HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Acts 5:14-16 (NLT) - Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
There are people that leave an incredible impact on people’s lives.
Just being in their presence is uplifting, inspiring, challenging and leaves you better for having been around them.
These are people that have cast a long shadow. People just get around them and their lives are impacted and changed for the glory of God.
Peter was this type of person. He was making such an impact that people had the kind of faith that if they could just get into his shadow they would be healed.
People are hurting, confused and need healing. Many are desperate enough to just want to be near people that can refresh them and bring healing. They are desperate for a touch from God. God has called us to be the Peter’s of our day.
A shadow is an extension of a person. Many people speak of shadows as a shady thing or a spooky thing. A shadow is simply an extension of who you are.
You can’t have a shadow without light.
You can’t cast your own shadow. You have to be positioned in the light and then that light causes a silhouette.
The brighter the light the longer the shadow.
The reason that Peter was making such a difference is because he was a person who walked in the light.
1 John 1:7 - 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.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 - You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
Our enemy tells us the lie that he is doing his work in the shadows. This is a lie.
This is not so for the people of God. All that God is doing is out in the open. He is the God of Light.
James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
(NLT) - Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
"No shadow of turning" means that God is unchanging and consistent. The phrase emphasizes God's steadfast nature, reliability, and immutability, implying that His goodness and perfect gifts are constant and do not change.
1 John 1:5 - This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Here is what I am saying; if you and I want to cast a long shadow then we need to walk in the light. The closer to the light the longer the shadow.
I hear many Christians who talk about wanting to make a difference. They are more worried about making a difference than they are about getting close to Jesus.
If we make walking with Jesus our priority, we will not be able to help but to make a difference and cast a long shadow.
A shadow isn’t about casting shade on others it is about becoming shade; a place of refuge for others when life is hard.
The Primary way that we cast a long shadow is by being a witness. It is our call to share the light.
Remember that light always drives out the darkness.
When we shine our light, it gives the enemy nowhere to hide.
Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
(AMP) - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
What we say and how we live is a powerful witness. Especially in dark places and in the dark and difficult seasons of life.
Every time that we share our testimony we overcome the enemy.
Our witness and our testimony are simple – here is what Jesus did for me.
Revelation 12:11 (AMP) - And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.
We make defeating the devil way to complicated.
There are three simple things:
Do you know why the Psalmist says in chapter 23 that when he walks through the valley of shadow of death, he will fear no evil. – Someone needs to get this.
Remember – nothing can have a shadow without light. When you walk in the light; death is brought to life.
The light of Jesus overshadows death. – For the believer there is no fear of death because death is no longer shrouded in darkness. It is flooded with light.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (NLT) - O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to leave you with a thought;
A testimony begins and ends with God. In a biography we are the star of the story in a testimony Jesus is the star of the story.
People need our testimony. It connects people to God. It inspires people for God.
Remember the saying – no test no testimony.
People will always connect with God when they connect with our struggle.
There is something powerful that happens when people see the realness of our walk.
Cast a long shadow. I dare you! Get close to Jesus and watch what happens. You will naturally start making a difference in people’s lives.
May we see what happened in Peter’s life happen through our own.
Remember that You are Loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay
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
James 5:11- (NLT) - We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
The Bible is full of people who endured suffering.
Stephen was martyred. Paul encountered persecution, beatings, shipwrecks, and a thorn in the flesh the Bible calls a messenger of Satan.
Perhaps no one is better known for their suffering and trouble quite like Job.
The Bible tells us that God blessed the second half of Jobs life even more than the first part.
There is something that we admire about those that have been through seasons of pain and have endured.
We get to see the other side of pain. The side where a person comes out the victor, has gained wisdom, they are emotionally and spiritually healed, and we see the blessing of God.
James 5:11 (AMP) - You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
The good news is that there is the - other side of pain.
Jesus told us that in this world there would be trouble but to take heart because He has overcome the world.
Life is never free from challenges. It just isn’t.
For those without Jesus there is just the trouble. For the Christian there is always the other side of pain.
For Job there was a definite ending point. But understand his children had died, his fortune had to be rebuilt, he had to recover from his sickness and he had to mend the awkward relationships he had with his friends.
For Job there was an ending and a new beginning but there was also the other side of the pain.
The other side of pain is like the other side of a coin. It is the value that we gain from the painful experience.
Our opening verse says that we honor those who have suffered with endurance.
The word endurance contains the ideas of patience and perseverance. It talks about people who have waited and gone the distance and had stood in faith long enough to experience the benefits that come with enduring the suffering.
James 1:2-4 (NLT) - Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James tells us to consider it a joy. Another version says to count it all joy.
I love this truth - we get to choose how we consider things. We can choose to consider our trials as an opportunity for joy or we can choose to see them as a waste of time, energy, and pain.
The instruction here to all of us is to consider it an opportunity for joy. Those who do so understand the saying – no pain – no gain.
If life is going to have trouble, pain, challenges, and hardship then we might as well get something out of the experience.
People who do this are what I call, part of, the – Oil and Dimond club.
Grapes must be crushed to make wine
Diamonds form under pressure
Olives are pressed to release oil
Seeds grow in darkness
God is shaping, forming, and growing us in remarkable ways. It is when life is hard that God is working things out for us.
I come from a family of people who have tense muscles. We have knots on our knots. I have found that when I go to get a massage, when I am in the most pain is when I need the most pressure to bring relief. There is this wonderful tiny little Asian lady that can blast the knots right out of my back. While most people who go to get a massage and want the spa experience that brings relaxation, I get someone inflicting what many would consider torture. When she is done, I can move, feel limber and although I am literally bruised, I am better.
The other side of my pain is healing, freedom and the ability to do what God has created me to do.
One of the things that we learn on the other side of pain is that God will always bring you through.
Whenever I read about the life of Paul and the things that he endured I am amazed. Beatings, Shipwrecks, persecution, imprisonment.
When I read about the people in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. I see something amazing; they were always brought THROUGH.
Psalm 23:4 - Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
(NLT) - Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
Notice they didn’t build a house and live there. They went through. They didn’t camp out there.
I love the old Song by Andre Crouch– Through it all. –
Through it all, Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God.
Life is never as wonderful as our Facebook page may imply.
It has its fair share of pain, imprisonment, beat downs, and ship wreaks. But at the end of the day God breathed unimaginable resiliency into the human spirit.
It is a result of us being created in the image of God. Some experience more pain than others and we all have different capacities for grit. However, the fact of the matter is you are capable of more than you realize.
One of the reasons we are so unaware of our capacity is that we spend most of our life trying to avoid challenges and risk. We invest more time seeking comfort, predictability, and safety than we do adventure and testing.
~ Someone said - At the end of the day the human spirit is more enduring and capable than we realize. We cannot discover the sail of longsuffering anywhere else than it the waves of suffering.
God will bring you through.
An important part of endurance is the found in the patience of waiting.
Someone needs to hear this – many times the amount of pain that we suffer is in direct proportion to our ability or inability to wait well.
It takes time to transform and become all that God wants you to be.
I remember growing up with the song – Bullfrogs and butterflies, we’ve both been born again.
In the process of transformation is the awkward stage of development. You aren’t what you were but you are not quite what you will be. You feel awkward and look awkward. You can’t crawl and you can’t fly or hop. You are vulnerable but you are safe.
It can be a painful and difficult time.
God is moving you from being able to crawl to being able to fly. From being awkward to being something beautiful.
Abraham and Sarah were given a promise but instead of waiting on God they took matters into their own hands. They created child but it was not the child of a promise it was the child of their own doing.
In our pain there will be opportunities to settle.
I’m sure Hagar was a nice lady and she was available.
Because Abraham allowed his pain and disappointment to settle in, He and Sarah were willing to settle instead of wait. It leads to more problems.
The other side of pain teaches us that to patiently wait on God to COME THROUGH on His promises is always the best way.
Abraham and Sarah still received the promise. If they had only waited, they would not have had to deal with the complications that they created.
Take it from someone who has been through pain and sorrow and seen firsthand in my life and in the lives of others that God will bring you through. Refuse to settle.
He is faithful! Remember this. At the end of this painful life, if a beautiful and painless and joy filled eternity. That really is the other side of Pain!
You are greatly loved. Have a fantastic summer season!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Hebrews11:1-6 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Our faith is the foundation of all that we believe.
Hebrews chapter 11 is often described as “God’s hall of faith”.
These are people that we can look to as an example of what it is to serve God, love God and to make a difference in this world for God.
Faith is at the heart of all that a true Christian is. Christians LIVE -By Faith. Every aspect of our life is lived – By Faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 - For we walk by faith, not by sight.
True Christians live by faith and not by what they see. They trust God and His Word. Faith is not wishing, it is not positive thinking, it is not manipulating things and circumstances. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Our faith has substance to it. And it is the substance of faith that gives substance to our lives.
This year our theme is – By Faith. We will be learning to live our lives by faith. To walk BY FAITH and not by Sight.
Today many Christians are living by what they know and see. This year is a call to Biblical living. Faithful living and faith-filled living.
What many consider faith is something that has been humanized. Today much of what is taught about faith is corrupted faith. It is rooted in personal gain or to meet self needs and desires. The faith that is taught is urging believers to ask God to bless them, prosper them and to give them their dreams and desires.
True faith that walks in obedience to God’s Word already understands that they are blessed and walk in favor with God because it stems from a relationship with God.
True faith is born out of intimacy with God.
If the faith we have doesn’t come out of intimacy with God, it really isn’t faith in His sight. True faith comes out of the SUBSTANCE of our intimacy and relationship with God.
It is out of this intimacy that the blessings of faith come.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
People want to know the secret of having great faith. – There are no shortcuts, no secret formulas. God is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek HIM. People of great faith are people of prayer. Those who spend time in the presence of God.
The presence of God is not a mystical cloud that appears – to be in the presence of God means that we are PRESENT where HE is.
Presence is not a feeling, it is not an anointing, it is PROXIMITY.
James 4:8a - Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
You only truly get to know someone the closer you get to them. First in physical nearness then in emotional and spiritual nearness.
The reason people of faith are able to walk by faith and see the results of faith are because they stay close to God. –
A life that is lived by faith is a life that is lived near and close to God. Daniel 11:32b - but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits.
It is impossible to have faith that pleases God without sharing intimacy with Him.
True faith comes as we desire to know and please the Lord above everything else in our lives.
A life lived by faith is not a life that is lived alone it is lived in relationship with God. It is a bond of faith, a communion that is like a marriage.
A life lived by faith is a life lived together with God. All of it.
Each year we start out on a fresh journey. I am excited about what God is going to do in our lives individually and through us as a church as we truly learn to live – By Faith.
May you and your family be blessed in this New Year. Remember it is a New Year but the Same God! You are Loved-
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay