fear/worry — peace/still ??
I can count on one hand the number of times that sickness has stopped my husband in his tracks. He may get a cold or a sinus issue but he plows right through. This past Friday afternoon he got knocked right off his feet (figuratively speaking.)
I thought it would be a 24 hour thing and he would be up and at ‘em Saturday. Instead Saturday found him alternating between the bed and the recliner. By Saturday night it became evident that he would not be preaching the next morning. The verse from 2 Timothy came to mind – “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season…………..”
What did God want me to share?
Psalms 46:1-3 I find that I am quoting verse 1 a lot lately, either in person, on the phone, by text, and even on facebook. We don’t have to look far to see trouble. We do not face it alone. God is indeed a very present help in trouble.
“We will not fear.” Fear is a great peace robber. It is virtually impossible to stay in peace while allowing fear to take hold of your emotions. Most of the things people worry about never happen. Don’t get caught up in fear’s trap.
Fear and worry ruin a perfectly good day and disrupt a good night’s sleep.
When you notice fear, worry or dread knocking at your door remember God is a very present help in trouble. Place your focus back on Him and you will find your peace returning. Instead of dwelling on the situation, going over it and over it, take it to God in prayer. Leave it with Him. Trust Him to work things out.
“Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” He is the living God. The Great I AM. The creator and sustainer of the universe and He is an ever-present help in trouble.
Let’s look at the end of this chapter.
Psalms 46:10 I am going to take it one word at a time.
BE: state of being
Acts 1:8 tells us that we are to BE witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the utter most parts of the earth. (For me that breaks down to my city, state, neighboring state –or county and neighboring county–and the world.) Notice that it doesn’t say DO witnessing. It is possible to DO witnessing and not BE a good witness. Be is who we are – 24/7. And we can be still in the midst of any circumstance.
Be STILL: quiet confidence – a heart of peace. Not in a state of turmoil or wrapped up in fretting about the situation.
Be still AND: this lets us know that there is more. It isn’t just be still.
Be still and KNOW: know that you know that you know that God is in control. He has a plan. He will make a way where there seems to be no way. We will not be shaken. We know God is greater than anything we face.
Be still and know THAT: that – pay attention to what comes next – emphasis
Be still and know that I: one true God. God tells Moses in Exodus 3:14 “I am who I am” God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and always with us.
Be still and know that I AM: present tense. Right where we are, there He is.
Be still and know that I am GOD: He is the living God. What you magnify just gets bigger. Instead of spiraling downward with fear and worry, place your focus back onto God. Let Him fill you with peace.
Whatever you are facing, God has a plan. Don’t let fear and worry rob you of the truth that you know. God is with you! He loves you!
“Be still and know that I am God” — Psalm 46:10
til next time
together we praise
Have you ever wondered – why should I go to church? Maybe your kids have said “Do I have to go to church?” or maybe you have even said that. The enemy of your soul will try anything and everything to keep you away from gathering with others. Why? Because coming together, rubbing shoulders with each other, encourages us and brings glory to God.
This weeks sermon was all about coming together for worship. To read other ‘sermon notes’ click here.
Grab your Bible, as I won’t be posting all of the scriptures. I feel that it is important to look the scriptures up in your own Bible – to stay familiar with the love letter that God has given to us. (If you don’t have a Bible let me know.)
Read Psalm 105:1-5
Why do we come together?
God desires our worship. We come together to worship Him. We join together to offer our thanks for all God has and is doing in our lives. (Can we do that apart from church? Of course and we should but there is something different about gathering with others for the sole purpose of worshiping God and hearing His word.)
We can tend to focus on the things that are going wrong. We see the bad – focus on it – and forget all the good.
Illustration: Did you know that your thumb can blot out the moon? If you hold your thumb up to the sky, you can cover up the moon. Now the moon is huge. It is way bigger than your thumb. However, if you are focused on your thumb you will not see the moon.
When we focus on our problem we blot out all the good God has done. It is still there, but we are not seeing it because our sight is on the problem.
When problems seem real big — look at where your focus is.
V. 2 Sing
What can we do for God? We can sing!! We gather together as the people of God to sing praises and to offer up thanks. Testimony time is a time of proclamation – remembering God’s works. God is at work in our lives!
God is good! All the time!
v.3 Glory in His name – stop in the presence of the Lord and simply think about who God is. How often do we do that? Probably not often enough. It is life changing to stand in the presence of an awesome God and glory in His name.
v.5 judgments – history of God interacting with the human race. God shows great mercy to those who repent and believe. To those who fail to repent and fail to believe – there is great judgment.
“The Gospel message is repent and believe, not just proclaim and hope!”
We, as the people of God, are meant to proclaim the message of salvation. Look for opportunities to proclaim the goodness of the Lord.
v. 4 Seek His face – an audience of One!
We are united in His presence and told to seek His face – to spend time in the presence of Almighty God.
“You’re not gonna get a better offer”
In the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy, peace forevermore.
I (Pastor Curt) will be having a GI scope – in God’s presence is strength, hope, peace, and joy.
“It really doesn’t matter what they find in here (pointing to his stomach) as what God finds in here (pointing to his life). If I could pound one thing into people –one thing — it would be if you are experiencing problems in life then get before God!“
“God will give us the wisdom to know what to do. The strength to do what we need to do and the peace to get us through the storm.“
“Let the wind blow, blow as hard as it can on Christ the solid Rock I stand!!” (Imperials)
till next time
are you missing it?
Today I was able to sit through the early service. I have heard numerous ministers throughout my life and there is no one I’d rather hear than my husband. I often tell him that my only regret (if you can call it that) is that there aren’t more people hearing him. Yet I leave that in God’s hands. He knows what He is doing.
We have a staffed nursery for second service. However, if there is a baby in first service who is struggling to sit quietly, it is my privilege to take him/her to the nursery and play with toys. While I was pleased to be able to sit in service it did mean that Wyatt was not there. I missed him.
When the boys were babies I would get them up, changed, fed, changed, dressed and hopefully out the door on time only to get to church and spend the entire service in the nursery.
For a stay at home mom this was not encouraging. I wanted/needed corporate praise and worship. Being able to find time in the word, while chasing after twins, was hit and miss. I wanted to soak up the preaching of the word. Yet I found myself in the nursery without even a speaker.
So that’s when I decided, that one day, when it was up to me, I would help mom’s get the most out of service.
Today’s word came from the book of Esther. I encourage you to read the whole book. It has only 10 chapters. It is a great story. (check out http://biblegateway.com )
Read Esther 4:13-14 For such a time as this!
Mordecai challenged Ester to think about why she was where she was at.
“God had a reason to place you in that palace and it wasn’t just to bless you by being Queen.”
God has a plan. It is not necessary that we know all that is going on, nor will we be able to understand it fully. God has placed each one of us right where we are. He has a plan.
Think about who we are and who God is.
We like to be able to control things, to have a say in what happens. Sometimes people even try to control God.
“God You have to…..”
“Um, no He doesn’t.”
There comes a point in which we reach the limits of our understanding.
Lord I don’t know what the future holds but Lord I trust You!
What does God expect from us? How should we live?
Read Micah 6:8
Do justly — learn what is the right thing to do and then do it. Search the scriptures. God will give us the wisdom that we need to be able to do right.
Love mercy — be willing to forgive. Mercy is when you have the power to exercise judgment on a person who has wronged you and you extend mercy – forgiveness. Love mercy — offer mercy.
Humbly walk with God – God wants us to have fellowship with Him. Day by day we can have a sense that God is with us. He is in control. We may not understand why or be able to control the situation but God loves us. It has not taken God by surprise. There are reasons we can’t begin to grasp.
We can trust and be obedient to the God who loves us. He is with us. He sees all and works in all situations to bring about His plan.
Trust Him!
I entitled this ‘are you missing it?” because God spoke to my heart today during this message about situations that I am facing. I so want Him to just remove the struggles and smooth the rough waters. I can become so focused on this that I miss the real miracle God is doing. He is using the struggles and the rough waters to bring about change in my life. Nothing causes me to dig deeper than pain.
“For such a time as this” God has me right where He wants me. His plan is one of goodness. God is Good!! I don’t want to miss it. I want to live every moment of it to the fullest. God is at work.
I will close with a song we sang this morning. “I can feel You flowing through me. Holy Spirit come and fill me up. Love and mercy fill my senses, I am thirsty for Your presence Lord. Come and fill me up”
What is God wanting to do with you and where He has you - at this moment?
til next time
january 30, 2010
A little late in posting this weeks sermon notes blog. Some weeks are just like that ….
(If you want to check out last weeks, click here)
Grab your Bible, as I won’t be posting all of the scriptures. I feel that it is important to look the scriptures up in your own Bible – to stay familiar with the love letter that God has given to us. (If you don’t have a Bible let me know.)
Read 2 Chronicles 5:13-14
When we gather together, Christ is present in our midst. I have never seen a cloud though. I believe there are levels/degrees in which the presence of God can be sensed. I believe God touches the hearts of His people every time we gather to seek His face. Whether it is visibly seen or not – God is at work.
The Spirit of Christ dwells in our hearts. We gather in the spirit of unity. God’s presence is here in a powerful way. Scripture tells us that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there.
Disunity hinders the presence of God.
Don’t let a bad morning keep you from coming. But when you enter the sanctuary place your eyes on Jesus. In the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy. Don’t leave the way you came in. We are changed in God’s presence.
As we move forward with the desire to grow in God, God is with us. Every time we come together, God is here wanting to move in our midst.
Challenge: You contribute your part — by joining together and by worshiping God.
“Worshipping God is not a spectator sport.”
Super bowl – yes that is a spectator sport for most.
“We do not gather together to watch people worship. ”
The power of God is manifest in our midst to the proportion of those who are entering in.
When we gather together for worship - participate.
You, from your heart, in spirit and in truth worship Him. Acts tells us ‘they were as one.’
Acts 1:4 & Acts 2:1 in one accord
God impacts our lives. The power of God fills our hearts, fills this place, and then the power of God goes with us into the community.
Acts 4:23-31
There is power when the people of God gather for prayer.
We are called to be one in worship, one in prayer, and one in spreading the gospel. We are called to share the message – proclamation of the love of God.
Come Celebrate – Go Proclaim!
til next time
january 23, 2011
Time for sermon notes — If you want to read the last one click here.
Grab your Bible, as I won’t be posting all of the scriptures. I feel that it is important to look the scriptures up in your own Bible – to stay familiar with the love letter that God has given to us. (If you don’t have a Bible let me know.)
David – didn’t always make the right choice. Bathsheba is a good example of how bad decisions have consequences.
Here in Chronicles we find that David decided to take a head count. This went against God’s command.
The consequences ?
David was given three choices. Three years of famine. Three months of running from your enemies. Three days that God will send plagues. David decides that he would rather fall into the hands of God than men.
David takes the three days.
Read 1 Chronicles 21:14-26
But then 70,000 men die. High price to pay and this is only day one.
verse 17 finds David pleading with God.
We like to think that when we make wrong choices that things will just get smoothed over. Actions have consequences. 70,000 men died!
By this time, God had already told the angel to stop. Then God told Gad to tell David to make an offering.
David offers to buy Ornan’s threshing floor.
Ornan would gladly give it to David. Verse 23 “I give it all.”
David would not make an offering with that which cost Him nothing. (Think about that for a moment.)
Offerings to God
Read Genesis 4:3-7 2 offerings Cain and Abel
Some point out the type of offering — blood vs. fruit of the ground
The point here is not the type of offering. Cain is told “if you do well, you will be accepted.” Scripture will talk of grain offerings and first fruit offerings. No, it is not the type of offering but there is something not right about Cain’s attitude. The problem was an attitude of the heart.
“Give with a good attitude.”
Everything that we have come from God. He blesses us. We give in return tithes and offerings. Tithes come into the church. There are many different kinds of offerings. Acts of service is an offering. Whether it is doing something for the church or helping out someone in need, this is giving an offering to the Lord. Offerings are also given to help financially support a ministry that is doing the Lord’s work.
read Romans 12:1
We are called to offer up our lives as a living sacrifice. What does God want for our lives? This is not always an easy thing to figure out.
Start by saying to the Lord:
“Here’s my hopes and dreams, everything I want. I’m giving it to You now. Lord, give me Your direction.”
“Lord, help me to live for You a living sacrifice. Lord here is my life – whatever You want me to do. Direct my path. Speak to my heart.”
Trust God. He will guide and direct us.
” Did we think 20 years ago that we’d still be here? No – that is not generally how it works. …… There is no better place to be than where God wants you to be.”
Read Matthew 16:24-27
Best thing we can do is offer our lives up to God. Sometimes there is clear direction. Other times, when you don’t get a ‘thus and so’ from God then look around and make the best choice trusting that God will guide you.
“God I want to walk with you day by day.”
“God knows exactly what He is doing. One decision at a time.”
“I want to be where You want me to be – doing what You want me to do.”
“Give our lives to God and He will give us back a better life. Best place to be is where God wants you to be.”
til next time
january 16, 2010
Wow, another week gone by already. Time for my 3rd sermon notes blog. (Click here to read more)
I started doing this to help out a friend who has to miss church due to work. While I do feel that this is worth my time and it is beneficial, there is so much that is lacking from just reading my notes. For instance, I am only sharing the notes on the message. The worship time is a vital part of the service. Ed takes us boldly to the throne of grace and leads by example what it means to worship at the feet of Jesus.
Today there were numerous testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of His people. Praise God!!
Gary sang a song today that he and Joan wrote. It was a powerful song. I am not sure what the title is but it could be “Make me a better man”. This was the theme throughout the song. It led right into Pastor’s message.
So grab your Bible, as I won’t be posting all of the scriptures. I feel that it is important to look the scriptures up in your own Bible – to stay familiar with the love letter that God has given to us. (If you don’t have a Bible let me know.)
Read Colossians 4:6
Why the concern about what we say? Words can be powerful; they can have an impact on others. We must learn to speak with grace.
“Is your speech gracious?”
Read Proverbs 18:21
Our words have tremendous impact.
“With our words we can encourage someone or we can crush them. Do our words bring life or death?’
Read Colossians 3:8-9 “words that bring death”
People get angry. Words spoken in anger can bring great pain. Things are said that should not be said. Malice is going past the point of anger — now you want to hurt someone. Then there is lying and profanity. These seem to be common in our society.
How do we change this?
Scripture tells us that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. As we allow God to mold us and make us, as He is working in us, we will more and more be directed by His Spirit. Our language will change.
“I served in the Marine Corps and if I can clean up my language – then so can you!”
We are called to a higher standard.
Read 2 Corinthians 12:19-21 — Identifying death
Words of death bring contention, strife, arguing, backbiting and whispering.
“We can rip apart a church, work place, family…. by the words we say.“
Gossip – saying something about someone that makes them look bad.
“Like your momma always said, or if your momma never told you, then I’m telling you, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.”
Colossians 3:16-17 — Words of life
Are the words we are speaking encouraging? Does Christ approve of the things we are saying? Or would we want God to “plug” His ears?
Let us use our words for edification, instruction, for the good.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
We are called to build one another up, not tear down each other.
Words of life bring comfort.
“May we learn to recognize the difference, not just recognize the difference, but cultivate the words of life. What a different place our world would be if more and more of us would speak the words of life.”
Let us seek to eliminate words of death from our conversation. Let’s replace them with words of life.
We all have room to grow in our ability to speak with grace.
till next time
january 9, 2011
Here it is time for my second sermon blog. (click here for the 1st one)
So grab your Bible, as I won’t be posting all of the scriptures. I feel that it is important to look the scriptures up in your own Bible – to stay familiar with the love letter that God has given to us. (If you don’t have a Bible let me know.)
January 9, 2011
How 3 Kings dealt with trouble
read 1 Samuel 30:1-8
Here we find David (not yet King at this time) and his fighting men returning to their city. Upon arriving they found the city had been destroyed by fire and the women and children were taken captive. (verse 3)
The men turned on David (verse 6) and wanted to stone him.
What was David’s response?
First….He turned to the Lord to strengthen himself.
Second …..David inquired of the Lord. (verse 8 )
Third….. David acted. (verse 10)
Whatever we may face — obstacle — problem — challenge – God is there. We are strengthened when we turn to Him. Then we ask God for direction and move forward.
read –2 Kings 18:1-3
Some kings were good and did what was right in the sight of God. (verse 3) Many other kings did not do what was right.
Hezekiah was a good king.
All of us should seek to recognize what is right and then choose to do the right thing. Right is not always popular or easy. God rewards right choices!
The Assyrians were coming to destroy Jerusalem. Chapter 18:31-37 Their message was for the people to not listen to Hezekiah but to give up and they would let them live. For surely your God cannot deliver you.
read –Chapter 19:1, 14
What did Hezekiah do? He turned to the Lord. He takes the letter to God, basically saying “look what they are saying about you.”
Hezekiah trusted God! What happened? Chapter 19:35 The angel of the Lord killed 185.000 in the night. The rest of the army left. In verse 37 the King of Assyria was killed.
God fought for the nation of Israel. Trust God!
The third King was eight years old when he became king.
Read –2 Kings 22:1-2
Josiah was pretty radical for God. He destroyed the foreign gods and restored proper worship to the area.
Chapter 23:25 Josiah served the Lord more than all others yet in verses 26-29 we find that he was killed at age 39.
Why?
God has a plan. His plan looks way down the road. He sees the big picture. In this case the Southern Kingdom would need to be destroyed.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where we cry out “I don’t understand this God.”
There is a gap between our understanding and God’s ways. We are not God.
Do we trust God?
Josiah had a good 31 year reign. Then he died and went to be with God. That is not a bad thing. This earth is not our final home. Josiah didn’t lose. He faithfully served God and trusted Him.
How should we deal with trouble?
Turn to the Lord, do what is right and trust in the Lord!
God has a plan and He sees the big picture. He is worthy of our trust. He will strengthen us and guide us as we rely on Him.
til next time
january 2, 2011
A friend asked me if we tape our Sunday sermon’s. We don’t.
I was thinking about what I could do that would be helpful to those who have to miss church due to work or sickness.
The thought came to me that I could do a blog once a week highlighting the message.
So grab your Bible, as I won’t be posting all of the scriptures. I feel that it is important to look the scriptures up in your own Bible – to stay familiar with the love letter that God has given to us.
January 2
Turn to and read Philippians 1:3-11
read verse 3 again.
It starts out by thanking God. How appropriate that we start the year off by thanking God.
Prayers make a difference. Pastor then showed us the huge stack of answered prayer requests over the past year. (At our church, prayer requests are written down and then prayed for during the service. In addition, Pastor prays throughout the week for each request – keeping them in the rotation for a month) . Thank you Jesus for answered prayer!
What about the ones that don’t go as we hope? Those prayers are still effective. Either the situation will change or our heart will change, sometimes both. God also answers prayer by giving us the strength and peace to go on.
We are not alone. We are a part of the body of Christ.
“In each one dwells the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit we are made the people of God.”
read verse 6
“I am thankful that God continues to work in our lives. Feelings come and feeling go, but our commitment to Christ can remain firm.
God is working in us”
read verse 9
“It is not just a matter of holding on but moving up!”
(sitting down the mic and and with great gusto Pastor illustrates this point)
“It is not just a matter of holding on but moving forward!”
We grow in our knowledge of God-
“I don’t care how long you’ve been saved – you do not know everything. If you are saying ‘Oh man, this again.’ Then you need an attitude adjustment.
Don’t stall — continue to grow!“
We are to grow in our ability to discern, to recognize right and wrong.
verse 10 - “that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,” (NKJ)
Approve what is excellent. Grow in our ability to not cause offense. Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have they that love Thy law and nothing shall offend them.” (KJ)
God help us not to be an offense/stumbling block to others. On the other hand there is the challenge to not be offended by others. Remember who you are in Christ. See people through the eyes of Christ. We can walk in peace.
This is an area where everyone will have opportunity to grow in.
read verse 11
Be filled with the fruits of righteousness. FILLED! Again room for growth.
New Year — God what do you have for us?
…pray, fellowship, grow, service to those around us, various ministries within the church, opportunities for outreach …. letting God work in us and use us.
“May God’s grace be poured out in our lives. May He continue to work in us and through us.”
til next time
(Quotes in bold and italics are from Pastor)
About
Welcome to my fish bowl!
Things that matter to me are: God, family, friends, helping people, taking time to really live in the moment, and trying to slow down in a fast paced world.
To find out more click here.
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