“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”
~John 16:7-8 (ESV) ~
IF LIFE WERE LIKE A COMPUTER
There are four common computer functions that I have learned I can’t live without.
CTL+ H. In Microsoft Office programs (and some other programs) when you press the Control key while holding down the H key, a box pops that allows you to search and replace. You can search for every instance of California and replace it with Arizona, or every instance of football and replace it with baseball, and so on.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could do that in real life? Search for all the arrogance in my life and replace it with humility. Search for all my laziness and replace it with productivity. Search for all my sin and replace it with obedience.
CTL+ Z. This is the undo function. When I’ve made several design changes to a PowerPoint presentation or a newsletter blog that I’ve decided aren’t going to work, I start pressing CTL + Z until the page looks the way it did before I started making changes.All my bad sentences and design decisions get undone.
I wish I could do this in everything. When I say something stupid or do something wrong, I wish I could start pressing CTL + Z to get rid of the mistakes to make that dumb thing I did disappear forever to make those wrong words spoken be forgotten forever.
CTL+ S. This function saves everything you’ve done up to this point. If your computer crashes, it’s no problem when you reopen the file you will still have everything up to the point in which you last saved your work. I still remember several years ago writing a complete sermon and, just as I was finishing, the computer inexplicably shut down. I hadn’t saved my work for quite some time and when my computer came back I learned that everything after the introduction was lost forever, just because I didn’t press CTL + S. Extremely frustrating.
I wish that when I make spiritual progress I could CTL+ S my progress to make sure I never go backward from this point on.
C:\*.* I haven’t had to use this one in a long time, but back in the old days there were times when my hard drive was so junked up that the only solution was to wipe everything out, get out my DOS disks and re-install everything from the beginning.
Sometimes in life it seems like this is what we need: the ability to wipe the board completely clean and start afresh.
Though in real life none of these functions are as easy as pressing a couple of keys on the keypad however, there is a sense in which God does this work in us.
The Holy Spirit examines our hearts and points out those things that shouldn’t be there. One of His ministries is to search for what is wrong in our lives and help us replace it with it what is right convicting us of sin and righteousness as Jesus said in John 16.
And though we can never undo the past, we can be forgiven for it. God has promised,
“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I remember their sins no more.”
~ Hebrews 8:12 (ESV) ~
The responsibility for the CTL+ S is on us: Paul said,
“Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”
~ Philippians 3:16 (ESV) ~
Just like we need to save our work when we’re sitting at the computer, we need to strive to save our progress as we grow in the Christian life.
And, thank God, he still offers the FORMAT option. When a person’s life is wrecked by sin, God has provided a way to wipe the slate clean, remove all the ugliness from the past, and start over.As Paul said,
“
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) ~
Blessings on your week and may we each allow God to work his goodness in our lives. I do look forward to seeing you this Sunday, as we look at what God’s Word says about our spiritual lives. TheApostle Paul will tell us why we must always be ON GUARD.
Pastor Terrell
P.S.As I shared last Sunday morning, I am inviting all of you who wish to join me in an Easter Devotional Reading in March to do so. I have chosen a 12-day Devotional Reading in YouVersion published by InterVarsity Press. We will begin on March 20th and complete it on Easter Sunday. Be watching for more details to follow in a couple of weeks.
P.P.S. I can’t believe that I never hit CTL + S until I just finished this whole blog! Writing about it does not compute to doing it I suppose.
with our activities.
ScheduleforSunday,March3,2024:
The Saints Class @ 9:00 AM
Ruth Class @ 9:00 AM Room #202
Prayer Room open @ 9:00
Preschool Worship opens in Morning Worship In-Person & Online @ 10:30
Kidz4Christ K-6th dismissed during Morning Worship Schedulefortherestoftheweek:
Tuesday@ 10:00 AM Men’s Bible Study
The 10 Women’s Bible Study
Wednesday@ 6:20 PM CHOIR REHEARSAL Room #203 @ 6:30 PM Youth Group
Thursday@ 6:00 PM AAEO Prayer Event
Friday@ 2:00 PM Good News Club
Who can you invite?
Easter Sunday Musical Presentation
First Southern’s Celebration Singers
March 31, 2024 10:30 AM
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR NORTH AMERICAN MISSIONS:
Sunday, March 3, 2024Sunday, March 10, 2024
This Week’s Opportunities
MEN’S BIBLE STUDY
Tuesday Mornings
10:00 AM in Room #202
EASTER CHOIR REHEARSALS
WEDNESDAYS @ 6:20 PM Room #203
Tuesday 10:00 AM Fellowship Hall
IF YOU NEED HELP OR ASSISTANCE
Deacon of the Week:
Don Smith
928-642-2425
YOUTH GROUP
STUDENTS in grades 7-12
Wednesdays 6:30 PM Fellowship Hall
PRAYER EVENT
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2024 6 PM in Fellowship Hall
@ Franklin Phonetic School in Prescott Valley
Fridays from 2 PM to 3 PM
Morning Worship at a glance
“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
“His Name is Wonderful”
“Days of Elijah”
OUR ROCK
Welcome & Offertory Prayer
Kidz4Christ dismissed
“I Will Wait For You”
“Great is Thy Faithfulness”
“We Will Remember”
FIRST CORINTHIANS
Good News for the Not-So-Good
On Guard
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
“Show Me Your Ways”
“We Will Remember”
with our worship
Offerings and Connection Cards will be collected in the Offering Boxes located just inside the two main entrances into our Worship Center, as well as in the Office Hallway.
A Life Giving Church … Giving Life
2820 N. Pleasant View Drive
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314
928-772-7218
fsbcpv@firstsouthernpv.org
www.firstsouthernpv.org
Church Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 8:30AM - 2:30PM
Senior Pastor Terrell Eldreth: 619-244-6265
PastorTerrell@firstsouthernpv.org
Worship Pastor Bart Young
928-254-8713
PastorBart@firstsouthernpv.org
Advancing the Kingdom of God one heart at a time.
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