It is sad that the only thing that keeps dust from collecting on your digital Bible or your paper Bible is when it is used on Sunday mornings at church.
Lord, give us a desire to read and study Your Word. Give me a desire to read Your Word. Speak to me O’ God.
Father God, thank You for not giving up on us when we fail You. Your love never fails! You never give up on us. Your love never runs out on us.
Lord, help me to stand strong. Help me to live a life that is a witness for You, both publicly and privately. Help me to stand on Your Word and proclaim it. Help me to remember how much You love me. You have plans to prosper me–plans that are for good and not disaster. When I am down, You pick me up. When I am weak, You are my strength. When I am afraid, You are my comfort. When there is nowhere else to turn, You are right there waiting for me.
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” -Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
If you are feeling down, alone, afraid, like you have no hope, just remember that God loves you and that He care deeply for you. He desires for you to give your hurts, disapointments, insecurity, hoplessness, fright, etc. to Him. He will take it all away and give you peace and assurance.
Praying for Harvest Church today as they have a joint service out at Amhurst in Albemarle. Harvest on Hwy 52 and Harvest@Amhurst will be worshipping together as one body under a big tent that has been rented. Church is not a word that describes a building; Church is an action of going out to be Jesus and show Jesus to those around us, those in our nation, and to those in every nation!
Harvest Church has been holding Tuesday night services at Harvest@Amhurst at 6:30pm since July 12th. Amhurst is where God has specifically called us to. We are bound and determined to fulfill the will of God there and to show that community that God loves them as much as He loves us. Read more about the Tuesday night services here.
For those that are not familiar with Amhurst, Amhurst is an area in Albemarle, NC that is known for drugs and violence. Harvest Church believes that Jesus Christ is bigger than that! We believe that God can change that community to be known as a place where people love the Lord. God is a Healer, Restorer, Provider, and Savior!
Two Harvest Church congregations to worship together
Harvest Church, located at 24238 U.S. 52 S., Albemarle, holds special services in the Amhurst area of Albemarle.
According to Pastor Bill Baldwin, Harvest Church is making an effort to plant an outreach church in Amhurst.
Baldwin, members of the church band, other members of Harvest Church and members of the Amhurst community gather on Tuesday evenings at a ball field to share a message, praise music, prayers and refreshments.
“It’s been a real good thing,” Baldwin said.
Harvest Church plans to purchase land in the area for a permanent church building in the future.
This Sunday, Harvest Church’s Sunday morning crowd and Tuesday evening crowd are coming together for a special service.
“We’re putting both of our congregations together this Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.,” Baldwin said.
“It’s going to be a good day. We’re going to worship together.”
Both Harvest Church groups will gather on the ball field near Bell Avenue in the Amhurst area.
“We’ve rented a tent,” Baldwin said.
“I’ve never done a tent meeting in my life, so this is going to be interesting.”
The special service will include worship time, praise music led by Harvest Church’s band and a picnic afterward.
For more information, contact Harvest Church at (704)986-0505 or visit its website at www.discoverharvest.org.
By Marina Richardson, Staff Writer
CNHI | Friday, September 2, 2011 | source
Pray for Harvest Church as we are lead by God into the mission field that He has called us to. This opportunity is not for us (Harvest Church) to gain any glory; the glory belongs to the One that deserves ALL honor and All glory. To God be the glory forever and ever, AMEN!
For more information on Harvest Church or Harvest@Amhurst you can contact the church by email ([email protected]) or by phone at 704.986.0505.
God, make Yourself real to me. Transform my life in a mighty way. Change me from who I am today, and make me into who You desire for me to be. I am not perfect. I mess up all of the time. Even though You do not like for me to disobey, You still love me unconditionally. Your love never fails me. Your love is perfect and pure. I can always count on you to be there for me. Even when I let go of your hand, You never let go of mine; Your hand stills holds tight. Thank You for Your love!
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.
-Hosea 6:3
#follow or #unfollow ….What do you do? You have a decision to make. Should you follow Jesus or turn away from Him? Your choice affects you for all eternity…
Video:
If you would like to follow Jesus and have a relationship with Him, please contact me.
The Grace Card is an amazing movie that proves that forgiveness is where the healing truly begins. Go see this movie, and it will teach you a lot about the situations that we face in life!
I promise to pray for you every day, ask your forgiveness, grant you the same, and be your friend always.
In your daily life, who or what are you representing? Are you representing Christ? Or, are you representing things of the world? People around you are watching what you do and say everyday. The things you say and do affect what people think of you. If everything people see you do or hear you say are negative/bad/perverted things, then they are going to think you are not a good person to be around. If everything people see you do or hear you say are good/positive/loving/caring things, then they are probably going to think of you as being a good role model for others. And, if people hear you say and do good things at one moment and then turn around and say and do negative things, then they will see you as a hypocrite.
No man (or woman) is perfect; no, not one. We all mess up at times. However, we need to remember that people are watching us and listening to what comes out of our mouth.
Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 7: “15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
We are known by the fruits we bear. What kind of fruit do others see you bear?
Are you misleading others by saying that you are a Christian, but change your actions once you walk out of church.
Below are a few examples are misrepresenting Christ that I saw on Facebook today.
People post statuses about love and thanksgiving, but then they turn around and post a status that is rude/perverted. They represent Jesus in one post, then represent the darkness of our sinful world in another.
Christianity is not a religion. Religion is “the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith“. Christianity is a lifestyle and a relationship with God. There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. Everything that we watch, hear, do, think, etc defines who we are.
Humans take pleasure is seeing others suffer (especially if they have done wrong to us). In Matthew 18 we find that we are to forgive others. We are to keep no record of the wrong doings of others. We should forgive them. “21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” We are to forgive others no matter how many times they wrong us.
So many times in life we think we can do it all by ourselves. Or, we may think that there is no way that a situation can be changed. At these times we need to ask, “Who am I following?“. Are you following hard after God, or are you chasing something that is worthless? At times, we get caught up in doing our “own thing”. We forget about God; we just push Him out of the picture. But, Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” [Matthew 11:28]. He also tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for disater, to give you a future and a hope.” [Jeremiah 29:11]
VBS 2010 has been a blast so far. I am excited to see what God is going to do in the last three nights. Pray that God will use this week to touch the children and their parents.
We are walking through the Bible and learning about the Life of Joseph in Egypt. Joseph trust God through what he experienced. Following Joseph’s example, we learn how important it is to trust God and believe in God’s timing.
I have been talking with my friend Jesse through a few Facebook posts about Jude 1:4. It talks about people in our churches, even today, that twist the Word of God. They change the truth to make themselves and others feel better. Jesse states in his blog post that “people in the Church who are using Christ as a get out of hell free card, not as Lord and Savior”. I fully agree with him. People try to work there way into heaven, pray their way into heaven, preach their way into heaven, tithe their way into heaven….
“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” -Jude 1:4
There is no way that we could even be good enough, give enough money, pray enough, or work/serve enough to be able to have eternal life in heaven. It is only by the grace and mercy of God that we can have salvation. Grace and mercy have two different definitions. Mercy is God withholding what we do deserve, which is death; grace is God giving us what we do not deserve–eternal life in Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8 that “for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
In the video below, Nate Pfeil elaborates on this point.
What is your take on this? Do you agree?Comment here
The picture below in comical but it tells a great truth…you cannot work you way into Heaven.
So, how do we get into Heaven? Jesus tells us plainly in John 14:1-7:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
It is only by trusting in Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. He can and He will deliver you from all your sins. Just come to Him.
We all have sinned [Romans 3:23]. Because we are sinners, we are destined for Hell; however, if we believe in God and accept His Son, then we can have the free gift of eternal life [Romans 6:23].
We could never be able to work our way into Heaven. The picture above shows people walking up steps–but the steps have no end. They never reach the top. The same goes for trying to work and earn our way into Heaven. Good works alone will not save you.
Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Salvation cannot be bought with worldly currencies. They only way Salvation is possible is through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16
