The Walls Crashed Down!

Heb 11:1 states "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see."

Heb 11:6 states "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

This past Sunday our focus was on faith. Not faith in ourselves but a faith that is completely on Him. The kind of faith that says unless God intercedes this will surely fail. Raw faith. Faith that trusts God to move mountains or walls.

We looked into the account shared in Joshua 6, where Joshua was promised victory in Jericho. He had to do just one thing. TRUST GOD!

He had to find a few priests to walk around the walls of Jericho (they were tightly closed up) and do that everyday for six days. On the seventh day they were to march around seven times and after the last trip around they were to blow the trumpets and SHOUT!. Then the walls would come down.

Think how foolish that must have sounded to the people. "So we are supposed to walk around the walls a crazy amount of times, blow trumpets and shout, and the walls are going to come down. Yeah right! That is ridiculous!" You see the people who thought that way, were looking at what they could do, not what He can do!

Can you place yourself there, in that moment? Your heart is beating fast as your about to shout and then you do. Then you watch in absolute amazement at what you have witnessed, the walls actually came crashing down.

I was talking to a teen earlier in the week about this Biblical story, and she said to me, "isn't God amazing. He doesn't need our help to perform miracles, but He let's us be a part of them!" Do you catch the truth in that! He invites us to participate and be a part of what He is doing. We can't knock over the walls but He can. He invited Joshua and the others to take steps of faith in that miracle. You can bet they were ready to trust Him for anything in the future.

Has God given you a vision for something. Is your faith big enough in Him to trust Him for what seems impossible?

FAITH BELIEVES IT, BEFORE YOU SEE IT!

We had a wonderful service with a great crowd of people. Our worship was powerful, Samm one of our teens blessed us with a powerful song, and the Spirit of God was alive and in our midst.

Sunday night one of the young ladies who had been at our church for the first time on Sunday morning, gave her heart to Christ. She was willing to put her faith in Him and begin her journey. 

Next week I am going to share about the amazing faithfulness of God as another person gave their heart to Christ last night in response to the faithful prayers of a grandmother.

NEVER STOP LOVING

1 Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

I don't know about you, but I don't think we love the way Jesus wants us to love all the time. It is not condemnation it is just a reminder that we are all working towards being more Christlike. 

Yesterday was the last Sunday before Valentines Day and so our focus was on the word love. Love is best expressed as an action. Words are important but our actions speak louder than words. At the heart and essence of God is LOVE.

Paul wrote to the people in Corinth about how to love. Here are the 14 things he challenged the people to do, and it is the same challenge for us!

1. Love is patient
2. Love is kind
3. Doesn't envy (not jealous over what others have)
4. Doesn't boast (not gloat about what we have)
5. Isn't proud
6. Doesn't dishonor
7. Not self seeking
8. Not easily angered
9. Keeps no records of right and wrong (by the way if Jesus did this we would all lose)
10. Rejoices in truth
11. Always protects
12. Always trusts
13. Always hopes
14. Always perseveres

 
That is our challenge too!

This past week we had 3 amazing events to reach out to people:

• Last Sunday afternoon we had our open house. No the building is not for sale, not that kind of open house. We invited some friends into the church that do not normally come here. Six people joined us for ice cream sundaes and hot chocolate and good fellowship as we showed them around the church.
• Sunday evening our youth pastor, Scottie Leighton, hosted a super bowl party. We had a number of teens out to the event including 6 teens that are not normally apart of the church and youth ministry.
• Monday evening we hosted our monthly STUdent supper for those in our city attending school that would benefit from eating warm meals. We had an amazing night together with 11 students. they left with full stomachs and joyful hearts. Many of them will be back next month.

Next Sunday our focus is on faith: Heb 11:1  

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see"