Faith

Raining

/ The Pastor

As the rain drops fall upon my head,
that are way too many to count,
I am quickly chased inside,
but maybe I need to stay out instead.

For as the countless drops of rain,
fall upon the ground,
I remember Your varied blessings,
that bring healing to my pain.

For the sting of death is beaten away,
the joy of life is given,
and even though Satan still roams free,
I can live with hope today.

For the ultimate blessing is Jesus my Lord,
who crowns me with glory and honor,
and therefore I rest assured with peace and joy,
that I am set free from Satan’s hordes.

And so I listen to the falling drops of rain,
as I hold tightly to Your promises,
and remember with all joy and peace,
that Jesus will forever and always reign.

The Pastor -|—

Standing

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I stand.

I stand condemned under the weigh of my sin,
with no logical defense to make.
I stand condemned as a violator of Your holy law,
oh God.
I stand condemned.

I stand condemned as glory-stealing,
honor-withholding sinner.
I stand condemned as an non trusting kingdom builder,
oh God.
I stand condemned.

And as I stand condemned I see my Savior,
my Lord,
my advocate,
my Jesus.

Jesus stands with me.
Jesus intercedes for me.
Jesus takes the judgment for me.
Jesus dies for me.

And…

Jesus rises for me.

I now, through faith, I stand liberated,
I stand free,
I stand hopeful,
I stand forgiven.
For Jesus, my Lord, took the weight of my sin
and made my defense before You,
oh God.

And now I no longer stand,
rather,
I fall on my face to worship You,
oh God.
I fall on my face to honor You,
oh God.
I fall on my face to praise You,
oh God…

as I stand on Your promises.

The Pastor -|—

Laughing

/ The Pastor

We turn our eyes away from God,
and Satan laughs.
We fight among ourselves,
and Satan laughs.
We seek our own agendas,
and Satan laughs.
We put our needs before other’s,
and Satan laughs.
We build earthly kingdoms,
and Satan laughs.
We worry,
and Satan laughs.

We do anything and everything but seek the glory of God,
and Satan laughs.

But…

Let’s look to God,
let’s seek reconciliation,
let’s seek God’s will,
let’s humble ourselves,
let’s seek to advance God’s kingdom,
let’s trust God.

Let’s do anything and everything we can to bring glory to God’s holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let’s laugh at Satan and tell him to go to hell. Our Lord, Jesus, reigns.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

For the Sake of the World

/ The Pastor

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [Acts 2:42, ESV]

And isn’t this what the church should be about:
Diving into and learning scripture,
Spending time with other believers,
Worshiping and communing together and
prayer?
It seems to make sense to me. Sure there are other things about being a church, for example, it’s not about being with believers ONLY, but sharing the Word of Jesus with nonbelievers.

Basically…

This verse in Acts 2 lays out a church on fire for Jesus.
This is a church wanting to be closer to Jesus.
This is a church who is excited about the hope they have.
This is a church that looks to the needs of others.
This is a church who gets it.

This is not a magical formula for success, but rather the activities that flow from the assembly out of their faith in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. When a church lives out Acts 2:42, the church is doing the very thing that should come naturally, like breathing. If these activities are laborious then something is wrong. You can’t force anything of those activities and you can’t fake it. You are either verse 42 or not. If your church is not, then go back to the beginning: Devote yourself to scripture.

To having any real and lasting hope; for the church to make an impact in the world; for the church to be a beacon of light in a dark world, verse 42 needs to be present. Because believe it or not, people need and want to be part of verse 42.

Only God can make a difference. Only God will bring the increase: And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. [Acts 2:47]

Let’s be an Act 2:42 church that glorifies God almighty for the sake of the world.

The Pastor -|—

Fear and Hope

/ The Pastor

Holy God,

there is much to fear in this world.
Satan is running around
trying to lead us astray through false worship.
He is trying to drag us down into hopelessness.
At times Satan succeeds
and thus paralyzes us with fear,
so much so,
that the Gospel is not proclaimed.

But we ask that You may send Your Holy Spirit
to teach us
and remind us
of the victory we have through faith in Jesus Christ.

Show us the cross.
Show us the empty tomb.
Show us Jesus.

May we see the life we have in You
and know that death has been defeated.
May we rejoice in You
and thus share this Joy with others.
And in the end,
may You and You alone be glorified.

Now may the words of my mouth
and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to You,
oh God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Gripping the Cross

/ The Pastor

image

The hand that grips this cross
is sinful and stained,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
is holy and perfect.

The hand that grips this cross
is in need of help and rescue,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
has won the victory through his resurrection.

The hand that grips this cross
falls short of God’s glory continually,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
extends grace and mercy endlessly.

The hand that grips this cross
will one day give way to death and decay,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
has risen that the possessor of this hand may live eternally.

The hand that grips this cross
doesn’t always treat people as they ought to be treated,
but thankfully the one who died upon the cross
doesn’t treat the person of this hand as they ought to be treated.

and therefore,

The hand that grips this cross
will always cling to the promises secured therein;
thankful for Jesus, the one who died upon the cross
FOR YOU and FOR ME.

The Pastor -|—

Open ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Oh God,
Open my eyes that I my see Your glory.
Open my ears that I may receive Your most holy Word.
Open my heart that the junk therein my fall out and Your Spirit enter to reside.
Open my mind to learn more of You.

Oh God,
Open my hands to serve my neighbor.
Open my mouth to speak of Your grace and love.
Open my life that I my receive my neighbor.
Open a door that I may walk through to glorify You.

Oh God,
You are the opener of all things.
You are the creator of all opportunities.
May I not miss the openness of Your grace
and thus miss a grand opening to share the truth of Jesus Christ.

Oh God,
open closed doors,
and send me,
to the glory of Your holy name through Christ Lord my Lord.

Amen

The Pastor -|—

Send ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
may You send Your Holy Spirit
that those here who do not believe
may come to a saving faith in Jesus.

Send also, Your Holy Spirit
to those struggling with doubts,
that the resurrection of Jesus may be confirmed in their souls.

Send Your Holy Spirit
that the peace that surpasses all understanding
may hold us firm when Satan is strongly attacking from all sides.

Send Your Holy Spirit
that we may know You better and better.

Oh God, please send Your Holy Spirit.

All praise, worship, glory and honor be onto You,
Holy God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
AMEN.

The Pastor -|—

Speak that we may Speak ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Creator God,
in the beginning You spoke life into existence.
To remain silent, then,
would have meant our non-existence
and
it would have meant no one to glorify Your holy name.
And so we exist;
to worship You, to praise You, to glorify You.
And to do this we must speak and abhor silence.

Holy God,
stir in Your people a burning desire
to speak the Truth of Your love and grace through Jesus Christ.
May the fear the world proclaims
be silenced through our faith in the one who overcame the world,
Jesus.
May the flaming arrows of the evil one
lose all its potency through Your holy Word.
May the shield of faith
embolden us to speak the name of Jesus no matter the situation.

Send now Your Holy Spirit
to bring power to the words of Truth
that we will hear this morning,
for through them You create faith and thus life.
Send us forth, then, in Your power
to the glory of Your awesome name,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Be BOLD

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Here’s a morning rant for you so please excuse my language…

There is a lot of crap going on in the world. I surf social media and read news stories and I am blown away by the depravity that is out there. I can hardly believe it when I hear and read about people reveling in calling good evil and evil good.

What is going on?!?

I know, I know, we live in a sinful world, but where are all the voices? Where are all the people who follow Jesus Christ? Why isn’t there more of an outcry?

Yesterday, the people responsible for bringing to light the evil practices of Planned Parenthood were indicted instead of Planned Parenthood. How is this possible. Granted, I am not a legal expert and maybe there are facts that I am not aware of, but come on, this makes no sense. Never mind that fact that people are being killed before they even get to see the light of day. And then there are the politicians that are lauding this decision; calling evil good. That I get because they don’t care about those babies since they are not voters.

In any case, we need boldness…

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, (Acts 4:29)

Following Pentecost, Peter and John heal a crippled man in the temple and then go on to proclaim the risen Jesus Christ. The Pharisees are not the least bit happy and demand that they no longer speak of Jesus. Upon returning to their church, Peter and John report what happened and what was said. Instead of cowering in fear of the authorities, the church worships God and prays for more boldness to speak of the Gospel.

My friends, we need to pray for more boldness and speak of Jesus. We need more boldness and speak the truth. We need not fear the this world. As this Acts Church prayed from Psalm 2,  “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— The nations can rage all they want against God’s anointed, but guess what?

They can not win.

Through faith in Jesus Christ we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and therefore you are on the side of power and victory. Pray for boldness. Stand up for the truth. Do not be silent. The nations may rage against you, but you have Jesus.

Be BOLD! Be STRONG! For the Lord your God is with you.

The Pastor -|—