The House of the Lord is mentioned over 200 times in the Bible. It is clearly seen as a specific place where the people of God were encouraged to meet with each other and to meet with God. In 2 Chronicles 30:1 we read, "Hezeki'ah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to E'phraim and Manas'seh, that they should come to the House of the Lord."
Hezeki'ah did not have email, but he took the time to write letters to encourage people to get out to the House of the Lord. Well, we do have email and I am using mine to write and to invite people to come to the House of the Lord, which for us today is New Life City Church.
Praise God for the good attendance yesterday at both services. We had another great day together.
Sunday morning: Following on from last week's message "When God Says No", this week's message was "When God Says Yes". Sometimes God says "No", but more often he says "Yes".
God might have said "No" to Paul going into Asia and he might have said "No" to the removal of Paul's 'Thorn in the flesh' (whatever that was!), but he did say "Yes" to Paul the day he saved him. He said yes to Paul when he was sent out by the church as an Apostle to the Gentiles. He said yes to Paul when he prayed for a girl possessed by demonic spirits and she was healed. He said yes to Paul when he prayed for a young man to be raised to life, who had fallen and died. He said yes to Paul going into Europe and to preaching the Gospel in Philippi. He later said yes to Paul to finally go into Asia.
We looked at Acts 10 and we saw that this chapter begins with a man in prayer; half way through the chapter there is another man in prayer; by the end of the chapter both these men are together, and the Holy Spirit is moving upon them and those who had gathered with them. These men were Cornelius, a Gentile, and Peter, a Jew. God said "Yes" to both of them and in so doing he was saying "Yes" to Gentiles and to Jews alike.
We saw that God's "No" should also be our no, and that his "Yes" should be our yes.
Sunday night: Continuing with facing the giants, the message was "Facing the Giant of Lies". We saw that we all face this Giant who confronts on three fronts:
1. He encourages us to believe lies: That is to reject truth and replace it with a lie (e.g. evolution)
2. He encourages us to tell lies: politicians are good at this, but Christians are not immune!
3. He encourages us to live a lie: to have a private life that for whatever reason causes shame
I finished by declaring "You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free", and by encouraging people to slay the giant of lies by embracing truth. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life".
Thanks to Craig and Glyn for representing FIST in participating during the Sunday night service and for adding to the programme with humour and with a serious challenge to "Be first to be last" (or was it last to be first!).
The answer to last week's question: "NONE" It was not Moses, it was Noah!
This week's question: Imagine that you walk into a very dark room. You come across a candle, an oil lamp and an oil heater. You only have one match, so you only have one go. What would YOU light first?
This week's Bible verse: Proverbs 10:2. "ILL-Gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death".
Thursday Night: Last Thursday night we had a great time together as we looked at some of the unfolding events on earth in relation to prophecy and spent quality time in worship and prayer.
FIST: This Thursday night it is the turn of FIST, our men's ministry. I want to encourage you men to get along. As usual it is guaranteed to be a great night. Starts at 7 pm with FOOD, followed by the programme at 7.45. FIST is meeting again on Saturday morning at 9.30 am. There will be more details about this on Thursday night.
Congratulations: To Peter and Sasha on their engagement. We pray for them that God will bless them beyond measure.
I finish off by encouraging you, as Hezeki'ah did, to "come to the House of the Lord" on Sunday. This coming Sunday night we have a special guest speaker, William Wade.
Stay focused; stay strong; and keep being a God-influence.
Pastor Jack
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