We are busy preparing and getting geared up for Open House Sunday on March 4th. This special day gives us a wonderful opportunity to reach our community in a unique way. We are “opening” wide the doors of our church (they’re always opened actually) and inviting families to come and see what is so different about Grace. Well, we KNOW what is so different and we want others to know as well. Read more
Ministry really is a puzzle on a magnificent scale. Putting the pieces in order AND keeping each of those pieces together can be challenging at times, especially if you have a multifaceted ministry. Pieces of that puzzle include daily time with God in prayer and study, preparing messages, various administrative duties, finances, staff meetings, soulwinning, visitation, counseling, and the list goes on and on. I can also say that having a Christian school multiplies that list threefold.
One of the biggest parts of succeeding in ministry is learning how to bring all of the pieces of the ministry puzzle together in oneness and unity to accomplish the greater purpose of reaching the lost.
The Apostle Paul reveals, what I consider to be one of the most powerful principles Read more
While we believe in age appropriate ministry, we also believe that if we are not careful, the church can work against the family rather than for the family. Too much specialized ministry can segregate families rather than strengthen families. At Grace, we put the FAMILY FIRST. Yes, we have many ministries that focus on the specific life stage of an individual, but at the same time family is first and foremost in our scope of ministry. It is our desire to strengthen the marriage relationship and the parental relationships of our families. Read more
Gentlemen, we are looking forward to a great time of fellowship this Saturday morning beginning at 800am. There will be a serious amount of food, so bring your appetite as well as your Bible. Please invite a friend who needs to hear the Gospel. Also, if you have a son, please bring them as well. We want our invest into the lives of our young men as well by teaching them about manhood and fatherhood. Read more
Tomorrow is Stewardship Sunday! I hope that you have learned much over the last month as we have focused our attention on stewardship. It should be our desire to be wise managers of all that God has blessed us with. While we have focused on TIME, TALENT, and TREASURE, have you considered just how many things God has truly placed in our stewardship. Consider these areas:
Hag 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
Hag 1:2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.
Hag 1:3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
Hag 1:4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
Hag 1:5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Hag 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
Hag 1:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Hag 1:8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
Hag 1:9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
Hag 1:10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
Hag 1:11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
WOW! This is powerful truth! Do you get it? Do you understand what is going on with the children of Israel here? They were failing to honor God with their giving and hoarding it all up for themselves, spending on themselves, and all the while the house of God was being totally neglected. They were living in total disobedience because of their selfishness. Read more
Exo 36:3 And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.
Exo 36:4 And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;
Exo 36:5 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.
Exo 36:6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.
Exo 36:7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.
In reading this passage, I’ve often said, if you want to give your preacher a heart attack, have an offering like this one Sunday. Could you even imagine your Pastor standing up one Sunday and saying, “All right church, we have been receiving too much offering over the last few weeks, so please don’t bring any more.” Right! But the reality is, that this is exactly what happened on this day.
From this unique historical account, we can learn several principles to apply in our own giving to the Lord:
Exo 35:1 And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.
Exo 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
Exo 35:3 Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.
Exo 35:4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying,
Exo 35:5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,
Exo 35:6 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
Exo 35:7 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,
Exo 35:8 And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,
Exo 35:9 And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
Exo 35:10 And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded;
Exo 35:11 The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
Exo 35:12 The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
Exo 35:13 The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
Exo 35:14 The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
Exo 35:15 And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of the tabernacle,
Exo 35:16 The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
Exo 35:17 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court,
Exo 35:18 The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,
Exo 35:19 The cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.
Exo 35:20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
Exo 35:21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.
In this passage, we see many aspects of stewardship. Notice a few of them:
2Co 8:1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
2Co 8:2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
2Co 8:3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;
2Co 8:4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
2Co 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
2Co 8:6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.
2Co 8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
Yesterday, in the morning message, I preached that God does not desire our material possessions, for He owns it all already. Heaven is not going bankrupt. No, what God is more concerned about is us giving our heart back to Him. I called it the “Principle of Prior Consecration”. The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth to follow the example of the churches of Macedonia, who “first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God” 2 Cor.8:5. The truth is that when God has captivated our hearts, everything else will be His as well.
There’s not a thing in this life that I would not do for my wife, Vicki. I love her and she has captivated my heart for over 20 years now. She is the pep in my step, the twinkle in my eye, the….well you get the point, right? Because I love her unconditionally, everything that I have is hers. Read more
Mat 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
As many of us are aware, understanding what the church IS and DOES has become quite confusing in the 21st century. Just when you think you’ve seen just about everything there is to see, Read more
Senior Pastor of Grace Baptist Temple.
www.gracebaptisttemple.cc
