Sunday Words of Encouragement - Agents of Change June 26, 2022

Our Sunday School teacher continued to lead the study of Revelation 14. Today he outlined why his studies lead him to believe in a pre-wrath (not pre-trib) rapture.

We had a wonderful time of worship before hearing the sermon from our Pastoral Candidate. The sermon titled Agents of Change expanded on Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13-16.
Jesus was speaking to the disciples when told them to be salt and light in a dark world.

Pastor noted that our society sometimes focuses on the behaviors of people instead of becoming what Jesus will make us. Jesus us wants to save us and make us clean then make us fishers of men. When we accept Christ, we are made righteous. But there is a further “making” process as we become more like Him.

When we surrender to Christ, the Spirit comes to dwell in us and make us what He wants from the inside out. Just as a potter has a hand to put pressure (worldly stress) on the outer surface of the clay, the potter (Spirit) has a hand on the inside to press back and form us into a vessel that can be used.

Do we embrace the Spirit’s forming/making us? There is a constant renewing of our mind. We don't have to ask Him to do it, He has already said He will.

Salt preserves and seasons. Some people say that mankind are basically good. But God’s word tells us that man is inherently evil. The nature of man is sin.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23.

Humanity has a sin problem. We all need a savior. What would the world be like without Christians? We are preserving humankind by holding off evil.

We have to have an impact on others or we have lost our saltiness. Each Christian needs to b salt and light where we are in our private and work lives. We should be making life better around us.
Always be ready to give an answer for your hope. We can't just do church, we need to be the church.

At all times, but especially in a society in division, we need to be a change agent, not relying on voting to change the world but relying on changing hearts for God.
We need to carry out the mission: making disciples, baptizing in the name of God, Son and Spirit, and teaching others to follow God’s commands. Matthew 28:19-20.
We need to focus on saving lost souls. Focus on what matters.
How do we be sure not to lose our saltiness?
1 Stay in the word of God.
2 Stay in His presence. Let His light shine through us.
3 Get out of the shaker and be the salt in the world around you. Engage the culture.

We need to love the lost even as Christ does: love them even if they don't love Jesus or give their lives to Jesus.
We need to get out of our comfortable pews. Fishers go where the fish are to fish. God tells us to go out and compel people to come in. Luke 14:23.

It isn't all about me or you. God blessed us to give resources for the Kingdom.

This is a song we sang this morning. So powerful – I Speak Jesus:

Verses for Today:
Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Sunday Words of Encouragement February 20, 2022

We enjoyed a Sunday School that had our lesson in Revelation delayed a week. Our teacher opened up to questions and we ended up discussing Gog and Magog; Jesus teaching in parables; and Jesus’ humanity.

Our worship was good and one of our members shared video and explanation of our outreach ministry to our local Early Childhood Center. Our Interim Pastor noted how it is important that our church continue to Love God and Love others. We are to build relationships, plant seeds, and watch God manage the growth.

Pastor then continued from last week’s message: Jordans, Giants and Jesus. He reminded us that we will all face challenges on every side. Political, economic, relationship, and spiritual.
He noted that we're all adrift in the same boat. As Job said: “Mortals, born of woman,
are of few days and full of trouble.” Job 14:1-3.

Your promise is always on the other side of your Jordan.
Arise. Stand up! Step up! Be strong & courageous!
God has new territory for each one of us, our families and our church.
We need to obey the Word of God. God's promises are ‘yes and amen.’ 1 Corinthians 2: 20.
God has redeemed us, called us by name and will see us through the rivers and fires. Isaiah 43:1-3.
The difficult places to walk through are the Jordans and the difficult people you have to deal with are the Giants. Remember- our battle is not with things of this world, but with the enemy.
Ephesians 6:12.

Now we look at the story of David and Goliath. 1 Samuel 17.
The explorers brought back a report and evidence of a land of incredible fruit and honey. But ten of the men were afraid of the Giants and saw themselves ‘like grasshoppers’. How do we view ourselves? God views us as His child – precious to Him.

Some people hide out of fear they will never be overcomers. Beware of people trying to define God's plan their own way who are hindering you from fulfilling God's call. Don’t let those people who won't face their own giants pull you down.

Shut out distractions, like David did.
Keep doing what God wants. By His power. There is a call for the Church to win people as overcomers.
Listen to the voice of God! Remember as Paul said: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.

Stir up remembrance.
Remember how God has helped you in the past, like David did. 1 Samuel 17:34-36.
After David explained that the Lord had rescued him in the past and the Lord would rescue him from the Philistine, Saul said to him: “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
The Giants are defying God, not us.

Stay with what is proven.
David couldn’t use Saul’s armor because it wasn’t proven for him; he could barely stand up in it!
The battle will be won not with our worldly armor but with God's skill. We can use the most effective tools of our time, but it will mean nothing without God. We win “In the name of the Lord.” The Lord is our proven means of success.

It has always been about the name of the Lord.
‘The word was made flesh…’ John 1:14 and ‘Jesus is the name above all names…’ Philippians 2: 8-11. Jesus is the answer and your hope when facing Jordans or Giants.

I just found this song this morning and I think it fits.

Verses for today:

1 Samuel 17:32-37, 45-46 NIV
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

Lord, I trust you in all things of my life. Please guide my work and my blogging to Glorify You.