First Congregational Church of La Salle

08/07/2023

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02/06/2023

Thank you, Lord

with a M It’s a beautiful day ☀️ #? #🌞 #☀️ ...

12/06/2022

Dec 5:

Isaiah 39:5-40:11
English Standard Version

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 (A)Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 (B)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, (C)“There will be peace and security in my days.”
Comfort for God's People
40
(D)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2
(E)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,� and cry to her�that (F)her warfare[a] is ended,� that her iniquity is pardoned,�that she has received from the Lord's hand� double for all her sins.
3
(G)A voice cries:[b]�(H)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;� (I)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4
(J)Every valley shall be lifted up,� and every mountain and hill be made low;�the uneven ground shall become level,� and the rough places a plain.
5
(K)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,� and all flesh shall see it together,� (L)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6
A voice says, “Cry!”� And I said,[c] “What shall I cry?”�(M)All flesh is grass,� and all its beauty[d] is like the flower of the field.
7
The grass withers, the flower fades� when the breath of the Lord blows on it;� surely the people are grass.
8
(N)The grass withers, the flower fades,� but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9
Go on up to a high mountain,� O Zion, (O)herald of good news;[e]�lift up your voice with strength,� O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]� lift it up, fear not;�say to the cities of Judah,� “Behold your God!”
10
(P)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,� and his arm rules for him;�(Q)behold, his reward is with him,� and his recompense before him.
11
(R)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;� (S)he will gather the lambs in his arms;�(T)he will carry them in his bosom,� and gently lead those that are with young.

12/04/2022

Dec. 4th:

Isaiah 11:10–16 (ESV): 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise a signal for the nations
and will assemble the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the LORD will utterly destroy
the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over the River
with his scorching breath,
and strike it into seven channels,
and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.

12/04/2022

Dec. 3rd

Isaiah 11:1–9 (ESV): 11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

12/02/2022

Let’s do a Christmas Advent countdown. These passages were borrowed from the biblegateway website.

Isaiah 2:2-5
2 In the last days(A)
the mountain(B) of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains;(C)it will be exalted(D) above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.(E)
3 Many peoples(F) will come and say, “Come, let us go(G) up to the mountain(H) of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law(I) will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.(J)
4 He will judge(K) between the nations and will settle disputes(L) for many peoples.�They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.(M) Nation will not take up sword against nation,(N) nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,(O) let us walk in the light(P) of the Lord.

Isaiah 9:1-7
9 [a]Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom(A) for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,(B) but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darkness(C) have seen a great light;(D) on those living in the land of deep darkness(E) a light has dawned.(F)
3 You have enlarged the nation(G) and increased their joy;(H) they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.(I)
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,(J) you have shattered(K) the yoke(L) that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders,(M) the rod of their oppressor.👎
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning,(O)will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,(P) to us a son is given,(Q)and the government(R) will be on his shoulders.(S) And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,(T) Mighty God,(U) Everlasting(V) Father,(W) Prince of Peace.(X)
7 Of the greatness of his government(Y) and peace(Z) there will be no end.(AA) He will reign(AB) on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice(AC) and righteousness(AD) from that time on and forever.(AE) The zeal(AF) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

07/11/2022

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE; WE WILL
REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.
( PSALM 118:24)

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for a new day. Today Lord we stand tall a be proud of our faith. We will not let evil in our hearts. We will share our love for you with all who will listen. Oh God, fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit and continue to guide our souls.
Amen

04/25/2022

Holy Father,
We thank you for this new day. A new opportunity to refresh our minds, hearts and souls. Keep us safe and straight on our path to you. Take away pain from those who suffer and replace it with peace. Continue to forgive and love us.
Amen

04/18/2022

Dear Heavenly Father, we pause to lift up our voices in prayer for the greatest of all gifts You have given. That gift was the gift of Your son, Jesus Christ. He willingly gave His life as an atonement for our sins. He forgave our sins and grant us eternal life when we put our faith in His sacrifice on the cross. The evidence of this redeeming work of Christ on the cross is provided by His resurrection from the tomb. We believe this was done for all who would put their faith in Christ’s once for all and finished work. On this Easter Sunday we humbly express our love and gratitude to you for the gift of Your son and our savior — JESUS! This we pray in His powerful and wonderful name. Amen!

04/16/2022

The Easter message today is the same as it was nearly two thousand years ago. The angel of the Lord declared to the women who came to the tomb as dawn began with these words, “He is not here; for He is risen.” (Matthew 28:6)

So, if you do not have a church to attend this Easter weekend, you are warmly invited to join with us to declare on Easter Sunday the glorious message the Jesus Christ is not in the tomb but he is risen indeed. Our worship starts at 10:15 a.m.

May you have a blessed Easter!
Pastor Lee

03/10/2022

Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly bow in your presence to pray on behalf of all the dear folk in Ukraine. Our hearts are broken as we hear and see the reports coming from the Ukrainians. Lord, we pray that war will be averted, we pray for families who have lost loved ones so far in this onslaught of death, and we pray for the mothers, children, elderly, and sick as they flee from the growing devastation. Lord, we join with untold numbers of other congregations and pray you will intervene and bring the war to an end. This we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.