Praise the Lord and Happy New Year PFC family and friends. It seems we were just celebrating the entrance into 2024 a couple of months ago.
Science has noted that the earth is moving faster in orbit. They’re catching up with what God’s word has already declared would happen (Mt. 24:22;Mark 13:20).

As we start this new year of 2025, I would encourage you to participate as you are able in our 21 days of consecration (Jan.5 through Jan.26). Please see the ushers for a prayer and fasting packet. I would also encourage you to follow the scripture reading, attend bible studies (Wed. or Sat.), and read the article that follows on finding your purpose. It is not a religious article, but I think it is helpful extra biblical literature that can be of benefit. Let’s move forward together and ask the Lord to continue to transform and renew our minds by His word and Spirit. A new you must forget the things that are behind and press forward to be more like Yeshua in every aspect of living
(Philippians 3:14).

The Art of Finding Your Purpose is a lifelong quest that can often feel elusive. As Martin Seligman describes it, the journey toward purpose is what leads to flourishing—a state of thriving that enriches your life and enhances your wellbeing. Understanding what makes you flourish is not just a philosophical exercise; it is how you find meaning in life. Here are some strategies to help you uncover your purpose:

Identify Your Values

Understanding your core values is the first step to discovering your purpose. Reflect on what matters most to you by considering the following:

• Core Values: Write down five values that resonate most with you. Examples of values include integrity, creativity, family, community, anything that holds personal meaning for you.

• Alignment: Our lifestyle often indicates what is important to us. How have you been spending your time and energy? What matters most to you?

Explore Your Passions
What you are passionate about can serve as a compass, leading you closerto your purpose. Reflect on your past experiences to uncover your passions:

• Identify Your Interests: Make a list of activities that excite you. What lights you up? What makes you feel alive? What makes you lose track of time?

• Explore Your Past: Many people find purpose after experiencing a hardship, challenging circumstance, or unexpected life change. Explore your past and identify topics or themes that hold meaning.

Take Inventory of Your Skills and Strengths
Your unique skills and strengths can also help you identify your purpose.

• Ask for feedback from colleagues, family members, friends, and mentors to gain further insight about your unique strengths.

• Take the Values in Action (VIA) Character Strengths Survey to enhance your self awareness.

• There is an art to finding your purpose. The process can feel challenging at times, and it may be helpful to enlist professional support. By
creating more alignment with your values, passions, and strengths, you will naturally focus more of your time and energy on what matters most to you—and that is where you will find—and live—your purpose.

~From the desk of Pastor AZ Jones, Jr.

*Source: Gallagher. (2024, December). Live Well Monthly: Resources for Better Wellbeing

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Believers quote these words to celebrate God’s loving and forgiving nature.This verse conjures up  images of God standing ready to erase our sinful past and let us start anew with a clean slate, only waiting for us to admit what we’ve done wrong.

But what this verse doesn’t mention is how the cleansing takes place—or, more specifically, what’s necessary for the cleansing to take place. God doesn’t simply dismiss the charges against us like a lenient judge. His perfect justice demands that our sins be punished. And the punishment is death.

We are helpless to save ourselves from that punishment. Only a perfect sacrifice, offered in our place, can satisfy God’s justice. The only perfect sacrifice is Jesus, God’s Son. God cleanses us from all wickedness. But the only cleansing agent that can remove sin is the blood of Jesus. The author of
Hebrews wrote, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins” (9:14 NLT).

God’s plan of salvation and forgiveness of sins required an unimaginable sacrifice. The best way to prepare to confess our sins is to meditate on Jesus’ sacrifice, to fully absorb what was necessary for our sins to be forgiven. The more we appreciate the gravity of our sins, the less likely we’ll be to downplay our confession. Remember, confession isn’t a plea bargain with God where we cop to our wrongdoing and get our record expunged. Confession isn’t a begrudging “Sorry” or “My bad.”

Confession is agreeing with God. Let’s say you and I went out to eat together, and we both ordered burgers. If I said, “I think this burger is amazing,” and you said, “I do too,” we agree. If God says, “That’s sin, and I hate it,” and you say, “I agree with You, God; that’s sin, and I hate it too,” that’s confession.

Genuine confession is a soul-deep awareness that our sin is so serious, and so destructive to our relationship with God, that repairing it required the death of His only Son. Genuine confession is a longing to restore that relationship, even if it means revealing our ugliest truths—admitting that a sudden temptation was more attractive to us than God’s perfect will or that we tried to grab the controls of our life from God so that we could steer in a direction that seemed exciting. A genuine confession comes from a humble heart. It doesn’t try to justify our behavior, offer excuses, shift the blame, or downplay the impact of our wrongdoing. Genuine confession sincerely regrets taking a path away from God and announces a 180-degree turn back to Him.

First John 1:9 gives us a glimpse at how God responds to genuine confession and a humble heart. He doesn’t offer a half-hearted show of forgiveness. He doesn’t berate us for our faithlessness. He doesn’t restrict our access to Him. God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
wickedness” (NLT).

*Source: harvest.org/resources/devotion/i-confess

2 Timothy 2:15 NIV says, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

As [Saints], we are invited every day to become more like Christ. We want to have the same mind and attitude that He had, to become more like Him every day. In a world that’s constantly living in opposition to God’s design, we want to do our best to present ourselves to God as  approved— workers who have no need to be ashamed.

Maybe you haven’t always lived life with Christ. Maybe there are things in your past you’re ashamed of. That’s okay. You're not alone. In this letter, Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed of his past, but instead to let his past be a testament to how Jesus has changed his life. When we receive Jesus, we are made new and given a fresh start. Your past is part of your story, a way that you can show others how Jesus changed your life.

The best way that we can continue to be transformed by Jesus is to continually seek His truth in Scripture. As we engage with Scripture and the Holy Spirit, our minds and hearts are changed to be more like Christ .

How can you be more like Christ today? Think of a few small steps you can take to begin to shift your thinking and actions towards the mission of God or the character of Christ. Ask God for His help as you seek to follow Him daily.

*Source: blog.youversion.com/2024/

Influenza and colds are two contagious respiratory viruses that share a lot of the same symptoms. But how you may experience those symptoms and how common they are is usually different. Here’s a side-by-side cold and flu symptom chart that gives an overview of the similarities and differences.