Pastor’s Ponderings: Cheer Up!!!
The following devotional was submitted by our pastor, Rev. Jim Bolton, on 8/30/14… Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” We live during very intense times. There seems to be pressures everywhere we go in life. The culture just seems to be so serious, so detail oriented, even lamenting about so much, that the Biblical mandate of being joyous is forgotten (see Psalms 100:1, Psalms 98:4, Psalms 98:6, John 15:11, John...
Read MorePastor’s Ponderings: How’s Your Reflection?
PLEASE READ: Ephesians 4:17-5:2 “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not...
Read MoreGod is Good (8/24/14)
Pastor Jim’s sermon on August 24 continued our look at the Attributes of God. So far we’ve seen that God is Awesome, Holy, and Faithful. This morning we looked at God’s Goodness.Click on the “Play” button below, then scroll down to follow along… The text for the sermon came from Psalm 86:1-13 and Nahum 1:7. Click on the arrow to open up the scripture… Scripture Readings Ps 86:1-13 Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. ...
Read MorePastor’s Ponderings: Holy? Us? Really???
Greetings Friends;I want to offer a word of thanks to all who participated in some way with worship yesterday (Sunday August 10, 2014). You all were wonderful and the presence of the Holy Spirit was obvious. In a follow up to yesterday’s focus, I offer this humble reflection below. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PLEASE READ: Leviticus 11:44 “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 But just as He who called...
Read MorePastor’s Ponderings: God is Faithful- Even in Hard Times
As a follow-up to yesterday’s services (August 17, 2014), I offer the following for our reflection. God Bless. Pastor Jim ********************************************************************* PLEASE READ: Lamentations 3:22-26 “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassion’s never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those...
Read MoreGod is Faithful (8/17/14)
Pastor Jim’s sermon on August 17 continued the series on the Attributes of God. In recent weeks we have looked at God’s Awesomeness and God’s Holiness. This week we look at God’s Faithfulness. Click on the “Play” button below to start listening to the sermon (from the 11:00 service). Scroll down to follow along. The scripture was from Lamentations 3:21-25. Click the arrow to open up the passage: Lamentations 3:16-27 16 He has broken...
Read MoreMorning by Morning New Mercies I See
Pastor Jim’s sermon on August 15 was about God’s faithfulness as shown in Lamentations 3. Morning by Morning New Mercies I See… One of the hymns that most of us know is based on today’s scripture: “Great is thy Faithfulness.” The refrain includes the line “Morning by morning new mercies I see…. All I have needed Thy hand has provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.” There is a lily-type plant which produces flowers that...
Read MorePastor’s Ponderings: A Nice Face Embrace
Greetings Friends: PLEASE READ: Ezekiel 34:12 & 16a “As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness…… I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak” +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”...
Read MoreWhat are You Following?
Today (August 14, 2014), the following message was posted on our church signboard: FOLLOW US @PITMANUMC FOLLOW GOD @PRAYER OK. Admittedly, this might be a shameless attempt to bring in more followers to our church Twitter account. People follow Twitter accounts to read Tweets- short comments about whatever’s on the tweeter’s mind. Even if you’re not into Twitter, aren’t we all “Following” something throughout the day? When somebody cuts you off, an...
Read MorePastor’s Ponderings: Compassion for the Broken
The following devotional was written by our pastor, Rev. Jim Bolton… PLEASE READ: Mark 6:32-44 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to...
Read MoreOrdinary People Set Apart to be Holy (8/10/14)
Pastor Jim’s sermon on August 10 continued our look at the attributes of God. Last week we looked at His Awesomeness and power. This week we look at His holiness. Click the below “Play” button to listen to a recording of the sermon (from the 11:00 service). While you’re listening, scroll down and use the summary to follow along (and don’t forget to try the quiz!). The text for the message was from Isaiah 6:1-8. Click the arrow below to open up...
Read MorePastor’s Ponderings: God’s Amazing Goodness
Friends: As part of my ministry over the years, I have written and prepared many devotionals. I am continuing to write them as the Holy Spirit leads and time allows. The Pitman UMC, where I am proud to be serving as Senior Pastor, will begin posting them on our website. If you would like to be added to the growing email list, please write me and let me you would like to receive these as an email from me. You may email me at: revbolton@pitmanumc.org Grace and Peace, Pastor Jim...
Read MoreDon’t Give Up! (Camp Meeting, 8/3/14)
Don’t Give Up! On Sunday August 3, PUMC was the host church for the Pitman Camp Meeting service in the Pitman Grove Auditorium. Our Men’s praise Team provided the music and our pastor, Rev. Jim Bolton delivered the sermon. Click below to listen to a recording of the sermon and follow along by reading this post… Pastor Jim’s message was on Matthew 11:28-30. Matt 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke...
Read MoreWhat an Awesome God! (8/3/14)
Pastor Jim’s sermon on Sunday August 3 posed the question, “what is awesome?” We throw around that word so much that we allow it to describe almost anything. Could it be that our trivial regard of God’s True AWESOMENESS has led us to regard God in our own limited terms? Could it be that the God who created the universe is actually awesome enough to care about us? Here’s the audio recording (from the 11:00 service). You can listen to the sermon while following...
Read MorePray for Missionaries in Honduras
One of the items topping our national news lately has been the flow of children from Central America to the US who are fleeing the violence and poverty in their homelands. The politics may be controversial, but the story reminds us that we need to be in prayer for missionaries around the world who are our “boots on the ground” ministering to the poor and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. World Gospel Mission (WGM)… Missionaries Joy Phillips and Meg & Scott Rambo have...
Read MoreRed Letter Bibles need to be Read!
Bibles come in all shapes and sizes- paperbacks, leather bound, thin paper, thick paper, pages with big margins, pages with study notes and devotions. And then of course there are many many different translations- King James, New King James, New International, New Revised Standard, New Living, and on and on. Some Bibles have a large font and are thick. Others have a small font but can slip into a pocket. Some Bibles print the words of Jesus in red text. Some Bibles have a family tree and...
Read MoreA Road Trip to Heaven (7/27/14)
What’s heaven like? Pastor Jim’s sermon on July 27 took us into the book of Revelation to take a look at the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21:8 – 22:5. The title of his message was, “A Road Trip to Heaven.” Scroll down to the bottom of this post to access the audio recording… Here’s the scripture passage (Revelation 21:8 – 22:5)… Click here to learn more 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as...
Read MoreTime to Dust Off the Bible (7/20/14)
Time to Dust off the Bible. Do you have any Bibles laying around that you haven’t read in a long time? Is it time to put them to use? Check out Pastor Jim’s sermon from Sunday July 20. The recording at the end of the post is from the 11:00 service. You can scroll down, start the recording, and follow along while listening… The sermon covered 2 Kings 22:1-13. Here’s the text (using the New International Version… note that Pastor Jim read from the Life...
Read MoreThe Voice of God is Calling (7/13/14)
Pastor Jim gave his 2nd sermon at PUMC on Sunday July 13. His text was from John10:1-5 and Acts4:5-12. The title of the sermon was, “The Voice of God is Calling”… John 10:1-5; The Sheep Hear the Good Shepherd… In John 10, Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. The sheep (us!) hear His voice and recognize that it’s Him. Not only do they recognize His voice, they obey His voice and they are able to tune out all of the other noise and static...
Read MoreWho Am I? (7/6/14)
On Sunday, July 6, Pastor Jim Bolton was introduced to our church as our new pastor. Pastor Jim’s first sermon was entitled “Who Am I?” It was both an introduction to the new pastor and also a probing question into our own relationship with Jesus Christ.The scripture for the message was from Matthew 16:13-16 and from Joshua 1:1-9. Yeah, but who do YOU say I Am??? In Matthew 16, Jesus asks His disciples two questions. First, “Who do people SAY that I am?” ...
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