There are times that I leave church and just feel the message was so incredibly powerful that I have to share it with everyone willing to listen, or in this case read. I would love to hear what great lessons you learn at church or small group every week! Let’s share God’s good word with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world!
We have been studying the importance of spending time in the word, the need to seek out quiet time to spend time alone with God, and learning to hear His voice. All of these are vital to maintain or start a healthy relationship and to find strength and encouragment to face hardships and to do what is right. It is also the only way we can feel Gods unconditional love for us….
Yesterday, the pastor talked about communication with God. How so many of our prayer lives are dusty and dry. What true purpose is there in repeating the same prayers over and over again? Tell God what is on your mind, for he surely wants to hear! Talk to God as you would talk to your best friend. Tell him all of you intimate feelings and emotions and you can be sure he will be there to listen to everything you have to share.
Its true that many times people pray like a script instead of a heart felt conversation. We forget the importance of the relationship and get stuck in routine. Great message! Thanks for sharing!
We have continued our study in the Ten Commandments with "Remembering the Sabbath". I have never considered before that the commandment does not say to rest on sunday, or any other day for that matter. It just says to keep one day that your entire household will dedicate the day to remembering the Lord, his creation, and his blessings. One day that we rest in Him. This does not mean rest by being lazy all day and doing nothing, it means put our mind at rest and find peace that as we remember all He has done already for us, we can be assured that any of our hardships can be given up to Him and our mighty shepherd knows what we need and will take care of us.
Jesus is our bridegroom. He has given everything for and to us and is justly jelous when we allow things to come between us and Him. What do you allow to influence your life, or what do you love sooo much that it creates a distance between you and the Lord? Finances, family, ambitions? He wants to bless us w/all this, but only if we give Him our first fruits that He rightfully deserves…after all, all we are and all we have is because of Him, and is His to bless us with…or to take away.
Let go of the person you think you need to be and embrace the person you are."
-Steve Heiss.
Let us not forget that the true essence,spirit,relevance of the holiday season is Christ(although there is no record of His birth in the Bible)His finished work on the cross is enough to proved His love to mankind.For three weeks this is the lesson in the church.For Christ is our passover lamb sacrificed for our sin,so let us keep the feast,not with old leaven…but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.(1 Corinthians 5:7,8)
We talked about the many names of Jesus, one of them being Wonderful Counselor, and how wonderful it is to have a counselor that is so close to us and has walked in our footsteps with us. Our Lord is all knowing and loving and created us to be just as we are. He knows every hair on our head and every circumstance we have ever experienced in our life…who better to talk to and help us work out or problems and discuss lifes ups and downs with?!
'Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.' Hebrews 4:14
yesterday we tackle on 1chronicles 16:23-29.the beauty of worshiping the Lord!the message was so powerful although the pastor is so moderate in dealing w/ his sermon.the essence is there of course.he gives so much emphasis on sunday the sabbath of the Lord,''never miss a thing''.he noticed this maybe bec. the mall was full & the church was lesser during the pacquiao-margarito fight!so sad…but some attended the night service maybe.:worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness(v.29)
We delved into John 15:5-8 today, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…" In this teaching, Jesus is telling us how simple it is to grow his church and spread his word. We are to remain, abide, and rest in the Lord as our Gardener with Jesus as our strong vine. Any branches of our life that are diseased and keeping us from producing fruit shall be pruned by God's grace to save us and allow all aspects of our life to be fruitful . In the right season we will be fruitful, naturally reproducing the works of Jesus and further growing His church. " The pressure to produce fruit is on the vine, not on the fruit. Let Jesus take the pressure off of you and just remain in Him" -Pastor Todd Oakley