Pastor Jessica Chen

From as early as I can remember, I learned that Jesus loved me and that I wanted to love Him with my whole heart. But despite my best efforts, I would find myself in negative thought patterns, having moments of anger, being tempted to hide the truth, feeling shame or fear, the list goes on. My walk with Jesus felt close at times and at other times, it felt so far away. I didn’t know much about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, until later in my adolescent years. I didn’t know that there was a power from God available to me, to help me live for Him every day.

At Christmas, we often sing the song, “Joy to the World”, a song that announces the good news about the birth of Jesus, who is Lord and King over all the world. A key lyric in the song includes this: “Let every heart prepare Him room and Heaven and nature sing.” We sing this phrase with excitement and often times casually, but what does it mean to prepare Him (Jesus) room in our hearts?

Sometimes the hardest people group to pray for is family, because there may be a lot of history, years of unresolved issues, or perhaps despite your best efforts, it’s unclear how they will ever make the decision to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Not to mention, discouragement can often

With God, there is always hope! He really does see the upper story of our lives and He can be trusted! God wants us to look to Him, just as He wanted the people of Israel to look to Him and to seek Him with all their heart. No matter how hopeless things may seem, our Heavenly Father, has a plan and purpose for our lives that goes far beyond what we can possibly think or imagine!

The greatest gift we can give kids is our faith in Jesus, a biblical worldview, a stable home where God’s love is central, and our engaged selves. As my sister put it, raising a child is like raising a soldier for God – not necessarily for a physical battle, but for a spiritual one.

The church is God’s family, it’s God’s remedy for loneliness, and it’s God’s strategy for bringing His Kingdom on earth. No matter your family situation or marital status, this is good news for all of us who follow Jesus! We never walk alone. God has given us His family all over the world, but especially in our local church context. That being said, this profound and exciting truth comes with a challenge to each of us who desire to live out Jesus’ command to love each other as God’s household of faith.

Whether you have clear goals or maybe you are still figuring out what this year will look like. Let’s be sure to remember these three essentials: Love the Lord your God, Obey His Voice, and Cling to Him. Just like the people of Israel who were entering into a new phase of their journey with God, filled with hopes and fears, we may not know all that will happen, but we can trust the Lord who is faithful and who’s love for us never fails.

The power of thanksgiving cannot be underestimated, as it is a key factor in our daily happiness (or contentment). If so much of the world pursues it, wouldn’t it make sense to pay attention to what determines it? As followers of Jesus, we have the benefit of knowing the God to whom we give all thanks, glory and praise. He is our source of everything we need, and in His power, we can grow to be a thankful people. Our happiness is not dependent on what we have, on what we can achieve or on what we do, but rather, it is found in knowing the God who loves us and becoming more aware of His goodness in our lives.

I suppose this topic is not just for kids or parents, but for anyone who has ever felt scared or is feeling scared about something even now as you are reading this. The key to prayer against feelings of fear, is to first know the One you are praying to, know what He has promised you, speak the name of Jesus, feed your spirit, and move toward the things in your life that bring peace.