Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Holy Spirit....Do work!

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The Power of the Holy Spirit.  A phrase most Baptists would run from.  It's almost like we are afraid of this wonderful power that Jesus has given to us.  We don't want to be labelled too Pentecostal though.  The Holy Spirit has been accused of stirring peoples emotions, making them raise their hands in worship and much more.  We think of other happenstances because He is greatly misunderstood. 

What about Holy Spirit given divine appointments?  A divine appointment is a meeting with another person that has been specifically and unmistakably ordered by God. Yet I sometimes wonder how many of these supernaturally scheduled meetings I’ve missed because I didn’t have my spiritual radar turned on.  The Scriptures say, “The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord.” Psalm 37:23 After decades of walking (off and on, but mostly on) with God, I can tell you that seeing God set up these “appointments” is a thrill that is beyond comparison.  (familylife.com - definition of "divine appointment")

We pray before we go into the harvest on Sunday afternoons for the Holy Spirit to go before us and make divine appointments that God wants us to have.  Such as driving up to a court in Allen and meeting a dad with his two kids playing as we park and get out of the car to talk to them.  I shared the gospel with Dad and older child (12 yo) and they graciously listened.  6 knocked doors later, I get to share the gospel with a 20 yo, who is intent on listening to what I have to say.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit uses these words.  My prayer is that the Holy Spirit convicts the heart of the listener.  My prayer is that the Acts 1:8 power of the Holy Spirit will empower me to share the gospel and be the witness that God wants me to be.  It's for the glory of Christ!  For the kingdom!  I just want to be faithful in sharing the gospel.  I'll keep looking for divine appointments that the Holy Spirit has for me and I pray that I will notice them and be ready to share.

God Bless, Pastor Brian        

Thursday, December 13, 2018

The Power of Prayer

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The caption in this image is true!  When we go out into the harvest, the first thing we do when someone answers the door is ask folks if we can pray with them.  What is amazing is the response from church goers...(not necessarily believers).  "I'm good.  I went to church today."  "No thanks.  I have a prayer group at church."  "I went to church.  I've already done that." Prayer is not religion or religious.  It's our lifeline to the Lord.  It's our communication with the Almighty.  We are gifted with the Spirit to be able to pray to God.  ONE Prayer CHANGES everything!! 

If we follow the model of prayer in Matthew 6,
there would be some personal questions about prayer: 
Do we really pray to worship God and to revere His name? 
(Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name),
for life change/transformation because of God's will? 
(your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven),
for daily provision mainly to strengthen our faith in Him?
(give us this daily our daily bread)
for confession of sin?
(forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors )
for standing against the world, sin and it's temptations?
(do not lead us into temptation and deliver us from evil) 

Don't let prayer be a single check mark for the day.  Our prayer life should be humbling, vibrant, connecting, transforming...not religious or meaningless!  ONE prayer CHANGES everything!  It's true and I cannot live without it!  Many times a day!  Talk to the Father!  Confess to the Savior!  Discern what's next in your life by the power of the Holy Spirit!

God Bless, Pastor Brian  

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Forgiveness possesses transforming power

Sunday night, as usual, we gather and separate in teams to go into the harvest close to the church facilities.  We meet a lovely young lady that allows us to pray with her and seems the visit is pleasant.  She is allowing the conversation to be spiritual and is open to what we are saying.  All of the sudden, as I was presenting the 3 circles, I get to SIN which separates us from God and ask her to define sin for me.  She immediately walked away saying "NO THANK YOU!"  A full shutdown.

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" (Ephesians 1:7).

There cannot be forgiveness of sin without Jesus shedding his blood for our sin.  1 Peter writes, "Christ died for us to bring us to God."  Paul writes, "In him, we are redeemed" - through his blood where there is forgiveness of sin.  The rejection, sometimes painful to see, is of Jesus, not me.  It breaks my heart, but I won't stop praying for C as she walked back into the house probably bothered.  I pray that one small seed would enter her heart to reflect the visit we had and the small amount of gospel that was shared.  I pray that she would see the need for Jesus in her life.

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