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It’s Hope Week!

As we prepare for Lifeline 2022, Joe and I shared our thoughts about this year’s theme: “You Keep Hope Alive”.

Romans 15:13 (ESV) “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

The world is a fearful and unsatisfying place without the hope of eternal life with Jesus. Apart from the expectation that comes from the hope of heaven, our world can seem to be lacking in peace, celebration, or joy.

There is life in hope. There is joy in hope. There is purpose in hope.

Hope is to be at the foundation of all our decisions, emotions, and pursuits. Hope fills us with joy in the middle of trials and perseverance in the midst of failure. Hope guides us to abundant life.

Our heavenly Father longs to make us a people of hope. He longs for his followers to live a lifestyle that declares to the world, “This life is not all there is.” He longs to fill us with a heavenly perspective that we might throw off pursuits of worldly pleasure and live for eternity with him.

Sometimes we can lose hope. We can get distracted, discouraged and unfocused. Why does this happen?

We fail to embrace to fruits of the spirit – the very things we ask for that we fail to do ourselves.

Do we love well? Or get bogged down in hate?

Do we choose joy? Or choose grumpy?

Do we promote peace? Or spread and promote conflict?

Do we demonstrate patience? Or fly off the handle?

Do we offer kindness? Or are we offering indifference?

Do we seek goodness? Or seeking the negative and critical?

Do we ground ourselves in faith? Or trust our own understanding?

Do we embrace gentleness? Or are we rough around the edges?

Do we embody self-control? Or is it anything goes?

What about things like forgiveness? Think about this: if God forgave you like you forgive others, where would you be?

Is it more about Him? Or more about us?

Name something you pick.
  1. Flowers – 28
  2. Fruit – 25
  3. Nose – 23
  4. Dog/Pet – 6
  5. Teeth – 6

Congratulations to Dallas and Charla of Utica for correctly guessing this week’s Family Feud for a Voice of the Cougars drawstring backpack!

Thanks for listening,

Jonathon & Joe

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His grace finds us!

Today for Monday Motivation, Joe shared some musical inspiration from Matt Redman’s “Your Grace Finds Me.”

Here’s what Matt had to say about the song in a conversation with CBN in 2013:

“I wrote this song with my friend Jonas Myrin in a little chapel in England where we often song write. The song is an attempt to sing about the wide spectrum of God’s grace. The grace of God found us at the cross – and that is the centerpiece of all we believe, but that is not the end of the story of grace. For His grace keeps on finding us – the undeserved goodness of God showing up in our lives. You can find it in the newborn cry and find it in the light of every sunrise. You’ll find it in the mundane and on the mountaintop. And more to the point, it finds you.”

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqd8MoiCbcI

Jonathon shared a devotional about our perception of perfection from Monica LaRose, called “Perfect Like Christ.” Read more by clicking here!

Tell me the first TWO questions you might ask about someone’s newborn.
1- Boy or Girl? (42 votes)
2- What’s their name? (22)
3- Weighs how much? (19)
4- How old? (5)
5- Healthy? (2)
6- Where’s his dad? (2)
7- What color of eyes? (2)

Congratulations to Peter from Howard, who got the top two and wins the WNZR drawstring backpack!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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Inspiration despite the cold!

Today we shared Monday Motivation from Our Daily Bread’s Katara Patton based on Jeremiah 18 – read “The Potter’s Wheel” by clicking here.

We also shared Mart DeHaan’s devotional about “Heroes, Tyrants and Jesus.,” Find out how Paul’s letters influenced how people looked at Jesus by reading here.

Name something that can be lumpy:
– mashed potatoes (29 votes)
– oatmeal/hot cereal (24)
– mattress or bed (13)
– grits (7)
– soup (7)
– pillow (6)

Congratulations to Lilly from Mount Vernon, who guessed the top two answers and wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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The Aftermath of Christmas

Today for Monday Motivation, we returned to Our Daily Bread to talk about what there is to look forward to after celebrating a holiday such as Christmas. Read the full devotional from Adam R. Holz HERE.

We also covered New Years as 2022 is quickly approaching! Tim Gustafson shares a story from Ezekiel in his devotional entitled “Back to the Basics”.

Name a book that could knock you out if someone hit you over the head with it.
  1. Dictionary 39
  2. Encyclopedia 25
  3. Bible 14
  4. Phone Book 14
  5. War & Peace 6

Congratulations to Aranae of Fredericktown for correctly guessing our top two answers! She wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup for today. Make sure to tune in tomorrow for your next chance to win!

Thanks for listening!

Jonathon

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More Christmas motivation!

Today we shared from the Our Daily Bread Christmas devotional book, ‘Celebrating Jesus.’

Jonathon shared ‘Mary Knew’ from Dave Branon:

Four-year-old Kaitlyn was oblivious to everything else in the room. There were no thoughts of stockings hung and wrapped presents. She was simply content to play with our manger scene and its nativity characters. What piqued my interest was something else she was doing as she moved Mary, Joseph, and the Babe around: She was singing “Mary, did you know?” over and over-words she had heard sung by others. As she held Mary, she poignantly asked her if she knew who her precious baby boy was.
Kaitlyn’s question for Mary is the vital one everyone needs to answer. Do we know that Jesus is the One predicted in Genesis 3 to strike Satan’s heel (v. 15)-to gain victory over Satan, sin, and death by His death on the cross? Do we know that He’s the Messiah promised in Isaiah 53 and the One Micah prophesied would be born in Bethlehem hundreds of years later? (5:2).
We know that His name-Jesus-means that He will save His people from their sins (MATTHEW 1:21). We also know that Mary’s baby grew up and chose to die on the cross as the Savior of the world (LUKE 1:31; 2:30-32).
The “Son of the Most High” (1:32) has invited us to know Him and be loved by Him. May we choose to know Jesus, our precious Savior, more and more each day!

Joe shared ‘Captain of a Motley Crew’ from Glenn Packham:

As a child, I always found Christmas Eve one of the most A exciting days of the year. I knew there would be presents in the morning, a feast that night, and a candlelight service at church. But it was also exciting because I never knew who was going to end up at our house for dinner. My parents loved inviting people who were alone or had nowhere to go to come share a meal with us. Folks from church, from their places of work, our friends from school-it was always a motley crew.
David was on the run from King Saul and in need of good friends to surround him (1 SAMUEL 22:1-2). He needed the right community to help him in his crisis. Instead, what he found were hundreds of men who were also in trouble-those “in trouble or in debt or… discontented” (v. 2). Yet, David became captain over the motley crew and they trusted him.
Jesus-the true and better David-is exactly the kind of person who gathered those around Him that society had discarded. Throughout the gospels, it’s often the sick and the disabled, the outcast, and the sinner who find belonging and healing in Jesus. The church is meant to be a kind of cave of Adullam (v. 1). It’s not a perfect community, but a ragtag group in need of a loving, healing Captain.

Name a place that’s open on Christmas Day:
1. Grocery store/Walmart/Kroger (23 votes)
2. Gas stations (20)
3. Fast Food restaurants (19)
4. Waffle House/Denny’s (12)
5. Movie theaters (8)
6. Airports (5)
7. Hospitals (3)
8. Hotels (2)

Congratulations to Tysha from Mount Vernon, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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Celebrating the table and the unexpected…

Today we started a series of Christmas devotionals from the seasonal Our Daily Bread publication, “Celebrating Jesus.”

Joe’s devotional is from Lisa Samra, called ‘A Down Under Christmas…’

I love seeing pictures of our Australian friends celebrating Christmas. Not because they have more creative decorations or a fancier tree, but because they’re usually celebrating at the beach! It’s easy for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere to forget that countries in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate Christmas during their summer months. It’s just not what I expect to see at Christmas.

Sunny Christmas celebrations also point me to the reality that so much about the first Christmas was unexpected. At Jesus’ birth, men from countries east of Israel saw a star and recognized it as a sign that the promised future ruler of Israel had been born (MICAH 5:2).

So these highly educated scholars left their homes and, after arriving in Israel, went to the place they expected to find a new king: the palace. But Jesus wasn’t there. Realizing their mistake, they continued to be directed by the star until they reached a humble home in Bethlehem. It was there that they found Jesus (MATTHEW 2:10-11).

Regardless of whether we celebrate in the sun or snow, at Christmas we remember the birth of a baby who grew up to teach us about God and offer to all the most amazing of gifts, a relationship with Him. Like the wise men, when we search for Him and accept this gift, we find hope and joy beyond all our expectations.

Jonathon’s is from Winn Collier, called ‘A Table for All…’

The upcoming holiday looked grim for Scott. He figured he’d simply be warming up a frozen dinner and watching some football alone. Dreading the isolation, Scott decided to put an ad in the paper, inviting other lonely people to dinner. No less than twelve people showed up! That was 1985, and every year since, Scott has placed a similar ad, welcoming as many as 100 people and now meeting in a local church building. Homeless neighbors, those who’ve lost their family, strangers who can’t travel home-Scott sets a table big enough for all kinds of people.

Isaiah describes God’s intention to welcome every wayward straggler, all who are downtrodden or forgotten. He’s a “refuge to the poor… [a] refuge to the needy in distress.” (25:4). With God, those who are desperate for friendship or forgiveness or hope can find their hearts’ desires. One day “the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat” (v. 6). God widely extends the invitation, welcoming everyone to join Him for a feast-friends gathered around the table of grace.

This is God’s heart for us, and what He promises to do. We may bear the weight of loneliness or despair; but in Jesus, God welcomes us. And if we’ll simply come, each of us will find our seat at a table with room for all.

Name the top two disadvantages of owning a pet:
1- cleaning up after them (66 votes)
2- walking them (10)

Congratulations to Erika from Marengo, who solved this two-week stumper and wins two $5 gift cards to Everlasting Cup!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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Don’t Fear, Just Focus!

Joe was out on business today, so I decided to share two devotionals to kick off your week with some Monday Motivation!

First, we read “In Focus” from Patricia Raybon who shared the story from Acts 3 of the lame beggar at the temple gate called Beautiful.

Then, we focused on Adam R. Holz’s who shared “Storms of Fear”, digging into the story of Jesus and the disciples headed across the Sea of Galilee.

We also recapped MVNU’s Homecoming Weekend which was a huge success. Hundreds of alumni flooded Ariel Arena to watch the women’s basketball team defeat the #2 team in country!

Name a disadvantage of owning a pet…

This question was a stumper, so we’ll bring it back next week for a chance at TWO $5 gift cards to Everlasting Cup!

Today, we registered Linda from Utica and Ron from Mount Vernon for a chance to win a turkey from Smithhisler Meats!

Thanks for listening!

Jonathon

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The intersection of pride and humility

Today’s Monday Motivation deals with the subjects of pride and humility –

Joe’s devotional is from Amy Boucher Pye and was inspired by C.S. Lewis. Read “We’re Not God” by clicking here.

Jonathon shared “Loving Correction” from Cindy Hess Kasper. Read it by clicking here.

Name something you feel before you buy it.
1- Food (79 votes)
2- Clothes (11)
3- Blanket (2)
T3- Pet (2)
T3- Pillow (2)

Congratulations to Sabrina from Mount Vernon, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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Sending out an SOS…

…is a famous line from the classic song from The Police, “Message in a Bottle.” It’s also the inspiration for our first Monday Motivation. Author Alyson Kieda tells the story of David in this devotional from Our Daily Bread. Read it by clicking here.

Our second devotional reminds us that a relationship with Jesus is the only thing that can truly satisfy our longings. Read Winn Collier’s reflection here.

Name one of the first famous people, real or fictional, that children learn about.

1- George Washington (26 votes)
2- Santa Claus (21)
3- Martin Luther King, Jr. (9)
4- Jesus Christ (6)
5- Dr. Seuss (4)
T5- God (4)

Congratulations to Amanda from Fredericktown, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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