
Faith Family Fellowship
"People Building Relationships Through Fellowship"
Our purpose is to build a church family of believers that is equipped, this family is to take its place of ministry and service through relationship and fellowship with God and with one another, and to reach out as an extension of God's love and grace to the people around them.
Pastor's February 2025 Letter
In verse six the end result of the Lord being our Shepherd is “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.” “Goodness” refers to blessings. “Mercy” refers to forgiveness. Finally “we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
This last verse is the only one that refers to heaven – our eternal home.
​Dear Beloved of Faith Family Fellowship,
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Greetings in the name of the Lord. In the light of all the negative happenings in our world I want to share with you concerning five words that will help us know how to respond to God’s Word instead of the happenings around us. Let’s examine each of these five words:
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FIRST “DISTRESSED”-​​
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Psalm 4:1 says, “…thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress”… In the Hebrew this word means “affliction, anguish, tribulation and trouble”. In Luke 21:25 it speaks of “distress of nations.” The Greek word means “anxiety and anguish. Romans 8:35 the Word “distress means “calamity and anguish”. What we understand here is that being distressed comes from our looking within to our own strength. The world’s pressures are beyond our human ability. The answer is not looking to ourselves but looking to God’s Word for the power to live in these last days Jo
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SECOND “DISTRACTED”-
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Philipians 4:6 speaks of not being anxious and full of worry. The Greek thought means “to draw in different directions. To be anxious to the point of distraction.” In Numbers 13-14 the children of Israel were distracted from God’s will and their destiny because of giants. The giants became bigger to them than God. Many times our circumstances can seem bigger to us than God. In Luke 10:38-42 there is a contrast between Mary and Martha –the balance between living in the presence of God and serving. The amplified version of verse 40 says “But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted…” Martha, without the presence of God through prayer and the word, was full of anxiety and trouble about many things (verse 41). By not staying in prayer and the Word she deprived herself of God’s wisdom, strength and peace for life’s pressures. Mary on the other hand faced the same pressures and yet gave herself to the presence of God (prayer and His Word) and was sustained by His wisdom and ability. What we understand here is that being distracted is due to looking around ourselves to the pressures instead of God’s presence, His Word, His strength and ability
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Looking ahead to the new year we must put God first in everything. We must put His Word first place and let it be the final authority in our lives. Let’s all commit to never be too busy for Him. Never to be too occupied with other things to fellowship with Him daily. Never to be so consumed with the affairs of this life that we are not doers of God’s Word. Never to lose sight of right priorities God has outlined in His Word for us. Not to lose our focus – Jesus Christ – all that He has done for us in redemption and all that He is doing in and through us now by His Spirit and His Word.
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THIRD “DISMAYED”-
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In Joshua 1:6-9 God tells him not to be dismayed as he leads the people into the Promised Land. The Hebrew Word for “dismayed” means, “to break down by confusion and fear, to discourage and terrify.” This was in reference to taking the greatly fortified city of Jericho. In 2 Chronicles 20:1-22 there was great dismay over being surrounded by three armies arrayed against Israel. So they overcame by God’s presence and power released through prayer and praise. In I Samuel 17:1-52 God’s people were dismayed by Goliath a type of the devil until David came on the scene with faith in God and His Word. What we understand here is that being dismayed comes from looking ahead.
​Saul and the armies of Israel were focused on the fear and terror of the circumstances instead of on the promises of God that give faith and hope. David’s focus was in looking ahead with faith and hope in his heart through God’s Word confident God would put him over.
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Though circumstances may seem impossible we serve the God of the possible. Thank God we can look to Him through His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to direct us to victory one step at a time.
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We love you,
Pastor Ron and Betsy
1. A refreshing and renewing of His Spirit and Word.
Through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ He has become our Shepherd—Lord on a personal level. Everything we could ever need or desire has already been provided for us in Him. He is everything we need Him to be to us. Our redemption in Him has made sure of that. That is why it is important that we as His sheep not just try to know the Psalm. We must come to know the Shepherd in the Psalm. For it is in knowing intimately the Shepherd in Psalm 23 that we begin to understand the fullness of our redemption and all that God has made available to us in Christ. As you meditate on Psalm 23 allow the Holy Spirit to bring it alive to you in your heart. Let Him reveal to you all that the Shepherd is to you and all that you are to the Shepherd as His sheep. It will transform your thinking and change your life.