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"And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…" --Acts 2:42 How devoted are you to the Word of God? Are you committed to reading, to knowing, to understanding, and to letting the Word of God transform your life? Now, you may say, “I am devoted to God’s Word. I go to church. I listen to the sermon every week.” And that’s good. But you shouldn’t stop there! You and I need to be completely devoted to spending personal time in the Word of God. Do you know why? Think about that very first church created by God on the Day of Pentecost. The Scripture says that these new followers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” The apostles were teaching the Word of God from the Old Testament, as well as from all that they had observed about Jesus, his life, and teachings. God’s Word was essential to the survival of the early church, to strengthening each new follower, and to growing the church. And it remains essential today. Devotion to the Word of God is an unchanging hallmark of the empowered church. I challenge you to devote yourself to the Word. Spend time in the Scripture every day. Put your whole heart into knowing and growing in God’s Word.   PUT YOUR WHOLE HEART INTO KNOWING AND GROWING IN GOD’S WORD. Thursday, December 13, 2018 A Birth and a Banquet by Dr. Paul Chappell “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:7–9 Though we are not given a great amount of detail regarding Heaven, the things we are told are so wonderful that they are beyond our ability to fully comprehend. One of the exciting things that will happen is the great banquet that will be held to celebrate our eternal union with Jesus Christ. In the Jewish culture, every wedding was celebrated with a feast to honor the new couple. This is the picture God gave John in Revelation 19 of what lies before us. However, none of that would have been possible without the coming of Christ to be our Saviour. As we celebrate His birth at Christmas, we are marking more than a birth. It was a momentous event that changed both history and our eternal destiny. The promise of Heaven is only possible because of the willingness of Jesus to come to earth and take on a human body. Christmas is a time for happy celebration, not just of what God has already done, but the wonderful things that still lie ahead. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Feast, Christians, feast; you have a right to feast... But in your feasting, think of the Man in Bethlehem. Let Him have a place in your hearts, give Him the glory, think of the virgin who conceived Him, but think most of all of the Man born, the Child given. I finish by again saying, A happy Christmas to you all!” Today’s Growth Principle:  Do not let anything steal the joy of Christmas from your heart On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines. Isaiah 25:6