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Trust in 'The Spirit's Help'

4/20/2011

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Trust in 'The Spirit's Help'
"When we don't know what to pray or how to pray, we can trust that the Holy Spirit knows our despair and speaks for us in ways we cannot. We can take comfort that God always knows our sorrow even when we cannot find words to express it."

Anne Rasmussen of Somerset, England, writes about “The Spirit's Help,” based on Roman 8:18-30.  You can find this devotional for Tuesday, 4/19/11 at the Upper Room Daily Devotions on the Web (www.upperroom.org/devotional). When you cannot express to God what you feel deeply in words by way of prayer, just know that God already knows. Just Trust Him. 

This scripture may be difficult to digest, and some may need help in deciphering it. You are always welcome to join us in Bible Study at Randall on Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. We also have Bible study on Wednesdays at 12 noon to 1 PM. You will learn something here, and you may grow in your prayer life, too. Just remember: God loves you and so do we. Do have a blessed day.  

James Michael Robinson

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Victory through Sacrifice

4/19/2011

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Victory through Sacrifice
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This week we end the season of Lent, as we prepare to celebrate the sacrificial death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many of us will also end  our sacrificial fasts from favorite foods or other substances or activities that we have denied ourselves for 40 days (more or less?). Our fasts commemorate Jesus' 40-day fast from food during his difficult time in the wilderness prior to beginning his earthly ministry. Our hope is to have grown closer to God, as he did, and gained a deeper appreciation of Christ's life, the lessons he taught us and the painful sacrifice he made to gain our eternal salvation through redemption of our sins.

Like Jesus, we who fasted during this Lenten season may have wrestled with temptation to surrender and return to whatever carnal delights we had chosen to sacrifice. From our beginnings in the Garden of Eden, Satan has lurked in our midst trying to tempt us to fail in our commitments to God and to turn against the creator and sustainer of our lives. He challenged  Jesus in the same way in the wilderness and at other times, no doubt.

As Rev. Brian W. Jackson said in "Tempted on Every Hand," his sermon on the first Sunday of Lent, "It is when we seek a closer walk with the Lord...and become more committed to God that we are most tempted." As our pastor explained, yielding to the temptation to sin distorts our self-image as children of God and causes us fear and shame, just as it did to Adam and Eve. Through temptation Satan seeks to "kill, steal and destroy" our relationship with, and our blessings from, our loving, almighty God.

We can only hope that Christ's powerful example of faithful forbearance against Satan and our own prayers for help from the Holy Spirit will strengthen us spiritually and aid us in resisting every temptation that would rob us of  eternal life with God. 

So how has it been with your soul during this season of Lent. Have you faced temptations? Did you resist and overcome them or surrender to them? What gave you strength and/or what caused you weakness? What advice can you offer to others from your knowledge of and experience with resisting temptation. Please share your comments here for the edification of us all.  Thanks!

--John W. Coleman Jr.
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Welcome

4/11/2011

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Welcome to Randall Memorial United Methodist Church's new Web log, or blog for short. Here we will share information, ideas, insights and inspiration from our pastor, the Rev. Dr. Brian W. Jackson, and other leaders and members of our church and community. 

Randall members are invited to contribute both posts and comments to be featured here. Please e-mail posts to randallmemorial@verizon.net for consideration and posting by site editors. Of course, we invite all friendly visitors to communicate with us and our audiences in this space by sharing your comments, your online epistles, in response to our blog posts and other comments.

So read on! And write on! Let us share our wit, wisdom and witness to edify one another and to glorify God, that we who seek to be followers of Jesus Christ may grow in grace and wisdom. Amen.
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    Author

    James Michael Robinson

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    April 2011

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    Prayer, Holy Spirit, Devotions

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Randall Memorial United Methodist Church, 1002 46th St. NE, Washington, DC 20019 * Phone 202 396-0375 * randallumchurch@gmail.com