By Peggy Potter-Balaun
Gary and I just love to go for drives at this time of year! How beautiful is this fall season! For Gary and I it is a true occasion to praise and worship the artistry and majesty of our marvelous Creator! I truly believe that the beauty of all seasons is just further evidence of His wondrous Love that He made this Earth to be our home and blessed it with incredible beauty ! (Genesis 1:31 God saw all He have made and it was very good !)

My own life and how Jesus remade it and me in His perfect understanding of me is my own best testimony to His greatness. Provision, wisdom and Love and that is true for all of us! Nobody loves, understands or cares for every one of us better than our Heavenly Father who made us and sent His Own Son Jesus to shed His precious lifeblood for all our sakes!

I accepted Him as my Savior and Lord as a young wife and mother back in February 1978. My three sons were reared on His Word The Bible and all three turned out well! Jesus saw me through the failure of my first marriage by providing me with a support system and a new career which He knew was right for me. He eventually brought me to Vermont where He united me with a wonderful Godly man, Gary, as my new husband.

Things have not always gone perfectly in my life and I am far from a perfect person! I need my Savior Jesus and am so very grateful for all He has done to and for me! Having Holy Spirit within me, being washed in Jesus' Blood and learning
everyday how to live & be more like Him is so very precious & essential ! I love Jesus, because He first loved me !
Psalm 139:1 & 17 Oh Lord You have searched me & known me ... How precious are Your thoughts toward me, oh God ! How
great are the sum of them !
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your cares upon Him for He cares for you !

By Kaydeen Edwards
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Embracing grief and experiencing it is so important to the healing process. Many of us run from grief, loss, pain, suffering, sadness, and mourning. When the thing that we are going through is hard and heavy, we turn to God. However sometimes God hears us but he doesn’t answer right away. Sometimes he makes us wait. But waiting in emotional distress is hard. 

If we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus remaining in his word, remembering his faithfulness and holding on to his promise can result in running to other sources to find fulfillment. Yet these places are empty. It is hard to say in the pain and suffering that is heavy. 

Yet, if we look to the lord for what we need and wait recalling his past faithfulness, our faith gets the opportunity to grow stronger. When our faith grows stronger we will see the grief and suffering as a tool that God can use to heal and grow our faith. 

And all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes. All things even grief, pain and suffering. So as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for he is with me. He’s always with us.
Psalm 139 8-10 says If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. What I know is God is holding us.

By Rebecca Vickery

​The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may
pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of
sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.   Each of you should use
whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in
its various forms.    If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very
words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so
that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the
power for ever and ever. Amen. 1Peter4:7-11

Last month in part 1 of The End of All Things is Near, we talked about being
soberminded to pray, about loving deeply, and offering hospitality without grumbling.
Regardless of how far away the glorious return of Jesus is or isn’t, one thing is certain.
We are closer to the end of things now than the disciples were when they were warning
about it. As such, we continue with the admonition to use whatever gift you have
received to serve others. We need to steward God’s grace in its various forms.
How delightful to think that there is grace in various forms and that we should the be the
delivery mechanism for that grace. What gifts have you received from God? Do you
know? If you don’t know, have you asked some of your close Christian brothers or
sisters? What am I gifted in? Once you know the answer to that, how are you using
your gifts to serve your friends? Your neighbors? How are you serving in the body of
believers?

I believe that part of the mathematics of God is that we give and we serve, and he
multiplies our gifts and our impact. I think the more we serve, the more he gives us to
increase our giftings. Our gifts don’t exhaust us (although saying yes to too many
things can do that.) We want to use our yeses to say yes to the best thing. If we say
yes to everything, we don’t have the capacity to use our gifts well.
Peter goes on to give examples of some of the gifts and the ways in which they may be
used. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.
What a high calling to which to aspire. Matthew 12:36 says that we will have to give an
account for every idle word we speak. I don’t know about you, but as an extrovert (and
an external processor) I found that verse somewhat terrifying. Nevertheless, it is good
for me to be reminded of (and maybe often.) I need to be thinking through what I say
and asking the Holy Spirit to speak through me. Maybe I won’t always get it right, but
thankfully, there is grace enough for that. It is my hearts desire that I should glorify God
with my words.

Words are very important to me, but they are even more important to God. 1 Peter
1:24-25a says, “All men(people) are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the
field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands for ever.”
And Isaiah 55:10-11 says As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do

not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields
seed for the sower and bread for the eater,   so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the
purpose for which I sent it. What these verses all suggest to me is this: God’s words
will accomplish more than mine could possibly, and his word is eternal. So when we
speak, the more we speak the word of God in love and in deed, the more our words will
literally be as if God was speaking.
​
“If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things
God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” This goes hand in hand with showing
hospitality without grumbling. There are countless opportunities to serve, so when we
do it, we ought to make sure that we are doing so joyfully. We can show up to serve
and know that God is going to provide the strength for the task at hand. What a
beautiful partnership that is to be found in Jesus with these things!! He gives us the
strength, the people we serve are blessed by our service, God is blessed by our
service, and we are able to be blessed by having been able to use our gifts. God math.
He helps us, and everyone involved is blessed by it. And God is praised in the efforts
that we expend on his behalf. Colossians 3:23 Do all things as though working for the
Lord. Imagine, you have been invited by the King to serve in his courts. What a
privilege that would be. It is the same thing to serve here in the Kingdom of God. It is a
high honor. Our attitudes and demeanor should reflect that.

To Him be the glory and the power, forever and ever. Amen. As we continue to turn our
lives over to the Lord, we decrease, and he increases in us. Then those around us will
be able to see. The gospel in us causes us to rise up into our good works, which he
prepared in advance for us to do. Peter was a common fisherman before he became a
follower of Jesus. I was a 16 year old exchange student. We are called from all
different backgrounds. And we are each invited to use our gifts in service of the King,
that we might glorify him, that we might point others in the right direction. The more of
use that do that, the more people will be unable to deny the work of God in his people.
And maybe, just maybe, they may join us in praising our Father up in Heaven. Peace to
you.

Linda as a seminary student, praying during an Associational Missions Committee Meeting in New Hampshire in 1992 during a snow storm. Two years later, a church starter used our resources to start churches in New Hampshire we were praying about that night.

By Linda Hokit
​God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble…
Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46: 1 and 10 (NIV)

Oh, my word. The young ones in my community are on the streets heading for schools, running to cars and buses for pickups and filling the little library in my town after school. The energy level is at a high pitch, the enthusiasm is high and I love to see it. Their hope, joy and enthusiasm are contagious! However, there are times I just want to pull aside and linger with the Lord and imagine how God will turn things to good for them!

If you read the verses between the ones I shared above, you’ll recognize similar upheaval that exists in the world today. Upheavals that affect young and old alike. And yet, we are told to go to God and let Him lay the course for the future.

I remember early in my career hearing about a mother who found a brilliant way to pull aside
and linger in the Lord’s presence. Her name was Susana Wesley. She had a son named John and another named Charles. They were among the 19 children Susana and Samuel had! I can not even imagine what craziness must have gone on in their home! Even so, Susana set aside time during her busy day to pray. As the story goes, she laid her apron over her head when she wanted time alone with God. The children soon learned that when she covered her head and shut out the world, it was time to settle or go outside the house so their mother could pray. John and Charles must have witnessed her prayer routine many times.

The Wesley’s lived in England during the 1700’s, which is before the Revolutionary War. John and Charles were among those God eventually used to bring Spiritual Awakening to England. They also wrote a number of hymns still sung today, such as O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Christ the Lord has Risen Today. They also helped form the Methodist denomination.

In 1735, John and Charles sailed for America to minister to the English who had settled near
what is now Savanah, Georgia as well as the nearby native tribes. James Oglethorpe who
founded the Georgia colony invited them to come. Charles got sick and went home early but John stayed about a year longer. Even though he started the first Anglican church in American, he did not consider his efforts successful. I had the honor of praying in that church!

John may have considered his journey a failure, but it triggered a spiritual renewal in his life. Once back home, a Moravian minister led him to the Lord. Soon John began preaching in the highways and byway of England and was part of a spiritual awakening there. In 1784 John ordained Thomas Coke, who Methodists then sent to American. I fully believe that had Susana not stopped and prayed so faithfully things would have worked out very differently in the livesof John and Charles.

We have had a number of spiritual awakenings in America. However, there were three historically recognized Spiritual Awakenings in early America: 1) The First Spiritual Awakening (1730-1755) that covered primarily the American Colonies; 2) The Second Spiritual Awakening (1790-1840) that spread across the nation existing at the time; and 3) The Third Spiritual Awakening (1857-1859) in New York City known as the Businessman’s Revival. It started as a
result of a noontime prayer meeting when a financial crisis was happening.

There have also been more modern-day revivals. A friend of mine was part of the Saskatoon in 1971. I was part of the awakening known as the Jesus Revolution. Many might be aware of his awakening because of the movie by that name. Although that movie focused on the California
awaking, it happened in other locations. Perhaps you know about one of the revivals that broke out on a college campus over the past few years. And, of course, there were awakenings recorded in the scriptures.
An evangelical awakening was defined by a man named Edwin Orr as, “a movement of the Holy Spirit bringing about a revival of New Testament Christianity in the church of Christ and its related community.” It often comes about as a result of prayer and in answer to great need.

So, are we willing to pull aside like Susana Wesley on a regular basis? Are we willing to pray on a regular basis for the children and young adults in our families, church and community? Are we
willing to ask God to lead us to our knees and beyond our doors for His sake? Do we believe
God is our refuge? Do we believe He is able and active in our world today?
In closing, I am reminded of the chorus of a song by the late Andrae Crouch wrote in the 1990’s.
Do you remember it?!
Jesus is the answer for our world today. Above Him there’s no other. Jesus is the way…

By Kaydeen Edwards


This season has been quite challenging for many believers. However, John 15:5 says if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

Bearing fruit takes time and it’s beginnings aren’t very beautiful. Fruit starts as a seed which is sown in the dirt. Dirt is not pretty yet it is an important part of the production of fruit. When the seed sprouts it takes root and there’s one major root the tap root  that goes down deep. It is there so that in dry seasons, the plant can still find water even when there’s no sign of rain. Our tap root is the Holy Spirit. 

A plant is also rooted, so that when the storm comes, and the wind blows, this plant will not be uprooted. Sometimes there are many seasons before a plant produces fruit. In those seasons, not only is there no fruit, but this plant must weather many storms. The more storms the tree weathers the stronger its roots. It is like our faith we weather many seasons that are unfruitful. When we experience dry season, we must tap deeply into Jesus that we could be refreshed by the well of life. 

Eventually, the seed that was planted many storms and seasons ago bears fruit. The thing about fruit trees is that not only do they bare fruit, but they must be pruned that they will become even more fruitful. The seed of faith has been planted within us, and we will experience, dry seasons. We will also experience storms and winds. 

Eventually we will bear fruit, however, it does not end there. There is the upkeep of our faith and that means we will experience seasons of pruning and drought. Yet the more seasons we weather like the tree, the stronger our faith grows and the more fruitful we will be. 

So I love when James says consider it pure joy the testing of our faith because it is joy is not the in the pain that we feel, but joy is in the result of testing. As the apostle Paul said I have learned to be content in any in every season. Contentment is a place we can live because in the storms God is with us and when we bare fruit, he is with us still. And there nothing can separate us from the love of God for he will always be with us. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.

By Rebecca Vickery

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.  1Peter 4:7-11

However your eschatology looks, the end of all things is nearer today than it was when Peter warned of it being near.  He did, of course, remind us that God was not slow to bring about his promises (as some understand slow to be) but instead that God was patient, not wanting that anyone who was supposed to come to faith to perish.  At any rate, we have some good instructions for the times.  

We are to be sober minded so that we can pray.  This might mean we have to spend less time taking stuff into our minds that will make it harder to pray.  For some that might mean spending less time surfing through reels on Facebook or Instagram, Tik Tok or other social media.  It might mean less time taking in Fox News, or CNN, or other media machines.  It might mean you don’t keep drinking or having substances that might make sober thought literally impossible.  Whatever it is, we are to be alert to pray.  How is your prayer life?  What would our world be like if believers everywhere took time to pray for our neighbors, our families, our friends, our communities, and our nation?  What would that look like for the kingdom of God?  Revivals and entire movements have started with believers on their knees.

Love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.  What a beautiful thought.  I don’t know how that works in the fabric of our reality, but if I my love can cover over a multitude of sins, I want to love well.  Again, what would the world around us look like if we loved so well that they could know we were Christians just by seeing it.  I believe that our capacity to love is one of the biggest ways that God’s love is made visible in this world.  And yet sometimes in American Christianity, we justify stingy love.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, AND Love your neighbor as yourself.  Believers, we have been given a love that can never run out, so that we can share it with the world.  
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  And from Hebrews13:2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.  Won’t it be neat to get to heaven to find out that some of the times we have welcomed guests into our home, we were entertaining angels unaware?  Sometimes in our hurried schedules, we forget to think about showing hospitality, but we ought to be interruptible.  We ought to be those who hear a knock on the door and don’t hide in the basement, but instead open the door and say, won’t you come in?  I think in this way we could transform our neighborhoods.  And if we show hospitality, we will have more opportunities to know our neighbors well enough to pray effectively for them.

And while I am encouraging you to show hospitality, let me add a personal note.  September marks our 6 year anniversary of having started attending Daybreak.  I have been to many churches before this one, and I have greatly appreciated being welcomed into such a wonderful Church that offers hospitality frequently to others, and without grumbling.  To those of you who serve in the kitchen, and in the areas of hospitality, I say, thank you.  You are seen, and appreciated.  

Dearest friends, no matter if the time left is years, decades or any other number that God sees fit, we would do well to follow the encouragements in 1 Peter 4 and the verses I have started.  For more understanding of the rest of these verses, stay tuned for Part 2 of, The End of all Things is Near.