New Year Messages
Greetings!
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Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. – St. Luke 2:14
This was the message of the angels and “a vast host of others - the armies of heaven – praising God” (St. Luke 2:13b NLT)
As they worshipped, they brought a message of PEACE to the world.
In a world that is torn by war and strife both globally and locally, the message of peace is still relevant. May I emphasize that peace is not always the absence of war but that which denotes wholeness or completeness. The Apostle Paul states – “And ye are complete in him,…” (Colossians 2:10a) and the prophet Isaiah assures us – “Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee : because he trusteth in thee.”
As we emerge from the festive season of 2023 into the year 2024, let us embrace this message from the Lord through Isaiah 44:3&4 (NLT) – “For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my spirit (of power and peace) on your descendants and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass like willows on a riverbank.”
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Blessings.
Rev. Valerie V. Blake
Rev. Brictoni Williams
As part of the Ministerium of the EOBC, I implore every believer to endeavor to build a personal relationship with the Lord. The signs of the time speak definitively that the coming of the Lord is very near. Therefore the need for a closer walk with God is an urgent call.
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To this end I encourage us to do whatsoever is necessary to get a fuller understanding of the Word of God. 1 Peter 2:2 says as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that he may grow thereby. The Bible reveals Jesus as the Bread of Life, He is the Word (John 1:1) He is the Truth and the Light of the world. By reading, listening to and meditating upon His Word, we get to know Him, and know about Him.
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Also, our prayer life must be built up and maintained. Paul in 1 Thess. 5:17 implores the believer to pray without ceasing. In Eph. 6:12 we are warned that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Let us, by the help of the Holy Spirit, be alert, and stand firm in faith and prayer, so that when the battle is over, we will be still standing.
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Giving God the honour and the praise due to Him is critical for an intimate relationship with Him. Psalm 95:6 – O come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. With our lips and our lives, with our words and our deeds, with all of our being, with clean hands and pure hearts, give God worship (John 4:23-24).
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The song writer echos it well when he says:
“Everyday, every hour, let me feel Thy cleansing power, may Thy tender love to me, bind me closer, Lord to Thee.”
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Let this be our sincere desire for 2023 – a closer intimate walk with God.
Minister Courtney Walters
It has been a year filled with many challenges. Each step of the way God was with us and He brought us through.
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"We have come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in His Holy Word, He’s never failed us –yet". So let us continue to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), knowing that God is faithful to His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).
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Great is His faithfulness. May His goodness and mercy continue to follow us.
Deaconess Juanita Harvey
Superintendent - Sunday School/
Christian Worker
Deaconess Deidre Virgo
We've come this far by faith and by the abounding grace of God, we can continue to purposefully press forward towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus.
I pray that we be more confident in 2023, that He which hath begun a good work in us will continue to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation of Him. Be therefore strengthened by the might of His Spirit, rooted and grounded in love.
A prosperous 2023 to all.
The end of another year is here and we can all agree that our God continues to be faithful. As we cross over to 2024, let us remain steadfast in our Lord and continue to look to Him, the author and finisher of our faith. I pray that 2024 will make us even more resilient, will allow us to refocus and to be continually refreshed by the Holy Spirit.
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Let us cross over with the knowledge and assurance that our God is faithful and able to keep us and to complete that which He has started.
Happy New Year.
Deaconess Christine Brown
President - Marriage Enrichment Ministry
Colossians 3:13-14 NIV
“13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”.
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As we approach the year 2024, the Elim Marriage Enrichment Ministry takes this opportunity to encourage spouses to truly clothe ourselves with love for one another even as Christ demonstrated His love for us by giving of Himself and dying on the cross.
As a ministry we believe marriage plays a critical part of our walk with Christ as it forms the backbone of the family structure. God compared marriages to the church and so the onus is on us as a people to continue to seek ways to improve and enhance marriages no matter the state it may seem to be in. Marriage therefore requires effort and continuous work with much prayer.
Marriage involves spiritual, emotional, and physical closeness. Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”. This means married couples are meant to be unified in every possible way.
We therefore encourage couples to involve themselves in the Marriage Enrichment Ministry where we seek to foster love and care for one another and reinforce Christ like qualities for couples to emulate.
