Living Under God's Good Design

As our nation and our community continues to live in a state of uncertainty and unrest, allow me to share a thought. 

Some things are just evil.  They can be feelings, events or even people.  Joseph was one of those people who experienced evil things.  You see, Joseph was his dad's favorite and it went to his head.  Joseph couldn't help but throw this fact in the faces of his brothers.  Instead of killing Joseph and solving the problem, they instead sold him into slavery.  This horrible, backstabbing act of betrayal, led to a very long season of pain and suffering in Joseph's life.  Sure, it worked out in the end, but that doesn't erase the evil.  Remember what Joseph said about the evil actions of his brothers?  He said, "As for you, you designed evil against me, but God designed it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are to today."  This incredible story of human trafficking and betrayal in Joseph's life had an evil design, first by his brothers and then by Potiphar's wife, but with this same event, God's design was good.  Joseph, as he sat in jail, had to decide which design to live under, God's good design or the evil design of his brothers.  That's a hard one to accept.

Anything that you and I experience, whether good or evil, lives under the sovereignty of God and contains two choices for us.  Like Joseph, everyone of us makes a daily decision to live under God's good design or the enemy's evil design.  As we continue to experience evil, the question is a simple one..."Whose design are going to live under?".

Please join us this Sunday at 9:30am, as Pastor Norm continues our series, "Gazing at God's Glory".  Our focus will be on John 1:35-51.  In this story, Jesus tells Nathanael that as a disciple, he "will see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man".  With this statement, Jesus is letting the disciples know that the glory of God will be seen throughout his ministry.

There are two options for accessing our Sunday service:

1.  Attend our live "in-person" gathering.  No reservations are required and we will continue to follow all necessary COVID guidelines.  Please wear a mask so we can keep everyone safe and healthy!

2.  We value our online church community and will continue to livestream our church service at 9:30am for those who wish to participate.  Also, don't forget to stick around after the service for our "after-church zoom gathering".  We start at 10:45am.

Also, it is not to late to sign-up for our Parkside Women Zoom Discipleship Class titled, The Sermon on the Mount.  This online class, led by Melanie Annes and Melissa Predmore, meets every Tuesday at 7:00pm
 
You can register for this class on our facebook page.  Here is the link:  www.facebook.com/events/712020736392195

Nominations for Church Council
If you know an active member of Parkside Fellowship with outstanding leadership ability, you can nominate them by submitting their name via email to doug.boyd@parksidefellowship.org or there will be submission forms available on Sunday.  All submissions will be due no later than January 18th.

Thank you for being a church that values prayer!

"See" you Sunday.

Pastor Doug