More about a Powerful God

Hello!

I've been reading a great daily devotional called Voices of the Faithful: Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World. I didn't take it to Punta Cana so was trying to catch up by doing a couple of readings at once. It worked out that just as I was studying God's Power through Isaiah 40, I read two stories in a row about God's power in answering prayer. In the first story, two women in Africa stopped listening to a witch doctor and were blessed with pregnancies. In the second one, a missionary visiting a refugee camp in a remote area of Central Asia was asked to pray with a woman who was severely ill and blinded. The following day, two different organizations brought food and supplies. Two days later, the missionary returned to find the woman completely healed!

For more encouraging stories about God's work around the world, look up Voices of the Faithful. You won't be disappointed!

Marcie Cooper

Powerful God

Dear Friends,

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

Isaiah 40:28

We didn't quite go to the ends of the earth last week but drove six hours to the end of the island to spend a week with Paul's family in Punta Cana. It was beautiful!

After a couple days, it got really windy and I was reminded of God's power through the crashing waves.

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 Isaiah 40 talks about God's power but doesn't stop there. He GIVES his power to the weak. Many of us know verse 31:

But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

We continue to pray for strength for Paul's sister, Lisa, who has not been well but was finally given the OK to travel to visit us. It was great to spend time with a wonderful family!

Marcie Cooper

Eternal God

Hello!

At the end of every month, we watch for adoption news of referrals from China. I just saw a rumour today that they have matched SIX days of files. This is the most that they have matched since October. We are counting down the days until it is our turn although it looks like it will still be over a year to wait.

This week, my Bible study group is looking at the Eternal character of God. We are so finite in our counting of days but God is eternal. Listen to what these verses say:

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

(Psalm 90:1-2)

"I am the Alpha and Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." 

(Revelation 1:8)

What an encouragement! I'm out of internet time since we're on vacation for Semana Santa or "Holy Week." If you don't hear from me before then, have a Happy Easter!

Marcie Cooper

Creator God

Good morning!

How are you this morning? My four year old thinks there is a monster in his room and keeps coming to sleep with me in the night. I'm tired.

In the ladies' Bible Study that I've been leading, a lot of us have been tired and discouraged. We were looking for a short study to do in the next couple months and decided to focus on God's character. We need some encouragement and reminders of who God is who we are serving.

I began this morning looking at Colossians 1:15-23 and studying who God is as Creator. I decided to write out the whole passage. Do you ever do that? It helps me to slow down and really think about the words. 

Are you looking for a short Bible study to focus on who God is each day? Feel free to join us! All you need is a Bible and a journal. Here is this week's schedule:

GOD AS CREATOR: COLOSSIANS 1:15-23

Monday - Read the whole passage. Write it out if you like. Underline or write out things that jump out at you or that you'd like to study more.

Tuesday - Read the passage. Write down statements about who God is.

Wednesday - Read the passage and write out God's promises found in it.

Thursday - Read it again and note God's commands.

Friday - Read it one last time and write down a personal application.

Extra - Read Genesis 1.

Don't forget to pray as you study God's word. I love Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law."

No matter what you're studying, may your eyes be opened to wonderful things in the Word of God today!

Marcie Cooper

*Note: Today's outline has been adapted from a Quench Bible study on 1 Peter that I did in the fall: (quenchbible.com/bible-studies/kept/) It's a simple format but I highly recommend it!

Simple Sunday School

Hello!

Our little church has a big heart for kids. There is a van that picks them up for for church and AWANA and there are teachers that want them to learn about the Lord. The older kids have Bible lessons every Sunday and I am excited that now the little ones do too.

Several months ago, I started helping out with the nursery which actually went up to age four. There was a schedule but no one ever followed it because workers weren't consistent. I was hardly even in there on my actual turn because I had been in there the previous week when the helper did not show up. So I came up with a new plan. I made a list of names of people willing to help and a blank schedule for each Sunday. Then I wrote in the names of people who ACTUALLY helped each Sunday so I could keep track and not ask the same person two weeks in a row. It seems to be working although attendance is down and workers are not always present (or are helping with the older kids.) While I love teaching little ones, I sometimes find it tiring after being with my own all the time. Please pray for growth and consistent attendance among our workers. And kids! Most weeks there are five or six kids but sometimes there can be ten or twelve. Most of them are three or four years old and I found that most "teachers" were just letting them play the whole time. I felt like they needed more.

I love The Beginner's Bible and have been reading it daily with one of my children or another since our daughter was a toddler. I found it in Spanish (La Biblia Para Principiantes) and began reading a story to the children each Sunday. It was easy to find colouring pages to go with the stories (e.g., thebeginnersbible.com or calvarycurriculum.com) and all I had to do was pass it off to whoever was teaching that week. That has become my simple Sunday School.

Please pray that the children would learn to love the Bible and that their parents would also come to church and learn about Jesus.

Thank you!

Marcie Cooper

Praying Parents: 1 Samuel 12:23

Hello!

Yesterday I found a stack of cards with Bible verses on them thrown all over the floor. The chewed off corners of the package led me to believe that it was the work of my teething almost two-year-old.

Constantly biting on fingers--those teeth must hurt!

At first I was frustrated by having to clean up another one of his messes but, as I started looking at the cards, I was reminded of the excellent parenting Bible Study they came from and of my favourite verse from the series, 1 Samuel 12:23.

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way (NASB).

The Israelites has asked for a king and God allowed them to anoint Saul. Samuel confronted their sin and warned them to serve the Lord with all their hearts. He pledged to pray for them and instruct them in what was right.

As a parent, I also have the responsibility to pray for and guide my children. The question was asked in my Entrusted with a Child's Heart  study, "If you're not praying for your children, who is?" It is not just a task for today, Sunday, but every day. 

How about you? Who are you praying for? Do you find it hard to pray every day?

I hope that you will be encouraged today to pray for your children, family members, and those, like Samuel, who you are instructing in the Lord.

Have a great Sunday!

Marcie Cooper

Santo Domingo Tour: Flag & National Pantheon

Hello!

 If you have been following our tour, we last saw Fort Ozama, a fortress built on the Ozama River where it meets the Caribbean Sea. I loved how the Dominican Flag looked at the top of the tower.

Look closely at the centre of the flag. Can you see the Bible? 

Did you know that the Dominican Republic is the only country in the world with a Bible on it's flag?

So why are we missionaries here?

I had a glimpse into the answer while looking at the ceiling of the National Pantheon, just down the street from Fort Ozama.

Our tour guide explained that the painting shows what happens at the end of this life. If you are good enough, you go up where good people are. If you are bad, you go down to that place where the bad people go. Sadly, this is a common view of what happens after death. Even after working for a year with a group of Grade 2 children in AWANA, almost all of them answered that they could get to heaven by being good. I wish that I would have spoken up and asked the tour guide why Jesus had to die if we could enter heaven by our own good works. We can never be perfect like Jesus. Only by believing in Him can we go heaven, a perfect place, to be with a perfect God.

Do you believe? 

Please pray that the Dominican children we work with will truly understand why Jesus died on the cross. Pray also for their education which is one of the poorest in Latin America and for our school that is trying to help. Pray for families which are often broken and for their daily needs to be met. And please pray for us as we work with them and try to show God's love to them.

Thank you!

Marcie Cooper

Father's Day and Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

Hello and Happy Father's Day!

I have been trying to write a message about faithfulness for a few weeks but the ideas were just not coming to me. Then I started to think about Father's Day and I knew that the two had to go together. My Dad is a faithful man in so many ways. Here are a few:
- He is faithful to his Detroit sports teams no matter if they win or lose.
- He is faithful in his work at which he has excelled for over thirty-five years.
- He is faithful to his church where he has been a member since I was a baby.
- He is a faithful son and visits my Grandma and cuts her grass regularly.
- He is a faithful husband and, in July, will celebrate forty years of marriage to my Mom.
- He is a faithful father and loves and supports me and my brothers no matter what.
- He is also a faithful, loving, and giving grandfather.

Thank you, Dad, for being such a faithful father. You demonstrate God's faithfulness in so many tangible ways and I appreciate you very much. I love you, Dad!

Love, Marcie

Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness

Dear friends,

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, KINDNESS..."

Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be KIND..." and 1 Corinthians 13:4 reminds us that love is KIND.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone followed the Bible's instruction to be kind? Everyone would be nice to each other and no one would be mean or hurt others. Bullying would not exist and families would enjoy being together.

I've had people tell me that they were not interested in knowing about Jesus because Christians had been mean to them or to others in the past. If you are a Christian, are you being kind to others? Just a couple days ago I had a talk with my little girl about how we are often the meanest to the people who are the closest to us and who we should love the most. In her case, she was having trouble with a certain little brother. For some people, it is a parent or spouse or friend. As Christians, we should be even more kind because we have the Holy Spirit to help us. If you are not a Christian, I hope that you will find Christians who show kindness to others and that you will come to understand God's kindness especially in sending Jesus to die on the cross to make a way for us to spend eternity with Him.

I hope that my words and actions this week will be kind and that yours will as well.

Sincerely,
Marcie Cooper

Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

Hello!

At bedtime since Easter I have been reading Bible stories to my kids about what happened after Jesus' resurrection. He walked with two men on the road to Emmaus. He appeared to his disciples and then to Thomas. He helped them catch fish and served them breakfast early one morning. He left them with the Great Commission and then he went up in the clouds back to heaven. Two men in white told the disciples that He would return the way He had gone.

Here we are around 2000 years later and Jesus hasn't returned yet. Why? 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that it's because of His patience. He is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

As we wait for His return, we are also told to be patient. Not only patient in circumstances and in waiting for Him, but also to be patient with other people. That's the kind of patience listed in the Fruit of the Spirit. For me, for example, that means being patient with my husband and my kids and the children I work with in AWANA. It isn't always easy, especially when I'm tired, but it's possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. It's possible for you too.

I hope you have a great Sunday and that you show God's patience to those around you!

Sincerely,
Marcie Cooper

P.S. Here are links to other Fruit of the Spirit covered so far:
- love
- joy
- peace

Fruit of the Spirit: Peace

Hello!

How are you? Can you answer using a word other than "fine" or "good?" Do you have peace?

I must admit that I can be a terrible worrier. I often get anxious and forget about God's peace, especially if I am not spending enough time praying and reading my Bible. I worry about my kids and our health and about silly things that will probably never happen. When I start to feel like that I quote Philippians 4:6-7 to myself. It says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." 

God's peace is not just the absence of war or worries or fears. It is more than we can imagine! Ephesians 2:14 even says, "He Himself is our peace." I'm glad that I serve that kind of God. I can pray to Him about anything I'm worried about and He can take care of it and help me not to worry.

Do you have that kind of peace? It comes first from believing in Jesus' death on the cross to bring peace between us and God. It is not the kind of peace that the world gives. It is more than we can understand or imagine.

Have peace!

Marcie Cooper

Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

Hello!

"The fruit of the spirit is love, joy..."

I wanted to write about joy a couple weeks ago but woke up that day feeling tired and grumpy. Then we went to church and saw five people get baptized. The pastor said, "I baptize you with joy!" I remembered that my Bible study talked about true joy coming from our names being written in the Book of Life in heaven. It really was a joy to see those five people obey Jesus and show others that they want to follow Him. Their names are written in the Book of Life and they have a future in heaven!

How about you? Is your name written in the Book of Life? Leave a comment or see this post if you have questions about the cross. There is no greater joy than knowing Jesus!

Marcie Cooper

Fruit of the Spirit - Love

Hello!

Over the past few months, I have been doing a Bible study with some other ladies on the Fruit of the Spirit. The first in the list found in Galatians 5:22 is love. It is easy to love people who love us and are nice to us but God wants us to love like He does--unconditionally, no matter how we feel. The Greek word is agape. God loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) and sent Jesus to die for us before we ever believed in Him. When the Holy Spirit lives in us we can love others with God's agape love.

I will never forget being at an outdoor wedding where a boy quoted 1 Corinthians 13 in pouring rain with thunder and lightening over the lake behind him. Nothing could stop him from loudly reciting the "love chapter" that is all about agape love. It is the kind of love that we need to be reminded of over and over again.

My challenge for you (and me) is to read 1 Corinthians 13 this week. Pray for God's help to love your family and friends with His agape love this Valentine's Day. I'd love to hear how it goes!

Love, Marcie

David and Goliath

Hello!

It took me a long time to get my little monkey to bed tonight. He picked out three books (since he's three) and we read his current favourite Bible story, David and Goliath. We sang "Only a boy named David," "This Little Light of Mine" and "Jesus Loves Me" until my arm got too tired from doing the actions.

David did great things as a boy, with God's help. He killed a lion and bear and fought Goliath with a sling and stone when everyone else was too afraid. Later he grew up to be king and, while he wasn't perfect, he was called, "a man after God's own heart." My little boy is still learning. I hope that someday he will be like David--that he will trust God to do great things and that he will grow up to be "a man after God's own heart."

Whoever you are, I hope that you will also trust God like David and become a man or woman after God's heart.

Goodnight!

Marcie Cooper