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Dearly Beloved,

$1,000 went missing. 

We turned our bedroom upsidedown several times and we couldn't find it. About ten years ago I had carefully tucked $1,000 cash into what I thought had been a safe hiding place in our room. It was a back-up savings stash that I had set aside for a special purpose. 

Then one day, it disappeared. 

Around this time we had been hosting all kinds of neighbours and guests, often in large crowds, in our home sometimes multiple times a week. Some of these people were friends of friends who were coming to explore faith in Jesus. We learned from time to time that some people came out of fairly colourful, sometimes criminal, past lives. I resigned myself to the fact that one of these such characters must have carefully slipped into our room without being seen and rummaged around until they found the ten one-hundred dollar bills bundled together. 

We were devastated. 

What is one of the most valuable things you have that you would not like to see lost or stolen? 

Over the past number of years, the thing I would dread losing the most is actually my Bible. Now before you roll your eyes and think "sheesh, pastors!" let me explain. I have been using the same Bible for my devotions for more than a decade. I have all kinds of passages that are underlined and messy notes scribbled throughout it. 

I truly love the Bible, but I especially love THIS Bible, because of the years of history I have with it. I'd hate to lose it! Side note: I am in my mid-forties and am beginning to find the print is somehow getting smaller - ha! So, at some point as age continues to catch up to me it is inevitable that I will need another Bible...or just reading glasses. 

In recent weeks we have shared our CPC 2025 Prayer Priorities. Today I want to give a moment for us to think about the first prayer priority together. 

1.  That we would love reading the Bible.

While it might be a good thing that I happen to really love the Bible I have at present. What is more important is that I actually love reading the Bible! Why? Because it is the greatest way in which I can grow in my love for Jesus and grow in discovering His love for me.

We want everyone in our church family to love reading the Bible. But not for the purpose of loving the Bible, but for the purpose of loving Jesus! 

Bible reading is an absolutely vital and crucial part of a relationship with Jesus. 

Last year we prayed that children and teens would love reading the Bible and we saw God miraculously answer this prayer in the lives of many young people. May God do this among us all! 

  • Let's pray that this grows our love for Jesus.
  • Let's pray that through Bible reading this year we will BEHOLD JESUS and HEAR HIS VOICE. 
  • And let's pray that most of us read the Bible 4x or more a week this year. Why 4 times or more? If you missed hearing about the scientific data resulting from those who read the Bible 0-3x a week vs those who read 4x or more a week, you can read about it here: https://www.cpclife.com/blog/the-bible-is-boring

Do you hope to grow in your love for Jesus this year? Would you like to love reading the Bible more this year?

Me too!

Let's pray. 

Pastor Mike 

Ps - several weeks after we had given up searching for the lost $1,000, I happened upon it (all of it!) right where I had hidden it. It wasn't lost after all... I just couldn't feel it among the other things in that spot with my hand when I had been reaching in my previous panicked searches. What a relief!