SERMON NOTES:

Prayer Requests Y David Weems, who is struggling with job and personal issues. Y Emogene Evans, a friend of Paul & Amy Moore, who recently suffered a stroke. Y Pray for Ankur Chopra as he struggles with personal issues, as well as high fever while in India. Y Pray for Kevin & Nancy Amundsens brother-in-law Harold Martin who was diagnosed with cancer and will be having 35 radiation treatments. Y Tom Umscheid, the husband of Pastor Pauls cousin, who is going through cancer treatment in Rochester. Y Pray for John Thiessen as he undergoes chemo for his ureter/kidney/lymph-node cancer. Y Pray for Melanie Vosdinghs mother, Rochelle LeTourneau as she recovers from open heart surgery. Y Pray for Sharon Hines as she continues chemo on her lung and liver cancer. Y Carter Olson, age 7 who is in his last two months of chemotherapy for brain cancer. Please pray that Carter's kidneys will remain strong and return to normal function and that Carter will not suffer any further hearing loss. Thank-you for prayers already received.

Y Pray for Jennifers sister Rebecca Klein as their family go through divorce. Y Pray for Angelicas friend Ann, a friend and colleague, who is receiving treatment for breast cancer. Y Pray for persons and process involved in property purchase for COL.

DEVOTION
Blessing is a very important theme in the Old Testament. The form of the word is used hundreds of times. The three parts of blessing is recognizing how God has blessed us, blessing others, and then blessing or praising God. The Scriptures this week give many examples of blessing. Consider how you can be an agent of blessing this week and in the weeks to come! Enjoy! Monday, March 5 Read Genesis 1:26-31 In this last part of the Creation story God blessed humankind and then gave them authority over the earth. The verse goes like this: God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. Genesis 1:28 The idea of having dominion over the earth does not equate to dominating the earth. Instead God intended for humans

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to bless the earth. Humans are called to take the blessing that God gave them and then share it with the earth. This doesnt mean that we worship the earth, instead it is a statement about caring for the earth. This care starts with God. In the creation story God saw that the earth was good and then blessed humans. We as humans carry forth this blessing. Today, as you pray, pray for the earth. Pray that we humans can bless the earth. Pray that we in the church can be a voice for this blessing. Tuesday, March 6 Read Deuteronomy 7:12-16 One of the themes of the Old Testament is covenant. This is like a contract between God and the people of God. In this contract God promises people that God will bless them. Verses 13 and 14 share a beautiful vision of what a blessed life looks like. The people will be loved, they will increase in numbers, they will not be harmed by diseases, and the land will be bountiful in producing food. The peoples part of the covenant is they will follow the ordinances that God gave them. We dont encourage people to follow the over 600 ordinances in the Old Testament; however we do encourage people to follow God. We dont believe that life will always be rosy by following God. However people will always be blessed. This blessing is not a material blessing, but a spiritual blessing. Its the beautiful and wonderful presence of God.

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Today as you pray, give thanks for the wonderful blessings in your life and the blessing that God has given to you. Wednesday, March 7 Read Ruth 2:1-4 Blessing can be part of our daily conversation. In this story when Boaz greeted the reapers he said, The Lord be with you. The reapers responded by saying, The Lord bless you. Saying the words, The Lord bless you was part of a normal greetingjust like saying hello. We can use the language of blessing when we talk to people. When you leave someone, consider saying God bless you. Not only is this like saying goodbye, but its also like a prayer. When you are leaving a person you are praying and wishing for Gods blessing on the person. Try using the words, God bless you today. People might give you a strange look at first, but what does it matter. You are wishing a blessing on the other person. This is a wonderful gift! God bless you! Thursday, March 8 Read Psalm 103:1-22 This Psalm shares the many blessings that God gives to us. We are blessed by: Forgiveness Healing Redemption Goodness Renewal Justice Steadfast love Compassion These are obviously all reasons to share a blessing with God. Blessing God is like

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praising God. We are extolling a virtue or quality of God. Take a moment to look over the blessings that are above. Which ones are meaningful to you right now? For which of these blessings are you most thankful? As you pray today, praise God for these blessings. Friday, March 9 Read Psalm 115:12-18 The end of this Psalm is similar to the Creation story in Genesis 1. Humans are called to be agents of blessing in the world. The last two verses describe this: The dead do not praise the Lord, not do any that go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time on and forevermore. Psalm 115:17-18 Sometimes its helpful to focus on a particular person whom you can bless. This person might be someone at Chain of Lakes, or it could be a family member, a neighbor, or even someone who has bothered or hurt us. Take some time to be intentional about blessing a particular person. As you pray today, pray for that person. Ask for blessings on the persons life. If an obstacle exists in your relationship, pray that God would remove it. Through your prayer of blessing, you can make a difference in that persons life! Saturday, March 10 Read Luke 6:27-36 Blessing is not only an Old Testament theme. Jesus asks his followers to be agents of blessing. What is perhaps surprising and most certainly challenging

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is Jesus didnt ask his followers to bless the people who loved us. He asked his followers to bless people who cursed us. But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Can you bless someone who has hurt you today? Blessing this person doesnt mean we excuse what has happened, and it certainly doesnt mean we put ourselves in a situation to be hurt, emotionally or physically. It does mean that we share the blessings that God has given to us with this person. One way to start is to pray for the person. Another way to bless the person is to share a note with the person. Or even consider a phone call. God will certainly help us in blessing the person. Give God a chance today! Be an agent of blessing!