Cheryl's Corner

I keep trying to earn the grace of God. It is easy to fall into the mindset that if I do “pretty good” at living for God, He will be more pleased with me and more willing to show me grace. Yet if I’m failing at everything, the fear can creep in that God will leave me on my own and I will have to face the consequences of my sin alone. That is not who God is though. While there are consequences of sin and the Bible talks about how God disciplines those whom He loves, He will never leave His children on their own. God’s grace depends on His unchanging character. In no way does it depend on my behavior. I’m learning that in the moments I feel most ashamed, dirty and broken, those are the moments God’s grace shines the brightest as He invites me to draw close to Him again.   His promise rings true constantly: If we confess our sins , He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I don’t understand God’s love. I don’t understand how ...

Oh what a precious gift it is to be a part of the church! A body of believers in Jesus Christ united under the authority and sufficiency of scripture. The church is made up of sinners saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. Our Saviour has started a great work in us but it won’t be complete until the day we see Jesus face to face. Until then we all still stumble in many ways. Sin is always crouching at our door, waiting to destroy us. Selfish ambition and bitter envy always too easily creep up. Yet despite our many sins and struggles, Jesus still chose to give Himself up for us. He took our condemnation so that we could become His beautiful bride, clothed in His righteousness and not our own. This marvellous truth gives us very great and precious promises. The gates of Hell will never destroy the church of Christ. Our   Father in heaven will never forsake us, bcause Jesus was forsaken on our behalf on the cross. The Word of God is the sourc...

The story of Joseph greatly encourages and inspires me.  Joseph lived in the land of Canaan and out of 12 brothers, he was their father’s favorite. As expected that caused much strife in the family and one day in a jealous rage, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery.  Potiphar, an Egyptian officer, bought him and through God’s favor, Joseph rose to become Potiphar’s personal attendant, managing his household.  When things seemed to finally be going well for Joseph, he was falsely accused of rape and was thrown into prison. Even in this, the Bible tells us that “God was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.”  At the end of 2 years, God enabled Joseph to interpret a dream of Pharoah that no one else was able to. As a result, Joseph became second in command in the land of Egypt! When there was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, his brothers were forced to come to Egypt to find some food; and Joseph and his brothers were eventually reconciled. Despite all the ha...

We never know what tomorrow will bring.   This has always been true and even with all our technology and advances, there is still so much in our world we have no control over. Who hasn’t been alarmed the past week or so by the speed our world has completely changed ? We are living in very uncertain times and we are being confronted in a new way with our finiteness. In a time like this our emotions can go haywire. We have all had to sort through a whole range of emotions this week; everything from fear that we are in a pandemic, disappointment over cancelled plans and disrupted schedules, worrying about and missing loved ones we can no longer visit, to panic over the possible long-term effects of the Coronavirus. Where do we turn for comfort? How can our heart and mind still be at peace in the midst of all the chaos around us? How can our feet still remain on solid ground? It is by thinking upon and treasuring the gospel of Jesus Christ!   I know that is the typical...