HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Colossians 4:5-6 - Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Let me clarify from the outset. I believe that right is right that wrong is wrong and that there is righteousness and that there is wickedness, that there is good and that there is evil.
God’s standard is the standard. He calls us to righteousness and holiness. Without holiness NO One will see the Lord.
Marriage is between one man and one woman. Any other relationship is not a marriage in any form it may try to take.
There are only two sexes – male and female. Sex and gender are the same thing.
Now with that said – the purpose of this message is out of my concern for the way that many Christians are approaching the issues in our culture and our response to people who are outside the faith. Especially those who do not believe as we do or live like we live. People who vocally and radically advocate for a way of life that is not according to the Word of God.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
~ Rod Loy - Behind every issue is an individual. It’s easy to talk about problems in broad terms - conflict, policy, growth, liability, structure. But if you zoom out too far, you forget the faces. Whether it’s immigration, trafficking, a discipline issue, or tension in your team, people are always at the center. Their stories. Their pain. Their worth. Great people never lose sight of the individual. Because people matter.
At the heart of all that we do as Christians is to live out the two Great Commands that God has given to all of us.
Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mark 16:15-16 - And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
You might recognize these as the Great Commitment and the Great Commandment. We are not only called to love God but to love people enough to share the good news of the Gospel.
People matter to God. All people. People inside the family of God and people outside the family of God. The purpose of the Great Commission is to move people from outside the family of God to the inside of the family of God.
To do that we need to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside. In the way that we see them. In the way that we speak to them. In the way that we share the Gospel and in the way that we share our lives.
To many people in Christian circles put sin into categories. – I hear people say – I know that person is sinning sexually but at least they are not gay. – I have heard people say this about those having affairs. Well – If I had a spouse like that I would cheat too.
Sin is sin. Yes, the Bible does address certain sin as an abomination. Homosexuality is one of those.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? (all of them) Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators (Sexually immoral), nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
And such were some of you. BUT we were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – That is my testimony.
That is my testimony. Thank God people spoke into our lives in the midst of our mess.
Thank God when I made a mess out of my life there were people who were kind to me, who spoke truthfully to me about my sin but who also chose to be a friend.
While the Bible is very clear about sin. We need to be better at how we are with people not like us. People who don’t know Jesus.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
We need to understand people. See their hurt and pain. Understand their need for Jesus and know how to speak into their lives.
The truth is that sometimes we don’t even treat people in our own camp very well when they present different than we like
Jesus was a friend of sinners. – adulterers, tax collectors, religious hypocrites.
We as Christians act like if we get around people who don’t know Jesus that we might get cooties.
The Bile says that Love covers a multitude of sins. How can the sins get covered if we don’t actually show love to people.
James 5:20 - let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 - And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
I am so thankful for the Love of Jesus that allowed His Blood to cover my sins.
The Standard of right and wrong is always God’s moral standards according to the Word of God.
But we must walk in wisdom and love in order to help People come to Jesus.
Right after Paul instructs us to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside, he shows us what that looks like.
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
(NLT) - Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
To many Christians have become salty in the bad way instead of adding flavor and enhancing they are mean and unkind.
Our speech is to always be with grace seasoned with salt. Salt actually causes people to want more. It adds to the flavor.
People know if you are a true friend or a fake friend.
I love the fact that God had prepared the tree that Zaccheus would climb long before he did.
Jesus going to Zaccheus house was scandalous to the religious. Zaccheus was a little big man. He had robbed and bullied many. He was insecure. He knew what he was. Yet he did all he could to see Jesus. Jesus sat and ate with him. They talked about things, laughed and had a serious conversation about his life. We know that Zaccheus made a turn around. – at the end of the story is where Jesus said- the Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost.
The lost need people who care enough to help them be found
People need to know that they have people who care and will treat them well.
We are to be kind, truthful and always treat people with dignity and honor. Even when they are unlovable. It was the kindness of Jessus that led to Zaccheus’s turn around and God’s kindness that led to ours.
Romans 2:4 (AMP) - Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?
Jesus came to heal the sick.
Mark 2:15-17 - Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He came to call them to turn around.
He sat with them, got to know them and ate with them. – Wow.
Jesus said it is not the healthy that need a physician.
A physician needs wisdom to diagnose, Skill to operate and a good bedside manner to set at ease and to communicate well.
How a doctor treats people personally is just as vital as how they treat them medically.
I have been in the hospital and spend time with Dr’s. I appreciate the ones with a great attitude that cares. I have met incredibly smart and capable doctors with a horrible bedside manner. I love the ones who make me feel cared for, give me assurance to calm my fears and talk to me like I matter to them.
The world is filled with hurting people. And unfortunately, we as Christians add to the pain instead of healing the hurt that sin and shame cause.
There are times that the world treats its own better than we as Christians do.
We need to be the ones that people can find hope in and then disciple them in the ways of God.
We have extremes in the church – on the left a permissiveness about sin. Accepting and giving our approval of things that are contrary to the word of God.
On the right there are those who speak of holiness but they are hateful and uncaring.
There is a better way a middle way between the two- the narrow way that is uncompromising but also loving and caring.
I am excited about the opportunities that lay before us to share the gospel.
People are open, hurting, and have questions and they are willing to engage in conversation like never before.
May we walk through the open doors that are before us. May we love people like Jesus does. May we be skilled, seasoned with salt and graceful. Most of all may we represent Christ well and with wisdom.
This November lets also be mindful of all the things that we have to be grateful for.
Remember that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Galatians 2:11-13 (NLT) - But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
Life is filled with difficult but necessary conversations.
Awkward conversations are inevitable.
As a father and as a pastor they are a regular part of life.
From discussing bodily functions and sex with our children.
To confronting sin from the pulpit and in private during counseling.
The uneasy conversations that take place when an older saints hospital gown opens up when you are praying for them.
We have all had to bring up how to split a bill when out with family or friends at a restaurant.
There are times we need to be grace filled and full of wisdom when we are helping someone navigate a difficult situation.
Paul had to confront the hypocrisy of Peter.
The Apostles had to discuss how to handle the Christian Jews who were insistent that the newly saved Gentiles be circumcised in order to truly be followers of Christ.
We see Paul rebuke a man for sleeping with His step-mother.
We see Paul separate from Barnabas and continue his journeys with Silas because he was angry with John-Mark.
Paul was a master of the awkward conversation.
Most people avoid difficult and awkward conversations like the plague.
As Christians we are called to embrace them and bring the life and wisdom of Jesus into every situation.
Many people are afraid of them and simply do not like the feeling of uncertainty that comes with them. We know that not all conversations end well but we can do all of them well in the power of Christ.
Romans 12:18 - If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
To me this is one of the greatest verses concerning dealing with the awkward.
As much as depends on you - If I do my part then where people chose to go and what they chose to say is on them.
Moses stood before Pharaoh and told him to let God’s people go.
Esther went to the king and told him of the plan set about to kill her and all of Israel.
Ruth told her mother in-law that she was going nowhere and found a way to ask Boaz to marry her.
Paul openly opposed Peter when he was being a hypocrite and set him straight.
Jesus helped a women caught in adultery be set free when the Pharisees tried to trick him.
These are just a few.
We will have many awkward conversations with our children as they make choices.
We will have to confront those in sin or making poor decisions.
If you find yourself saying – “I wish someone would deal with that person” or – “I wish somebody would say something”- as a believer that someone is probably you.
Sometimes we are the ones who get to point out the elephant in the room while everyone else is pretending it is not there.
~ What is the most awkward or difficult situation you have ever had? How did it go and how did you do?
Mine was when a saint asked me to pray that God would take her home to be with Jesus.
Another time God had me call someone as He gave me a word of knowledge that they were about to have an affair.
The Bible is filled with wisdom, counsel and guidelines for the difficult conversation.
Ask for Wisdom
James 1:5 (NLT) - If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
Always make any awkward conversation that you need to have a matter of prayer.
Even if all you can do is pause and while you take a deep breath – ask God for wisdom and for what to say and what not to say.
In any awkward conversation what is left unsaid is just as important as what is said.
There are things that God will show us NOT to say.
There are things that God will prompt us to not leave UNSAID.
The Prophet Jeremiah tried to keep quiet but the word of God was like a fire in his bones.
Be quiet when God tells you to be silent and speak up when God tells you to speak.
Bring calm to the discussion through patience.
Tone and attitude make all the difference. When things are heated, tense or awkward speak slowly, calmly and softly.
Proverbs 15:18- A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.
Proverbs 15:1- A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
(AMP)- A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath, but harsh and painful and careless words stir up anger.
There are three key words here – Soft, gentle and thoughtful.
The other three key words are – harsh, painful and careless.
Loud is not more effective. It is abrasive.
I love this word thoughtful – think about what you are going to say and how what you are saying will be received by the one you are speaking with.
Is what you are saying TRUE, is it HELPFUL, Is it INSPIRING, Is it NECESSARY, Is it KIND?
Proverbs 15:28- The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.
James 1:19 - My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
It is amazing how a little thought can go a long way. The more time you can give to thinking before you have the awkward conversation the better.
When having any conversation, it is just as important to be a good listener.
We are to seek to understand and not to just be understood.
Awkward conversations are not just about making our point but about helping people change, correct, heal and grow.
When having an awkward conversation make sure to get to the point.
Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t make small talk until you work up the courage to say what needs said.
If you need to rebuke – get to it and then teach. Don’t try to teach so you can lead up to something.
Deal with the wickedness, deal with the bad attitude or actions.
Matthew 16:22-23 (AMP) - Peter took Him aside [to speak to Him privately] and began to reprimand Him, saying, “May God forbid it! This will never happen to You.” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”
I love this.
Peter tried to do things right. He took Jesus aside to talk to Him privately. His heart was in the right place. He loved Jesus and didn’t want to see Him die.
Jesus threw cold water all over that.
Satan was using Peter as a stumbling block. – Get behind me Satan. Wow! Awkward. Harsh – a little. Effective – Very.
Some people still actually believe that Jesus handled this conversation incorrectly.
Some awkward conversations require a direct response. Notice that Jesus explained why He said what He said. You are not setting your mind on the things of God.
I find it interesting that we are not given any more insight. Was there more conversation or was there none necessary?
He followed a principle that Jesus laid out later.
Matthew 18:15-16 (NLT) - “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
Too many people don’t deal with the pain other people cause them.
The goal of many awkward conversations is to win someone back. Refusing to have awkward conversations is the reason that many relationships end that don’t need too.
In any awkward conversation make sure to say what you mean and to mean what you say.
Many people count on the fact that people are indecisive and afraid to follow through.
Matthew 5:37 - But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
There are many times people ask you to do things that put you in an awkward position.
I get asked to do things all the time. I also get asked to have conversations with people that others would like to avoid.
Part of dealing with awkward things is to know the things that God is asking you to do.
If God is not asking you to do or say something then you are under no obligation to do it.
I had a lady who came to my office that sees a need for the homeless in our community. Her heart is kind but she is naïve.
What she really wants is other people to do the work.
She asked me to consider doing something. I started to say I would think about it. The truth is I knew right there that the answer was no.
All that “my thinking about it” was going to do was to delay the inevitable. She would also keep coming around for an answer… Awkward, Annoying… but fair.
I let my No be No. I gave some reasons even though I did not owe her an explanation. It did help to teach her.
Life is filled with the Awkward. Sometimes it even seems that when things can’t get any weirder the absurdly awkward gets thrown in. The great thing is that God’s Word has equipped us for such times and for us to be able to master the situation instead of the awkward mastering us.
Know that You are loved and be encouraged. God has got you.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Proverbs 11:25 (NIV) - A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
All of us can remember a time when someone was generous to us. It may have been a small gesture that touched your heart or a huge gesture that was life changing.
There were times when Dawn and I did not have two nickels to rub together. We vowed that when we did, we would live with an open hand and not a closed fist.
Generosity is an important part of the Christian life.
It’s interesting to me that many sermons that you hear on generosity are really geared at getting people in the church to be better at tithes and offerings. I have found these messages to be manipulative. The goal is to increase the giving to the church.
There is so much more to living generous than this. Although as a pastor I am thankful for the faithful, generous giving of tithes and offerings. I believe in tithes and offerings but to me they are such a basic part of Christian living. They are elementary teachings like baptism and receiving communion.
How we manage our money is directly linked to our discipleship.
Stewardship is more than a money thing it is a heart issue and a “first’s” issue. The Bible says that where our treasure is where our heart is.
In fact, there are more verses in the Bible regarding our resources than about Heaven and Hell combined.
Of the 38 parables Jesus told, 16 of them are about money. The Bible has fewer than 300 verses on prayer, less than 500 on faith and over 2,000 verses that deal with wealth and possessions!
The inescapable conclusion is that how we deal with finances in general, and what we give in particular, is a big deal to God. There is no way to separate faith and finances.
When Paul was instructing Timothy on how to disciple the people in his church, he included making sure that they were taught to live generously.
1 Timothy 6:17-18 (NLT)- Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
To be biblically generous is to recognize God’s generosity to us in Christ and to give extravagantly in worship to Him, relative to what one has.
The word “generous” as used in the Bible means, “To show mercy or favor, to be freely gracious.” Someone with a generous heart is “ready to give with grace and liberality,” while a stingy hearted person is often filled with revenge and a desire for payback.
To be biblically generous is to recognize God’s generosity to us in Christ and to give extravagantly in worship to Him, relative to what one has. For it is impossible to out give God.
Proverbs 19:17 (NIV) - Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.
To be kind to the poor means that we give what we have to those in need. Some people are poor and need money or food. Some people are discouraged, and we can be rich in encouragement and praise.
Some people are lonely, and we can be generous with our time and presence.
Poor simply means lack. Where people are lacking, we can be generous with what we have.
Being generous is not just an outward action, it is an inner trait.
Generosity is a heart issue.
2 Corinthians 9:7 - So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
(NLT) - You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.
I have been in church for a long time. I have seen people who love to give and help others. And I have seen people who have given in to pressure and not been happy about what they have given.
I have witnessed preachers and missionaries receive an offering that looked more like a bank hold up than it did an opportunity to help someone.
God loves a cheerful giver - that means that he desires your heart to be in it when you do it. It is a want to not a have too.
I have found that when God is leading me to give, He also gives me either the amount to give or the time amount that I have to give. – I find that there is an internal meter that separates my generosity from my resentment.
I call it the extent of my investment. Now there are some opportunities that I am stingy in my heart concerning my wallet or my time and God will prompt me beyond my comfort zone.
I have learned to know the difference between the leading of the Lord and the manipulation of people.
Mark 12:42-44 - A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
In the story of the widow’s mite, we see Jesus closely and critically watching people give their offerings. He looked beyond their visible actions and into their hearts. Having observed the widow place her meager but heartfelt offering in the treasury, Jesus made sure the disciples didn’t miss seeing the heart of the widow or the lesson that her giving provided.
Most of us would miss watching the widow. Instead, we would be watching the important looking people in the temple, the ones who made large offerings from their ample funds. We would be impressed by how much they gave. We might even suggest honoring them for their giving or naming a building after them.
But Jesus didn’t call the disciples over to see the big givers. He called them over to notice a poor widow who gave less than a penny.
Why did Jesus fix His attention on the widow? Because she gave more. “She, out of her poverty, put in all she owned,” while the rich men gave out of their surplus. The rich gave what they had left over.
God says we are to give as we purpose in our heart. That means that generosity always has purpose. Never give without a purpose.
What is it your generosity is accomplishing? What do you want it to accomplish?
Are you helping someone? Are you alleviating suffering? Are you just desiring to bring glory to God?
Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We are to let our light shine – not to bring attention to ourselves but to draw attention to God. – Giving with a purpose. Again, the heart matters.
What I am speaking about today is a lifestyle of generosity.
A life of generosity applies to your marriage, to your family, to your friends and to those in need.
The Bible says that the generous will prosper. In what?
In everything. They will live a life of refreshing and not lack.
There is a great deal more that we will be unpacking concerning living a life of generosity. I hope this short message was an encouragement to you.
Know that you are loved and appreciated.
May God great blessings be with you and your family.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Nahum 1:7 - The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.
God is good all the time and all the time God is good.
I am convinced of the Goodness of God. There are many people who are not sure about it. There are many who question it. I do not.
Life is hard, it is difficult. It has seasons that we wish we never went through. But in all of it. In every one of them I have found that God is faithful.
The Lord is Good. He is a stronghold in the Day of Trouble and He knows those who trust in Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
(NIV) - in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
(NLT) - Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
God is faithful. He is completely trustworthy.
I have found that in all of my ways I can trust Him.
I have found that no matter how confusing life gets, no matter how painful the circumstance, no matter how hard the season – I can trust Him and He has always directed my paths.
No matter how many twists and turns that life brings He leads me where to go and straightens things out.
I have found that there are many things that I don’t understand but one thing that I can lean on is that God understands everything. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows which steps I should take, and He has never led me wrong.
He has been good to me.
Psalm 34:8 - Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
(AMP) - O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good; How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.
This is my testimony – I have tasted God in all of life’s bitter situations, and I have found that He is Good. Whenever I have trusted in Him, I have been blessed.
I know that God is good because it is the very core of who He is.
He is good and not evil.
When Moses wanted to see and know God. Moses asked to see His glory. Then God said something that changed the entire way that Moses saw the Lord.
Exodus 33:15-19 (AMP) - And Moses said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with me], do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we are distinguished, Your people and I, from all the [other] people on the face of the earth?” 17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have found favor (lovingkindness, mercy) in My sight and I have known you [personally] by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory!” 19 And God said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion (lovingkindness) on whom I will show compassion.”
I will make all my goodness pass before you. Moses wanted to see the power of God on display, instead God put His character on display. – I will proclaim my name to you.
We often think that the glory of God is who He is. The truth is God is clothed in Glory because He is good.
We can be certain of the power of God because we are certain of the goodness of God.
There will come a time when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
We will have already bowed the knee, and we will have already made Him Lord because we have known the power of His goodness, love and kindness.
I know that God is good because you can see it in all that He created.
Genesis 1:31 - Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So, the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
When you look at all that God has made in the world it leaves you in awe.
Every time I look at His creation. His design. His attention to detail. The creativity and the variety. We too look at it and say this is good.
Romans 1:20 (AMP) - For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.
God has revealed His power and who He is in all of His goodness in all that He has created.
David said that He even saw this when He looked at Himself.
Psalm 139:14 - I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
Psalm 145:9 (NLT) -The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.
From the beaches and the mountains. To the fingers and toes on our children and grandchildren. To the way the human body works and the way that every system functions in the universe from the rotation of planets to the flowing of rivers and streams. God is good.
I know that God is good because I have seen His Goodness and Kindness through His people.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Ephesians 4:32 (AMP) - Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.
While there are those in the body of Christ that can be unkind and not very understanding, I choose to focus on the majority of God’s Children who have the same character that He does.
I know that God is good because I have seen His Goodness through His people.
I believe in the goodness of God’s people.
I have been the recipient of the kindness, compassion, forgiveness, generosity and encouragement of the people of God.
Whenever I have been tempted to doubt the intentions of God, He always sends somebody that reminds me that He is because of the way that they are.
In just a few days the new school year will start. We are praying for all of our students, teachers, administrators, aids, bus drivers, counselors, custodians, crossing guards, secretaries and lunchroom workers. This is going to be a fantastic year, a safe year and a productive year!
Know that you are loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Germán R from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Psalm 33:12-18 - Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance. 13 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. 14 From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth; 15 He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. 16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,
Europeans first started settling America right here in Florida at St. Augustine in 1565 by the settlers from Spain.
The first British colonies were settled in 1607 in Virginia and in 1620 at Plymouth which became the state of Massachusetts in 1620. New York was settled in 1624, and Pennsylvania was settled in 1681.
While America is a land of great opportunity it must be remembered that this land was settled by people who came here to escape religious tyranny and to worship God in freedom.
From it’s very inception God has blessed America because our founders feared and blessed God.
Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home.
America has known that Blessing of God. I believe that this is because our founding was on the word and ways of God.
We have not been a perfect nation. We have had our problems just like every nation before us. But there has never been a nation that has prospered, had more freedom, and taken the Gospel to the entire world in all of history like America has.
America was used by God to stop the spread of the Nazis throughout Europe and the World. We have been used to help reestablish Israel as a nation.
While our Founding Fathers did not stop slavery. Their descendants fought a war to eradicate it here in America and around the world. We are not a perfect nation. We are still fighting bigotry. But we are a nation where people come from all over the world, from all nationalities and shades of skin to be free, accepted and welcomed.
We started and continue to be the melting pot of the world.
While I have Italian heritage, I am not an Italian American. I am simply an American. I am first and foremost a citizen of heaven and then a proud citizen of this country. I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord. Righteousness exalts a nation.
Today we hear a lot about – “Making America Great Again”.
Dwight Eisenhour and Ronald Regan helped make a quote by Alexis de Tocqueville Popular –
~ I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . .. in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . .. .in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . .. in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did, I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
~ Adrian Rogers - “God has blessed America, God gave us abundance, but the abundance has turned to greed. God gave us freedom, but the freedom has turned to license. America was dedicated by its founding fathers to Almighty God. Today, America has been taken captive by the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
America’s Founders Envisioned One Nation Under God.
Here are some words from the Declaration of Independence and from those who were leaders during our nation’s early years:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
America’s Founding Fathers Said some vital things about the necessity of God and His word being the very core of who we are as a nation.
~ President #1, George Washington -You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.
~ President #2, John Adams - The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God. I have examined all religions, and the result is that the Bible is the best book in the world.
~ President #6, John Quincy Adams - In the chain of human events, the birthday of our nation is indissolubly linked to the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.
~ Benjamin Franklin, -As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, are the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.
~ John Adams - “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."
~ Samuel Adams - "Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt".
It is no secret that America has in many ways turned away from God.
We see it in the way people treat one another.
We see it in what has become our priorities. Today the god of America is money and leisure.
We have become greedy. Our children have been sacrificed on the altar of convenience.
We have become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
This is not just true of America but of any nation. The reason this seems to stand out in our nation is that our country was founded on the foundation of the word of God. When you remove the word of God our nation has a crumbling foundation.
By and large, nations receive the kind of government they deserve. What we expect out of our Constitution and government today is not something they were designed to do.
We need to understand that today the Hope we have for America is found in Jesus Christ.
Our hope is not in ourselves. It is not in our elected leaders. It is not in our military might or our economic strength.
The only Hope we have is in Jesus. We must turn back to Him.
~ Abraham Lincoln - "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right".
Someone said – If we do not remain a nation under God then we will be a nation gone under.
Righteousness is directly related to our Character. The character of a nation cannot be disconnected from the character of its citizens.
Righteousness is assuming our God-given responsibilities as a citizen of the kingdom of God, and this country.
As Christians we have a responsibility to live as both good citizens of the Kingdom of God and of our nation.
~ Someone said - Our liberty directly correlates with our character; when we lose responsibility, we lose character, and then we lose righteousness.
Without responsibility and character freedom descends into a free for all in which no one is free, and people become prisoners of fear and hopelessness.
Galatians 5:13-14 (NLT) - For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This turning goes by one very Biblical term – Repentance.
We hear people talk about having – A love for God and Country. This is more than a concept and a good idea. It must be more than a feeling of affection for geography but for the people who reside within the boundaries of our nation.
Remember that Love covers a multitude of sins.
If our nation is to have hope, we must make sure we raise our Children for Jesus.
We must train them in the ways of God.
We must train them up to be responsible citizens of heaven and of this country.
Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(AMP) Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
The Bible says that we are to train up a child. This is the responsibility of the parents.
Scripture is clear; we must lay the responsibility for teaching our children about God’s work in our lives at parents’ feet.
How can we expect our children to understand the Christian faith and to adopt Christian living when we are too busy fulfilling our own desires to obey what the Word of God commands?
When we relegate the training of our children to the school systems our schools stop educating and start indoctrinating.
Once our children loose site of Christians morality and responsibility the reasons and exceptionalism of our nation are forgotten.
~ Ronald Regan - “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Psalm 78:1-4 (NLT) - O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, 2 for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past 3 stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. 4 We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.
We must teach our children the ways of God.
We must teach the hidden lessons of our past. For those who do not know what that is that is called ----History. If we do not learn from our history then we are doomed to repeat the mistakes and not learn from the lessons.
Just as God gave His law to Israel, He has commanded Christian parents in America and in every nation to make those laws know to their children:
Psalm 78:6-8 (NLT) - so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. 7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.
Psalm 145:4 - One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts.
We need to remind our Children and our Children’s children what God has done for us personally, in our families and in our country.
Each generation must set their own hope on God for themselves.
Each generation must decide if they want to walk in the blessing of God or if they will be stubborn or rebellious.
If you ever want to see the future of a nation look no further than the investment that parents are making in their children.
Every nation in every generation needs a fresh move of the Spirit of God.
As His people, we are called to be salt and light—to purify, heal, preserve; to illuminate, guide and expose.
I believe that the fate of America rests in the hands of the Church. God’s remnant people who dwell in the Land.
Anything less than a true move of God will fall short of what America needs.
I believe there is hope for our Nation! The answer will come through prayer, repentance, humility and a turning back to God.
2 Chronicles 7:14 - If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Remember that you are loved. Enjoy your summer! God bless America and God bless you and your family!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn.
Image by Lisa Johnson from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Galatians 6:2 (Amp) - Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love].
A while back we were doing a study in our monthly men’s meeting, Man Up. We were talking about the characteristics of a Godly man. One of those characteristics was strength.
Most of the truly men of God, most of the truly Godly women of God are people of strength.
These are people of Godly, emotional, Spiritual and physical strength.
These people lend their strength to others when they are weak and going through difficult times.
Sometimes it is for a short period of time and there are times it is for an extended period of times.
When we are talking about strength, we are not speaking to the physical strength of being a specimen of muscles and fitness. We are talking about something much deeper. We are not talking about physical meatheads that can lift hundreds of pounds.
We are talking about all of us as believers who are strong in the Lord and in the Power of His might. Each of us - spiritual powerhouses who are normal people who know that they serve a mighty God.
All of us deal with things. Heavy things that we just don’t have the strength for at times.
Galatians tells us to bear one another’s burdens.
One version says to carry on another’s burdens. Another version says to share one another’s burdens.
Actually, we are commanded to carry one another’s burdens.
Now don’t miss what this verse is saying. It says to carry ONE ANOTHER’S burdens. This means that we help each other out. It is not a one-sided thing. It is reminding us that we help each other.
Some days I am strong and other days you are strong. Whatever day we are having if you have a burden I will help you.
All of us have needed help carrying our load in life at one point or another. The fact is that we all get tired, weary, discouraged and there are things that we just cannot deal with on our own.
Burdens by their very definition are heavy. They are weighty matters that we need help with and we can no longer do it on our own.
The truth is that even things that are not terribly heavy if they are carried over a long period of time become a burden.
Sometimes burden carrying is physical help, like caring for an aging parent.
I think of my wife and a lady in our church, Mona. Both of them recently helped care for their aging parents. They could no longer care for themselves, and they lent them their strength, love, honor and time until they walked into glory.
Just helping someone move is literally carrying a burden. A couch, a washer and a dryer are not a one-person job.
Some things are not only heavy but they are awkward. Even if something is light, if it is awkward, it is hard to handle alone.
Life brings many awkward situations, and it is good to not be alone in them.
My family has nicknamed me the “king of the awkward situation and the awkward conversation”. It is a gift that God has given me. While I can often do them alone, the weight of the situation is lifted when there is someone else to help.
My son, when he was moving, needed help with a king-size mattress that he had. Now I was a mover before I went into ministry. I love the challenges and the physicality of it all. This mattress was not only heavy it was awkward. We had three stories of steps to bring it down. Most mattresses can easily be moved with two people. This one required four. Life is like that sometimes.
~ I love the phrase that – Many hands make light work.
When we are tired and carrying a lot, we need others to help us carry the load. They need us to help them carry their load.
Part of being strong is recognizing when you need help and recognizing when others need help.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Life is rough when you are tired, and things are heavy.
Jesus is gentle and humble with us.
We have to go to Him when we realize that we are overwhelmed, tired and carrying to much.
We get to yoke up with Jesus. This means that we stop carrying things on our own. That we include Him in the process. That we realize He won’t weigh us down.
That we can exchange our weakness for His strength. Spiritually, emotionally and physically.
One of the ways that Jesus does that is by providing other people to help.
When we carry someone’s burden we become God’s strength with skin on it.
I love that Jesus invites us to learn from Him.
He is gentle, kind, it is ok to not do everything on your own, you can’t, you are not supposed to and you don’t have too.
When people carry my burdens, when I carry someone else’s burdens, when I cast my cares on the Lord because He cares for me, it becomes some of the greatest learning opportunities in life.
We learn more about Jesus, we learn more about ourselves and we learn about others, and we certainly grow spiritually and emotionally.
Even the strongest of people face battles in life.
The book of Deuteronomy talks about how one will put a thousand to flight and two ten thousand.
You would think that if one can defeat one thousand then two would defeat two thousand.
Strong people can do a great deal by themselves.
Here is a spiritual truth the more strong people that you put together you have MULTIPLIED, EXPONENTIOAL EFFECTIVENESS.
This is true of prayer; this is true in spiritual and physical battles.
In every battle we need people who have our back, to give us comradery and to boost morale. People who help us to see what we are missing and to help us up when we fall.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT) - A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
The truth is that there are times that we run out of our own strength. We come to the limits of what we can do on our own and we need the strength of others.
Someone needs to hear this – there is no such thing as a self-made man.
All of us need someone to walk with us, to just keep us company.
We all need those who can offer us wisdom and at times just listen and not speak.
There are times when we or others are emotionally drained and spiritually dry and we need encouragement. Someone to lift us up with words and prayer and to help us shoulder the load.
We have all known people like Job’s friends. These people started out good. When Job lost everything and he was scraping the boils on his body to feel better they just sat quietly with him.
Job’s wife was hurting so bad that she told Job to curse God and die.
Many criticize her, but she was in anguish. He couldn’t help her, and she didn’t have the strength to help him.
After a while these friends who were there for Job started adding to his burden. We call these types of religious people. Job’s comforters.
May we never become like that. Their limit of understanding lasted about a week.
Sometimes carrying the burdens of others means that we are committed to going the distance with them. There are some things that we may think but we never get to say because it only adds to the heaviness.
All of us look up to the strong people of the world. God commands us to – Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Do you see yourself as a strong person? In Christ we are. We can be. We get to be. That will make us a blessing to others and to one another.
Be strong for someone today. Allow someone to be strong for you. Remember – You are dearly Loved. – Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Anemone123 from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Luke 12:39 – But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
There is no doubt that the family and the idea of family has been under attack from the enemy in our society.
One of the greatest responsibilities of a father and a mother, a husband and a wife is to protect their family.
Protecting the family is not just about defending those we love from a physical attack it is protecting one another from the assaults of the world. From the ideas and social norms that constantly are trying to find their way into our homes thru social media, television and radio and people that try to invade our space with their unbiblical ideas.
Protecting our families means understanding that Satan is a thief. Just as we fortify our homes so that the things we own are not stolen and the ones we love are not hurt or assaulted.
We must protect and fortify our homes so that Satan cannot steal the things that we have worked so hard to instill in one another in the ways of God and in the way of love.
Fortify means “to make strong; to secure; to protect or strengthen against attack.” We need strong families. We need to protect them against the attacks of the devil.
When I go to Denmark one of the things that just struck me as remarkable was the fact that you could be in a café and parents would leave their children outside parked by the window in their stroller sleeping. I was appalled, I was horrified, I was worried. This is normal in Nordic counties. People still value family to such an extent that no one would even think to hurt the children.
While this is ok in some places the truth is that Spiritually, Satan wants to destroy the idea of family in a nation, tear apart families and to hurt each of our family members personally.
Family is not just the Children it is the entirety of the people involved. We are going to look at ways to protect and fortify our families. To protect them spiritually and to cover them naturally.
Protecting the family starts at the top.
When I say at the top I don’t mean with the husband and wife as a couple. I mean with the man of the house.
While a husband and wife do become one. God places the headship and responsibility of the leadership of the home on the man.
1 Corinthians 11:3 - But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
There is always an order to the layers of responsibility. Christ is the head of the man; man is the head of the woman and God is the head of Christ.
Authority is always about responsibility not about dominance.
God has made the husband and the Father responsible for two things. PROTECTION and PROVISION.
It is the Fathers responsibility to set the tone and standards of the house. It is usually the wife who helps to set the atmosphere of a home. It is the Father who is to take the responsibility for the home.
Joshua said.
Joshua 24:15 - And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Notice Joshua said – as for me and my house.
Every man must take responsibility for THEIR house.
Matthew 19:4-5 - And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
A man leaves his father’s home and establishes his own home.
Not his father’s house – His own house. The husband and wife become one.
This is why the wife takes the husband’s name. While they are two individuals the two become one. There is no division.
This is why at most weddings the preacher introduces the couple as Mr. and Mrs. and uses the husbands first and last name.
Just as we are the bride of Christ and we are hidden in Christ, the wife is hidden or protected in the husband. Just as we take on the identity of Christ the wife takes on the identity of the man. The two become one.
Not two names, not hyphenated names. One name. – No division.
You cannot become a Christian without taking on the name of Jesus. If you won’t take the name of Jesus then you can’ t become His. That is a non- negotiable. The same is true of husband and wife.
I am going to say something that is going to rock social convention. If you are not willing to take your husband’s name then you are not ready to become a wife. And if you are not willing to give your name to a wife you are not ready to be a husband.
The responsibility of leading a family to Jesus starts with the husband and the unity with his wife so that there is no division from the top down. 1 divided by one is always one. Two divided by one is always two. Division stops when the two become one.
In our home it is my job as the husband and father to make sure that all of the doors and windows are locked and secure at night. No matter how tired I am it is a responsibly that is mine.
It is me who will get up at night to see what it was that went bump in the night.
It as Noah who built the ark. He had the help of his family, but it was ultimately his responsibility to provide the ark so that they were safe from the storms of the world.
Matthew 6:6 - But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Without a solid foundation, no matter how beautiful the house looks, it will fall when it is tested by the storms of life.
Husband, pray for your wife, children and grandchildren.
Wives pray for your husband, children and grandchildren.
Children pray for your parents and one another.
We pray for our children daily. We prayed for their safety, their walk with God. We prayed for them through battles and school. We prayed over their coming and their goings. We prayed for their future spouses and now that they are married, we pray for their husband and wives.
We prayed for the grandchildren that we wanted and now we pray for the grandchildren we have.
Jesus said that what you do in secret. Will be rewarded in the open.
We now see our family living the things that we prayed for behind closed doors.
Good foundations are not seen unless you invite people to see them. But you see the results in the long run of a house, a marriage and a family that is still standing and still serving God.
Matthew 7:24-27 - “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Storms come. Rain falls. Winds blow. – Every family faces adversity and attacks.
The foundations take time to build and establish. – If you ever watch a home being built a great deal of time is spent on the foundation. It doesn’t look like a lot is going on to the untrained eye. Then all of a sudden, a really nice house is built.
Once the walls are up and the doors and windows are on, then you can work on all the fine touches of making a house a home.
I want you to know that we are praying for you and your family. I often think of the verse - what Good is it for a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul. I added a twist to it. Was does good is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his own family?
Remember that God is for you and your family! You are loved !
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Frank Winkler from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Mark 14:27-30 (NLT) - On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’28 But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” 30 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
Luke 22:31-34 - “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So, when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you.” 34 But Jesus said, “Peter, let me tell you something. Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
Mark 14:66-72 (NLT) – Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, “This is one of them.” 70 But he denied it again. And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, “Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.” 71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!” And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.
Three of the four Gospels record this event in Peter’s life.
Jesus prophesied what would happen - and with all of his sincerity Peter told Jesus that it would never take place that he would never deny him and that if need be he would die for Jesus.
We know that at the end of his life Peter did indeed die for Jesus in Rome, crucified upside down on a cross. Peter did make good on his promise but before he did – there was this night.
~ Halford Luccock - a Methodist minister said: “in Christian experience, great living begins in tears. It is God’s starting point. When Peter broke down and wept, all pride, of which he had much, and all self-sufficiency and self-trust dropped away from him.
Peter began to weep because he remembered what Jesus said. – Sometimes we don’t take seriously the Word that God has given us until it finally comes to pass.
We would do well to remember long before we need to remember so that His Word to us is always on our mind.
The rooster was a wake-up call to Peter. The second crow of the rooster caused him to remember what Jesus said.
Right after the third denial the rooster crowed the second time. The question really is – Peter, what were you thinking when the rooster crowed the first time.
The first crowing didn’t slow him down at all. He never stopped to realize what was happening. This wasn’t just some shmo, some jabroni, this was Peter.
A disciple trained by Jesus himself.
All of us will face moments of crisis in our lives. Times where the heat is on and we are either going to confess our faith and trust in Jesus or it will reveal our lack of faith and trust in Jesus.
Satan desires to sift the best of us.
Luke 22:31 - And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
Satan wanted to sift Peter just as badly as Satan had sifted Job.
The name Satan is not a complimentary name. Satan means adversary. It means enemy.
Remember Jesus gave Simon a new name. He called Him Peter or Rock. This was a new identity. You are Peter – You are Rock solid.
Remember that Satan used to be called Lucifer. Or the shining one or the light bringer. He got a name change that means adversary and enemy. He is called a devil which means – slanderer, deceiver and accuser.
The roosters in our lives are the points of crisis that really test our faith in God.
These are the times when we will face persecution, ridicule. It is where the devil lies to us about God’s love for us.
These points of crisis in our lives are where we must learn what we really believe about Jesus and about ourselves.
It is where Satan causes us to find fault with ourselves and with God.
Remember Peter used to be called Simon – That name means – something that is unstable. Simon was someone that could be sifted. This is why Jesus looked at him and used his name twice. Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat.
But Jesus had already called him Peter. He knew that Simon would come through the sifting. He said I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail.
The value of the rooster is found in the sifting.
Think about this. Jesus granted Satan’s request to sift Peter. Why because the value of the sifting was greater than the value of Peters comfort.
Sifting helps us to discover all of the impurities, dirt and trash that are in our lives. You can’t remove all of that from wheat without sifting and the same is true for us.
Without sifting you can’t remove what needs to come out because it is hidden among all the good.
Peter was saved. He believed in Jesus. But the battle isn’t over.
For Simon to truly become Peter the unstable needed to be filtered out of Simon.
We can do to things with the dirt, impurities and junk that Satan sifts from our lives.
b) The Second thing that we can do is recognize those things that our sifted out of our lives and then allow God to remove them. This is called repentance. This only makes us stronger. Now all of the sin, all of the instability and all of the dirt is removed.
When this happens then Satan’s plan to weaken us actually works against him.
32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So, when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
God removes the flaws and faults and our faith comes out stronger. Not only are we now a rock and stable in our walk with God we are able to help strengthen others.
That is one valuable rooster.
This Resurrection season I pray that you will learn to appreciate the Roosters in your life. My you be stronger for it.
I look forward to what God is going to do in us and through us as we all become Rock Solid in our Faith.
Remember that you are Loved<
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Andreas Neumann from Pixabay
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1 Peter 4:8 - And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
Forgiveness is at the very core of everything that is taught in the Bible.
Forgiveness is one of the very reasons that Jesus came. All of us are in need of forgiveness from God.
The Great news is that God desires to forgive and He made a way for us to be forgiven through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:7-9 - But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
All of us have sinned against God. Every one of us. Yet if we confess our sins. Admit them, own up to them and repent of them. We are told that God will Forgive us and Cleanse us.
This is a part of what God does that is so amazing. The Blood of Jesus cleanses us of all unrighteousness.
The power of the Blood is that it heals, disinfects and covers. When the blood covers what was there is now gone. It is swallowed up by the blood. It is as if the sin never existed.
As a Christian that ought to get you shouting. Thank God for the healing, covering power of the blood of Jesus.
All of us in life have experienced the hurt and pain that other people have caused us. Some of those pains are so deep that they have been altering life.
Some of the hurt that we have experienced has been the consistent on-going abuse or behaviors that people either know that they are doing or are so uncaring they don’t even notice the pain they cause.
Every time we forgive others for the hurt and pain that they have caused us we are being like Jesus. We are becoming part of the great cover-up.
For the Christian Forgiveness is not optional. Forgiveness is a mandate. When someone offends us and hurts us, we are to forgive.
Ephesians 4:32 - And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Forgiveness is the ultimate kindness.
We are to forgive just like Christ has forgiven us.
Forgiveness means – to set free; to let go; to release; to discharge or liberate completely.
We need to love enough to forgive.
If you and I are not willing to forgive someone that means that we really do not love them.
1 Peter 4:8 - And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
It is love that will cover a multitude of sins.
Remember Jesus calls us to love even our enemies. An enemy is someone who has set themselves against you and purposefully done wicked and unkind things to you.
It is love that led Jesus to go to the cross in order that we could be forgiven.
It will be that same kind of love that causes us to forgive those who have hurt us.
~ C.S. Lewis – Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.
Corrie Ten Boom whose family hid Jewish families during the Nazi occupation was taken to Ravensbrück where all of her family died in that concentration camp. One day when giving her testimony in a church a man came up afterwards and confessed that he had been a guard there. He said that since that time he had become a Christian and he offered her his hand and asked her to forgive him. – This man had been a monster. He had inflicted all kinds of pain that caused pain and misery. In that moment God gave her the strength to forgive him.
~ William Blake – The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.
Peter tells us that it is fervent love that will cover over a multitude of sins.
Proverbs 19:11(AMP) - Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, And it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment].
It takes being the bigger person to overlook and to cover over hurt and offenses.
This is not glossing it over. It is not pretending that it never happened. It is purposefully allowing the mercy and blood of Jesus into our hurt and pain. It is allowing it to heal us and us loving someone enough to release them from what they owe us because they caused us pain.
Peter says that we are to have fervent love. For us the word fervent carries the idea of being hot. Of having a passion. We think of it in terms of intensity.
The word fervent actually means the willingness to be stretched out.
Fervent love stretches us beyond our normal capacity.
All of us who will choose to love and forgive, will at some point, be stretched beyond our capacity to forgive someone in our own strength. There are people that are easy to forgive and to release and then there are people that have caused us or someone we love such pain that it is not in our desire or strength to want to.
Covering an offense is not based on the size of the offense but on the size of our heart.
Proverbs 10:12 (AMP) - Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers and overwhelms all transgressions [forgiving and overlooking another’s faults].
Many of us fear that if we forgive that we will get hurt again. The truth is that you and I are going to get hurt again by others regardless of what we do.
Our choice is to continue to live in unforgiveness or to choose the greater way of love.
To become a part of the Great Cover-Up we must become vulnerable enough to forgive.
When Jesus forgave us on the cross, He hung there naked for all to see.
Nothing feels quite as vulnerable as forgiving those who have hurt us.
~ C.S. Lewis – To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
To love is to be vulnerable. When you love someone, you trust them enough to allow them close enough to hurt you or to reject you. Anyone who has been married knows the vulnerability of asking the other one to marry you.
When you forgive you are trusting God to protect you and to heal you from what others have done to you.
Many people who walk and live in unforgiveness do so because they do not want to be hurt again.
Unforgiveness is the result of a great deal of the inner turmoil that many of us struggle with.
I have also found that unforgiveness is the reason that many people who desire healing are not healed. It may be actual physical sickness or the emotional pain that afflicts so many.
James 5:16 - Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
There is that word fervent again. That willingness to be stretched in prayer. That stretching of God that deals with forgiveness.
~ Someone needs to hear this- you have been hurt. You have been through a great deal of pain and suffering. You need to know that unforgiveness is sin. You have been sinned against but your unforgiveness is a sin against God not just the other person.
We need people that will pray with us, fervently love us and stretch us until we are able to forgive those who have sinned against us. Remember sin means to fall short. People who have missed the mark in our loves and not measure up.
We need people in our lives who will pray with us and stretch us and stretch themselves in prayer until we are forgiven and until we forgive until we can come to the place where we can be healed.
My friend God desires that for you today. Sometimes the stretching of forgiveness hurts but it will promote healing.
Love understands enough to forgive.
Forgiveness means that we are understanding even when the people we are forgiving have no understanding.
I have found that people who hurt others have no understanding of the damage that they have done to us.
When Jesus was on the cross, He uttered words of forgiveness that are to me, utterly incredible.
Luke 23:34 - Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.
The people that we forgive are completely lacking in self-awareness.
As He is on the cross in intense suffering. The life literally draining out of his body, He forgives us and those who have physically tortured Him and nailed Him to the cross.
We are all familiar with the first part of this verse… Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do. - But we leave out the rest of the verse. And they divided His garments and cast lots.
These soldiers had absolutely no self-awareness whatsoever. Jesus was forgiving them and they are gambling for His clothes blissfully unaware that Jesus was dying for their sins.
These soldiers had no understanding but Jesus know exactly what He was doing.
When we forgive so will we. Even if the people we are forgiving are unaware of the significance of what we are doing.
This issue of forgiveness is vital for all people but especially for those of us who are Christians.
I want to be a part of the great cover up that Jesus started.
May God bless you, stretch you and give you freedom.
Rember that you are loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by SAIYED IRFAN A from Pixabay
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Revelation 1:4-6 - John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We have been made Kings and Priests to God.
As I was getting ready to write this message I was wrestling between this one and one on encouragement.
This was what God had originally laid on my heart.
When I come to speak to you on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s it is important to understand how I approach our times together. I see you as Kings and Priests. People who rule and reign with Jesus in the Kingdom of God.
A King is responsible before God for their life and for the People that God has placed in their life to serve. They understand that what they do is bigger than themselves.
A priest lives their life as service to God. They are set apart for a holy work. A priest stands before God for the people and they before the people for God.
As Kings and Priests, we are representatives of the Holy; That which is pure. We represent that which pleases God and point people in the ways of God. We speak healing, salvation and call for repentance and return when needed.
The book of First Samuel tells us that an unnamed prophet came to Eli with an awful message. This unknown man delivered an amazing prophecy — one that has everything to do with what we see going on in the church today. It is a word that reveals much about dead, dry, ungodly ministers and churches in operation right now!
This prophecy tells of two priesthoods that would develop and continue, from that day onward until the time that Jesus comes back.
Both of these priesthoods would be ministering in the church. One would be a cursed, abominable shame. But the other would be a ministry after God's own heart!
1 Samuel 2:12 - Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.
Eli was the Chief priest of Israel. His sons worked with Him in the temple. The Bible says that they were wicked and that they did not know God.
1 Sameul 2:22-25 - Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless, they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.
1 Samuel 2:27-31 - Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
Because the sin of Eli and his sons was so great God was describing a curse upon the ministry of Eli.
This man of God goes on to prophecy something else.
1 Samuel 2:35 -Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
This prophecy of two priesthoods is being fulfilled today — right before our eyes. Both ministries are operating simultaneously in nations all across the world!
First, the prophet speaks of the ongoing ministry of a self-centered, backslidden, compromising priesthood.
He describes those priests who are of the spirit of Eli, mentioning two things:
First, He describes these types of priests as people pleasers.
The Apostle Paul speaks of a day when people will gather to themselves ministers who will tickle their itching ears.
Eli was soft on sin! He never made any decisions that would offend his two sons.
Only once, in over fifty years of ministry, did Eli correct them. They had been committing adultery, raping women, committing the most vile acts. Yet even then, all Eli could say to them was, "Why do you do this?"
This man had no righteous indignation! He never shared God's wrath and hatred toward sin. And he represents a priesthood of ministers who are afraid to reprove God's family, the congregation!
There are churches today that you can attend for up to a year, and yet never hear one word of reproof. A church could be totally corrupted — half of the congregation divorcing, adultery rampant, teenagers sleeping around, children unruly. The whole congregation can be given over to pleasure, and self but there is never a word of correction from the pulpit! Instead, the pastor caters to the people's weaknesses and cravings. He is afraid to offend anyone — afraid the offerings will go down and he'll lose his income.
This is the first characteristic of the evil ministry developing in Eli's soul. And it is the mark of every ongoing, compromising priesthood today!
The second thing -They cater to their own needs and comfort rather than give themselves toward the needs of the flock.
1 Samuel 2:29 - Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’
When the people brought the meat offering to the priest, it was supposed to go into the pot to be boiled. Afterward, the priest dipped a three-pronged hook into the pot, and whatever came out on the hook went onto his table.
But Eli's two sons didn't want the boiled, meat. They wanted the red, raw filet mignon! So, they brought their father the prime cuts. There was boiled flesh on his table. That's how Eli got fat, lazy, careless. If he would have dealt with his sons, he might have lost his filet mignon!
Eli was concerned with his own interests, his own table. And that is what is happening in many dying churches today: Preachers are interested only in their own comfort, in caring for themselves — instead of spending time on their knees for the sake of the people!
Self-absorbed priests produce self-absorbed disciples. Listen today I am not just speaking about those with the position as pastor of a church. But all of us as priests unto God.
The prophet is saying, "You are self-absorbed, Eli. To you, the ministry means nothing more than food on the table, security for you and your family. You don't really care about the flock.
You're more interested in what goes onto your table than in what goes into the people's hearts. Yet you never once think about how your compromise and selfishness bring reproach to God's name. You never consider the people who watch as your sons steal the prime meat. You are soft on sin, afraid to reprove — because you're consumed with things that make you comfortable!"
The Good news is that this prophet spoke of another kind of priesthood that God is raising up.
1 Samuel 2:35 - Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
This holy ministry is the Zadok priesthood!
It is made up of faithful, holy ministers of God who walk and live according to His desire. And such a priesthood remains to this very day!
Everything that this unnamed prophet prophesied is fully illustrated in David's kingdom. David is a type of Christ, and Israel is a type of the church. And David had two priests who fulfilled these two prophetic priesthoods to the letter: Abiathar and Zadok.
2 Samuel 15:35 - And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there?
Let’s take a look at Zadok –
Zadok's name means "one who's proved righteous".
1 Chronicles 12:1, 28 - "Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag... And Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty and two captains"
Zadok was the first young priest to recognize God's anointing on David!
Men were fleeing to David, coming from all over to join his forces. Zadok recognized that the Spirit had left Saul; his ministry now was all hype, flesh, with no call or touch of heaven. Saul so feared the opinion of men that he was willing to be disobedient to God.
Zadok said, "I don't want any part of that kind of ministry. It's dead — God has gone from it. I'm going with David, who has the Spirit's anointing!"
So Zadok went to David at Ziklag — never to leave him for the rest of his life! Through every rebellion, Zadok stood with him, a man proved righteous. David had captured the priest's heart — and Zadok never looked back.
There are men of God like this in many churches today. These are people of prayer who are committed to Jesus, having walked away from all flesh, entertainment and worldliness. And you know it when you hear them preach or speak — because something registers in your soul!
These people are few and they are different.
God has called us to be different. To be a priesthood of believers that represent Him in this world.
It is a privilege. It is a high calling. It is a calling that few embrace but that God has called all of as believers to carry.
I look forward to sharing the full message with you. I know it will challenge, inspire and excite you to serve God well.
Know that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay