This Year, Live by the Beatitudes (1)

 'Blessed are the poor in spirit...' Matthew 5:3 NKJV      

    


Just a reminder that tonight is our News Years Eve bash here @CFW starting @7pm. Please bring finger foods to share, your favorite board games, and a gift to exchange with someone else.

I'm still excited at what God did yesterday in our service. Worship was incredible and the word was powerful like a two edged sword. Just like its supposed to be. I hope and pray God gave you a new hope or a renewed faith; so for the next few days let's look at the Beatitudes (what our attitudes should be). Jesus said, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' Now, He wasn't saying He's against you having money, He was saying He's against money having you. He will actually prosper you so that you can finance and fulfil His purposes in the earth. But He doesn't measure the size of your faith by the size of your bank balance. In one of His parables Jesus called a wealthy man a 'fool'. That wasn't because the man was rich, it was because he wasn't 'rich toward God.' (Luke 12:21 NKJV) John D. Rockefeller once said: 'I've made many millions but they brought me no real happiness. I'd barter them all for the days I sat on an office stool in Cleveland and counted myself rich on three dollars a week.' Having more money may give you social status, but serving God gives you Kingdom-significance. Big difference! So keep your focus on what matters and live for what lasts. Each winter in Kemi, Finland, you can visit a sprawling ice castle that features a theatre, a playground, an art gallery and a chapel. The chapel is a popular wedding venue and the theatre can seat 3,000 people. In it rock concerts, musicals, modern dance and opera recitals have been held. The problem is, its upkeep costs millions of dollars and, each year, it all melts in the spring. Are you getting the idea? Focus on what lasts, not on what doesn't. You are loved!

Shake It Off

 'But Paul shook the snake off into the fire...' Acts 28:5 NIV      

    

I'm in the office today for a few hours because I have to get the message done for Sunday. I was able to take a few vacation days but as things go I didn't get everything done last week I needed too. Amy and I hope you had a blessed Christmas and as we look forward into the New Year, you will have a renewed focus and vision for the Kingdom of God!

In Acts 28:5 it says, "But Paul shook the snake off into the fire." Pastor what a odd scripture to look at? Let me share the story of a farmer whose mule fell into a well. The farmer one day found his mule in his well. Since he had no way to get him out, he decided to bury him there. He got a truckload of dirt and dumped it on top of the mule. But instead of lying down under it, the mule started kicking and snorting until he worked his way to the top of it. This continued all afternoon. Truckload after truckload, the mule just kept shaking it off and stepping on top of it. Finally when the dirt reached the top of the well the mule just snorted and walked away, a dirtier but a wiser mule. What was intended to bury him, just brought him out on top. On his way to Rome Paul was shipwrecked on an island. As he was gathering firewood a snake attached itself to his arm. What did he do? The Bible says he just 'shook it off.' There's an important lesson for you in those two stories. You can either dwell on the past, or shake it off and move toward the future God has planned for you. Paul, a man with a past, writes about '...Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.' (Philippians 3:13 NKJV) Now, Paul didn't forget his past, he just shook it off and kept going. You say, 'But I've failed so badly.' The Bible says, '...[He] will not remember your sins.' (Isaiah 43:25 NAS) Sometimes forgiveness requires a healing process, but until you make the decision to forgive yourself and others, and 'shake it off', the process can't even begin. So make the choice; move forward! You are loved...

It's Just Part of Life's Journey (5)

'...God...will...make a way of escape...' 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

          

             
Just a reminder that Monday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve, we will be having a candlelight service @6:30pm. I hope you will make it a part of you're holiday plans.
This morning is the last part on "Life's Journey". In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it says: '[God] will...make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.' I love the analogy of the Army and Christian discipleship. Before the Army sends you into battle they first send you to boot camp. You're up at dawn running miles with a heavy backpack, climbing over barricades, crawling through mud with the sounds of gunfire all around you, taking orders from authority figures you don't like, who make you do stuff you don't want to do. But when you pass the test you get to wear the uniform and fight for your country. Same thing in our walk of faith. When we go through things that will require some spiritual battle; we must believe these words of Paul: 'But with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.' The Living Bible says, '...So that you can bear up patiently against it.' God is looking for people who are able to bear up under training, then go out and win the battle with the enemy.' For every problem, God has a solution. But it may not be the solution you have in mind! Satan's strategy is to defeat you by wearing you down, so winning is not a matter of escape but of endurance. Tenacious faith and commitment is one of the great themes of Scripture. It's also the secret of victory. When their prison doors miraculously opened, Paul and Silas realised that God's plan for them was not to escape but to stay there and win the jailer and his family to Christ. Sometimes God's 'way of escape' is to keep you where you are and use you to bring glory to His name even if the easiest thing to do is just leave the situation. You are loved!

It's Just Part of Life's Journey (4)

'...He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...' 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

         

             

Just a reminder that Monday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve, we will be having a candlelight service @6:30pm. I hope you will make it a part of you're holiday plans.

The Bible says, 'He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.' You have been tempered for the test! Like tempered steel or glass, certain additives have been placed within you to increase your ability to stand up to the pressures life will throw at you. The fact that you've been exposed to this level of testing is a sign that God has given you the grace to handle it. He's not going to let you escape this trial, because He's equipped you to deal with it. So stop feeling sorry for yourself, or giving up, or saying you can't take it anymore. Not everybody in a gym can handle the same level of weight because each is at a different stage of development. But the trainer knows. He will push you to your limit, but he will never add one weight more than you can carry. God is a good trainer and He's working according to a plan. He not only knows the right technique, He knows how much weight needs to be added in order to get you to the next stage of development. He will let you strain, shake and sweat, but He won't let you break. While you are focused on temporary stuff like getting a better house or car or job, He has something entirely different in mind: 'We...are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord...' (2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV) Once you understand this and line up your will with God's will, you'll begin to appreciate what He's doing and cooperate with Him. You are loved!

It's Just Part of Life's Journey (3)

 

'...But God is faithful...' 1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV   

             

Just a reminder that Monday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve, we will be having a candlelight service @6:30pm. I hope you will make it a part of you're holiday plans.
Here's a promise you can stand on when your world has been shaken: 'But God is faithful.' Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.' (Luke 21:33 NIV) In a world of uncertainty you can sing, 'On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.' Your job, your health, your relationships and your investments are all 'sinking sand'. But God's faithfulness is as solid as a rock. He will be faithful to you in the delivery room, in the operating room, in the nursing home, in the unemployment line, in the criminal proceedings, and during marriage counseling. The Psalmist wrote: 'I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart...' (Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV) Focusing on God's faithfulness will keep you from falling apart, giving up, having a nervous breakdown or losing your mind. Be honest; hasn't God been better to you than you've been to Him? Hasn't He been faithful when you've been unfaithful, and consistent when you've been inconsistent? 'The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.' (Romans 11:29 NKJV) When God gives you a gift, He doesn't take it back. When He makes you a promise, He won't break it. Even when Abraham died, God remembered His promise and blessed his children down through the generations. Why is this important to know? Because when you begin to see God's faithfulness to you, it will make you want to be faithful to Him. So be faithful and watch what happens...you are loved!

It's Just Part of Life's Journey (2)

 

'...But such as is common to man...' 1 Corinthians 10:13 NAS

         

             

Just a reminder that Monday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve, we will be having a candlelight service @6:30pm. I hope you will make it a part of you're holiday plans.

The Bible says your struggle is not unique, it's 'common to man' in you journey through life. Your secret is not really a secret, it's just a secret shared by others who are equally afraid to talk. The only time we tend to be honest is when we're in trouble. As long as we think we can manage our dysfunction, we don't talk about it. You are not the only one who got married and then wanted a divorce, or lost control and lashed out, or quit a job and now doesn't have a job to go to. This is important to know, because it takes away your feeling of isolation and enables you to overcome self-pity. It also helps you to say, 'If others made it, then by God's grace I can too.' Perhaps you wonder if God is judging you, or the devil is attacking you, or if you did something to bring it on yourself. No, it's just part of life's journey! You'll notice in Scripture that God doesn't whitewash His heroes. He doesn't exempt the people He uses from struggle and sorrow. 'These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us...' (1 Corinthians 10:11 NIV) Every age and every stage of life brings a different test, and a different level of testing. You can't pray away the tests of life, or quote Scripture and make them disappear. God never promised you a trouble-free trip to Heaven. Jesus said, 'I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.' (John 16:33 NIV) You are loved!

It's Just Part of Life's Journey (1)

 

'No temptation has overtaken you...' 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

             
Just a reminder that Monday Dec. 24th Christmas Eve, we will be having a candlelight service @6:30pm. I hope you will make it a part of you're holiday plans.
I want us to look the next few days at overcoming in our Life's Journey. Paul writes, 'No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to [mankind].' Notice the word 'overtaken'. Suddenly you're 'overtaken' by a set of circumstances you didn't create, don't want, and don't know how to get out of. Kind of like what happened over the weekend with the shootings or loss of job; you get the point. Understand this: You don't pick the test, the test picks you! You don't get to choose who breaks your heart, or who gets on your nerves, or who lets you down. When you first held your child you didn't think that one day you'd be down at a detention center trying to get them released. You couldn't have known that a routine checkup would have you in the hospital fighting a life-threatening illness. Maybe your problem is so personal and embarrassing that you're afraid to even discuss it with anybody. So you walk the floor at night praying, 'Lord, get me out of this or I'm finished!' Even Paul wrote, '...We despaired...of life.' (2 Corinthians 1:8 NAS) When you've been 'overtaken' by a situation you learn three things: (1) Don't judge others. The Bible says, 'Every man is...drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.' (James 1:14 KJV) When you don't know what somebody's been through or the circumstances which have conditioned them, be quiet. If you have to talk about it, talk to God! (2) Don't tell your troubles to the wrong people. Look for people who will share your burden, not spread your problem. (3) Bring it to Jesus. 'Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.' (Hebrews 4:16 NIV) You have what it takes, because your Savior never leaves you. You are loved!