New Beginnings Covenant Brethren Church
Wednesday Thoughts
Wednesday Thoughts
July 29, 2026
Mark 1:4-5 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
This Saturday we will be having another baptism in Middle Creek. What a reverent time it has been over the years to gather along the creek bank and go into the waters of baptism.
How does baptism change us? How has baptism made a difference in our lives??
Is it an insurance policy?? Is it one more box checked on the form on how to get to heaven??
Scripture says that the WHOLE Judean countryside and ALL the people of Jerusalem went out to John the Baptist to be baptized! What was the stipulation of being baptized? Confessing their sins!! Then they were baptized!
Then when we come up out of the waters, we are clean, we are new, we are delivered from the sin in our lives that has held us captive.
Before we are baptized, we need to reflect on the why. We need to ask ourselves are we ready to lay down our lives and follow Jesus!
Are we ready, truly ready to lay down the sin we will confess at baptism...are we ready to grab hold of Jesus and never let go!!!
Or will we go back to our old way of life?? Figuring we have done what we need to do to be saved. Never changing, never allowing the Lord to change us into His image bearers!!
Baptism is serious business...it should be a life changing experience; it should not be taken lightly!!
So, when the decision is made...remember to count the cost, think on the vows you take and get it in your minds and hearts that this will change your life if it is truly real!!
So dear church get ready for the greatest adventure of your life when you come up out of the waters of baptism... IF it is truly a clean slate you are looking for, IF you are looking for life abundant in Christ, IF you want to change, IF you want to make a difference for the kingdom of God, IF you are ready to follow Jesus with all your strength, all your mind and all your heart!!
My prayer for Saturday is that all those who come to be baptized will know why they are there, they will know why it is so important to be baptized, and they have the desire so strong in their hearts to make the Lord...Lord of their lives!!
I pray wisdom and discernment for all who read these words and may our Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace.
Blessings, Pastor Karen
July 16, 2026
John 2: 13-17 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And He told those who sold the pigeons, "It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house will consume Me."
Have you ever been passionate about something?? Have you ever stood for what you believed against all odds??
Jesus was passionate about His Father's house! The world had moved in, and they had desecrated the temple of the Lord!! They were buying and selling and who knows what else was going on!! The temple had become like a marketplace and when Jesus walked in and saw what was happening, He was angry!! He made a whip of cords and started to swing it around...can you imagine the scene??
Jesus was consumed with zeal, passion, fervor for the wrongs that were being committed in His Father's house!
Wow!! This was a righteous anger we did not see often in our Savior!!
This was sin, this was injustice, those who belonged to Him were being taken advantage of and He did not like it!!
I want you to think about this for a moment...when you feel you have been taken advantage of, unjustly accused, made fun of, ridiculed, made to feel ashamed, guilty, less than...Jesus takes your part!! He rises up and fights for you!! He sees and knows what satan is trying to do to you and I believe He gets out His whip and lets the enemy of our souls have it!!
We do not serve a wishy-washy God; we serve the KING!! He cares for us, He is mighty and He is Holy!! He is Righteous!! He is Just!!
Dear church, remember who you are to Jesus, remember He fights for you, remember you are precious to Him!!
Jesus is passionate about His Father's house, and He is passionate for YOU! Do not be worried or afraid when things seem to be going against you...God is on your side, and He has conquered all the evil in the world; we just have to believe it!
We thank You Lord for guarding and protecting us, for loving us so strongly that we never have to be worried again! Thank You for keeping us safe, for watching over us and for lighting our path...thank You for not only being our Savior but for being our Mighty Warrior King!!
We give glory to Your Name Oh Lord and we humbly bow in Your presence tonight.
In Jesus Holy Name, Amen
Blessings, Pastor Karen
June 24, 2026
Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act.
Commitment...a word that seems to have been lost in these last generations. What is commitment?? To obligate ourselves, to be there when you say you will be there...be devoted to a cause or person...to follow through with a promise.
This past week I have seen commitment in many different ways in our Vacation Bible School. I have seen the commitment of our teachers, helpers, music leader, snack persons, activity and craft persons, those who run the video screens, all those who helped decorate and all that have come to just help.
Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
Yes! We are to do all we do as unto the Lord, for His glory and His purposes! Sometimes it's very exhausting to serve, it seems as though we are not making a difference, but we cannot grow weary in well doing!!
So dear ones remember your work is not in vain...our God sees, our God knows and our God will give you the strength and endurance to not only run your race but to finish it!!
Let us give thanks for the privilege of serving our Lord, let us give thanks for the honor of being called sons and daughters of the King!! Do not allow satan to rob us of our joy in watching all those we come in contact with learn about Jesus!!
Jesus should be the reason for all we do! This will keep us energized, this will keep us alert and awake, this will keep us willing to be committed to His work here on this earth!!
So, this is to all who have had a part in this wonderful but challenging ministry...THANK YOU for being willing to carve out the time in your busy lives to teach Gods children about Jesus!! You will never regret sacrificing this time and my prayer for all of us is that we will get to see some of the fruits of our labors!! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!! May you all be blessed with showers of blessings!! Colossians 3:24 Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving!!
Remember church who you are serving!! Remember why we are called!! And remember that we are living in this time and this place for such a time as this!!
Blessings, Pastor Karen
June 10, 2026
John14:25-26 These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener and Standby) the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit, does anyone remember when He was referred to as the Holy Ghost?? What has happened to the teaching on this amazing part of the Holy Trinity?? Did the word ghost scare us?? Did the mystery of how He lives in us sound a little to creepy?? Did the leadership in the church quench the Spirit so they could have better control of the people?? Could it be all of the above??
Jesus tells His disciples in this scripture that He had to leave but He was sending a Helper, someone to help them live out what they had learned from Him! What is so scary about that??
He said that this Helper would also be a Comforter for all those who would need comfort in their lives, all those who faced loss and grief in their lives, all those who needed a safe place to be with the Lord. Why is that creepy?
That this Holy Spirit would be an Advocate when they needed someone to stand in their corner, an Intercessor to speak along with them when they went to the Father, a Counselor when life takes crazy turns and we do not know which way to go, a Strengthener to help us not grow weary, to help us run our race with great endurance, and last but not least a Standby...to standby and move when we need help, to listen for our cry, to be ready to pick us up when we fall!! How amazing is the Holy Spirit!! No wonder leaders in the church today don't want us plugging into this amazing power!!
We would be free!! Free to seek for ourselves the truth of the gospels, free to ask questions of our leadership and not be intimidated by them!! Free to worship our God and not be afraid of backlash or disassociation from the church!
This Holy Spirit is the power in the church that Christ is coming back for!! The Holy Spirit is the only way that you and I and the church will survive in this life! He is all we need to be more than conquerors in this ever-present darkness! We must remember that the Light who is Jesus has overcome the darkness and that it is the Holy Spirit that constantly reminds us of what He has done!
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit...you cannot have one without the other...They are Three in One...
My challenge today...look up all the scriptures talking about the Holy Spirit and seek His guidance while you are looking...it may be the greatest awakening you have ever had in your life!!
Dear church, we MUST NOT miss this piece of the puzzle...it is life to us!! When Jesus sent this powerful Spirit to us it changed the disciples' lives, it changed the church and it changed the world!! Where is that world changing power today in our lives?? Where is the Holy Spirit in our walk with Jesus?? Seek Him out church...seek and ye SHALL find.
Blessings, Pastor Karen
June 3, 2026
Isaiah 55:8-9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts your thoughts.
How often have we wondered why God allows things to happen? Why are there so many sick, why are there so many who lie in a bed day after day unaware they are even in this world, why do bad things happen to those who believe in Jesus, why do bad things happen at all? Why do we suffer? Why do we grieve? Why God? Why?
I have done quite a lot of visiting these past two weeks and it seems everywhere I go, that question runs through my mind...WHY GOD?
As I seek the Lord with this question on my mind, I realize that I will probably never have the answer. In Isaiah the Lord declares that His ways and thoughts are not like yours or mine. They are so much higher AND they are perfect. For He is perfect in all of His ways.
Some days I am okay with that, some days I am not...but you know it really doesn't matter if it is or it isn't because HE IS GOD!! He is the Mighty One!! He is the Lord of the Universe!! He is King!! He knows what He is doing.
As we go through the tests and the trials of this life, we either see our Lord more clearly or we lose sight of Him altogether...we either draw closer to Him or reject Him. This is the test my dear church, we can become bitter towards God, or we can choose to love Him even more.
I believe the Lord has shown me that if I am going to truly be a follower of His, a daughter to Him then I must choose to follow Him no matter what may come, the good and the bad, the terrible times and the glorious times, the times of peace and the times of war!
For HE IS MY LORD! And His ways are higher than mine! That fact does not change EVER! I have made a decision to follow Him and just because I do not understand His ways does not change that He is my Lord!! My Redeemer!! My Rescuer!! My Comforter!!
My Savior!!
Dear church, we can ask the question "WHY" all we want to, but our relationship with Jesus must be one of trust! We must trust Him with our lives and the lives of all those we love. We are called to help our brothers and sisters, we are called to love others as Christ loves them, we are called to love Jesus with all our heart, soul and mind and all our strength!! When we accomplish this then the knowledge of who God is will hold us in the storms, the trust we have in Him will carry us through the hard times and the love we have for Him will hold us close and will give us the peace that passes all understanding...then we can rest in the blessed assurance that our God is Who He says He is and in that knowing we can walk in power and authority through this life following a Lord whom we can trust...and learn to always be thankful that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours!
Blessings, Pastor Karen
May 27, 2026
Exodus 20: 1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying, I Am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.
The very first thing the Lord said to the Israelites is I AM THE LORD!! The second is that He reminded them that it was HE that brought them out of the land of Egypt and out of slavery!!
How often do we need to be reminded of who God is?? How often do we need to be reminded of what He did for us, how He brought us out of bondage and slavery of the evil one! How often do we think about how terrible it would be to still be held captive by sin?? How often do we think about how it was before we found Jesus??
It's so interesting to read how God had to keep reminding the Israelites of who He was and what He had done for them!
I used to shake my head and think how stupid and stiff necked could a people be??
In verse three God tells them that they shall have no other gods before Him! After all that the Lord had done for them, rescuing them from Egypt and the horrible conditions they lived in, sending them Moses who would lead them out of captivity finally after devastating plagues that only touched the Egyptians, sending them manna in the wilderness to eat and then quail for meat, guarding and keeping them so that even their clothes did not wear out! Why would God even have to tell them to not worship any other gods!! Why would they want to??
Sad to say we are still those stupid and stiff-necked people at times. After all our Lord has done for us, we still go after other gods, money, power, more and more stuff...we seek the temporary instead of the eternal, we seek instant gratification instead of waiting on the Lord. We want it NOW!!
My dear sister Darlene once told me that we all have a God shaped hole in our hearts and we try to fill it with so many other things and that the only thing that truly gives us peace is filling it with Christ and His righteousness, His ways and His truth.
Dear church, look to Jesus for all you need, He is our all in all. He is the only One that can truly bring us peace and joy. Remember how far you have come because of Him and His mighty love for you. He says "I AM THE LORD!" And HE IS!! Remember to be holy as He is holy! Remember to worship Him and Him alone! And remember when He is the One who fills your heart all will be well with your soul.
Blessings, Pastor Karen
May 20, 2026
Revelation 2: 1-5 To the angel in the church of Ephesus write: The words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are evil but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for My name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.
The church in Ephesus was doing it all, their works were wonderful and the Lord noticed! Their toil, their patient endurance, they did not tolerate evil and they tested the teaching of the apostles. They were bearing up for the sake of the name of Jesus and they were not growing weary! WOW! What a church!! They had it all together!! Their works were amazing and they were busy taking care of Gods business!!
BUT....there was one thing...they had abandoned their first love, the love that they began with for their precious Savior Jesus!
How many of us have forgotten to love Jesus first?? How many of us are so busy being about the Fathers business that we forget the Father??
As I sought the Lord last week on a short vacation, the words He spoke to me were that I had forgotten my first love! Wow, did that sting! But Lord look at all I am doing for You!! Look at all the ministries we have, look at all the people we have touched for Your kingdom!!!
And I heard His voice again...more plainly than before...Karen, you have lost your first love for Me...
Dear God, forgive me...no wonder I was feeling so weary, no wonder things didn't seem to be flowing in my life, no wonder worry and anxiousness had crept in.
Dear church, nothing in this world matters more than our love for our Saviour, NOTHING!!
If we lose that we lose everything. We can do all the good works we can do but that is not the key, that is not the answer!! Loving our Jesus is!!
This loving our Lord first is very serious, so serious that He told the church in Ephesus that He would remove their lampstand, their place in the kingdom if they did not repent! Could it be that losing our love for the Lord is sin, why else would we have to repent??
So church, take a moment and reflect on your love for your Lord, King Jesus...how much do you love Him?? Have you forgotten to love Him first?? Did you ever love Him?? We all have to stop and ask ourselves why we do what we do, why do we follow Jesus, what is the driving force behind our ministries, our church, our lives...is it our love for our risen Lord or is it the prestige and acknowledgement we receive from others??
So for me, I have tearfully repented for forgetting my first love Jesus and I am humbled by His mercy and His forgiveness for me.
Oh, how I love Jesus!
Blessings, Pastor Karen
April 29, 2026
Psalm 121 I lift my eyes to the hill from whence cometh my help...my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth!
Life is not always fair, actually most of the time it is not. Our Lord tells us there will be tests and trials, times of uncertainty, times when we cannot figure out why we are suffering, why God is allowing bad things to happen. A question I hear often is " I have been a good person all my life so why are these things happening to me??
Let's look to Jesus, the perfect One. Jesus the One who suffered and died for us...the One who lived a flawless life, the One who came to give us the strength and the courage to live a victorious life and to die a victorious death.
Why is it that at the end of our days we question God about our situations? Why me God?? I have been kind to others, I have gone to church and put my money in the offering plate, I worked hard and took care of my family. Wasn't that enough God??
It's very hard to find God, to make a connection with God when troubles come... especially when we have never made a connection with Him in the good times. In the times of peace and prosperity in our lives, the quiet and calm times.
You see, our Lord wants a relationship with each one of us...He wants us to know Him, to call out to Him, to look to the hills and see Him...the Maker of heaven and earth! I believe our merciful Savior gives us chance after chance after chance to get to know Him, to follow Him with all our heart, to seek Him and find Him.
So that when we come to the end of our days, we won't feel sorry for ourselves, we won't ask God, "why me?" We will trust God, we will look to Him to sustain us, to wrap His mighty arms around us and comfort us.
We will have learned to trust Him and know Him in the good times so that we can trust Him even more in the storms of life! Our Lord will never leave us nor forsake us...He makes a way when there seems to be no way...He carries us when we are weary and He leads us beside the still waters. Our lives should be a testimony of God's goodness, His mercy and His love. In life and in death we should honor God. He doesn't let us down, He doesn't leave us alone, He doesn't leave us without a hope, and He gives us His promise of life and life abundant, here on this earth and in heaven above!
Dear church, live everyday growing in your relationship with the One Who loves you beyond compare, the One Who gave His life to save yours! Seek Him and you shall find Him!! Do it now!! So that your faith will be unshakable, so that in the storms of life your life will be a testimony to Who your Lord and Savior is!! So others will know that this Jesus is real and His Word is Truth!!
Dear church, LOOK TO JESUS FOR YOUR HELP AND HE WILL SUSTAIN YOU, STRENGTHEN YOU, GUARD AND KEEP YOU IN ALL OF YOUR WAYS!
Blessings, Pastor Karen