In the cartoon “Family Circus” Grandma’s little grandson asks, “Grandma which is your gooder ear” I need to tell you a whisper. Grandmas are good listeners.” The little guy was right. But there is One who is an even better listener…our dear Heavenly Father. And people through the ages have found that He hears the faintest whisper from sincere hearts. Perhaps I speak to someone today who is afraid of something which has happened recently or something that might happen. King David, in one of his Psalms, wrote, “I sought the lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” And the dear Lord Himself issues this wonderful invitation- “Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things…” Go ahead. Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there. Pray! God is listening.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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I recently read the following letter written to an advice columnist. A man wrote, “I am a fifty-year-old man serving time for robbery…the truth is, I’m scared and helpless. There is no one to love, and no one to love me. I know I have made bad choices and deserve punishment for my crime. Can I ever be happy again? Is it too late to start over?” The columnist wisely replied, “with penitence comes redemption. It is never too late.” Well said. While other people may not give us a second chance, God will, when He sees a humble, repentant heart. Isaiah in the Old Testament was inspired to pass on an invitation from God that is relevant today. “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near… He will have mercy…He will abundantly pardon.” Yes, if we have done wrong, we can still have a second chance.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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The annual eagle watch in Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia has attracted thousands of visitors to this little farming community. In the past they were hunted and shot ruthlessly and pesticides and toxic pollutants caused the birds’ declining numbers. Now through the availability of food and plenty of good trees for their nests, action is being taken in Kings County, to protect them and increase their numbers. Like the eagle, there are also broken people in our world needing God’s care. Isaiah the Prophet, wrote of God’s promise, “Have you not heard? The Lord God is the everlasting God…He gives strength to the weary…those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles. Through a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus, we can soar above our earthly problems and difficulties.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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Major Charles Loeffle, policed the White House door from 1869 to 1909. He gathered the signatures of such famous people as Ulysses S. Grant, Winston Churchill, and Theodore Roosevelt. These celebrities are gone, but their signatures remain. The lives we have lived will cause us all to leave signatures behind when we are gone. With this in mind, singer song-writer Steve Green wrote a thoughtful song which he called, ‘Find Us Faithful.” In it he wrote, “…after all our hopes and dreams have come and gone, and our children sift though all we’ve left behind, may the clues that they discover and the memories they recover become light that leads them to the road we each must find.” Jesus explained how to find that road. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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The infamous Tar Ponds, one of Canada’s most notorious industrial blights was a toxic mess. It was left behind after almost a century of steelmaking at the Sydney Steel plant in Cape Breton Nova Scotia. In January 2007, however, a 400-million-dollar cleanup plan was announced by the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia. The cleanup was completed in 2013 with the opening of Open Hearth Park, situated on about ninety- six acres of beautiful trees, green grass, occupying the space of the former steel plant. It’s been called, “quite a transformation,” and illustrates God’s ability to transform any life. Jesus made it all possible, saying, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Paul said that anyone who experiences this conversion is “a new creation.” What a wonderful Saviour we have!

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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The Butchart Gardens in British Columbia is a National Historic site, attracting nearly a million visitors annually, due to its striking floral displays. But this incredibly beautiful spot was once a limestone quarry. Robert and Jenny Butchart originally moved to Brentwood Bay near Victoria, British Columbia, to manufacture cement because of the rich limestone deposits there. After the quarry was exhausted, Mrs. Butchart made it into a sunken garden, and the rest, is history. Often life seems like an old limestone pit, of little use. Bill Gaither’s song reminds us that God can transform us, saying “… All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life.” Jonah wrote of this life change “You have brought up my life from the pit…salvation is of the Lord.“ Jesus is still salvaging lives!

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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In a letter to an advice columnist, a woman wrote the following. “recently the news has been filled with stories of tragedy and heartache. So many innocent lives have been taken…Do you have any suggestions as to what to do during times like these?” The columnist responded encouraging her to get involved with helping others. When Jesus was on earth, times were very difficult. Rome occupied Palestine. Isaiah prophetically wrote that Jesus was “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The Saviour spent more time at funerals than at weddings. Isaiah also wrote that Jesus has “borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” So in these very difficult times, we can help by turning to Jesus and pointing others to the One Who said, “Come to me all you who labour and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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A very famous movie actor in his own words, summed up his philosophy of life. He said, “I’m going to do as I please. I don’t need anybody in the world. I did it myself.” How sad. Tragically, that is the unspoken creed of many people. They consider themselves self-made individuals who worship their supposed creator- themselves. This comes from pride and arrogance. But it is a foolish philosophy of life. We have been created by God, and we are only alive because He allows it. If we have any gifts or talents, it is only because He has bestowed them. Most importantly, our preparation for the next life is in His hands. He inspired Paul to write, “By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, lest anyone should boast.“ We all have a philosophy of life. What’s yours?

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to play major league baseball. During his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he helped them win the World Series in 1955. He retired with a lifetime batting average of .311. During his youth, Robinson joined a neighbourhood gang and was going in the wrong direction. But an older friend helped him see that he was hurting his mother and himself. Jackie said “He told me it didn’t take guts to run with the crowd, but it took courage to be willing to be different.” Jackie listened, left the gang, and the rest is history. He traded his wishbone for a backbone. Perhaps you are saying, “I wish I could live a different life, I wish I could be a Christian, but it’s easier to run with the crowd.” Why not trade your wishbone for a backbone? God’s invitation is “Choose this day whom you will serve.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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“Debt management is top of mind for Canadians,” according to a study commissioned by CIBC. Seventy-two per cent of respondents said they held some form of debt. This study refers to financial debt, but there’s another kind of debt. We are all in debt to God. How come? When God’s Word speaks about our nature, it always declares that we are sinners by nature and by choice. That may sound quaint and old fashioned, but it is still undeniably true. Listen to God’s assessment of us. “There is none righteous, no not one.” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But our Lord doesn’t speak of our guilt without also revealing a way to remove it. Listen to these verses, which Paul was inspired to write. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
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