Hi there my friends,

            I’m at the part in the book of John where Jesus clears out the temple. He had gone up to Jerusalem and had discovered that people were selling cattle, sheep and doves in the temple courts and they were exchanging money. He made a whip of cords and drove everyone out. He flipped over tables and scattered coins. And he said,
            “Get these out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”    
 
            That’s pretty intense stuff. It got me thinking how we are the temple of God now. Christ dwells within us. Is our house, our temple, our bodies and souls, devoted to God or have they become markets where everything but God is honored and embraced? 

            Jesus’ zeal for us to be devoted to God is the same now as it was then. He wants us to be holy and pure in His sight. He has even died on the cross to make that possible. But are we living with the same kind of intensity and focus to be wholly devoted to Him?

            I know life is busy and there are a lot of things going on that are demanding our attention. This is why we need to increase our energy in turning our hearts towards Jesus. If we don’t, He will disappear into the background and our lives will become infinitely less than they were designed to be.

            We were meant to be filled with the presence and joy and delight of the person of Jesus. Let’s clear out anything that stands in the way of that.

            This weekend Pastor Jim will be bringing us his last sermon as a pastor here at ACC. I am excited about what he is sharing. We are talking about the Shield of Faith and Jim and Teresa are taking great steps of faith in their life journey.

            We will also be hearing from our missions’ team about some significant steps of faith that they are calling us to be a part of as we reach out and help people from around the world. I hope you can be there this weekend to be challenged in your faith.

            On Sunday afternoon, the elders and I are joining Michael and some youth to serve the homeless in Red Deer. If you would like to join us, you can meet at the church at 1:30pm. If you can’t come but would like to help with providing food, you can sign up here:  https://www.mealtrain.com/potlucks/k0753r and we will bring that food with us when we go.

            Hope you have a great weekend. I love being your pastor. See you Sunday.

Pastor Tim