew he drank a whole lot more than he should. Though a functional alcoholic, he admitted his life was pretty much a mess.

When I drove away, I remembered that camp and the window that God opened for him to surrender his heart. I thought about how different his life could have been if he had just said, “Yes,” to God in that service. His entire life could have gone in a whole different way. Sometimes the consequences of ignoring God are bigger than we can imagine. That’s why our verse from Isaiah is such an important reminder. “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” Become immediately obedient to the voice of God. The life you save may be your own. That’s God’s Word for you today.

06/01/2026

God’s Word for You Today
June 1, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets

“You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.” – Isaiah 55:5 (NLT)

“Glorious”

I just got back from preaching at a Campmeeting in Southwest Ohio. Wanda and I had a fantastic time. The theme for the week was “Made for More.” So I unpacked that theme each evening, looking at it from several different angles. It was a blast! But the one thing we kept coming back to was critically important. Being “more” is about who God is and not who we are.

You see, even in our walk of faith or our work in the Kingdom of God, it’s easy to make it all about us. Our talent. Our giftedness. Our abilities. You fill in the blank. But it’s not about us. It’s about HIM. Yes, God allows us to partner with Him. Yes, there is a surrender on our part, and an exercise of faith on our part, and a commitment to growth and learning on our part. But GOD is the one who does the heavy lifting. It is HE working in us, and it is HE working through us. Our becoming “more” is by allowing Him to possess more of us!

Take a look at our passage today. God tells His People how other nations are going to come running to them and be ruled over by His People. But notice how carefully God explains how that happens. He says it’s “because I, the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.” It wasn’t about THEM. It was about HIM.

“Glorious.” What a great word. When we spend time in the presence of God, seeking His will and His ways, He fills us with His Glory. And it shines through. When Moses came down from the mountain, He was glowing with the glory of God. It was the confirmation that God had His hand upon Him as the leader. When we preach or teach or counsel or sing or lead by letting God speak to us and through us, and it touches the hearts of people, it isn’t because we’re great at it. It’s because we’re “glorious”—God’s glory is coming through us. Only God can touch hearts. Only God can transform lives. Only God can bring conviction, save souls, or truly inspire. It’s God’s Glory that people are drawn to. And it’s that glory that makes us “more” than we could ever be alone.

Make this your prayer this week. “Lord, fill me with your glory!” Seek Him, surrender to Him, yield your will to His will, and ask His Spirit to fully consume you. It’s not more of you whom your family, your friends, or your church needs. It’s more of Him. So make sure when they see you, they see Him. Then you, too, will be GLORIOUS! That’s God’s Word for you today.

Dennison First Church of God

06/08/2026

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