Friday, June 29, 2012

Just One Hour







What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Matthew 26:40


20 minutes - Bible Reading


25 minutes - Prayer
  ~  Praise
  ~  Confession
  ~  Intercession
  ~  Petition
  ~  Thanksgiving


15 minutes - Memorization, Meditation, Singing & Worship


Sweet Hour of Prayer
by William W. Walford

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight.
This robe of flesh I’ll drop, and rise
To seize the everlasting prize,
And shout, while passing through the air,
“Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!”

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Do It On Your Own

When you were born your parents brought you to church ... When you were married, your beloved brought you to church ... When you die, your friends will bring you to church ... Why not try coming to church on your own sometimes?


Friday, June 22, 2012

NOT ALL YOUNG ADULTS LEAVE

from my inbox   jnh



5 REASONS WHY NOT ALL YOUNG ADULTS LEAVE THE CHURCH [EXCERPTS]

Recently, 20-year-old Bailey, a student at a local college, heard her professor of comparative religion tell the class, "The Christian faith uses terms like sanctification, justification, and propitiation. But church members have no idea what these terms mean."


Bailey raised her hand and said, "Professor, they do in my church." A few days later, this same prof, who seems to be making a career of misrepresenting believers, told the class, "There are 66 books in the Christian Bible. But only the professionals can name them all."


Bailey said, "Sir, in my church, even the children can name the books of the Bible." Bailey demonstrates why not everyone raised in the church strays or drops out altogether when they reach young adulthood.


[When] asked about their withdrawal, dropouts said they were too busy, churches too irrelevant, Christians too judgmental, leaders too hypocritical, and denominations too political.


I suspect the dropouts omitted one huge factor for their non-attendance in church: the heart is a rebel. The temptation to renege on life's commitments - even those we feel strongest about is continually present, not always complicated, and ever a concern for even the most faithful of believers.


From all I know and have observed, here is why they stayed. Five reasons why many young people raised in the church never drop out:


1) A genuine, personal relationship with Jesus Christ: Now, those with a personal relationship with a particular church or youth group or student minister cannot be counted on to stay.

2) A solid foundation: Young adults like Bailey who grow up with strong roots in the doctrines of the Bible cannot be easily pulled off course by errant professors or pleasure-seeking friends.

This "solid foundation" is no mystery and does not have to be complicated. It's simply the result of discipling young believers, teaching them, in the words of our Lord, "to observe all the things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).

3) The security of supportive friends: No group on the planet is as vulnerable to peer influence as young people. While this is generally viewed as a negative, it can be made to work for us. Young people reach their friends for Christ. (In contrast, churches with no youth at all find it nearly impossible to begin a ministry to them.)

4) Great role models: Once or twice during those college years, when professors or my reading material caused me to question my Christian faith, the Scriptures, and even the existence of God, nothing pulled me back from the brink like looking around at the sharp men and women in my church who were devoutly following Jesus Christ. Before I learned how to study the evidence for the faith myself, these were my proofs that God is real and Christ is alive and the gospel is true.

In fact, as I compared the Christian men and women I knew with the typical miserable atheistic philosophy major or the professor who prided himself on his agnosticism, there was no question which I would prefer to model my life after.

5) No viable alternative: Young adults are not stupid. They can see the church has problems.

However, as they think the matter through, they frequently come to the same conclusion as the Apostle Peter. When our Lord noticed the crowd leaving because they'd found His teachings difficult, Jesus said to the disciples, "Well, how about you? Will you go away too?"

Simon Peter said,"Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:66-68).

That one fact more than anything else may account for believers through the ages hanging tough with the Lord's church when times were hard, temptations strong, questions proliferated, and the enemy was active.

(Dr. Joe McKeever, "5 Reasons Why Not All Young Adults Leave the Church," Crosswalk.com, April 24, 2012).

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Delight In the Will of God

Adult SS Lesson June 3rd



Delight In The Will of God (attitude) Ps. 40:8 37:4

The Christian can know the Will of God for his life, but not succeed in it by having the wrong attitude. In order to be successful and please God, we must “delight to do” His Will.

Christ delight in the Will of God (Phil 2:5; Heb 12:2)

Peter’s attitude is expressed in I Peter 1:6-8 speaking of that which we may suffer – rejoice… “with joy unspeakable and full of glory”.

James says to “count it all joy” even though doing God’s will may bring trials, testings and hardship
(James 1:2)

Paul’s’ attitude toward the Will of God was one of delight or joy inspite of all he went through he had a positive attitude. Acts 20:24; Phil 3:8, 13-15 and Phil 4:13

The Hebrew writer tells us abut attitude in a) be content v.5,  b) have grace in your heart v. 8, c) give the sacrifice of praise v. 15, d) obey v. 17,  e) be mature v. 21           Hebrews 13:5-21

According to Romans 12:1, 2 we are to offer ourselves willingly as a living sacrifice to do the will of God. Our attitude must be to conform to God’s will which is good, acceptable and perfect and not to the world.

Three key areas where our attitude effects our doing the will of God ( I Peter 5:5-10):

1. Our attitude toward men, v.5
            Submit to those men over your spiritual welfare (Hebrews 13:7, 17; I Thess. 5:12, 13
            Submit yourselves to one another ( Eph. 5:21)
            Be clothed with humility ( Col. 3:12, 13; Acts 20:19, 20 )

2. Our attitude toward God vs. 6, 7
            Humble yourself before God ( Ps. 75:5-7; I Peter 5:6)
            Seek to please God, not men ( Ps. 55:22; I Peter 5:7; Gal. 1:10)

3. Our attitude toward our ministry vs. 8, 9
            Be sober (sober-minded)                                 Be vigilant (watchful)
                        For error in doctrine – Acts 20:31                    For the return of Christ – I Cor. 16:13
                        In Prayer – Col. 4:2                             In your ministry against the Devil – I Thess. 5:6

The results – the God of all grace will a) make you perfect (mature), b) establish you, c) strengthen you and d) settle you.

A bad attitude will wipe your mind out and you will never succeed in “all the will of God”. On the other hand David was a man after God’s own heart and he said “I delight to do thy will, O my God”. He always had the proper attitude towards God and His will.


copy & paste should fit one 8.5 x 11

 

Friday, June 8, 2012

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Leaning on Jesus

I have noticed that people who have suffered a great deal have been brought into a closer loving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone has expressed it like this:

Is there no other way open, God,
Except through sorrow, pain, and loss,
To stamp Christ's likeness on my soul—
No other way except the cross?

And then a voice stills all my soul
As stilled the waves of Galilee,
"Can'st thou not bear the furnace heat
If midst the flames I walk with thee?

"I bore the cross. I know its weight.
I drank the cup I hold for thee.
Can'st thou not follow where I lead?
I'll give thee strength. Lean hard on Me."

—Author unknown

You see, suffering brings an individual into a loving relationship with Christ. And it causes him to look forward to that day when he will be brought into the presence of the Lord Jesus who will give him the crown of life.

From My Studies - JNH

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Oh, the 4:30 AM wake up call ...



...it was one of our teens, "Pastor, your van is parked in front of our house". "Really my grandpa look out the window and saw it, and I went out and looked at it myself. The faded letters 'Castlegar Baptist Church', are on the side."


Sure enough, my van had been stolen, and the thief parked in right in front of one of our teens. The teen is up early every morning to deliver papers, and there was my van. Now they live on a crescent with three 'walk ways' from that crescent, and there have been a number of stolen cars and trucks left there on their street.



I was laughing after the teen called me, and for the rest of the day, telling the story. And using it to tell of the humor of our Lord. I mean of all the places to drop off a stolen van, right in front of someone who knows the van and owner.

A strange witnessing story, but hey, for the furtherance of the gospel. AMEN!!!