March 30, 2008
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6 NIV Bible
The above greeting is how Paul begins his letter to the people who are in the church at Philippi. In this greeting it is evident that he cares for the people, sees God working in their lives and is thankful that they are working together to help others experience the Gospel (Good News of Jesus Christ).
Paul’s greeting is a good description of how I and the other leaders in Sunrise feel about the people involved in Sunrise. I and the other leaders thank God for you as we pray for you and your family during the week. We see how God is working in your lives and continuing to strengthen your faith and life in Jesus Christ, and how we as a church desire others to come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. What an honor and joy it is to serve Jesus Christ alongside you and others in Sunrise. Even just in the recent months it is evident that God is moving in the midst of Sunrise in the following ways:
He began the Ministry Partnership with Lee Memorial
How we worked together to make the move from meeting at Jolliff Middle School to Lee Memorial
The wonderful Candlelight Christmas Eve Service Sunrise and Lee Memorial hosted together
New faces on Sunday mornings and in Community Groups
The well attended Baptism Celebration
Adults recently accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord
Adults recently rededicating their lives to Jesus Christ
Children and Students having fun on Sunday mornings (Miracles Happen)
The great atmosphere during the Easter Breakfast and in the Easter Service
The smiles on peoples faces as they are welcomed into an open atmosphere for worship
May we as a church continue to be sensitive to God and His leadership as we continue to work together to share His goodness, joy and love with others. May we thank God for one another and encourage each other to “Delight yourselves in God, yes, find your joy in Him at all times.” Philippians 4:4 Phillips Translation of the Bible
The message today was about experiencing joy in your relationships. Relationships are a vital part of life and can be encouraging and at times discouraging. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians expresses joy in his relationship with them even though he is aware relationships experience difficult times. He is grateful for the people in the church at Philippi. He is encouraged by Timothy and Epaphroditus (how about that name), his friends and co-laborers in ministry. He encourages the people in Philippi to be humble and serve one another with joy, and to seek to resolve conflict for the sake of the Gospel. Because relationships are so vital to life I hope that you will decide to be thankful for the people in your life, be encouraged by those who help you in your walk with God and encourage them, and seek to live with a humble heart that honors and brings joy to others.
This week take some time to write in the space below people you are thankful for and people who encourage you in your walk with Jesus Christ and watch your joy quota rise as you do so. Then write down a few things you might be able to do for someone this week to see their joy quota increase and have fun going for it. May you have a joyful week experiencing joy in your relationships.
Rejoicing,
Steve Nethery
People I’m thankful for:
People who encourage me:
What I am going to do to bring joy to others:
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Going West
I am going west for a little family fun. I will begin posting again the week of March 30. have a good one.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Synergy
Synergy - The action of two or more substances, organs, or organisms to achieve an effect of which each is individually incapable. Working together.On Saturday, 3-15-08, Sunday, 3-16-08, and Wednesday, 3-19-08 I saw and experienced synergy. Synergy was a buzz word in the corporate world for a while. It is still used some, but not as much as it was a couple of years ago. It was also used in the church world lingo for a while and seems to have faded from the church world vocabulary. But not for me. I think it is a very Biblical word and I had the opportunity to experience it recently.
On Saturday, 3-15-08 people worked together to accomplish a great deal of work that involved packing, loading and moving.
On Sunday, 3-16-08 people cooperated with one another and God in order to help others worship, accept Christ, recommit their lives to Jesus and be encouraged in their faith walk. I also watched as people moved in harmony to rearrange a worship area so that it would be ready for a special Easter Service. People buzzing back and forth with positive attitudes, good ideas and an abundance of joy and laughter.
On Wednesday, 3-19-08 men came together and accomplished in two hours what it would have taken two days for one man to accomplish. And we had fun working together.
Synergy. It is found in Theology, Psychology, Spirituality, Sociology and in other "ologies". It is seen in science, history, the human body and in nature and in the Three Musketeers.
Synergy. It is not found in Meology. It is not found in the great trinity of self - Me, Myself and I. It is not found in mine not Thine.
Synergy calls for humility, pride, selflessness, self awareness, cooperation, confidence, and the desire to accomplish a greater good than yourself. Christianity is about Synergy. Working together to accomplish God's Kingdom Work.
Think Synergy.
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:1-4
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Matthew 28:1-8
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Mark 16:1-7
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "
Luke 24:1-12
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
John 20:1-16
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" 3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Wear Green. Drink something green. Pinch someone who isn't wearing green. Have some green eggs and ham. Attend a green parade. Speak with an Irish accent. Plant a shrub or tree. These are just a few things people will do to have fun at the work place and with friends to honor St. Patrick on this St. Patrick's Day.It may be more fitting and honorable to the saint if we thank God today for our salvation. Pray for someone who does not yet know Christ. Invite someone to attend an Easter service or mass as our guest so they may hear about Jesus Christ. Become involved in beginning churches that help others experience Jesus. Begin serving Christ in a local church with our financial giving, talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts God has given us.
I hope yo uhave a fun St. Patrick's Day. Look at how Paul the apostle greeted the followers of Jesus in the letter of Philippians.
"1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi..."
May we consider this greeting and live as St. Patrick for just today.
See the following link for a little info about St. Pat.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Doug Murren Leadership Thoughts
Developing Your Leadership Potential, Doug Murren on 3-11-08
Definition of Leadership - Influencing others to achieve together a worthy goal.
1. Know Yourself
Contemplation. Input from others. What makes you tick? Know how you are wired.
2. Know Your Strengths
Work in areas of strengths. Do what you are good at doing. Lead out of your strengths.
3. Recruit The Right People
Recruit competent people. Those around you are very important.
4. Learn
Life long learning.
5. Know You Are Vulnerable In Your Family Life
Pay attention and be sensitive to your family.
6. Stay Healthy
Exercise. have fun. What helps you relieve stress? Give stuff to God.
7. Have Balcony People In Your Life
Encouragement is needed. Cheerleaders are important.
8. Make Someone Else Successful
Help others do well. Help others succeed.
9. Develop A Life Plan
Spend your time in such a way that you get where you want to go. Plan. Time Management.
What are some life goals, yearly goals, learning goals, etc.
10. Make Quick Adjustments
Seize opportunities. Change is okay. Be Decisive.
Definition of Leadership - Influencing others to achieve together a worthy goal.
1. Know Yourself
Contemplation. Input from others. What makes you tick? Know how you are wired.
2. Know Your Strengths
Work in areas of strengths. Do what you are good at doing. Lead out of your strengths.
3. Recruit The Right People
Recruit competent people. Those around you are very important.
4. Learn
Life long learning.
5. Know You Are Vulnerable In Your Family Life
Pay attention and be sensitive to your family.
6. Stay Healthy
Exercise. have fun. What helps you relieve stress? Give stuff to God.
7. Have Balcony People In Your Life
Encouragement is needed. Cheerleaders are important.
8. Make Someone Else Successful
Help others do well. Help others succeed.
9. Develop A Life Plan
Spend your time in such a way that you get where you want to go. Plan. Time Management.
What are some life goals, yearly goals, learning goals, etc.
10. Make Quick Adjustments
Seize opportunities. Change is okay. Be Decisive.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
I've Decided
I've decided... This is part of Philippians 1:18 found in The Message by Eugene Peterson. You can go to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and read Philippians 1 at your convenience.I began the year 2008 reading through and through Psalm 34 for my personal Scripture reading time. A few weeks ago I started reading through Philippians for my personal reading and for message preparation because the church I pastor is beginning a series in Philippians in late March. This morning as I was reading this phrase jumped off the screen and into my mind and heart. I will seek to see to it that it jumps into my everyday life.
I've decided...
The author of this letter is writing from a difficult place and has faced some difficult circumstances and yet he decides to live in joy, cheering people on (even those who may want to hurt him), and deciding to see the positive aspect of life because of the hope he has in Jesus Christ and because he knows that Jesus Christ changed his life and is the only way for people to enter into heaven and experience real life, joy, meaning and purpose.
I've decided...
In this chapter of the book of Philippians it is clear that Paul is deciding to choose the joyful side of life and choosing to live for Jesus Christ. He decides.
I've decided...
Today. Well, at least for this morning I am deciding to live in Jesus and choose joy. I will realize that God's hope is real and joy is the place I want to dwell. I will decide to live for Jesus Christ and help others experience Jesus Christ today because He is the only way for a person to enter into heaven and only He brings true meaning, purpose and joy to life. I've decided to honor Jesus Christ and others today. I've decided to lift Christ up today in personal praise and worship. I decided God's Kingdom is my dwelling place and that makes me smile.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Eternal Life
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
I John 5:11-13
I John 5:11-13
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Philippians 4:4-8
4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
6-7 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Community Group - How Can I Know What God Wants Me To Do?
I am in a Community Group that is a part of Sunrise Community Church. The group I am in is really three groups that meet in one home. We are currently working through a study about knowing God's will or what God wants me to do. Reviewing some today in preparation for our Community Group these thoughts stuck out:Why should we expect God to show - through circumstances, people, or the inner work of the Holy Spirit - what He wants us to do, if we do not fully intend to obey Him?
The will of God is found in the Word of God. The more a person grows, the more he begins to think instinctively and habitually from a divine perspective. Howard Hendricks
God is everywhere, go where the money is? Scott Burks
This one is really an ease the tension comment that a friend of mine uses when people become uptight about career decisions.
Forgiveness - HOPE
The following is from an a booklet found at http://www.christianity.co.nz/forgive5.htm
This will take some time to read and think through, but I wanted to post it in light of the comment made by Anonymous at the blog dated 3-4-08 titled Leadership Thought.
This booklet has been helpful to me and this part of the article is very good.
Why forgiveness matters
I would suggest seven reasons why forgiveness matters, most of all to the one who gives it, but also to those to whom it is offered. Five are mainly negative, two are positive.
1. Unforgiveness will hurt no one more than myself
R. V. G. Tasker said:
Probably more characters are spoiled by the nursing of grudges and the harbouring of grievances than by anything else.
"All his Holy Spirit needs is one little crack, a closed thing pushed ever so slightly open, a faint cry - I forgive"M.Hancock & K.Mains
Harbouring resentment has been linked to many physical and mental complaints. We can become locked in the straightjacket of our own resentment. It has been described as "a videotape in the mind playing its tormenting reruns, shackling us to the unremitting pain of a raging memory."
Some of the most difficult and painful traumas many people have to cope with result from hurtful experiences that happened in childhood. This may be especially difficult, both to diagnose and deal with. This is because we were so vulnerable when they happened and lacked the maturity to deal with them, and also because such things get buried deep in the subconscious. But, here again, forgiveness must at least become part of the process if healing is to occur. Maxine Hancock and Karen Mains, in their book Child Sex Abuse, write:
If we think of the illustration of the household of the mind with rooms double boarded, then we will have a good visual picture of the effect of sin on a human soul. Into those closed rooms we have shoved the guilt of our own sins, our bitterness, our hate, our vengeful spirits as well as the memory of the pain of grievous acts against us. Until we take the key of forgiveness and tentatively push it into one of those locks and (however reluctantly) open those doors, God's love is often unable to reach our most inward, wounded selves. His light cannot shine through the dusty, shuttered windows with the shades pulled and the curtains drawn tight. All his Holy Spirit needs is one little crack, a closed thing pushed ever so slightly open, a faint cry - I forgive.
"I only forgave when I saw how destructive my hate was"G.Martinez
Gracilla Martinez tells how she learned to forgive when her 15-year-old son, recently having become a Christian, was executed under Cuba's Batista regime. "Don't hate them," the boy had urged that morning as they huddled in their last embrace. "Forgive them, Mamacita. Forgive them, or they will be the victors." But she could not. "In my heart," she recalls, "I vowed revenge. I would get even with his assailants."
For 10 years, Graciella Martinez carried the burden of that hatred, fuelling it with plots and plans for retaliation. At a workshop on forgiveness, she said:
I only forgave when I saw how destructive my hate was, how it consumed my energies, crippled my friendships and disabled any good that I wanted to do. I wanted to be freed from the prison I had erected in my life. I saw, finally, the truth of my son's last words, that when we return hatred to those who hate us, we fall into playing their game according to their rules - and do them the great favour of hurting ourselves.
Edith Buxton, in her book Reluctant Missionary, says:
I wish I had learned earlier about forgiveness, both giving it and receiving it and the freedom of spirit it can bring. You cannot have a happy old age without it. My daughter once wrote these words, "When a situation has broken down in hurt and bitterness, and disagreement is so deep there seems no solution on earth - there remains forgiveness."
2. Unforgiveness will often hurt others
Too often unforgiveness will affect those around us and may well be passed on to the next generation. This can happen in families and on a larger scale in countries. The terrible toll of unforgiveness has been all too obvious in countries such as Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia and East Africa today. The innocent are often involved. As Ghandi said, if everyone were to follow the "eye for an eye" principle of justice, the whole world would go blind.
When King Alfred the Great finally conquered the Danes who had raped and pillaged England for years, he took pity on his enemies, fed them and offered peace, instead of doing what kings normally did to their conquered foes. His act led to the conversion of the Danish king, with Alfred participating in his baptism, and brought lasting peace to those islands. Historian Arthur Bryant concludes, "No greater act of statesmanship was ever performed by an English king."
It has been said that forgiveness is the only way in which the power of sin in the world can be absorbed, neutralised and brought to nothing.
3. Unforgiveness may deny healing to another
Unforgiveness may deny healing to another to whom I alone can give it. Bishop Stephen Neill expresses this thought in a perceptive way in A Genuinely Human Existence:
Forgiveness recognises the wrongdoer as a person. He has done wrong, and about this there is no pretence. But this is not the whole truth about him. He is still of infinite value as a person, since every person is unique and irreplaceable by any other. Since he has so greatly injured himself by doing wrong, he is in special need of help, and help that can be rendered only by the one to whom he has done the wrong...Forgiveness can spring only from a self-forgetfulness that is more concerned about another's wellbeing than about its own, and that longs for the renewal of fellowship even when fellowship has been flouted and destroyed by the wilful aggression of another.
In Decision magazine a remarkable story illustrating this was told by Walter Everett, pastor of United Methodist Church in Hartford, Connecticut. Walter's son, Scott, was murdered in 1987. For the next 10 months he went through various stages of denial, anger, depression and indecision. The first time he saw his son's murderer, Mike, was in court almost a year after Scott's death. During the trial, Mike said he was truly sorry for what he had done.
Walter Everett continues the story:
Someone beside me said, "He didn't mean that; he's trying to impress the judge." I wondered.
God nudged me with the thought, "There's a way for you to let go of your anger and to start the healing process."
Three-and-a-half weeks later, on the first anniversary of Scott's death, I wrote to Mike. I told him about my anger and asked some pointed questions. Then I wrote, "Having said all that, I want to thank you for what you said in court, and as hard as these words are for me to write, I forgive you." I wrote of God's love in Christ and invited Mike to write to me if he wished.
Three weeks later Mike's letter arrived. He said that when he had read the letter he couldn't believe it. No one had ever said to him, "I forgive you." That night he knelt beside his bunk and prayed for, and received, the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Additional correspondence led to regular visits during which they both spoke of their growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Later, Walter spoke on Mike's behalf before the parole board and he was given an early release. In November 1994, Walter officiated at his wedding.
Tom Houston says:
Forgiveness does not come to us in a cup to consume for ourselves, but in a pipe so that it flows through us to others. That is the nature of forgiveness.
4. Unforgiveness affects my relationship with God
" Jesus condemns most strongly the proud... unforgiving spirit"
In Matthew 18, Jesus tells a story about a servant who, though he had been forgiven an infinite debt himself, acted in an unforgiving way towards a fellow servant who owed him a pittance. As a result he was ordered by the very angry king to be tortured until he should pay everything he owed. Jesus concluded the story by saying, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of my followers with all your heart."
The point of the story is obvious. If we are Christians, we have been forgiven an infinite debt that we owe to God which we could never hope to pay ourselves. If we in turn do not share that forgiveness with others, God treats it very seriously. It is significant that, in Matthew's gospel particularly, what Jesus condemns most strongly is the proud, uncharitable, unforgiving, jealous spirit.
Lorne Sanny, for many years President of the Navigators, an organisation committed to building Christian leadership, says that bitterness has put more people on the shelf for God than any other thing he knows. He describes it as "a sort of self-cannibalism" that eats your insides out.
Contrast the example of Dr Joon Gon Kim, one of Korea's outstanding educators and Christian leaders. It was springtime and the rain was falling gently as the family were sharing the events of the day. Suddenly, without forewarning or provocation, an angry band of communist guerillas invaded the village, killing everyone in their path. The family of Dr Kim was not exempt. In their trail of blood, the guerillas left behind the dead bodies of Dr Kim's wife and his father; he himself was beaten and left for dead. In the cool rain of the night he revived and fled to safety in the mountains with his young daughter. They were the sole survivors.
Dr Kim is a man of God and he had learned from Scriptures to love his enemies and pray for those who persecuted him. What was he to do? The Spirit of God impressed upon him that he was to return to the village, seek out the communist chief who had led the attack, tell him that he loved him and tell him of God's love in Christ. This he did and God honoured his obedience. Dumbfounded, the communist chief knelt in prayer with Dr Kim and committed his life to Christ. Within a short time, a number of other communists were converted to Christ and Dr Kim helped build a church for these and other converts. He was later to become the pastor of one of the largest churches in South Korea.
God cannot bless us unless we keep the channels of forgiveness open.
5. Unforgiveness is readily exploited by the Evil One
One of Satan's strategies to hinder our personal growth and undermine the growth of God's kingdom is to encourage and exploit the lack of forgiveness among God's people. Paul urged the Corinthian believers to forgive one of their members who had caused hurt. He said that he himself had forgiven the offender and gave his reason: "I have done this to keep Satan from getting the better of us. We all know what goes on in his mind" (2 Corinthians 2:11).
E. M. Bounds, in his book Satan, says:
A lofty spirit, ready and compliant with the spirit of forgiveness, free from all bitterness, revenge or retaliation, has freed itself from the conditions which invite Satan and has effectually locked and barred his entrance. The readiest way to keep Satan out is to keep the spirit of forgiveness in. The devil is never deeper in hell, nor farther removed from us than when we can pray "Father forgive them; they know not what they do."
6. Forgiveness demonstrates Christ's presence
"When you forgive someone who hurts you, you are dancing to the rhythm of the divine heartbeat"
Jesus said that people would recognise us as his disciples by the way we love one another (John 13:35). One of the ways love is expressed is in forgiveness. Someone has said that "when you forgive someone who hurts you, you are dancing to the rhythm of the divine heartbeat." It points people to God as the great Reconciler when they can see reconciliation amongst his people.
An Australian Bishop tells a delightful story about the Sawi tribe of what used to be Dutch New Guinea, now Indonesia. There had been a large movement to Christ among these people and there was a radiant new first-generation congregation. A young man went off behind a bush with one of the girls. The trouble was that she happened to belong to someone else. Adultery! They are pretty hot on these things amongst the Sawi tribesmen so the husband came to bump off the wretched youth, who, by this time, was not only very frightened, but exceedingly repentant. What did the church do? They gathered round this man, and, assured of his repentance, begged and begged and begged the irate husband to forgive. At long last he agreed that he would accept 14 sows as a peace offering. The youth hadn't got 14 sows, and so the congregation gave of their own money and bits and pieces to get 14 sows. The bishop arrived to see them being carried up the hill to this man.
7. It shows our own experience of God's forgiveness
"Nothing in this lost world bears the impress of the Son of God so surely as forgiveness"
It has been said that nothing in this lost world bears the impress of the Son of God so surely as forgiveness.
After the Second World War, still suffering physical and emotional scars from Nazi brutality, Corrie Ten Boom felt called to preach forgiveness through Europe, as they dug out of the war's emotional rubble. She had lost most of her family in concentration camps for helping in the rescue of Jews. She was sure she had overcome her own desire for vengeance against the German SS troops who had dehumanised her and her loved ones in those camps. One occasion took her to Munich. Outside a church after the Sunday Service, she found herself looking hard in the face of an old SS guard. He had watched and sneered at frightened women prisoners as they had been forced to take delousing showers in front of him. Suddenly for Corrie the memories were there again - the roomful of mocking men, the pain and shame of it. And now with the war over, the man had come up to Corrie, beaming and bowing politely. "How grateful I am for your message," he said. "To think, as you say, that he has washed my sins away." He put out his hand to her. It was too much for Corrie and she kept her hand frozen at her side. Forgiveness comes hard for anyone, and it seemed to her outrageous to expect it of her at that time, in that situation.
She goes on to tell in her book, The Hiding Place, how at that moment angry and vengeful thoughts boiled through her system and she struggled to raise her hand, but she could not. She felt nothing, no emotion. Not the slightest spark of forgiveness. So she breathed a silent prayer, "Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness." And Corrie was touched in that instant by the One who can forgive everyone everything, because he himself had born the cost of those actions, the cost of forgiveness, on the Cross in his own body. Corrie felt the force of her own forgiveness and the understanding of that forgiveness. In the freedom of being forgiven, she raised her arm and took the hand of the man who had done unforgettable things to her.
Corrie was later to say:
We never touch the ocean of God's love so much as when we love our enemies. It is a joy to accept forgiveness, but it is almost a greater joy to give forgiveness.
We demonstrate our own experience of that divine forgiveness by the way in which we extend it to others. What could be a greater witness to the truth of the gospel than the sight of Betty Elliot in Berlin, walking along arm in arm with two Auca Indians who had murdered her husband in the jungles of Ecuador and made her a widow. This happened at the World Congress of Evangelism in 1966. Since they didn't know anything about Western civilisation and had come straight from the jungle, she was teaching them how to use a knife and fork, how to use the toilet and all the other things necessary for coping with modern ways of living. Or similarly, Marge Saint, whose husband was killed by those same Indians, spending time with the tribe and seeing her two children, now teenagers, baptised by one of the men who had killed their father. He was now a Christian leader in his tribe.
The Communion Service is supremely the moment in our Church Services when we focus on the cost of our forgiveness. In the old Anglican Service, before the congregation receives the bread and wine, symbols of the Cross, the minister would always read these words from the Book of Common Prayer: "You that sincerely and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, draw near with faith..." It is not only the acceptance of our own forgiveness that qualifies us to join in celebrating such an event, but also the extending of that forgiveness to others. So we demonstrate our membership in the family of God.
For the basic outline of this booklet I am indebted to a sermon I heard preached by Rev. Philip Saunders, Vicar of St. Andrews Anglican Church, Waverley, Melbourne, in 1983.
This will take some time to read and think through, but I wanted to post it in light of the comment made by Anonymous at the blog dated 3-4-08 titled Leadership Thought.
This booklet has been helpful to me and this part of the article is very good.
Why forgiveness matters
I would suggest seven reasons why forgiveness matters, most of all to the one who gives it, but also to those to whom it is offered. Five are mainly negative, two are positive.
1. Unforgiveness will hurt no one more than myself
R. V. G. Tasker said:
Probably more characters are spoiled by the nursing of grudges and the harbouring of grievances than by anything else.
"All his Holy Spirit needs is one little crack, a closed thing pushed ever so slightly open, a faint cry - I forgive"M.Hancock & K.Mains
Harbouring resentment has been linked to many physical and mental complaints. We can become locked in the straightjacket of our own resentment. It has been described as "a videotape in the mind playing its tormenting reruns, shackling us to the unremitting pain of a raging memory."
Some of the most difficult and painful traumas many people have to cope with result from hurtful experiences that happened in childhood. This may be especially difficult, both to diagnose and deal with. This is because we were so vulnerable when they happened and lacked the maturity to deal with them, and also because such things get buried deep in the subconscious. But, here again, forgiveness must at least become part of the process if healing is to occur. Maxine Hancock and Karen Mains, in their book Child Sex Abuse, write:
If we think of the illustration of the household of the mind with rooms double boarded, then we will have a good visual picture of the effect of sin on a human soul. Into those closed rooms we have shoved the guilt of our own sins, our bitterness, our hate, our vengeful spirits as well as the memory of the pain of grievous acts against us. Until we take the key of forgiveness and tentatively push it into one of those locks and (however reluctantly) open those doors, God's love is often unable to reach our most inward, wounded selves. His light cannot shine through the dusty, shuttered windows with the shades pulled and the curtains drawn tight. All his Holy Spirit needs is one little crack, a closed thing pushed ever so slightly open, a faint cry - I forgive.
"I only forgave when I saw how destructive my hate was"G.Martinez
Gracilla Martinez tells how she learned to forgive when her 15-year-old son, recently having become a Christian, was executed under Cuba's Batista regime. "Don't hate them," the boy had urged that morning as they huddled in their last embrace. "Forgive them, Mamacita. Forgive them, or they will be the victors." But she could not. "In my heart," she recalls, "I vowed revenge. I would get even with his assailants."
For 10 years, Graciella Martinez carried the burden of that hatred, fuelling it with plots and plans for retaliation. At a workshop on forgiveness, she said:
I only forgave when I saw how destructive my hate was, how it consumed my energies, crippled my friendships and disabled any good that I wanted to do. I wanted to be freed from the prison I had erected in my life. I saw, finally, the truth of my son's last words, that when we return hatred to those who hate us, we fall into playing their game according to their rules - and do them the great favour of hurting ourselves.
Edith Buxton, in her book Reluctant Missionary, says:
I wish I had learned earlier about forgiveness, both giving it and receiving it and the freedom of spirit it can bring. You cannot have a happy old age without it. My daughter once wrote these words, "When a situation has broken down in hurt and bitterness, and disagreement is so deep there seems no solution on earth - there remains forgiveness."
2. Unforgiveness will often hurt others
Too often unforgiveness will affect those around us and may well be passed on to the next generation. This can happen in families and on a larger scale in countries. The terrible toll of unforgiveness has been all too obvious in countries such as Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia and East Africa today. The innocent are often involved. As Ghandi said, if everyone were to follow the "eye for an eye" principle of justice, the whole world would go blind.
When King Alfred the Great finally conquered the Danes who had raped and pillaged England for years, he took pity on his enemies, fed them and offered peace, instead of doing what kings normally did to their conquered foes. His act led to the conversion of the Danish king, with Alfred participating in his baptism, and brought lasting peace to those islands. Historian Arthur Bryant concludes, "No greater act of statesmanship was ever performed by an English king."
It has been said that forgiveness is the only way in which the power of sin in the world can be absorbed, neutralised and brought to nothing.
3. Unforgiveness may deny healing to another
Unforgiveness may deny healing to another to whom I alone can give it. Bishop Stephen Neill expresses this thought in a perceptive way in A Genuinely Human Existence:
Forgiveness recognises the wrongdoer as a person. He has done wrong, and about this there is no pretence. But this is not the whole truth about him. He is still of infinite value as a person, since every person is unique and irreplaceable by any other. Since he has so greatly injured himself by doing wrong, he is in special need of help, and help that can be rendered only by the one to whom he has done the wrong...Forgiveness can spring only from a self-forgetfulness that is more concerned about another's wellbeing than about its own, and that longs for the renewal of fellowship even when fellowship has been flouted and destroyed by the wilful aggression of another.
In Decision magazine a remarkable story illustrating this was told by Walter Everett, pastor of United Methodist Church in Hartford, Connecticut. Walter's son, Scott, was murdered in 1987. For the next 10 months he went through various stages of denial, anger, depression and indecision. The first time he saw his son's murderer, Mike, was in court almost a year after Scott's death. During the trial, Mike said he was truly sorry for what he had done.
Walter Everett continues the story:
Someone beside me said, "He didn't mean that; he's trying to impress the judge." I wondered.
God nudged me with the thought, "There's a way for you to let go of your anger and to start the healing process."
Three-and-a-half weeks later, on the first anniversary of Scott's death, I wrote to Mike. I told him about my anger and asked some pointed questions. Then I wrote, "Having said all that, I want to thank you for what you said in court, and as hard as these words are for me to write, I forgive you." I wrote of God's love in Christ and invited Mike to write to me if he wished.
Three weeks later Mike's letter arrived. He said that when he had read the letter he couldn't believe it. No one had ever said to him, "I forgive you." That night he knelt beside his bunk and prayed for, and received, the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Additional correspondence led to regular visits during which they both spoke of their growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Later, Walter spoke on Mike's behalf before the parole board and he was given an early release. In November 1994, Walter officiated at his wedding.
Tom Houston says:
Forgiveness does not come to us in a cup to consume for ourselves, but in a pipe so that it flows through us to others. That is the nature of forgiveness.
4. Unforgiveness affects my relationship with God
" Jesus condemns most strongly the proud... unforgiving spirit"
In Matthew 18, Jesus tells a story about a servant who, though he had been forgiven an infinite debt himself, acted in an unforgiving way towards a fellow servant who owed him a pittance. As a result he was ordered by the very angry king to be tortured until he should pay everything he owed. Jesus concluded the story by saying, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don't forgive each of my followers with all your heart."
The point of the story is obvious. If we are Christians, we have been forgiven an infinite debt that we owe to God which we could never hope to pay ourselves. If we in turn do not share that forgiveness with others, God treats it very seriously. It is significant that, in Matthew's gospel particularly, what Jesus condemns most strongly is the proud, uncharitable, unforgiving, jealous spirit.
Lorne Sanny, for many years President of the Navigators, an organisation committed to building Christian leadership, says that bitterness has put more people on the shelf for God than any other thing he knows. He describes it as "a sort of self-cannibalism" that eats your insides out.
Contrast the example of Dr Joon Gon Kim, one of Korea's outstanding educators and Christian leaders. It was springtime and the rain was falling gently as the family were sharing the events of the day. Suddenly, without forewarning or provocation, an angry band of communist guerillas invaded the village, killing everyone in their path. The family of Dr Kim was not exempt. In their trail of blood, the guerillas left behind the dead bodies of Dr Kim's wife and his father; he himself was beaten and left for dead. In the cool rain of the night he revived and fled to safety in the mountains with his young daughter. They were the sole survivors.
Dr Kim is a man of God and he had learned from Scriptures to love his enemies and pray for those who persecuted him. What was he to do? The Spirit of God impressed upon him that he was to return to the village, seek out the communist chief who had led the attack, tell him that he loved him and tell him of God's love in Christ. This he did and God honoured his obedience. Dumbfounded, the communist chief knelt in prayer with Dr Kim and committed his life to Christ. Within a short time, a number of other communists were converted to Christ and Dr Kim helped build a church for these and other converts. He was later to become the pastor of one of the largest churches in South Korea.
God cannot bless us unless we keep the channels of forgiveness open.
5. Unforgiveness is readily exploited by the Evil One
One of Satan's strategies to hinder our personal growth and undermine the growth of God's kingdom is to encourage and exploit the lack of forgiveness among God's people. Paul urged the Corinthian believers to forgive one of their members who had caused hurt. He said that he himself had forgiven the offender and gave his reason: "I have done this to keep Satan from getting the better of us. We all know what goes on in his mind" (2 Corinthians 2:11).
E. M. Bounds, in his book Satan, says:
A lofty spirit, ready and compliant with the spirit of forgiveness, free from all bitterness, revenge or retaliation, has freed itself from the conditions which invite Satan and has effectually locked and barred his entrance. The readiest way to keep Satan out is to keep the spirit of forgiveness in. The devil is never deeper in hell, nor farther removed from us than when we can pray "Father forgive them; they know not what they do."
6. Forgiveness demonstrates Christ's presence
"When you forgive someone who hurts you, you are dancing to the rhythm of the divine heartbeat"
Jesus said that people would recognise us as his disciples by the way we love one another (John 13:35). One of the ways love is expressed is in forgiveness. Someone has said that "when you forgive someone who hurts you, you are dancing to the rhythm of the divine heartbeat." It points people to God as the great Reconciler when they can see reconciliation amongst his people.
An Australian Bishop tells a delightful story about the Sawi tribe of what used to be Dutch New Guinea, now Indonesia. There had been a large movement to Christ among these people and there was a radiant new first-generation congregation. A young man went off behind a bush with one of the girls. The trouble was that she happened to belong to someone else. Adultery! They are pretty hot on these things amongst the Sawi tribesmen so the husband came to bump off the wretched youth, who, by this time, was not only very frightened, but exceedingly repentant. What did the church do? They gathered round this man, and, assured of his repentance, begged and begged and begged the irate husband to forgive. At long last he agreed that he would accept 14 sows as a peace offering. The youth hadn't got 14 sows, and so the congregation gave of their own money and bits and pieces to get 14 sows. The bishop arrived to see them being carried up the hill to this man.
7. It shows our own experience of God's forgiveness
"Nothing in this lost world bears the impress of the Son of God so surely as forgiveness"
It has been said that nothing in this lost world bears the impress of the Son of God so surely as forgiveness.
After the Second World War, still suffering physical and emotional scars from Nazi brutality, Corrie Ten Boom felt called to preach forgiveness through Europe, as they dug out of the war's emotional rubble. She had lost most of her family in concentration camps for helping in the rescue of Jews. She was sure she had overcome her own desire for vengeance against the German SS troops who had dehumanised her and her loved ones in those camps. One occasion took her to Munich. Outside a church after the Sunday Service, she found herself looking hard in the face of an old SS guard. He had watched and sneered at frightened women prisoners as they had been forced to take delousing showers in front of him. Suddenly for Corrie the memories were there again - the roomful of mocking men, the pain and shame of it. And now with the war over, the man had come up to Corrie, beaming and bowing politely. "How grateful I am for your message," he said. "To think, as you say, that he has washed my sins away." He put out his hand to her. It was too much for Corrie and she kept her hand frozen at her side. Forgiveness comes hard for anyone, and it seemed to her outrageous to expect it of her at that time, in that situation.
She goes on to tell in her book, The Hiding Place, how at that moment angry and vengeful thoughts boiled through her system and she struggled to raise her hand, but she could not. She felt nothing, no emotion. Not the slightest spark of forgiveness. So she breathed a silent prayer, "Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness." And Corrie was touched in that instant by the One who can forgive everyone everything, because he himself had born the cost of those actions, the cost of forgiveness, on the Cross in his own body. Corrie felt the force of her own forgiveness and the understanding of that forgiveness. In the freedom of being forgiven, she raised her arm and took the hand of the man who had done unforgettable things to her.
Corrie was later to say:
We never touch the ocean of God's love so much as when we love our enemies. It is a joy to accept forgiveness, but it is almost a greater joy to give forgiveness.
We demonstrate our own experience of that divine forgiveness by the way in which we extend it to others. What could be a greater witness to the truth of the gospel than the sight of Betty Elliot in Berlin, walking along arm in arm with two Auca Indians who had murdered her husband in the jungles of Ecuador and made her a widow. This happened at the World Congress of Evangelism in 1966. Since they didn't know anything about Western civilisation and had come straight from the jungle, she was teaching them how to use a knife and fork, how to use the toilet and all the other things necessary for coping with modern ways of living. Or similarly, Marge Saint, whose husband was killed by those same Indians, spending time with the tribe and seeing her two children, now teenagers, baptised by one of the men who had killed their father. He was now a Christian leader in his tribe.
The Communion Service is supremely the moment in our Church Services when we focus on the cost of our forgiveness. In the old Anglican Service, before the congregation receives the bread and wine, symbols of the Cross, the minister would always read these words from the Book of Common Prayer: "You that sincerely and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, draw near with faith..." It is not only the acceptance of our own forgiveness that qualifies us to join in celebrating such an event, but also the extending of that forgiveness to others. So we demonstrate our membership in the family of God.
For the basic outline of this booklet I am indebted to a sermon I heard preached by Rev. Philip Saunders, Vicar of St. Andrews Anglican Church, Waverley, Melbourne, in 1983.
Leadership Thought
There is no personal leadership growth, institution growth and organization growth without healthy constructive evalution that is acted upon for the purpose of growth.
Whoever
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor? It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister regains control, he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. "
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Leadership Thoughts - 10 Qualities of Godly Leaders
1. Respected
2. Faithful to marriage
3. Even-tempered
4. Self-disciplined
5. Friendly and accessible
6. Knowledgeable about the Bible
7. Not given to drunkenness
8. Not pushy or overbearing
9. Not petty or quarrelsome
10. Not driven by money
2. Faithful to marriage
3. Even-tempered
4. Self-disciplined
5. Friendly and accessible
6. Knowledgeable about the Bible
7. Not given to drunkenness
8. Not pushy or overbearing
9. Not petty or quarrelsome
10. Not driven by money
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Philip Baptizes the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." 30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." 34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.Acts 8:26-38
Baptism
Sunrise and Lee Memorial are hosting a Baptism Celebration this coming Sunday, March 2, 2008 so I thought I would post information about Believer's Baptism.
How Do I Register for Baptism?
You may do one of the following to register for Sunrise’s next Baptism Celebration:
Call the church office at 757-673-6419.
Complete a Communication Card on a Sunday morning and express your interest in Baptism.
Sign up on the Baptism Celebration Sheet located on the Information Tables on a Sunday morning.
What is the Meaning of Baptism?
It illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.“… Christ died for our sins … he was buried … and he rose again.”(1 Corinthians 15:3–4)“For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ.” (Colossians 2:12) It illustrates your new life as a Christian.“When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside. The old life has passed away and a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) “By our baptism then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead … so that we may live a new life!” (Romans 6:4). Yet baptism doesn’t make you a Christian. Only your faith in Christ does that. Baptism is like a wedding ring; it’s the outward sign of the commitment you have made in your heart. (see Ephesians 2:8–9)
Who Should Be Baptized?
The Bible says that every person who believes in Christ should be baptized. A believer is someone who has realized that their sin has separated them from God. They have given up all personal efforts to reach God through good works or religious activity. They have concluded that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for their sins is the only thing that can bridge the gap between themselves and God. A believer is someone who has decided to trust Christ alone for salvation. If you have come to that point in your spiritual journey, then you should be baptized.(see Acts 2:41; 8:12-13)
Why Should I Be Baptized?
First and foremost, it is to follow the example set by Jesus. “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized by John in the river.” (Mark 1:9). In addition, Christ commanded it. “Jesus said, ‘Go then, to all people everywhere and make them my disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and then teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you.’” (Matthew 28:19-20) It demonstrates that you are a believer, a follower of Christ. “We know that we have come to know Him, if we obey His commands,” (1 John 2:3)
When Should I Be Baptized?
As soon as you can after you become a believer“Those who believed were baptized that day.”(Acts 2:41)“Then Philip began with the Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water, and the man said, ‘Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized right now?’ Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ The man answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ So they went down into the water and Philip baptized him.”(Acts 8:35-38)
Yet it doesn’t have to occur the moment you believe. The Bible teaches that there is no reason to delay your baptism. After becoming a believer, you should participate in the next available opportunity the church provides for baptism. If you wait until you feel you are a “good enough” believer, you will never feel ready for baptism.
Why is Immersion Baptism Important?
It is the method used in Jesus’ baptism.“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.” (Matthew 3:16) Every baptism mentioned in the Bible is by immersion.“Then both Philip and the man went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water …” (Acts 8:38–39). The word “baptize” means “to dip under water.” Immersion best symbolizes Christ’s burial and resurrection. (see Romans 6:1-11) The founders of the major denominations emphasized immersion. Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran denomination, said: “I would have those who are to be baptized to be entirely immersed, as the word imports and the mystery signifies.”John Calvin, founder of the Presbyterian denomination, said: “The word ‘baptize’ signifies to immerse. It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.” John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist and Wesleyan denominations, said: “‘Buries with Him’ alludes to baptizing by immersion according to the custom of the first church.”
What If I Was Baptized as an Infant?
In the Bible, we see parents bringing their children to Jesus. He held them and prayed for them and told us to welcome them. But he did not baptize them, and he did not tell anyone else to baptize them.So if baptism signifies salvation (as the Bible teaches), only people who have intentionally received salvation should experience baptism. Thus, the Bible would indicate that baptism is for people who have made a decision to follow Christ.If you have not experienced a believer’s baptism, even though you have experienced baptism as an infant, the full meaning and significance of baptism has yet to take place in your life. We strongly encourage you to be baptized as an adult believer in Christ.Some churches practice a “baptism of confirmation” for children. This is a time when parents pledge their commitment to raise their child according to Christian values and beliefs. While a very meaningful event, this is not Christian baptism; it is not mentioned in the Bible.Adult baptism doesn’t belittle your childhood baptism; it is a fulfillment of your parents’ hopes when they had you baptized.
Is There a Follow-Up to Baptism?
Baptism is a biblical mandate for followers. And as Christ followers, it is important to learn the “foundations” of the Christian faith, to connect with other Christ followers and to use our spiritual gifts to serve the church and impact the world. We want you to be a part of worship on the weekends, become an active part of a Community Group and begin serving in order to help others expereince God's love found in Jesus Christ.
How Do I Register for Baptism?
You may do one of the following to register for Sunrise’s next Baptism Celebration:
Call the church office at 757-673-6419.
Complete a Communication Card on a Sunday morning and express your interest in Baptism.
Sign up on the Baptism Celebration Sheet located on the Information Tables on a Sunday morning.
What is the Meaning of Baptism?
It illustrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.“… Christ died for our sins … he was buried … and he rose again.”(1 Corinthians 15:3–4)“For when you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and in baptism you were also raised with Christ.” (Colossians 2:12) It illustrates your new life as a Christian.“When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside. The old life has passed away and a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) “By our baptism then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead … so that we may live a new life!” (Romans 6:4). Yet baptism doesn’t make you a Christian. Only your faith in Christ does that. Baptism is like a wedding ring; it’s the outward sign of the commitment you have made in your heart. (see Ephesians 2:8–9)
Who Should Be Baptized?
The Bible says that every person who believes in Christ should be baptized. A believer is someone who has realized that their sin has separated them from God. They have given up all personal efforts to reach God through good works or religious activity. They have concluded that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for their sins is the only thing that can bridge the gap between themselves and God. A believer is someone who has decided to trust Christ alone for salvation. If you have come to that point in your spiritual journey, then you should be baptized.(see Acts 2:41; 8:12-13)
Why Should I Be Baptized?
First and foremost, it is to follow the example set by Jesus. “At that time Jesus came from Nazareth and was baptized by John in the river.” (Mark 1:9). In addition, Christ commanded it. “Jesus said, ‘Go then, to all people everywhere and make them my disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and then teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you.’” (Matthew 28:19-20) It demonstrates that you are a believer, a follower of Christ. “We know that we have come to know Him, if we obey His commands,” (1 John 2:3)
When Should I Be Baptized?
As soon as you can after you become a believer“Those who believed were baptized that day.”(Acts 2:41)“Then Philip began with the Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water, and the man said, ‘Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized right now?’ Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ The man answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ So they went down into the water and Philip baptized him.”(Acts 8:35-38)
Yet it doesn’t have to occur the moment you believe. The Bible teaches that there is no reason to delay your baptism. After becoming a believer, you should participate in the next available opportunity the church provides for baptism. If you wait until you feel you are a “good enough” believer, you will never feel ready for baptism.
Why is Immersion Baptism Important?
It is the method used in Jesus’ baptism.“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.” (Matthew 3:16) Every baptism mentioned in the Bible is by immersion.“Then both Philip and the man went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water …” (Acts 8:38–39). The word “baptize” means “to dip under water.” Immersion best symbolizes Christ’s burial and resurrection. (see Romans 6:1-11) The founders of the major denominations emphasized immersion. Martin Luther, founder of the Lutheran denomination, said: “I would have those who are to be baptized to be entirely immersed, as the word imports and the mystery signifies.”John Calvin, founder of the Presbyterian denomination, said: “The word ‘baptize’ signifies to immerse. It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient church.” John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist and Wesleyan denominations, said: “‘Buries with Him’ alludes to baptizing by immersion according to the custom of the first church.”
What If I Was Baptized as an Infant?
In the Bible, we see parents bringing their children to Jesus. He held them and prayed for them and told us to welcome them. But he did not baptize them, and he did not tell anyone else to baptize them.So if baptism signifies salvation (as the Bible teaches), only people who have intentionally received salvation should experience baptism. Thus, the Bible would indicate that baptism is for people who have made a decision to follow Christ.If you have not experienced a believer’s baptism, even though you have experienced baptism as an infant, the full meaning and significance of baptism has yet to take place in your life. We strongly encourage you to be baptized as an adult believer in Christ.Some churches practice a “baptism of confirmation” for children. This is a time when parents pledge their commitment to raise their child according to Christian values and beliefs. While a very meaningful event, this is not Christian baptism; it is not mentioned in the Bible.Adult baptism doesn’t belittle your childhood baptism; it is a fulfillment of your parents’ hopes when they had you baptized.
Is There a Follow-Up to Baptism?
Baptism is a biblical mandate for followers. And as Christ followers, it is important to learn the “foundations” of the Christian faith, to connect with other Christ followers and to use our spiritual gifts to serve the church and impact the world. We want you to be a part of worship on the weekends, become an active part of a Community Group and begin serving in order to help others expereince God's love found in Jesus Christ.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Leadership Thoughts
The little things don't mean a lot they mean everything.
Harvey McKay
Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
Ken Blanchard
Planning honors God.
Harvey McKay
Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
Ken Blanchard
Planning honors God.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Leadership Thought
The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it (life).
William James
William James
A Letter from Jesus
Dear Friend,
How are you?
I just had to send a note to tell you how much I care about you.
I saw you yesterday as you were talking with your friends.
I waited all day hoping you would want to talk with me too.
I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you –
and I waited.
You never came. It hurt me but still I love you, because I am your friend.
I saw you sleeping last night and longed to touch your brow,
so I spilled moonlight upon your face.
Again, I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk.
I have so many gifts for you!
You awoke and rushed off to work.
My tears were in the rain. If you would only listen to me!
I LOVE YOU! I try to tell you in blue skies and in the quiet green grass.
I whisper it in leaves on the trees and breathe it in colors of flowers,
shout it to you in mountain streams, give the birds love songs to sing.
I clothe you with warm sunshine and perfume the air with nature scents.
My love for you is deeper than the ocean,
and bigger than the biggest need in your heart!
Ask me! Talk with me! Please don’t forget me.
I have so much to share with you!
I won’t hassle you any further. It is YOUR decision.
I have chosen you and I will wait because I love you.
Your Friend,
Jesus
How are you?
I just had to send a note to tell you how much I care about you.
I saw you yesterday as you were talking with your friends.
I waited all day hoping you would want to talk with me too.
I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you –
and I waited.
You never came. It hurt me but still I love you, because I am your friend.
I saw you sleeping last night and longed to touch your brow,
so I spilled moonlight upon your face.
Again, I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk.
I have so many gifts for you!
You awoke and rushed off to work.
My tears were in the rain. If you would only listen to me!
I LOVE YOU! I try to tell you in blue skies and in the quiet green grass.
I whisper it in leaves on the trees and breathe it in colors of flowers,
shout it to you in mountain streams, give the birds love songs to sing.
I clothe you with warm sunshine and perfume the air with nature scents.
My love for you is deeper than the ocean,
and bigger than the biggest need in your heart!
Ask me! Talk with me! Please don’t forget me.
I have so much to share with you!
I won’t hassle you any further. It is YOUR decision.
I have chosen you and I will wait because I love you.
Your Friend,
Jesus
For SCC - 2-17-08 Loved
On Sunday, 2-24-08, we continued our 3:16 series and the topic was Loved. "For God so loved..."Love is a relationship word. God desires a relationship with us.
I shared the following quote:
"So long as we imagine it is we who have to look for God, we must often loose heart. But it is the other way about - He is looking for us." Simon Tugwell
The following verses were shared to help us understand God's love for us:
God is love. Part of I John 4:16
9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I John 4:9-10
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
I John 3:1
8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
Psalms 136:1-3
3-6How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Ephesians 1:3-6
The above verses and passages are just a few of the passages and verses that tell us of God's love for us. God desries a relationship with us. God's love is about a rlationship that provides hope and life for us. We looked at the follwoing three ways God provides for us because of his love for us. There are many other ways God expresses His love for us, but these three will give us a good idea of the hope and life god desires to give us and are very practical and can be fleshed out during the weekdays.
1. When I am discouraged, God is my strength.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Isaiah 40:29
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
2. When I am worried, God is my confidence.
2. When I am worried, God is my confidence.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29"11
3. When I need guidance, God is my conuselor.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. Psalm 48:14
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8
God desires to be a part of our lives. His love for us is real and provides hope for us. Practice these four secrets in ordert begin to experience God's love and presence in your daily life.
1. Invite Jesus into your life.
2. Be still and quite. Take some time each day to be still and quiet and listen to God.
3. Talk to God about everything.
4. Develop the habit of thanks and praise.
God loves you. He desires have a real relationship with you. Christianity is about a relationship with God. This week God is looking for you.
"So long as we imagine that it is we who have to look for God, we must often loose heart. But it is the other way about - He is looking for us." Simon Tugwell
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.I John 4:7-12
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
ADPD
Do you suffer from ADPD? Attention Deficit Prayer Disorder. ADPD is the inability to focus while you are speaking to and listening to God. The speaking to and listening to God, AKA prayer, is vital to living in the power and presence of God, but the vast majority of followers of Christ I know and visit with spend less than 10 minutes a day in prayer. Ouch. There are numerous reasons for this lack of time with the Creator, Savior, and Life Giver, but one that seems very real is ADPD. The mind wanders, the to do list grows, roof brain chatter beckons, silence leads to nodding off, restless leg syndrome kicks in (even as I write), and on and on and on the list goes. To my knowledge their is no drug or pill that can help with ADPD. I sometimes wish someone would discover focustor or prayerdellin so that I could pop the pill and focus as I seek to speak to God and hear from God in my daily life. but not so. So, here are a few suggestions for myself and for others who suffer form ADPD.
1. Know that God does desire to hear form you and speak to you.
2. Plan the time.
3. Pray with some order. Start by thanking God. Then admit your shortcomings and concerns.
Ask for God's guidance. Be willing to change. Offer request.
4. It is okay to move around while praying.
5. Have your to do list in front of you and pray over it.
6. Call a friend on the phone and pray together on the phone.
7. Memorize one verse about prayer and as you start to wander go back to that verse when you
start to wander. This may help you focus. For instance: Call to Me (God), and I will answer
you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
These are some helpful hints to help with ADPD. May your time with God increase as you work through ADPD.
1. Know that God does desire to hear form you and speak to you.
2. Plan the time.
3. Pray with some order. Start by thanking God. Then admit your shortcomings and concerns.
Ask for God's guidance. Be willing to change. Offer request.
4. It is okay to move around while praying.
5. Have your to do list in front of you and pray over it.
6. Call a friend on the phone and pray together on the phone.
7. Memorize one verse about prayer and as you start to wander go back to that verse when you
start to wander. This may help you focus. For instance: Call to Me (God), and I will answer
you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Jeremiah 33:3
These are some helpful hints to help with ADPD. May your time with God increase as you work through ADPD.
Some of Psalm 136
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights— His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.
Angelia Sanders to Kenya
Since December 2, 2007 Kenya has been undergoing a lot of political instability due to rigged elections in the country. So far, almost 1,000 people have lost their lives and close to 300,000 have been displaced from their homes due to violence and instability. As of now it does not look like things will get better before it gets even worse.Angelia Sanders will be going to Kenya from February 20th to March 16th to work with those who are HIV+ and living in the make-shift shelters. She lived in Kenya from 2002-2006 and considers it her true home. As she leaves for Kenya, she asks for your support:
She will be taking over a trunk that she would like to fill with colored pencils and crayons. These need to be NEW and SHARPENED please.
Also if you would please consider donating $10, with this small contribution from each member of Sunrise she will be able to do a lot for those in the camps. She is covering her own expenses and so everything you give her will be going to the people she will be working with.
Please place crayons and pencils on the stage Sunday February 17th.
If you are donating with a check please make checks payable to Africa Conservancy.
Finally, above all else, please keep Angelia’s safety and the people of Kenya in your prayers.
Thank you in advance for any support you can offer,
Sunrise Community Church
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Philippians 2:1-11
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11
Look again at verses 3 and 4 and give some personal thought to humility, the interest of others, and considering others better than yourself. Thank God for the opportunity to live and make a difference in the lives of others.
Philippians 2:1-11
Look again at verses 3 and 4 and give some personal thought to humility, the interest of others, and considering others better than yourself. Thank God for the opportunity to live and make a difference in the lives of others.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
NOW
"Men have succeeded in accumilating a greater mass of objects, but the joy in the world has grown less." Fyodor Dostoyevsky
NOW - Right Now. Take a minute and enjoy. Take a minute and give thanks. Take a minute and smile. Take a minute and ....
Just stop and breath and experience a beginning of joy.
NOW - Right Now. Take a minute and enjoy. Take a minute and give thanks. Take a minute and smile. Take a minute and ....
Just stop and breath and experience a beginning of joy.
Monday, February 04, 2008
John 3:16 Animation
http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/animations/walk/index.html
This will take a few minutes for you to view.
This will take a few minutes for you to view.
For SCC - 2-3-08 Witnessing: Once upon a time...
This past Sunday we ended our series called New Year, New You: Life Changing Resolutions. Steve Gabriele and I shared from Acts 9 and we encouraged you to tell your story, the story of someone else or the story of what is going on in Sunrise. This is one way for you and I to witness to to others so that they might hear about how much God cares for them.Steve and I started the message by telling some stories and starting the stories with Once upon a time...
We then shared that one way to witness is to tell your story, the story of someone else and the story of what is going on in the church.
Stories are important. Stories are our life. We all have stories from childhood, the teen years, college days and on and on and on... Acts 9 is a chapter in the Bbile that could be called the Buzz Factor because of what happens and how the news of what happened spread through relationships, networks, and households due the the Buzz that was created from stories being told.
Acts 9 - The Buzz Chapter
Acts 9: 19-22 Saul/Paul tells some of his story and speaks about Jesus Christ
Acts 9: 26-28 Barnabas tells some of Pauls story and speaks about Jesus Christ
Acts 9: 36-43, focus on 42 Word spreads of Jesus Christ after a miracle happens in a local church
Three tips for telling your story, the story of someone else or the story of what is happening in the church:
1. What you know
2. What you have
3. Because of God
The benefits of witnessing - telling your story:
You learn and grow
You become acountable
It energizes your spiritual life
Others come to know Jesus Christ
This week think about your story and tell it to someone. Once upon a time....
John 3: 1-21
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." 3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. 10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Leadership Thought
"What gets rewarded gets done."- Reggie McNeal, Get A Life (Broadman & Holman, 2007)
I received this from Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox Issue #344
I received this from Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox Issue #344
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
TRUST - A somewhat acrostic for praying
T - Thanksgiving. Give thanks
R - Repent. Confess your sins
U - What will U do today. God working in and through you
S - Supply. Asking of God
T - Trust God throughout the day
This is a simple way to help guide you in your personal prayer time. I learned this yesterday from a very intelligent and Godly man. This hit home with me because I really do want to trust God, but so often do not really trust God. This TRUST will help me rely on God and grow in my faith walk.
R - Repent. Confess your sins
U - What will U do today. God working in and through you
S - Supply. Asking of God
T - Trust God throughout the day
This is a simple way to help guide you in your personal prayer time. I learned this yesterday from a very intelligent and Godly man. This hit home with me because I really do want to trust God, but so often do not really trust God. This TRUST will help me rely on God and grow in my faith walk.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Mmmmm...
These were sent to me via the net. Mmmmm.....
Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America ......do people
order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America ......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
Only in America ......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America ......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
Only in America ......do we use the word "politics" to describe the process so well: "Poli" in Latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "bloodsucking creatures."
Only in America ......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER ....
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery?"
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice?"
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments
when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America ......do people
order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America ......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
Only in America ......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America ......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
Only in America ......do we use the word "politics" to describe the process so well: "Poli" in Latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "bloodsucking creatures."
Only in America ......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER ....
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery?"
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice?"
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments
when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Think and grow
Want to make me laugh, Tell me your plans.
A Billboard signed God
Think about this and it will make you laugh with joy and humility.
A Billboard signed God
Think about this and it will make you laugh with joy and humility.
Call and Encourage
Pick up your phone and give someone a call today and give them an encouraging word. Tell them something you like about them. Tell them something you think they do well. Tell them a funny joke and then laugh. Tell them.... Just be positive and encouraging. It will be a blessing to them, you and God. Have fun.
For SCC - Fellowship: I'll bring the cookies 1-20-08
The Following story out of the Bible was the text for this past Sundays topic.1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
Scott Salsman spoke from this passage about the importance of having relationship a and friendships in our lives that are helpful to us. It is also important that in our relationships and friendships that we are helpful to others. We all have our own "mats" and we need to be help and we need to help.
Fellowship is really about relationship and friendship. Fellowship is about sharing, caring, encouraging, assisting, and correcting. Christian fellowship is about these things and more. The more is followers of Christ are to help one another grow close to God and serve others and share God's love with others so they can begin to experience a new and abundant life, and a new kind of fellowship.
I shared the following Fellowship Busters and Boosters.
Fellowship Busters:
The Chronic Canceller (Low commitment)
The Serial Self-Centered (me, myself and I)
The Jealousy Junkie (MINE)
The Walkie Talkie (no confidentiality)
The Bold and the Beautiful (high pride)
False Forgiveness (let it go)
The Serial Self-Centered (me, myself and I)
The Jealousy Junkie (MINE)
The Walkie Talkie (no confidentiality)
The Bold and the Beautiful (high pride)
False Forgiveness (let it go)
Fellowship Boosters:
Listen
Laugh
Celebrate
Grieve
Exercise your dialing finger and typing fingers
Return calls and emails promptly
No perfect people allowed
Laugh
Celebrate
Grieve
Exercise your dialing finger and typing fingers
Return calls and emails promptly
No perfect people allowed
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Famous Last Words
"I know Bob said it looks like real dynamite."
"Of course it's sturdy"
"What could go wrong?"
"Oops..."
"I think I turned it off."
"What does this button do?"
"Do you smell smoke?"
"All right, sir, I won't tell you the building is on fire."
"It's perfectly safe."
"Welcome [hic] aboard. This is [hic] your, um, captain. [hic]"
"We'll be fine."
"I've done this opperation twice already!"
"Where's my parachute?"
"No! Not THAT button!"
"I can't swim!"
"Where's my pet tarantula?"
"Cut the green wire!"
"Wow, honey... Are you fat or what?!"
"Nice doggie"
"Is that snake poisonous?"
"Relax... I've done this before."
"Watch this..."
"Looks good to me..."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I have read that this tribe stopped being cannibals a few decades ago"
"What's this thorn on the back of that strange fish?"
"Of course it's sturdy"
"What could go wrong?"
"Oops..."
"I think I turned it off."
"What does this button do?"
"Do you smell smoke?"
"All right, sir, I won't tell you the building is on fire."
"It's perfectly safe."
"Welcome [hic] aboard. This is [hic] your, um, captain. [hic]"
"We'll be fine."
"I've done this opperation twice already!"
"Where's my parachute?"
"No! Not THAT button!"
"I can't swim!"
"Where's my pet tarantula?"
"Cut the green wire!"
"Wow, honey... Are you fat or what?!"
"Nice doggie"
"Is that snake poisonous?"
"Relax... I've done this before."
"Watch this..."
"Looks good to me..."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I have read that this tribe stopped being cannibals a few decades ago"
"What's this thorn on the back of that strange fish?"
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Top Ten Reasons You Were Too Busy To Pray Today
1. You wake up feeling rested, then realize your alarm should've gone off an hour ago.
2. Your spouse is away on a two-day business trip that's lasted all week.
3. None of the clean clothes you were able to find match.
4. Your teenager shaved…the left half of his head.
5. Your bills are due, and your toddler hid the checkbook.
6. A strange fluid is dripping from your car.
7. You accidentally delete your quarterly report ten minutes before a meeting with your boss.
8. You're in charge of games for the church youth night tonight.
9. Your dog is throwing up.
10. Your toilet's overflowing, but at least you found the checkbook.
Ten reasons you really should pray today:
(See list above.)
2. Your spouse is away on a two-day business trip that's lasted all week.
3. None of the clean clothes you were able to find match.
4. Your teenager shaved…the left half of his head.
5. Your bills are due, and your toddler hid the checkbook.
6. A strange fluid is dripping from your car.
7. You accidentally delete your quarterly report ten minutes before a meeting with your boss.
8. You're in charge of games for the church youth night tonight.
9. Your dog is throwing up.
10. Your toilet's overflowing, but at least you found the checkbook.
Ten reasons you really should pray today:
(See list above.)
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Reliabiblity of the Bible
The link below will take you to downloadable PDF file with a good article about the reliability of the Bible.
http://www.rbc.org/uploadedFiles/Bible_Study/Discovery_Series/PDFs/Can_I_Really_Trust_The_Bible.pdf
http://www.rbc.org/uploadedFiles/Bible_Study/Discovery_Series/PDFs/Can_I_Really_Trust_The_Bible.pdf
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3 NIV
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3 NIV
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Matthew 7:7-11
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Monday, January 14, 2008
7 practices of effective ministry
#1 Clarify the Win - Define what is important at every level of the organization
#2 Think Steps, Not Programs - Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you need to go.
#3 Narrow the Focus - Do fewer things in order to make a greater impact
#4 Teach Less for More - Say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it
#5 Listen to Outsiders - Focus on who you're trying to reach, not who you're trying to keep
#6 Replace Yourself - Learn to hand off what you do
#7 I am not going to write it. Find the book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones
#2 Think Steps, Not Programs - Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you need to go.
#3 Narrow the Focus - Do fewer things in order to make a greater impact
#4 Teach Less for More - Say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it
#5 Listen to Outsiders - Focus on who you're trying to reach, not who you're trying to keep
#6 Replace Yourself - Learn to hand off what you do
#7 I am not going to write it. Find the book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones
Bible Reading Helps
The Bible Experience (Audio Bible) published by ZondervanMy Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Grace for the Moment, Max Lucado
Our Daily Bread published by RBC Ministries http://www.rbc.com/
Understanding The Bible, John Stott
How to Read the Bible Book by Book, Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart
A NonChurchgoer’s Guide To The Bible, Michael Gantt
http://www.biblegateway.com/
Have fun. :)
For SCC - 1-13-08 Scripture Reading: Transformational Truths
This past Sunday we continues our series New Year, New You - Life Changing Resolutions as we looked at the importance of Word of God in our lives.
2. What is the message of the Bible?
In very simple terms, the message of the Bible is the story of creation, the fall of mankind and God's redemption of mankind.
3. What are some benefits of reading the Bible?
It provides a moral compass for life and for making decisions. It provides comfort and hope. The Bible provides stability in life. It builds up your faith. These are by no means the only benefits to reading the Bible and applying it to your daily life, but they are some of the benefits.
Passage of Scripture:
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
II Timothy 3:16-17 New Living Translation
We looked at the following questions people ask about the Bible.
1. What is the Bible?
The Bible is big, very big. If you were to read the Bible through in one year it would be like reading ten non-fiction books in one year. The Bible contains a great deal of information. It is a collection of many pieces. The Bible is 66 books. 39 books in the Old Testament. 27 books in the New Testament. It is much like a library. The pieces are organized from beginning to end. The Bible is God's Word to us. It is God's revelation.
2. What is the message of the Bible?In very simple terms, the message of the Bible is the story of creation, the fall of mankind and God's redemption of mankind.
3. What are some benefits of reading the Bible?
It provides a moral compass for life and for making decisions. It provides comfort and hope. The Bible provides stability in life. It builds up your faith. These are by no means the only benefits to reading the Bible and applying it to your daily life, but they are some of the benefits.
4. How do I go about reading the Bible?
- Choose a good translation
- Start Small
- One Year Bible
- Devotional Bibles and books
- Listen to it on tape, CD, MP3
- Bible Helps
- Group studies
- Classes or Seminars
Reading the Bible is not just about reading the Bible. As you and I read the Bible we are to apply it to our lives. Scripture reading is about life transformation. Scripture reading is about GIGO. GIGO = God In, God Out. Christianity is about transformation. God working in our lives and bringing about Christ likeness as we follow Jesus Christ.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
SPACE for God
When reading through the bible it is important that we learn how to discover ways we can apply God's Word to our daily lives. The acrostic SPACE is one way to discover how we can incorporate Scripture into the 24/7.
While reading scripture you and I can ask the following questions?
Is there a Sin for me to confess?
Is there a Promise for me to claim?
Is there an Attitude for me to change?
Is there a Command for me to obey?
Is there an Example for me to follow?
While reading scripture you and I can ask the following questions?
Is there a Sin for me to confess?
Is there a Promise for me to claim?
Is there an Attitude for me to change?
Is there a Command for me to obey?
Is there an Example for me to follow?
18And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth. 19Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 20teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20
Matthew 28:18-20
Goals
Goal = something to accomplishGoals are important to think about, to set, to write out and to seek to accomplish via a plan that is thought through and doable.
Quotes:
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. - Anthony Robbins
Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. - Brian Tracy
Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination. - Fitzhugh Dodson
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. - Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
Goals are dreams with deadlines. - Diana Scharf Hunt
You must have long-term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures. - Charles C. Noble
Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement. - Brian Tracy
Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination. - Fitzhugh Dodson
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. - Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
Goals are dreams with deadlines. - Diana Scharf Hunt
You must have long-term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures. - Charles C. Noble
These were taken form a recent newsletter I receive from http://www.daveramsey.com/
Remember
19 days
2 weeks and 5 days
456 hours
27,360 minutes
REMEMBER
God is near. God is real. God does care. God is involved. Gos is at work. Remember. Live the Spirit of Christmas year round. Give. Forgive. Contact friends. Serve and help the needy. Move beyond yourself and your idea of Christianity into Christmas Christianity. The following is just a little of Christmas Christianity:
Giving
Forgiving
Christ Is the Center
Receiving
God's Presence
Worship
Humility
Obeying God
Weird Decisions
Faith stretching
Gentleness
Others
Relying on God
Moving Past the Tithe
Going All Out
Dangerous
Crazy
Out of the Comfort Zone
Fresh
Serving Others
Pausing to Reflect on God's Wonder
God Centered
2 weeks and 5 days
456 hours
27,360 minutes
REMEMBER
God is near. God is real. God does care. God is involved. Gos is at work. Remember. Live the Spirit of Christmas year round. Give. Forgive. Contact friends. Serve and help the needy. Move beyond yourself and your idea of Christianity into Christmas Christianity. The following is just a little of Christmas Christianity:
Giving
Forgiving
Christ Is the Center
Receiving
God's Presence
Worship
Humility
Obeying God
Weird Decisions
Faith stretching
Gentleness
Others
Relying on God
Moving Past the Tithe
Going All Out
Dangerous
Crazy
Out of the Comfort Zone
Fresh
Serving Others
Pausing to Reflect on God's Wonder
God Centered
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Psalm 34
1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34 found in the Bible
2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34 found in the Bible
Monday, January 07, 2008
For Leaders
The Great Boss Simple Success Formula
1. Only hire top-notch, excellent people.
2. Put the right people in the right job. Weed out the wrong people.
3. Tell the people what needs to be done.
4. Tell the people why it is needed.
5. Leave the job up to the people you've chosen to do it.
6. Train the people.
7. Listen to the people.
8. Remove frustration and fetters that restrain the people.
9. Inspect progress.
10. Say "Thank you" publicly and privately.
Taken from How To Become a Great Boss, Jeffrey J. Fox.
1. Only hire top-notch, excellent people.
2. Put the right people in the right job. Weed out the wrong people.
3. Tell the people what needs to be done.
4. Tell the people why it is needed.
5. Leave the job up to the people you've chosen to do it.
6. Train the people.
7. Listen to the people.
8. Remove frustration and fetters that restrain the people.
9. Inspect progress.
10. Say "Thank you" publicly and privately.
Taken from How To Become a Great Boss, Jeffrey J. Fox.
proseuchomai
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' "
Matthew 6:9-13
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' "
Matthew 6:9-13
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Robert Schnase
Radical Hospitality - Move beyond welcoming just those we know or who are like us to welcoming and inviting all people. This takes work and is counter intuitive to most if not all groups of people. The local church is to be a place of relationships and radical hospitality is needed.
Passionate Worship - Worship is to be alive, vibrant, life changing and connect people to God.
Intentional Faith Development - Be purposeful in making disciples. Making disciples is much more than education, Sunday School and even small groups. An intentional plan or strategy is need to help people accept Jesus Christ and begin to live in and by faith.
Risk-taking Mission and Service - Take a risk. Do missions and service. Out of the comfort zone and into joining God in His Kingdom work.
Extravagant Generosity - Give. Give and make a difference. Give not out of your surplus, give because God gives, Christ gives, the Holy Spirit gives, and Christians give. A generous church is a world and Heaven changing church.
Radical Hospitality - Move beyond welcoming just those we know or who are like us to welcoming and inviting all people. This takes work and is counter intuitive to most if not all groups of people. The local church is to be a place of relationships and radical hospitality is needed.
Passionate Worship - Worship is to be alive, vibrant, life changing and connect people to God.
Intentional Faith Development - Be purposeful in making disciples. Making disciples is much more than education, Sunday School and even small groups. An intentional plan or strategy is need to help people accept Jesus Christ and begin to live in and by faith.
Risk-taking Mission and Service - Take a risk. Do missions and service. Out of the comfort zone and into joining God in His Kingdom work.
Extravagant Generosity - Give. Give and make a difference. Give not out of your surplus, give because God gives, Christ gives, the Holy Spirit gives, and Christians give. A generous church is a world and Heaven changing church.
Recommended Readings
I just finished reading my first book for the year 2008. I purchased the book in late December '07 with the intent of reading it sometime prior to Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008. This book is worth the purchase and read. It is thought provoking and will help you better grasp God's infinite, power, love and hope.
THE DAY I WAS CRUCIFIED as Told by Jesus the Christ by Gene Edwards. The link below will take you to a site where you can read some about the book and purchase it if you so desire. You can also purchase the book at local bookstores or go to http://www.destinyimage.com/
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=0813217&netp_id=125012&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=details#curr
THE DAY I WAS CRUCIFIED as Told by Jesus the Christ by Gene Edwards. The link below will take you to a site where you can read some about the book and purchase it if you so desire. You can also purchase the book at local bookstores or go to http://www.destinyimage.com/I have also read A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards.
Three other books worth purchasing and reading are The Singer, The Song and The Finale by Calvin Miller. These books are a trilogy and are about Jesus, the early church, and the return of Jesus Christ. They are fictional and written in a poetic form. The link below will help you with more information about the three books.
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=0813217&netp_id=125012&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=details#currThese books will help you think in new ways about God and His love for you. The will warm your soul, cause you to cringe and rejoice, and will lead you to to a deeper relationship with God and others. You will be encouraged in your faith and will seek to discover ways to lead others in your life to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
For SCC: Remember...
This past Sunday, 12-30-07, we ended the year '07 with the topic Remember...
The Lord's Supper/Communion
Take a look
This clip was sent to me via the net by a friend. Good clip to start the year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTcZ9xfFBqQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTcZ9xfFBqQ
Monday, December 31, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
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The ocean is roaring, Lord and the sea is pounding hard. Its mighty waves are majestic, but you are more majestic, and you rule over all. Yo... -
This post may seem long and yet it is only the beginning. Followers of Jesus Christ need to turn to God, worship Him - surrender to Him, see...
