This week: All are welcome to be a part of any of these
Tue 10 am Zoom Huddle
wed 10-12 Bread Min.
Wed 6-7:30 Dinner Huddle
Sun Worship at 10 Live and on Zoom
Sun 5-8pm Revival Church
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Good Morning Joy, Love, Light, Peace, Good News, New Life, Hope, and Help Bringers! We are God's salt and light sent to transform this world and make disciple making disciples of Jesus. That begins at Jesus' feet and grows through community with an outward focus. (Oikos Communitas) That is our purpose and mission as we grow at living and loving more like Jesus; as we seek to become more in '24. It's more of Him and less of me. It's dying to self and taking up cross daily as we follow Jesus. It's working on becoming the people we are created to be and doing the things we are created to do more and more and in community. God has great plans for you and us! Turn off the noise and focus on Him. Cast all anxiety upon Him and know His promised peace, grow in it and share it with the world around you that so desperately needs it. Amen!
Check out Harvest Prayers blog below that sums this up and continues the message from yesterday. Turn off the noise of what ifs and what will be's and focus on today. Today has enough to worry about. Don't lean on your own understanding. trust and acknowledge God in all your ways and He will direct your steps and bring His shalom--His perfect peace. Amen! If we trust God more fully, keep our focus steadfastly upon Him and keep following Him to His best, we will know and dwell in His shalom--His perfect peace. Circumstances, hardships, trials will not be our focus. God will be our dwelling place and His best will envelope us more and more as He leads us to His greater things. Check out what Charles Stanley teaches about that below. And check out Our Daily Bread with the reminder of the importance of community and helping and encouraging each other and doing things together. How does God want to use you to bless each other and how might you be blessed as we gather in community and go out and love like Jesus this summer? He has great plans awaiting our discovery as we take steps of faith and He wants to grow our territory. What's your part?
Last night I had the privilege of worshiping with Revival Church as they held their first service in our sanctuary. (see pics below) There were at least six pastors that were invited to be part of their ministry including Pastor Gus and myself. Many were prophesied over and the Holy Spirit filled the sanctuary and will flow out the doors. It was a time for me to reload for ministry as well. Several of our prayers are being answered with this partnership and I see it as one where many good things will happen as we partner together to change the world and spread the Good News! Amen! The word last night most prophesied was "Expectation leads to miracles." When we pray expectantly and expect God to move, we will see miracles. They are coming! Revival, healing, deliverance, restoration, new life are coming! Expect it! Our answered prayers: 1. For our church to become a house of prayer for the nations. Most of Revival Church are people from India. Much of the service is done with translation, even the worship songs. 2. We are praying for revival and God has sent Revival Church to worship in our building and to partner with. It is a sign of revival to come! 3. We have prayed for the Holy Spirit to flow from our building through our gatherings and to go spread the Good News around our communities and change the environment around us. This is increasing and will as we go forth this summer and connect to neighbors and neighborhoods and through Revival Church outreach as well and our partnership. 4. For us and many to sense and see God's love and be drawn to Him. Love is overflowing from our building and many are being drawn to it. 5. For God to multiply disciples. We are in the business of making disciples. We have added a few but God wants to multiply. Last night was the first fruits of multiplication and expansion of His Kingdom. 6. We are praying for our building to become a hub and training center for disciples that change the Lehigh Valley and beyond. That has begun to grow and will continue. 7. For God to use who we are and what we've been given to expand His Kingdom and be an act of worship that glorifies Him. AMEN!!! God is on the move! Hallelujah!
Last night it was prophesied that a tsunami of blessings would flow through me and our church. It was prophesied that revival fires would be growing and flowing through us. For some reason, people are drawn to my belly when they prophesied over me. (maybe because it's so big) Years ago it was prophesied over my belly that Living Waters would flow through me and that has been happening. One of our members had a dream where someone asked why Pastor Don's belly was so big and Jesus answered because he would birth new works. Last night it was prophesied over my belly that revival fire would be flowing through me. I am receiving all of these as a word from God that He has some great plans for me and us to expand His Kingdom, bring revival and His Living Water to a dry and thirsty land and to keep praying into and moving towards starting some new works around the area. Amen! Come Lord Jesus! Your will be done! I believe God wants to start that as we step out of the building this summer, fellowship and connect to new neighbors that God is drawing. And He has plans for you and us together to grow His Kingdom and change the world! Amen! Let us turn off the noise and seek Him more earnestly together to follow Him each day to the plans He has for us. Soon He will fan those sparks of revival into a wild fire of the Holy Spirit throughout our area. And the cool thing is, we all have a part custom made for such a time as this! Pray into that earnestly, expectantly with thanksgiving and let us commit to follow Jesus well! Amen! Then we will know His perfect peace. Shalom! Shalom!
Harvest Prayer Blog:
April 22 - Stay in Perfect Peace
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You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3)
I don’t know about you, but perfect peace seems like an impossibility. With everything going on in the world around us, not to mention the confusion of thoughts within us, we wonder how such a promise could be made. It helps, of course, when it’s God himself who made the statement. That puts this promise in a whole new light. It also helps for us to understand what is meant by perfect. Biblically speaking, perfection refers more to maturity or a level of completion. Here’s the truth of the matter . . .God wants you to live in mature peace in your life and he is willing to commit to keep you in that place of peace.
The Prophet Isaiah gives us insight into how this works in a very practical way. The first and most important part is God’s part. God commits to keep us in perfect peace. Without this commitment, it will not work. Peace is a gift of God, not simply something we work on. Jesus offered peace as something that came from him.
God’s commitment to keep us in perfect peace is not without our part. We are to have our minds stayed on God. Perhaps an easier way of saying this is the New Testament command to fix our thoughts on Christ. What are you thinking about? What is your mind stayed on? It is impossible to have a mind filled with peace if our thoughts stray from the Lord. He keeps us in perfect peace when we fix our thoughts on him who is the source of peace. Over and over again, we are commanded to guard our hearts, to be careful what we are thinking about. Peace comes from a mind that is focused on God.
According to Isaiah, the third part of walking in perfect peace comes from trust. This is the combination of the nature of God and the work of man. We keep our minds fixed on God because we trust him. But we trust him because he has shown that he is worthy of all our trust. He is the Eternal One, always faithful, always worthy of our trust. Because of who he is, we trust him. This brings peace.
Today, choose to fix your mind and thoughts on Jesus, the Shalom Giver. Remind yourself of how he has been trustworthy in the past by thinking of those times he worked in amazing ways in your life.
Lord Jesus, I am so grateful that You are not only a God of peace, but that You want to pass that peace to me. You literally commit Yourself to keep me in peace. Help me to do my part. Help me through Your Spirit to keep my mind fixed upon You and to trust You in every way.
--Adapted from Prayer, Peace and the Presence of God (A 30-Day Journey to Experience the Shalom of Jesus) by David Butts.
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Charles Stanley:
ODB:
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“I knew that the only way to succeed was to forget about home and my wife, son, and daughter,” said Jordon. “I’ve found I can’t do that. They’re woven into the fabric of my heart and soul.” Alone in a remote area, Jordon was participating in a reality show where contestants are asked to survive outdoors with minimal supplies for as long as possible. What forced him to forfeit was not the grizzly bears, freezing temperatures, injury, or hunger, but an overwhelming loneliness and desire to be with his family.
We might have all the survival skills necessary for the wilderness, but separating ourselves from community is a sure way to fail. The wise author of Ecclesiastes said, “Two are better than one, because . . . one can help the other up” (4:9-10). Christ-honoring community, even with all its messiness, is essential to our thriving. We don’t stand a chance against the trials of this world if we try to tackle them on our own. Someone who toils alone, toils in vain (v. 8). Without community, we’re more susceptible to danger (vv. 11-12). Unlike a single thread, “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (v. 12). The gift of a loving, Christ-focused community is one that not only provides encouragement, but also gives us strength to thrive despite challenging situations. We need each other.
By Karen Pimpo
REFLECT & PRAY
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How can you commit to spending time with the family of believers? Who around you is isolated and in need?
Father, thank You for the gift of community! Open my heart to love and spend time with others today.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes is classified as one of the Wisdom books of Scripture. Wisdom books, which emphasize the supreme value of fearing God (Ecclesiastes 8:13; 12:13), help the reader navigate the good and not-so-good—the bitter and sweet of this life—from God’s perspective and to trust Him. Given Wisdom Literature’s goal—to help its readers to “live skillfully”—it shouldn’t surprise us to find numerous occurrences in the book of Ecclesiastes of the word better or the phrase better than. The comparative value of wisdom is stressed in passages such as “Wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness” (2:13); “Wisdom is better than strength” (9:16); “Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (9:18). We also see this emphasis in Proverbs: “For she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold” (3:14).
Discover the life-changing wisdom of Ecclesiastes.
Arthur Jackson |
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