Happy Hanukkah!
A common understanding of the December holiday season is that Christmas is the holiday for Christians and Hanukkah is the holiday for Jews. Few Christians relate to Hanukkah since it is not one of the biblical feasts of Israel. But, the fact that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah should make Christians curious enough to investigate the possible importance of the festival to their faith. It is no exaggeration to say that had it not been for Hanukkah, there could have very well not been a Christmas. Hanukkah prepared the way for the birth and ministry of Jesus. Therefore, Christians may want to not...
Read MoreBranches in the Vine
His Branches has been called to bring Hope, Healing, and Restoration to our community as a visible manifestation of God’s love for the world. To listen to an inspired message about what it means to be a Branch that’s abiding in the Vine, delivered earlier today by Pastor James Laughlin at Joy Community Church, please click here. The associated PowerPoint presentation can be viewed here. We who have been grafted in through faith as His Branches believe in the coming Kingdom of God, not only as a “pie in the sky” concept of good things to come in Heaven after we die but as a present...
Read MoreHarold Lowry 1927-2014
Early this past Friday morning Susan Morehouse’s father passed peacefully into the arms of his Father with her at his side at St. John’s Nursing Home. He was 86, widowed for 7 years, and had led a full, rich life up until months before his death when a series of health reversals left him bedridden and progressively debilitated. The staff at Cloverwood, Rochester General Hospital, and St. John’s Home was an inspiration in their professional devotion to his personal care, and family and friends have been a wonderful source of support. Full details may be found for those...
Read MoreCherry Retirement Banquet
Friday night the Riverside Convention Center witnessed one of the most joyful celebrations in recent memory, the community-wide celebration of the 34-year ministry of the Rev. Dr. James L. Cherry, Sr. and First Lady Eunice Cherry at Aenon Baptist Church. Over 1400 guests came to honor the Cherrys for their gifted, compassionate, and self-sacrificial service and leadership in the Greater Rochester community over the past three decades. After a pre-dinner reception, the evening started with a color guard processional, invocation, music and worship, and dinner. Following dinner a host of...
Read MoreBlood Moon #2
If you didn’t catch our Passover post this spring, please read the attached article, written by David Kubal, president of Intercessors for America, entitled The Heavens are Speaking, and prayerfully meditate on your relationship with the God of sojourners as we embark on this fall’s Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot). With the second of “Four Blood Moons” (unusual lunar eclipses) set to occur this week – each one heralding in a most extraordinary way 4 major biblical holy days in a row, Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles in both 2014 and 2015 – may we...
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