Thursday & Friday updates showed trends going in the wrong direction. By evening on Friday, Dick’s abdomen was huge & his doctor made the decision to call in a bariatric surgeon. The decision was made to open up Dick & look for a problem. Thankfully, the surgery revealed a very expanded, ruptured large intestine which the surgeon removed. Since the small intestine does 90% of the work, we are thankful that it is working well! Liver in trauma is being worked on in a variety of

We ask for urgent prayers for Dick this evening. Specifically, we pray for an accurate diagnosis and successful surgery tonight. Dick is in very serious condition with his stomach severely distended and his liver is not working. We also pray for Phyllis and family to have peace through this time.

From Elizabeth Cram Morris: Pulmonary care team just came by. He is about the same. Main concern is the liver, the numbers are very high. I told them we would ask the prayer teams to specially pray for the liver to wake up. They think that is the main cause for him not responding or waking up very much. Thank you!

Dick continues to breathe on his own with intubation backup if needed. He is still not awake, but does react some to being touched. Doctors are content with slow progress, and blood draws, IVs, scans and X-rays continue to give information for treatment changes. He is still critically ill, but unbelievably better than last week. Thank you for your continuing prayers!

Dick continues to breathe on his own with the intubation giving him a breath when needed. He is still not awake, but staff is balancing lots of things and content with his progress. Machine continues to eliminate fluids at the rate of 100 ml/ hour. He is tolerating sustenance through a nasal tube. Dick’s regular hematologist who monitors his blood with his RA doctor is now involved, too. This is great since she knows his history. Kidneys and liver are getting much attention.

by Jeff McDermott Heavenly Father, We thank you for this day. We thank you for our many blessings. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, we are so thankful for the faith, virtue and courage of our founding fathers who risked everything. We thank you for their deep faith and biblical worldview. We acknowledge that Our Rights are granted to us by You, our Creator, and not by an earthly king or government. We only bow to you, Lord, the One Tru

Heavenly Father, the earth is Yours, and everything in it [Psalm 24:1]. We give thanks to you for the blessings you have bestowed upon the United States of America. Everything we have comes from Your hand, and we give to You these tithes and offerings as an act of worship and thanksgiving, honoring You with the firstfruits of our blessings [Proverbs 3:9-10]. Multiply these gifts to advance Your kingdom, bringing hope to the weary and freedom to the captives in our community.

Almighty Father, we come before you today to express our gratitude for your grace and mercy. You, Lord have heard our cries for mercy and you accept our prayers. Through the power of Jesus’s death and resurrection, you have grafted us into your kingdom and made us heirs together with Israel, members together of one body who share together in the promise of Christ Jesus. I pray that you will strengthen us with the power of the Holy Spirit for Christ to dwell in our hearts. Giv

Father God, Adonai, Our Lord and Master, Looking at the Sermon Title “Devoted”, the first thing that came to mind was the song “Hopelessly Devoted to You” and I thought that we should all be hopelessly devoted to you. You quickly pointed out that we truly are “hopelessly” devoted to any human or anything, because we cannot truly trust and depend on them. We are to be “hopefully” devoted to You, because You are the God of Hope, and Jesus is our Living Hope. Your Word is true a

May was an especially busy month with the celebration of Mother’s Day, a baby blessing, our 1st certified Lay Minister (Susan Monroe), and Pentecost. As we transition from Spring to Summer and Holy Times to Ordinary Times, we endeavor into a new sermon series based off of JD Walt’s devotional on the Book of Ephesians, “Unpuzzled.” There are countless people in the world missing pieces in the big picture of God’s Story. As Christians and as the Church, we need to make sure we

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all His benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Praise the Lord! Psalm 103: 1-5 And now a prayer by- J. Veltri, S.J. Gracious God, on this Memorial Day weekend, we remember and

Father, we freely bring our tithes, offerings and gifts to honor and glorify You. Thank You for sending Jesus that we might have eternal life. We dedicate these to You and release them to multiply and fulfill Your kingdom purpose. Lord, You remind us in Philippians 4:19 You supply all of our needs according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus, so empower us with Your Holy Spirit to equip us to Go and Tell others about Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen

Lord Jesus, the risen Christ, today we celebrate your ascension into heaven where you sit at the right hand of God, victorious over sin, death, fear and the grave, and reigning eternally in majesty, authority, and glory. As we meditate on the significance, help us to “keep our eyes on things above” rather than temporary things of this world. Shine Your light into the darkness, shine on us and through us to others. Be the lamp unto our feet. * Remind us that our true citizensh

Come let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come to Him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to Him for the Lord is a great God, a great king above all gods! He holds in His hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to Him for He made it. His hands formed the dry land, too. Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker for He is our God. We are the people He wa

Happy Mother’s Day to all the godly women out there with “sticky” faith. Today, we had a wonderful brunch, organized by the valiant men of our church for our ladies. We learned about the importance of having a “sticky” faith like Jochebed, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary, Lois, and Eunice from the Bible. Like glitter, we want a faith that sticks around, shows up when we least expect it, and is hard to get rid of. Who are the women of faith in your life? If you can, give them a call t

Almighty Father, It is good to give thanks to You, Adonai, Master, Ruler, Savior, It is good to sing praises to Your Name Elyon, Most High God, to tell in the morning about Your grace and at night Your faithfulness. Yahweh, You make us happy and fill us with joy in what Your hands have made. We proclaim: How great are Your deeds, Adonai! How very deep are Your thoughts! Some people don’t know or understand who You are. The powers of darkness and the things of this world have

Dearest Heavenly Father, Master, King, Creator, We will rejoice in this day that You have made. We celebrate this day because of Your great love for us, which is pure and holy. We celebrate because Your love endures forever. And we celebrate because nothing can separate us from Your love that is ours in Jesus Christ. Almighty Father, thank You, for giving us Your Son and thank You for revealing to us the truth of Jesus Christ, the truth of His sacrifice, and the truth of His

Today I was blessed to preach one of my favorite sermons. I’ve preached it at every church I’ve ever served. It’s a sermon called “The Chair- Salvation by Faith”. Using my great-grandfather’s priceless, beautiful, strong and antique Arts and Craft rocking chair, I like to demonstrate a practical way to teach about salvation by faith from Ephesians 2:8-9. Salvation is like a wonderful chair. You didn’t make it or purchase it (grace). You need it to hold you (salvation). You ha

Father God, We come this morning, waving our palm branches, celebrating, rejoicing, singing songs of praise! Your triumphant entry gives us hope and joy, and we shout “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!!” What a glorious day! Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who came not as a conquering king, but as a humble servant. He came to save us from sin and death. He is the way, the truth and the life, and the only way

Heavenly Father, We give you thanks and praise for Your Son, Jesus--The Way, The Truth, and the Life--who came to earth to save us! Jesus did all that was required of him, fulfilling all of the prophecy, and paying the ultimate cost of His life for our salvation. And today, on Resurrection Sunday, we declare and celebrate His victory over death as the Risen Christ. You offer us life that overcomes death, light that overcomes darkness, and hope that overcomes our deepest despa