Every resource at our Awake Us Now website is FREE. Our resources available are: videos, podcasts, study guides, eBooks, prayers, webcasts, music, printable Bible verse sheets, testimonies, stories, encouragement, and more.

Visit our Last Days webpage which is particularly relevant considering the current climate of unrest in America.

Pastor Dodge has a video series featuring short-clips of timely encouragement for America, with an urgent call to “Wake Up, America!”

Our Sunday Message and Worship (9:30 am CT) and Tuesday Bible Class (9:30am CT) are available via live webcast and on demand from our website, our Facebook page, and our podcast page.

We invite you to view Pastor Dodge’s testimony, “Tell Them.”

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“Awake Us Now with Pastor Dodge,” a 1/2 hour daily teaching M-F (and Saturday in some markets) plays on Christian stations across America. See our Radio Program page of our website for a list of stations and times. To listen to the daily broadcast on demand, go HERE. Or search for Awake Us Now Ministries on your favorite podcast platform.

“Bible In A Year with Pastor Dodge” is a 1 hour video, podcast and radio broadcast.  The program will take you through the Bible in a year. Join us as we study each book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Listen on demand at our Bible in a Year webpage.

Looking for some worship music? Check out Pastor Kevin’s music page on our website.

We have downloadable brochures and Bible verse sheets. Check out our list for Bible verses here and our list of brochures here.

And thank you for joining us in prayer for America. May our Lord hear our prayers and answer!

Dear Friends,

Thank you for joining us during our 40 Days of Prayer for America and in praying heartfelt prayers for God to break through our country’s current rebellion and to bring forth revival.

Let us continue to seek God’s face in earnest, to come before Him in humility and to continue to pray for our country that we all dearly love. God loves it too and He loves all who live in it.  He wants them all.

During these 40 focused days of prayer,  we asked God to heal our land, turn hearts back to Himself, restore families, rebuild homes, remake marriages, restore communities, break down hostility between groups, and that He would bring revival to each of us, then the church and then to America. We prayed for a wave of revival to break out across America and beyond.
What did God do in your life during these past 40 days? In the lives of those around you?  We’d love to hear your stories! Reach out to us at 612-545-5654 x3 and tell us what God has done, or is doing! Or email us at mail@awakeusnow.com with your story.

If you would like to chat with one of our staff or would like prayer, please reach out by calling Pastor Kevin at 612-545-5654 x4  or Care Minister Bob at 612-545-5654 x5 or staff member Ann at 612-545-5654 x6. Or simple text us at 612-545-5654. Or email us at prayer@awakeusnow.com.

In closing, let us continue to go forth into the world with the Light of Jesus shining. Let us testify to His love with everyone we interact with and let His Light shine forth in the darkness.

God’s abundant blessings,
Pastor Chris Dodge

Bible Text: Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

These are the Last Days

In these last times, these last days, Jesus is calling us back to Himself. That isn’t accomplished through mindless religion, or through halfhearted faith, but through wholehearted commitment to Him. It’s about having a true relationship with Him! The times we live in can be pretty unsettling due to the unsure nature of events happening in the world around us. But as Paul said NOTHING can separate us from God’s love, not our hurts or pains, not what’s going on around us, NOTHING can separate us from the love that God has for us because of what the Savior did for us! That is a truth we can hang onto!

We all need a Savior and Jesus is that Savior. What He offers is not a little religious instruction and not merely a little spiritual knowledge. What Jesus offers is Himself and that changes EVERYTHING! It changes you, it changes me and it changes the world!

What is your relationship with God like? Is it personal or do you hold Him an arm’s length away? What qualities might one find in a relationship with God? Openness, honesty, unconditional love, forgiveness, communication, … (add to the list) Are those qualities evident in your relationship with God? How do others, those around you, view your relationship with God?

Prayer: Thank Jesus that because of what He did on the cross, nothing can separate you from the love God has for you. Talk to God about your relationship with Him…. Ask Him to help you share and engage in your relationship with Him in a way that others around you will notice. Ask God to help you let others see His love in you and ask God to begin to change them, too.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

Click the button below to view Pastor Dodge’s Last Days Resources.

Bible Text: 2 Chronicles 6:21
"May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive."

A praying remnant can change everything. A remnant of believers has the ear of God, it’s just that simple. And I believe one of the reasons in these desperate days why God has restrained a hand of judgment upon our land is because of a remnant of pray-ers.

We need to understand how serious the times are. We need to understand that this is a serious and difficult day. We need to understand that the church has often fallen asleep, and we need to pray that God would turn the hearts of His people back to Him. Unless the hearts of His people return to Him the nation will never turn back to Him. The nation will not turn because we say, “You’re doing bad and terrible things.” The nation turns when the hearts of God’s people turn to Him in repentance and say, “Lord, have mercy on us.” A heart that is humble before God, is a heart that God can use to change and motivate the hearts of others.

Take Him seriously and understand the critical nature of this hour. Come before the Lord in constant prayer recognizing that politics will not change the future, but prayer turns the nation around. Prayer is heard by God who does incredible things. If the prayer of Elijah could turn Israel back from drought to fruitfulness, then the prayer of a remnant can change our land as well. Rather than spending our time moaning and groaning about what is happening, and what is going on with our morality, and what is taking place in our culture, I believe God is calling us to be on our knees before Him, and to understand when the enemy says, “Oh, one person can’t do anything about this,” that one person with God is a majority! One person with the living God is one who is equipped with power to change the future!

The Lord is calling us to take Him seriously and take prayer seriously. You can vote, you can express your opinions, you can display your flag, but in the end the prayers of God’s people alone can turn the land around, beginning with the church.

Prayer: Join with us as we get down on our knees today to pray for America.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

Bible Texts:
James 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
2 Chronicles 6:21 "May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive."

“The world is shaking today, dear friends, and it’s not because we have gotten so good, it’s because we have wandered so far. And the Lord is using a brutal and evil force to call His children back to himself, that we might understand how deep the root of evil and sin is in this world and how much we need the only One who can redeem and reclaim us and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming King. In Hezekiah’s day, Hezekiah saw that reality, and he took to heart what God was saying. Today God is calling you and me to do the same, to take to heart what we are seeing and what He is saying and to be people who hear His voice and respond to His truth, and follow where He leads.

The Bible says, “The prayers of a righteous man avail much before the living God.” The scripture says that the Lord listens to the prayers of His people. The scripture cries out, “I would that at least one would stand in the gap, but none were found.” But in Hezekiah’s day they were, and one of them was Hezekiah, and that’s what we see in 2 Kings 19. And I believe it has much to say to you and me today. This does not simply speak to the church of Jesus in general, it speaks to His followers in particular. It speaks not only to others, it speaks to you and to me. And God is saying to us in these dangerous days, turn to me all the ends of the earth and be saved. God is saying to us at this time,  look to the one who is the Holy One of Israel, the One who is faithful and just and true, the One who loves His children, the One who desires to deliver them from the sword and from tragedy, from danger, and from the might of the enemy.

A praying remnant can change everything. A remnant of believers has the ear of God, it’s just that simple.

We need to understand how serious the times are. We need to understand that these are serious and difficult days. We need to understand that the church has often fallen asleep, and we need to pray that God would turn the hearts of His people back to Him. Unless the hearts of His people return to Him, the nation will never turn back to Him. The nation will not turn because we say, “We’re doing bad and terrible things.”  The nation turns when the hearts of God’s people turn to Him in repentance and say, “Lord, have mercy on us.” A heart that is humble before God, is a heart that God can use to change and motivate the hearts of others.

Take Him seriously and understand the critical nature of this hour. Come before the Lord in constant prayer recognizing that politics will not change the future, but prayer turns the nation around. Prayer is heard by God who does incredible things. If the prayer of Elijah could turn Israel back from drought to fruitfulness, then the prayer of a remnant can change our land as well. Rather than spending our time moaning and groaning and lamenting about what is happening in our cities,, and what is going on with the pandemic, with our morality, and what is taking place in our culture, I believe God is calling us to be on our knees before Him.  

Understand that when the enemy says, “Oh, one person can’t do anything about this,” that one person with God is a majority! One person with the Living God is one who is equipped with power to change the future!

I believe the Lord is calling us to take Him seriously and take prayer seriously.

Prayer: Join with us as we get down on our knees today to pray for America.

Prayer: Humbly come before God today and prayer earnestly for America. Be assured, He hears your prayers for the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

Bible Text: Jeremiah 31:34
“And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

You and I know how hard it is to forgive someone who has wronged us deeply.  And how even harder it is to forget!  But that’s exactly what God has done for you and me.  On that historic day, when Jesus of Nazareth died on that cross, when the only innocent person to walk this earth was unjustly crucified for crimes he did not commit, that’s the day this NEW COVENANT was enacted.  It was for our crimes (sins committed willfully and unconsciously) against God, that Jesus suffered.

Jesus gives an illustration (parable) of this event in Matthew 18:23-35.  A servant owed his king “a million dollars” and couldn’t pay it back.  When the servant pleaded for mercy, the king forgave that enormous debt!  Like this servant, our debt was enormous and unpayable.  And like the king, God forgave our debt, by paying for it with Jesus’ blood.  Can you imagine how this changed the life of that servant, now freed from that unspeakable burden?  You and I have been freed from an even heavier burden.  That’s his love and mercy toward us.

Fully realizing what Jesus has done for us, changes everything!  God has forgiven our debt and remembers our sin no more!  He forgets our offenses forever!  Incredible.  As we take in the magnitude of this act of love, it causes us to live for God willingly, serving him with our whole lives.  Will you let this reality sink in?  Will you receive this free gift through faith in Jesus Christ, and live out of gratitude to him?

There’s a second part to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18.  This freed servant now goes to a fellow servant who owes him “a thousand dollars”, but refuses to forgive him, and throws him in prison.  The king hears of this and revokes his mercy towards the original servant.  Jesus’ point is, when we fully realize God’s mercy toward us, we are then to forgive others the relatively small offenses others have committed toward us.  In light of what God has done for you, will you forgive others their debt towards you?  This is one of the most heavenly acts you and I can do, demonstrating God’s mercy to another.  Will you step into this flow - receiving his mercy, and offering it to others?

Prayer:  Lord, let the magnitude of your forgiving and forgetting of my sin, sink in.  Then help me forgive others, demonstrating your love in the lives of people around me.  Give me supernatural power to do this, that these “offenders” around me may experience your vast love as well.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NLT)
“'But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,' says the Lord. 'I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,' says the Lord.”

Jesus, before his arrest and crucifixion promised, “when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative - that is, the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26).  Jesus also said, “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.  He will tell you about the future.  He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me…the Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me” (John 16:13-15).

Jesus is connecting what the prophet Jeremiah predicted, with you and me today, as post-Pentecost believers.  He promised that through the work of the Holy Spirit, we would know God, we would know what he Jesus said and did, that he would “write his instructions in our hearts."  He promised a renewed, intimate relationship - that he would be our God, and we would be his people.

Jesus also said, “when he (the Advocate/Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (John 16:8).  Everybody, no matter who they are or where they live, will know who God is, will be convicted of their need for God and be aware of the urgency to confess Christ before the Final Day.  The Holy Spirit is making sure of it.

Prayer: Will you let the Holy Spirit teach you everything about Christ, and will you allow him to draw you into a closer relationship with him?  Will you also pray for others to receive the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing them to God? Make the answers to these questions, your prayer.  Holy Spirit, this is my prayer.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Jeremiah 31:24-25
“Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness. For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”

What an amazing promise from God through Jeremiah, the prophet’s prophecy.  With this NEW COVENANT God promised in Jeremiah 31, which Jesus established in 1 Corinthians 11:25 (“this cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me”), we now experience through faith in him!

This new covenant promises our relationship with God is renewed and forever sealed. He also promises a person to person relational effect.  “Townspeople…farmers…shepherds” were often adversarial toward each other in Jeremiah’s day, fighting for land, for dominance, for wealth, etc.  But as each person’s relationship with God was renewed, it changed the way each related to his neighbor.

God promised he would do this today, and is unfolding this promise even now.  Wall Street financiers, laborers, executives, teachers, artists, farmers, royalty, celebrities, construction workers, etc. - all, no matter their station, can “live together in peace and happiness,” just as Jeremiah prophecies.  For God has given “rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing” through Jesus on the cross and empty tomb.  He has made irrelevant our station, work status and class, and established us as brothers and sisters in Christ.  He has positioned us as members of his Body, with himself as our Head.

So instead of taking out our “weariness” and “sorrow” on each other, we lean into each other as members of one body.  We compliment each other, help each other, live at peace with each other and even love each other.  That’s what he has in store for you and me, who confess Christ as Lord.  Will you let him give you relational peace with others?

Prayer:  I’m sorry, Lord, for taking out my fatigue and sorrow on others.  I receive your gift of peace to share with others.  I press into you, Lord, to redeem and restore the relationships I’ve blown up.  And place my expectation in you to see this prophecy realized, with rest and joy for us together.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Jeremiah 31:31-32
"'The day is coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,' says the Lord."

What Jeremiah predicted in “the day is coming," is now here!  The “new covenant” he prophesied, Jesus fulfilled when he said, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mark 14:24), when he instituted the Lord’s Supper with his disciples.

The old covenant, like a wedding vow between God and his people, kept getting broken as God’s people, committed spiritual “adultery," by going after other gods and rejecting his way.  This landed them in Egypt as slaves, for 400 years.  But God showed his incredible and tangible love by freeing his people, renewing his relationship with them and taking them to the promised land.  He renewed his vow, in an unbreakable marriage covenant, to love his people like a faithful husband loves his wife.

You and I, as God’s people (through faith in Christ) are also recipients of his new covenant!  What we did to create a barrier between ourselves and God, has been paid for and wiped clean on the cross.  

You are no longer your own, or the world’s, or worse, the evil one’s.  You are part of the Bride of Christ, with an unbreakable promise, that he will love you no matter what.

Will you let “the day is coming” be TODAY?  Will you respond to this new covenant, by placing your trust and love in Jesus Christ?  If so, you will experience him “taking you by the hand” and bringing you out of slavery, from all things evil, to himself, to his embrace!

Prayer:  By the authority of Christ’s name and according to his promise, I declare THIS DAY to be the day I respond by renewing my marriage vow with God.  To love him back, as he has first loved me.  To forsake all other “lovers”, and to live today as Christ’s alone.  I want this for my fellow citizens of this country as well, Lord.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Texts:
Jeremiah 31:11 "For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them."
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."
I Corinthians 15:57 "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Have you experienced that sinking feeling of being overpowered by a bully?  When you knew there was no way to defend yourself or fight back?  The people of Israel experienced this at the hands of the great Babylonian military in the 6th century BC.  Israel was easily overpowered.

Jeremiah, the prophet, predicted something that seemed impossible, that they would be freed from the Babylonians by God himself.  And it happened!

You and I face an even greater adversary, the devil.  He seeks to use every weapon at his disposal to try to crush us, and drag us to hell where he is headed.  We, by our own power, are helpless.  But that’s why Jesus came, “to redeem Israel (believers in Jesus) from those too strong for them”.  Jesus overcame the evil one’s power, and offers you and me the power to overcome as well.  Overcomers by the power unleashed in us through Jesus' death and resurrection!

Jesus says in John 16:33, even though we experience trouble and pain from the evil one, Jesus says, “take heart,” be encouraged, for he has overcome the world and everything from the evil one!  

There are various forces of evil at work in our world and our country today.  The more we look, the uglier it appears.  This is real.  But what is even more real is the power of God, through Christ’s resurrection!  This same power lives in you and me.  This is the Holy Spirit’s work within us!  Will you turn from obsessing over the evil in our day, and instead, look to Christ to help you overcome?  Will you “take heart” by noticing what he is doing in this country, and in you?

Prayer:  I admit the evil one is too strong for me.  But I receive you, Christ, and your resurrection power in me.  Help me overcome the evil one, day by day, as I rely on you alone, Jesus.  Help our people, the citizens of this country, to find strength and courage, by receiving your overcoming power, Lord Jesus.  This is my urgent prayer.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Texts:
Jeremiah 31:1 (NLT) "'In that day,' says the Lord, 'I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.'"
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "'The day is coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,' says the Lord. 'But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,' says the Lord. 'I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,' says the Lord. 'And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.'"

The prophet Jeremiah spoke by the direction of the Holy Spirit, of a time when God would establish a NEW COVENANT, in the midst of God’s people breaking the first covenant, when people turned away from the one true God and chased after other gods.  Jesus, in the upper room with his disciples, marked the beginning of that NEW COVENANT.  This is how it happened.

“Jesus took some bread...gave thanks...broke it in pieces and said, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'  In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood.'"  1 Corinthians 11:24-25 (NLT)

As believers in Jesus, you and I are recipients of God’s enormous grace.  We were like an unfaithful spouse, running after other lovers.  Christ not only paid for this breach, he established a new level of intimacy, in which he would commit to “being our God” and we would forever, “be his people”.  Every time we take the Lord’s Supper, we remember what he did for us, and recommit ourselves to him.  Will you recommit yourself to him today?  Will you let him be your God and Lord, and enjoy his care and intimacy towards you?  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I do not take for granted the monumental work you did on the cross for me.  Help me to grow in deep gratitude and take today as an opportunity to live for you fully.  And may the people of this nation, one by one, turn from other “gods”, and put their faith in you alone, enjoying this wonderful intimacy with the God of the universe!

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

WE WILL BE OFFERING A GATHERING TONIGHT (11/1/22) AT 6:30PM CT FOR THE LORDS’ SUPPER, PRAYER AND WORSHIP. Pre-registration is required.

When: Nov 1, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting using the button below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Bible Text: 1 John 4:16-17
"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world."

Today, we will continue with 1 Corinthians 13.  Paul goes on to say, “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in truth.”  Boy! How important it is for us to internalize this considering we live in a world where evil reigns.

Paul continues, “It always protects, always trusts.” That’s trusting God, by the way.  “It always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” And it never fails because God never fails, because the Lord Jesus did not fail to go to the cross for you and me, because he did not fail to rise from the grave and because he will not fail to return. And so until He returns He says to you and to me, “The measure of a real follower of mine is one who loves in the way I do.”  

There is no way I can do that on my own, but I also know something else.  God‘s Holy Spirit who dwells in you and me, gives us supernatural power to love like Jesus.  Our Lord is speaking to each of us today and He is reminding us of the incredible importance of not simply letting our light shine, but letting our LOVE shine, because that love is His love. It is built on His love. it is anchored in His love. It is refined by His love. It is practiced because He is great and His word is true and it is possible to share it through His Spirit dwelling in us.

Oh, how we need to take sharing His love to heart.  It is why the Scriptures remind us time and again of the importance of showing true love.  We are called to practice what Jesus says, “A new commandment I give you. Love one another, even as I have loved you. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Prayer: This is my prayer, help me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to love ALL. Lord, make me truly understand how much you love me and help me to live out that love each day and as I live each day in You, grow my love and give me the strength to live like Jesus.  Let me share Your love with everyone. Amen.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

WE WILL BE OFFERING A GATHERING TOMORROW AT 6:30PM CT FOR THE LORDS’ SUPPER, PRAYER AND WORSHIP. Pre-registration is required.

When: Nov 1, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting by using the button below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Bible Texts:
1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus’ character, the character of the Living God, is His love endures forever.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud.” Put another way, because God so loves me I will be patient with others even as He has been patient with me. Because God so loves me I will be kind to others even as my Lord Jesus has been kind to me. Because God still loves me, I will not envy others who have more than I have, but instead I will rejoice with them. Because God is all in all, I will not boast because everything I have, I did nothing to merit or earn, therefore I will not be proud.

The apostle Paul continues, “Love does not dishonor others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs.” What happens when you and I put this type of love into practice in our lives with our family? With our friends?  And, yes, even with those who are hostile toward us? What does love like this do? The answer is, it speaks volumes! It communicates in a way that nothing else can match because living like this is a living reflection of the Lord Jesus Himself and that changes situations.

It also changes us!  We become different people. There’s no way we can do this on our own. God‘s Holy Spirit through the incredible gift of Christ Jesus makes this not only possible, but DOABLE!  Even when we slip up, we have One who picks us up, dusts us off, shows us His enduring, faithful love and says,  “Now, go on from here.”  He is a good and gracious and loving God and His faithful love endures forever, and it is that love, His love reflecting in us, that He wants us to share.

Prayer: Thank You for Your faithful, enduring, steadfast love! Thank You for Your gracious goodness that is given to me daily. It is my desire to share Your love with others. Make me an instrument of Your love with my family, my friends, with strangers and even with my enemies. I want to shine with Your Light and Your Love.  May people see You through me. Amen.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

WE WILL BE OFFERING AN ONLINE GATHERING FOR THE LORDS’ SUPPER, PRAYER AND WORSHIP. Pre-registration is required.
When: Nov 1, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting by clicking the link below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Bible Text: John 13:34
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

I’d like to share a great story that comes out of China that I think is a powerful portrayal of Jesus’ kind of love.  It is a true story told by a man by the name of Watchmen Nee. Watchman Nee was an incredibly brave and courageous Chinese Christian teacher and author of the 20th century. He endured great persecution.  He was a man who lived his faith and he told a story about a fellow believer in China.

This fellow Christian believer had a rice patty next to another rice patty that belonged to a communist official. Every morning the Christian got up and worked a pump that was basically built around a bicycle. (You would pump with your feet and it would pump water from the river into the rice patty.) Every morning the Chinese Christian pumped that water into his field and as soon as he was finished and left, his communist neighbor came and removed the boards that separated their two rice patties allowing all of the water to flow into the communist official’s rice patty. As the believer understood what was going on, he cried out to God. He said, “Lord, I need this rice patty to provide for my family and if this keeps up I’m not going to have any rice and we are going to be in absolutely desperate straits.” It was at that point in prayer that the Holy Spirit revealed to the believer what to do next. On the next morning the Chinese Christian got up earlier than ever, went to the rice patty and removed the boards, went to the pump and watered his neighbor’s rice patty.  Then he put the boards back in and watered his own.  He did that day after day and in a matter of just a few weeks both rice patties were flourishing, but something else happened. His communist neighbor became a follower of Jesus, because you see, genuine love speaks to even the most hardened of hearts.

Love, dear friends, is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching. It is at the heart of what it means to be a genuine and true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is something that you and I need to take seriously in our lives, especially as we find ourselves in these days, on display to the world and questioned by many. We’re living in a time when many are incredibly hostile to the things of God and, I might add, often hostile to those who follow the Living God. Yet our response is not to be one of anger and bitterness. It is not to be one of outrage. Instead, it is to be the very thing Jesus spoke, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” Because the true measure of discipleship, the genuine indicator, the ultimate indicator, is Love.

Prayer: Lord, I want to be like Watchman Nee’s friend who displayed genuine love to his neighbor.  I want to return love to all, to those who are easy to love, but also to those who are difficult to love, and even to those who have hurt me or even hate me. Fill me with the heart of Jesus. Remove any outrage, anger and bitterness in me and replace those with genuine Love, like the ultimate Love shown to me by Jesus, who came not just to give His love to me, but because He came to give His love to ALL. Help me be part of passing that Love on. Amen.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

WE WILL BE OFFERING AN ONLINE GATHERING FOR THE LORDS’ SUPPER, PRAYER AND WORSHIP. Pre-registration is required.
When: Nov 1, 2022 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
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Bible Text: Jeremiah 31:10
“Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.”

Sheep, when scattered, are vulnerable.  Without a shepherd, sheep are helpless, and often doomed.  The picture, the prophet Jeremiah is painting, is true in the natural, and even more true in the spiritual.  We are like sheep, who often turn away from God and do our own thing, rendering ourselves helpless and doomed spiritually.

That’s why Jesus Christ came, to be our Good Shepherd, to gather us to himself, to protect us from the evil one, and to care for us as his own.  A sheep knows his shepherd’s voice, and you and I know our Lord’s voice.  Jesus says this in John 10:27, “my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me."

For all the “rugged individualism” we like to talk about in America, we actually are very much like sheep, who need a Shepherd.  And that’s what Jeremiah, the prophet, predicted many years before Jesus was born.

Today, Jesus is gathering people from all the “nations of the world”, and we are seeing large movements of people coming back to God.  Will you let Jesus “shepherd” you?  Will you let him gather you to himself, watch over you and care for you?  Read John 10 for yourself and hear what Jesus says to you.  Then let Him in.

Prayer:  I recognize that I am vulnerable, because I have turned away from my Shepherd and Lord, I am sorry.  America is also vulnerable, wandering aimlessly, on its own, away from the Shepherd.  Shepherd me, Jesus, for I am your sheep, and I need you.  Shepherd all the people I care for, as well.  Gather them and draw them close to you, Lord. Shepherd America, it needs you! We need you!! I ask this from the bottom of my heart.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Jeremiah 31:7-9
"'Save your people, O Lord, the remnant of Israel!' For I will bring them...  from the distant corners of the earth. I will not forget the blind and lame, the expectant mothers and women in labor. A great company will return! Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father.”

The people of Israel had been exiled, taken from their own land and deported to another.  This was a natural consequence of their rejection of God, their Father, and choosing other “gods” and doing things their own way.  But God loved them with a faithful, unfailing love.  So he brought them back home again.  Notice he brings EVERYONE, even those we’d consider vulnerable or weak?  Notice the people’s reaction - tears of joy!  Notice how he prepares the way home - beside quiet streams (a constant, fresh, water supply) and on smooth paths, so no one stumbles.  This was an historic event that happened to real people.

As significant as this homecoming was for the remnant of Israel then, it’s even more significant to us today, what Jeremiah predicted through Christ’s coming.  Through the cross and empty tomb, by placing our trust in Jesus, you and I are considered the “remnant.” You and I are being freed from our adversary (slavery to sin, eternal death and the power of the evil one) and being led “home," back to a close relationship with God now, to be with him forever.  

The “new covenant” Jeremiah predicted in chapter 31:31-32 is unfolding NOW, among us.  People are coming back from their “exiles” and coming back to God.  They are turning away from the “gods” of this age, and putting their trust in Christ Jesus.  They are experiencing the “tears of joy,” the “quiet streams,” and “smooth paths” he is providing.  Will you let him free you and father you?

Prayer:  You are not only Israel’s father, you are my Father.  I receive the freedom you are providing for me, freedom from my adversary, and freedom to be in daily relationship with you.  Not only me, but would you help each person that is locked up and exiled to experience your freedom. I pray the see the Truth of Jesus.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text:  Jeremiah 31:3
“Long ago the Lord said to Israel: 'I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.'"

Your Father says, “I HAVE loved you," not “maybe someday down the road," but TODAY, already activated and in place.  He says, “ I have loved you with an EVERLASTING love," a love that lasts forever with no end.  His love for you never trails off, never runs out of steam, or gets revoked.  It’s everlasting.  He loves you with an “unfailing love”, which speaks to his character - faithful.  His love is never based on one’s performance toward him, how good or bad, faithful or faithless, for HIS love is always faithful.  With unfailing love, he has “drawn you to himself,” embracing you, like the most wonderful, earthly father (times a billion) does for his child.  He’s not loving you from afar, but up close and intimately.  Notice he is doing the initiating, always extending his love towards you, drawing you close and embracing you.  That’s just who he is.

Today is a good day, to BE LOVED.  Let yourself be completely and entirely loved, to the core.  Let him wipe away your tears, heal your hurts, forgive your sins, and wash away your regrets.  This may be a new experience for you, this language may make you uncomfortable.  It’s OK, he knows.  He knows you very well, for he formed you within your mother, and even knew you before you were even conceived, and loved you then, and loves you entirely now.  You don’t have to jump through hoops or get your act together first, to become more “lovable.”  Forget that.  Let him love you today with an everlasting, unfailing, drawing-you-close kind of love.  

That’s what the prophet Jeremiah predicted, and that’s what Jesus came to accomplish and establish.  It’s an historic event - for you.  Today.  Will you let him?

Prayer:  Father, I receive your love today.  I will let myself relax in your arms, and rest in the strength of your love.  Help me not to resist, or squirm away, but receive all that Jesus accomplished for me on the cross.  I pray for my family, my friends, my neighbors, my coworkers, that each of them would receive your unfailing love as well.  I want this more than anything.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: John 13:34-35
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Let’s step back from that for a second, is that really a NEW commandment? Doesn’t the Torah say, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” in Leviticus 19? Jesus, in fact, said that verse was one of the two greatest commandments, when He was asked the question, in Matthew 22, “What is the greatest commandment?” He replied, “The greatest commandment is this: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.” So, is this verse in John 13:34, really a NEW commandment?

Yes, because it goes further than what we read in the Book of Leviticus. Leviticus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Now that is supernatural love for He laid down his life for us, because He loved us to the cross.  That love is absolutely amazing! Or as the song writer put it, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” It is truly a NEW commandment but let’s not stop there. In verse 35 Jesus goes on with, “By this,” He said, “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  That is the ultimate indicator of a disciple of Jesus, that we love as Jesus loves, there is no other way.

There is no way that you and I can ever do that in our own strength. The only way we can do this is by the influence and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, by the power of the Living God, and by lives that are transformed, because they are lived in the presence of the Living God. They are lives that are built on a relationship with Jesus and that is at the heart of what our Savior was speaking that night. It is at the heart of God and it is what God says to us, today.

We are living in a time of unbridled hatred and anger and the only way to respond to that, that will make a difference, is the way Jesus spoke. As He has loved us, so we are called to love one another.  At the heart of Jesus’ teaching is this:

"Our devotion to the Living God is demonstrated in the way we love other people... including even our enemies."  (Pastor Chris Dodge)

And oh how I need to hear that, oh how we need to hear that, because it is so easy to get carried away by prevailing winds of public opinion and by the foolishness and folly of a world that rejects the Living God.  

You and I are called to a far higher calling and it is not possible to live that calling out in our own strength.  It is only possible under the influence and authority of the Holy Spirit, in a relationship with the Heavenly Father, and through Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for laying down your life for me, for loving me all the way to the cross.  Thank You for demonstrating Your amazing, divine love. I ask for a transformed life in my relationship with others. I ask to receive Your love into the core of my being through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and through my relationship with You.  I ask that You transform my heart to love others as you have asked in this NEW command. Lord, help me to love others as You have loved me, as You have loved the world, so that everyone will know that I am Your disciple because of Your love in me. Amen.

By Pastor Chris Dodge

Bible Text: Isaiah 45:22-24
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. Surely they will say of Me, 'In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.' All who rage against Him will come to Him and be put to shame."

I was on the sidewalk in front of our house in the early ’50’s. I was trying out my neighbor Bill’s old rusty coaster wagon.  While barefooted, I was kneeling with my right leg in the wagon while pushing with my left leg as I held on to the tongue of the wagon for steering.  I was moving briskly.  Suddenly, I was unable to move my left foot. This mystified me, so I pulled hard a couple of times trying to see why my foot was stuck and was horrified by what I saw.  Bill’s wagon didn’t have a cotter key holding the wheel on the axle, but a big bent-over nail.  The sharp end of the nail was stuck in the back of my heel so my foot couldn’t move.  I had felt no discomfort until I saw it, then, suddenly, there was excruciating pain!  I screamed, “MOM!  Help me!”  Followed by a series of, “Ouch, ouch, ouch - ouches!” My Mom rescued me, got my foot loose, cleansed the area and applied a band aid. A doctor visit followed. I healed.

Some 60 years later, this story has interesting parallels with the state of our country:

Front Year Early 1950s  >  USA Today
• Unsafe equipment  >  Walking without the Lord God
• No Safety Gear (shoes)  >  Risk of losing the Lord’s protection
• Nail in my heel, but no pain  >  Spiritually blind, but we don’t know it
• I’m stuck / I can’t move - why  >  Grid lock - wrong values; wrong actions
• Saw it for what it was - then pain!  >  Pray for eyes to be opened - repentance
• I screamed for help: “MOM!”  >  Pray, “Lord Jesus: Save Us!”
• She pulled my foot away from the nail.  >  Pray, “Turn us (USA) back to you, Lord!”
• Doctor visit (Wound cleaned/bandaged)  >  Pray, “Lord, cleanse us! Heal us!”
• Healing followed. It’s only a memory.  >  Pray, “Holy Spirit, Heal this land!”
• I didn’t use Bill’s wagon ever again.  >  Lord, may we be filled with your Spirit, not other spirits or ideas
• My wagon had cotter keys and hub caps.  >. May we hold on to the Gospel of Jesus. He forgives us. He saves us. He makes us new.

Prayer:  Pray for our eyes to be opened to see Jesus as the Savior, that there might be a heart-yearning to turn back to Him. Pray for a cleansing of our waywardness and for repentance to happen in the hearts of us all. Pray for the lost to be saved and that the Lord would bring an infilling of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Pray that Jesus’ love would be evidenced in our lives and actions. Pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit our land would return to God and be healed. In Jesus’ name!

By Care Minister Bob Johnson

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:7 (NLT)
“His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!”

Governments are supposed to guard their citizens and protect them.  But they are often flawed and limited.  Jesus is neither.  His government and Kingdom offer complete fairness and justice.  And peace!  King David represented God’s purposes during his lifetime, but God promised “a child is born to you”, who would usher in God’s Kingdom now, and lasting into eternity.  This is so key.  We all long for the fulfillment of this promise in eternity, but Jesus kept saying, “the kingdom of God has arrived among you” (Luke 11:20), referring to himself.  

Jesus, in his final moments before his trial and crucifixion, prays to his Father for you and me, saying, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.  They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.  Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world” (John 17:15-18).

You and I, through faith in Jesus Christ, are already citizens of God’s Kingdom.  For a short time now, we have a role to play, first to step into God’s way of thinking and God’s way of loving others.  And to continue expanding his Kingdom by the way we conduct our lives for him.  He promises that “the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!" God has placed his full resources behind you and WILL accomplish this!  Will you align yourself with the Lord Jesus and let him work through you to bring others into his Kingdom?  If so, just watch him do just that!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for adopting me and claiming me as a citizen of your Kingdom.  I give you my will, to accomplish this in my circle of people as well.  May I live your truth and share your Truth (the Lord Jesus) with the people I love and interact with today.  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)
“And he will be called: Prince of Peace.”

Have you noticed there is a difference between physical peace (absence of bodily harm) and internal peace?  Have you noticed that we can have physical peace and not have inner peace?  Of course we want both.  What does Jesus promise us?  In John 14:27, he says, “I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.”  And in John 16:33 he says it even stronger: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

He promises that whatever you experience externally in our world today, that he will give you a GIFT of peace, a shalom for your heart and mind!  And that no matter the trials and sorrows we face, that we can actually take heart, or be encouraged, because he has overcome the world,  through the cross and empty tomb.  Incredible.

Will you shift your focus from the chaos, confusion, division, strife and warring of society, to the Lord Jesus?  Will you receive this gift he earned for you on the cross, and step into this lifestyle of peace?  Notice that even when Jesus was tortured and undergoing incredible pain prior to and on the cross, he never lacked peace.  That’s what he offers freely to you now.  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I receive your peace now.  Even if I can’t fully understand it, I know you are the Prince of Peace, so I trust you.  Help me to shift from the world’s flawed version of peace, and into your bulletproof shalom.  Guard my heart and mind from the evil one, and help me to enjoy you in full confidence and peace.  May the Prince of Peace in me cause others around me to experience your peace as well!  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)
“And he will be called: Everlasting Father.”

Do you find it interesting that Jesus (“for a child is born to us…”) is also named “everlasting Father?”  Is this because the Father and his Son, Jesus, are one?  In John 14:9-10, Jesus says to his disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…the words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.  Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me”.  If we want to see who the Father is, how he feels about you and me, and how he treats us, we can look at Jesus in the narratives of Scripture!  And notice how “fatherly” Jesus is with his disciples.  He calls them “children”, and loves them as a good father would love his children.  He doesn’t blast them or expel them, but lovingly calls them upward, as though he believes they will eventually get it!  This is how he treats you and me, lovingly calling us upward, to believe and trust in him more and more.  

In a country undergoing a “crisis of fatherlessness," we long for good fathers, fathers who will stand for truth, who are wise, who self-sacrificially protect and care for their children.  No matter how old you are, will you let the Lord Jesus, father you today?  Will you allow him to love you, protect you, speak words of wisdom and direction into you and care for you?  Will you let your guard down, and let him speak life into the dead places in your heart?  I believe he so longs to do this, even more than we crave it ourselves.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, father us, as you fathered your disciples and followers of your day.  Help us overcome our distrust, reluctance and even rebellious tendencies.  And then, allow us to serve your people around us, that we may carry on Jesus’ ministry of fathering in your winsome, kind way.  And one by one, may we see a revival of people changed from the inside out, and full to overflowing with your love!  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:6
“And he will be called: Mighty God.”

We all know powerful people - in business, government, military, even in entertainment, etc.  But often we fear those people and what they might do, because we have seen how power often corrupts.  We crave Someone strong and powerful who will protect us from the bullies.  Humans let us down, but God never does.

The people in Jesus’ day recognized him as a “prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people” (Luke 24:19).  And the only ones who feared Jesus were those who opposed him.  He used his power to save the lost, heal the sick, raise the dead, forgive the sinner, defend the weak, etc.  He is completely trustworthy and faithful.  He will do what he did then for you today.  As you place your life in his hands, you will experience his might in the most wonderful ways.  His power to overcome your biggest bully, the evil one, will change your life.  Will you let him?  

And someday soon, when Jesus returns through the clouds, with a “loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16), all the world will see his might with our own eyes.  Will you acknowledge Christ Jesus today as your mighty God?

Prayer:  I acknowledge you, Jesus, as my mighty God.  I come under your authority, and give you permission to lead me.  I pray for the people of our nation, that more and more people would place their allegiance in You alone. Work through me to help accomplish this!  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:6
“And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor.”

Each society has people considered to be experts, people who are smart and gifted.  Yet we discover how their wisdom often falls short, and that they too are flawed people.  We need a Counselor, someone who is all wise, who knows us best, who understands our situation and gives us brilliant counsel.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25).  Paul points to Jesus Christ as the “wisdom of God” (:30)

We can get angry at our governmental leaders, or the experts in their respective fields.  But really what we need is to acknowledge Jesus as our “wonderful Counselor”, and to take direction from him.  In confessing him as your Lord and Savior, you are doing just that.  His wisdom doesn’t play by our world’s rules, but brings heaven’s brilliance to your problems and issues.  Will you listen to him?  Will you heed his advice?  Will you step out in faith and do what he suggests?  I promise the more you do, the more you’ll recognize how wonderful a counselor he actually is!

Prayer:  Lord God, you are brilliant, I acknowledge that.  Help me trust you and take one small step at a time as you direct.  I pray for a nation full of people who acknowledge Jesus as their Wonderful Counselor and walk in his ways.  May your infectious wisdom in me draw others to you, Lord!  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler

Bible Text: Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders.”

The prophet Isaiah predicted the Messiah would come as a child, that he would save the world and that he would have God’s kingdom authority behind him.  The angel of God said to Mary, “you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David” (Luke 1:31-32).

Since we couldn’t save ourselves, God sent his only Son, to save us, and to usher God’s Kingdom into our world. Jesus came to show us, in a personal way, what God was like, how he thinks, how he treats people, his character and kingdom values.  By reading the pages of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) we see how this baby became a man and radically changed the world, one person at a time.

What is your citizenship?  Through faith in Jesus, you are first and foremost a citizen of God’s Kingdom.  We are only temporarily citizens of countries of this world.  As you spend more time with Jesus in prayer and reading his Word, you will experience yourself reflecting God’s Kingdom in every aspect of your life.  Will you let him transform you?  

Prayer:  Lord, we can see that this messed up world needs Kingdom-minded people.  Will you change me and work through me to help the people around me?  Through me, would you bring others to encounter the Lord Jesus Christ personally?  In Jesus’ name.

By Pastor Kevin Schuessler