9/3/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, it was G. Campbell Morgan who said, “The church persecuted has always been the church pure; and, therefore, the church powerful. The church patronized has always been the church in peril, and very often, the church paralyzed.”
As a Christian we should not be surprised that we may be persecuted. Persecution has always brought growth to the Church and to the individual. Concerning persecution I love the promise given to us found in Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Beloved, even in the midst of a riot we can trust that God is in control and that He will guide and protect. God is sovereign to protect His church against the opposition of Satan
0 Comments
8/27/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, God has placed each of us in our own sphere of darkness in order to bring the light of the gospel to those around us. For the Apostle Paul, that sphere of darkness we will study today is the city of Ephesus – a city dominated by satanic and demonic activity; a city known for the temple of Artemis (Diana) and for all of its magical and occult practices. Ephesus was a city where God was going to demonstrate that the power of His Word and of His Works could be victorious in radically changing lives and rescuing people from the bondage of their life of futility.
Thus, today’s message begins and ends with power, God’s power. We begin with the power behind the proclamation of God’s Word, then we proceed to cover the power of God’s kingdom over demonic forces and finally end with the producing of powerful results. All of this brings us to the point of God being glorified. Beloved, the Holy Spirit is power. Ephesians 3:20-21 reads, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (KJV) Beloved, may we rest in God’s power working in our lives today! 8/20/2023 0 Comments Pastor's Pen Beloved, as we close our study on Habakkuk, He moves from burden to blessing, from wonder/worry to worship, from restlessness to rest, from a problem to God’s Person, and from a complaint to consolation, from confusion to confidence!
Beloved, only our great God and Savior can supernaturally turn sighing into singing so we must like Habakkuk take time to wait before Him in prayer and listen to His Word. It is always "worth the wait!" In 1851 an English Missionary, Alan Gardner, was shipwrecked on the bottom tip of South America with many others. They would eventually die of hunger. Alan was the last one to die. The very last thing Alan wrote in his journal was Psalm 34:10, “Young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Alan also wrote, “I am overwhelmed with the sense of the goodness of God!” When do you say, “God is good?” When the fig trees are blossoming, when there’s money, etc. You and I infer the goodness of God from stuff. Alan Gardner and Habakkuk, for that matter, learned that you can know the goodness of God in the midst of starvation and lack. 8/13/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, the Book of Habbakuk tells us how to deal with evil times and maintain joy when everything is going wrong. There are three principles to giving: give sacrificially, joyfully, and graciously. We must recognize that everything is a gift from God, so we’re giving back from his gifts. Habbakuk points to Jesus as the true source of our strength.
Habakkuk is describing an economic disaster! Figs, grapes, olives, and grain were the four ways the land produced fruit so you could eat and produce wealth. Sheep and cattle were where investments were made. This was their portfolio. While there was some currency- the main manner in which money was made and transacted was through the means Habakkuk mentions. Habakkuk is essentially alluding to the principle of first fruits. So, we will initially look at Deuteronomy 26 and then finish in Habakkuk 3:17-19 7/30/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenIn today's passage Jesus is telling His disciples of what's to come to them in their lives, and when it does, to remember His words.
We can be assured His words comforted and encouraged them in times of trouble. Peter gives encouraging words to his fellow believers much in the same way Jesus did in 1 Peter 3:14 "But even if you should suffer for righteous sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled." Beloved let us be encouraged to seek comfort in the words of Jesus in our trials, troubles and persecutions. In His Service, Jimmy 7/23/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, it is hard to wait. We are often told to wait and to be patient but being patient is a hard thing to do. We want what we want, and we want it now. So why wait?
We wait because God has a plan. So as a single person we wait for God’s best. In the midst of our many afflictions, we wait for God’s direction and healing. While we endure times of financial stress and fear we wait for His provision and protection. And as we study Habakkuk, we learn that we must wait by faith, “but the righteous shall live by his faith.” We must learn to trust God and when we do it becomes much easier to wait 7/16/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, we begin this short study through the Book of Habakkuk. We should only be here for five studies at most but through them we will learn how we are to maintain our faith in evil times.
Now, the Book of Habakkuk is very contemporary in its application, especially during evil times. And yes, we are living in difficult, troubling, and evil times. We are living in a time when people do not know their identity and are searching for hope in all the wrong places. Yes, we are living in evil times as 2 Timothy 3:1–5 says, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” So how do we maintain our faith during evil times? Let’s study the Book of Habakkuk and learn together! 7/9/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, the most important types of baptism are discussed in our text this morning and there is much controversy surrounding how this historical narrative should have application to believers today. It should be clear that there is some type of progression in view from - first, the baptism of John the Baptist that, is described as a baptism of repentance, of preparation for faith in Jesus Christ to -second, a baptism by fire.
What does not seem to be in view here is any type of infant baptism experience or any type of connection between baptism and circumcision as if Christian baptism is somehow the fulfillment of circumcision. The big idea is this: Christian Baptism should symbolize both our union with Jesus Christ and our reception of the Holy Spirit. While many may argue whether or not there is a second filling of the Holy Spirit, which some call the baptism of the Spirit, the reality is this: many Christians do not appropriate all of their sufficiency in Christ. Many believers leave so much of God unwrapped and unused for His glory. May that not be said of us! 7/2/2023 0 Comments Pastor’s PenBeloved, Paul was pressing on. He was hard core! He said in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
We also have been called to press on, to carry on and move forward. May we do so with the heart of Christ! |
Archives
April 2024
|