This week we were treated to a short message from Home Church Leaders Axel and Erika Dyckerhoff who head up a home church in Divide, Colorado. We hope you find this encouraging as we press into 2022.
Erika writes:
Each year we read the Christmas Story as a family and this year, something stood out to me this year I'd like to share with you. In Luke 1 where the angel comes to Mary and tells her that she will give birth to the Saviour of the world, to Jesus Christ.
Her response is not one of doubt, but simply practicalities! 'How can this be seeing as I do not know a man?' I'd like to frame this in terms of what we've been going through as a global community in the last couple of years. They have been unprecedented times for sure, but the Lord is calling us to bring His Kingdom through the lives that we touch.
You might be asking, like Mary, how can I do this? How can one person make a difference in this world? The angel says, The Holy Spirit shall come upon and you shall receive power. Well, that's true of us today. We have received the Holy Spirit and His power and indeed, as the angel says, Nothing shall be impossible for God. We have the same power that raised Christ from the dead inside of us as believers.
Mary's response is a witness to us all; 'May it be done to me according to your word.' And that's what I want to encourage you with today. It's God's power but we respond to His Word. Believe it and receive it as you step into this New Year and God will empower you to do all He is calling you into.
Axel writes: A passage that ties in so well with what Erika has shared is Isaiah 40:20-31, which is no doubt familiar to you but has great significance as we press into another New Year. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Another word for 'wait' is 'hope'. To hope in the Lord. It says we will gain new strength as we hope in the Lord and in the next verse it tells us how. Wings like eagles is an image of us as a new creation. When we are born again we rise up on wings like eagles with the power of the Holy Spirit and gain a new perspective, a divine perspective. When we see things from His point of view we will gain new strength, not grow weary or tired, but soar above the situations and circumstances of everyday life. So let us encourage ourselves and each other in who we are in Christ, to put our hope in the Lord and be lifted above the daily circumstances that will try to drag us down. So we leave you with Romans 15:5-6;
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Hope, Upstream Worldwide Ministries
Happy New Year Everyone!
Watch the Dyckerhoff's New Year's Message clip, below.
