Community In Christ

Category: Weekly Pastoral Devotions

  • An Outsider?

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    Gary Witkop
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    An Outsider? – Devotions for 3-26-25 Luke 7:3 “When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.”             All people have insider groups and outsider groups. We have people like us who we like to be with and then there are people…

  • The Mystery of Godliness

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    Gary Witkop
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    The Mystery of Godliness – Devotions for 3-12-25 1 Timothy 3:16 “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness…”             There is a line in a great hymn of the faith, “And Can it Be” that states, “Tis mystery all! The immortal dies! Who can explore His great design?”             Mystery. We tend to…

  • Friends with God

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    Gary Witkop
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    Friend of God – Devotions for 2-27-25 John 15:15 “No longer to I call you servants… but I have called you friends…”             We all need friends. Friends help make life more enjoyable. Friends help us get through hard times. Friends come alongside us when trouble comes. Friends are there in the good times and…

  • Called by God

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    Gary Witkop
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    Called by God – Devotions for 2-19-25 1 Samuel 3:10 “And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, ‘Samuel, Samuel.’”             What does it mean to be called by God? Some people will say they have been called by God for this purpose or that reason. In pastoral speak we talk about…

  • The Importance of Fellowship

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    Gary Witkop
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    The Importance of Fellowship – Devotions for 2-12-25 Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”             In this text in Acts, when the church was new and growing a lot, Luke, the church historian, writes about what the church was focused…

  • Change

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    Gary Witkop
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    Change – Devotions for 2-5-25 James 4:14a “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.”             Very few people like change. Most people have anxiety issues, stomach aches and all sorts of problems when a big change is coming to their lives. Some people have problems with even small changes. You see that in…

  • Repentance

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    Gary Witkop
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    Repent – Devotions for 1-29-25 Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand’”             I have been thinking a lot about what repentance means and looks like lately. I know I have need of repentance, we all do. We hear about repenting a lot…

  • Walk By Faith

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    Gary Witkop
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    Walk by Faith – Devotions for 1-19-25 2 Corinthians 5:7 “for we walk by faith, and not by sight”.             You have seen people who have done something that went against all odds and even against the wisdom of other people and it turned out well. There are also times when people listened to good…

  • God’s Lantern

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    Gary Witkop
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    God’s Lantern – Devotions for 1-22-25 Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”             When our children were young Deb, and I took them camping a lot. We love camping and though we have moved out of the tent on the ground to a camper, we…

  • The Mess of Family – Devotions for 1-8-25

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    Gary Witkop
    in

    Matthew 12:29 “And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!”             Family, we are born into a family, and some are adopted into a family, but we all have families. Some of our families are close and stay in contact regularly, some families are estranged and…