Today I want to focus on Romans 13:8-14. I've heard that people sometimes resist Christianity or resist reading the Bible because they claim that it's all about rules and regulations. Do this. Don't do that. If I become a Christian, then I can't do what I want.
Well, God like any Father does set boundries, rules, for His children. What father do you know let's his 10 year old stay home from school and sleep all day or play all day? None, right? If such a parent existed, we'd see him negligent for not setting the boundary for his child that he must go to school. If he loved his child, he'd want him to succeed in life and that takes a good education.
Pastor right now is teaching us some of those rules found in the 10 commandments. Well, Romans 13 points out some of those same rules. And because God is a loving Father, He expects us to love. His rules are meant to prevent us from pain & suffering & the evils that not loving our brothers and sisters cause. As we love others we fulfill the law. How often I tell my kids "to do unto others as you want done to you." In the amphlified in this passage it's put, "you shall love your neighbor as you do yourself." Hmmm. Do we love others as we do ourselves? Our spouses, our children, our co-workers, our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord?
God says in Romans 13 that our salvation (final deliverance) draws nears. He tells us to fling off the works and deeds of darkness (immorality, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling, jealousy...). He tells us to clothe ourselves w/the Lord Jesus Christ. Wrap ourselves in His robes of righteousness and revel in His love for us and in His love for others through us. Time is short. We must be about our Father's business and love others as we love ourselves.
Have a blessed day!
Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
July 23
Good morning.
There was so much richness in today's readings, so much I could have focused on. I want to concentrate on Romans 8:14-17. First of all, we come to God as a result of the Spirit of God leading us and us choosing to follow. Second of all, there is a fear in man that is an anticipation or awareness of danger. Think of your reflexes. When you get too close or touch a hot iron or pan, you jerk your hand away. You don't leave it there being burned. (I think we forget this inate fear when we are talking w/a non-Believer about Jesus. They already have an impending sense of fear at the unknown and their future...even if they don't admit it.) Anyway, God once again by HIS SPIRIT takes away this fear and gives us His Spirit of adoption. The Creator of the Universe chose to adopt us, to make you and me, HIS children! And we can dare to speak to Him and love on Him and call Him "Abba, Father" to call Him "Daddy." Then, as if that's not good enough, HIS SPIRIT continues to bear witness w/ours that we are children of God because...honestly...we forget that sometimes, don't we? And finally, because He makes us His children, that makes us His heirs, joint heirs w/Jesus Christ - the King of kings and Lord of lords. When I studied that this morning, I realized He isn't just talking about money and monetary possessions. A heir is one who receives an endowment or quality from a parent and upon further study I found endowment implies "a natural capacity, power, or ability." So God not only makes us His children but He gives us the power and the ability and the capacity to walk that out in the natural on earth as it is in heaven. The end result is found in vs 18 that HIS GLORY MIGHT BE REVEALED IN US. How amazing is that!
Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister
There was so much richness in today's readings, so much I could have focused on. I want to concentrate on Romans 8:14-17. First of all, we come to God as a result of the Spirit of God leading us and us choosing to follow. Second of all, there is a fear in man that is an anticipation or awareness of danger. Think of your reflexes. When you get too close or touch a hot iron or pan, you jerk your hand away. You don't leave it there being burned. (I think we forget this inate fear when we are talking w/a non-Believer about Jesus. They already have an impending sense of fear at the unknown and their future...even if they don't admit it.) Anyway, God once again by HIS SPIRIT takes away this fear and gives us His Spirit of adoption. The Creator of the Universe chose to adopt us, to make you and me, HIS children! And we can dare to speak to Him and love on Him and call Him "Abba, Father" to call Him "Daddy." Then, as if that's not good enough, HIS SPIRIT continues to bear witness w/ours that we are children of God because...honestly...we forget that sometimes, don't we? And finally, because He makes us His children, that makes us His heirs, joint heirs w/Jesus Christ - the King of kings and Lord of lords. When I studied that this morning, I realized He isn't just talking about money and monetary possessions. A heir is one who receives an endowment or quality from a parent and upon further study I found endowment implies "a natural capacity, power, or ability." So God not only makes us His children but He gives us the power and the ability and the capacity to walk that out in the natural on earth as it is in heaven. The end result is found in vs 18 that HIS GLORY MIGHT BE REVEALED IN US. How amazing is that!
Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister
Monday, July 18, 2011
We Can Be Saved!
Up to this point, we are in the book of Romans chapter 4 in our One Year Bible reading. I would like to give a simplified and very clear outline of salvation that we learn from Romans.
The Apostle Paul is making the case for salvation in Jesus Christ through faith and not through works. The argument goes like this:
1. Every person is a sinner: both the Jews who have God’s Law are sinners and Gentiles who don’t have His Law are sinners. (Rom. 1:18-2:25)
2. God is perfect. Since He is perfect, His judgment of sin is perfect. Since none of us perfectly follow Him, then we will be punished for our sins through our deaths. (Rom. 2:3-16; 3:4-8, 23)
3. There is no way for a person to earn their way to God’s good graces and inherit eternal life with Him. Our sin is too much. (Rom. 3:10-18)
4. God makes people right with Him not through the keeping of the Law, but when people choose to put their faith in Him and turn from their sins. (Rom. 3:21-4:12)
5. Jesus Christ was the payment for our sins and in His death and resurrection, we are made right with God once again. (Rom. 4:21-25)
6. Though the Law does not save us, we still should follow it because it is God’s revelation on how we should live rightly before Him. If we receive Jesus Christ through faith, that faith should cause us to want to live the way He wants us to live. (Rom. 3:27-31)
There are three things are required for us to be saved as we see in the book of Romans: 1) Believe in Jesus Christ who is the Son of God, 2) Repentance from our sins. We cannot be made right with God if we continue in our sins—this is true even of people who say they believe in Jesus Christ. If you are living in continual sin even though you say you believe in Jesus, you need to repent and be saved. 3) Payment for our sins. God does not forgive sin. He forgives sinners. He punishes sin. God does not sweep sin under the rug, justify it, hide it, or forget about it. It MUST be payed for with life—our lives. But this is the reason He sent Jesus Christ to die on the Cross and rise from the dead. God accepts Jesus’ payment of the debt-of-sin that we owed Him. If we will come to faith in Jesus and repent of our sins, then God will apply Jesus’ payment to our account!
Pastor Kyle Bauer
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
July 13--Name Tags
1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36 Romans 1:18-32 Psalm 10:1-15 Proverbs 19:6-7
Name tags. I saw a comedy skit on television recently about the absurdity of having everyone in New York City wear name tags. It seemed like a fun idea to me! I love getting to know people's names. As we have seen in our study of the ten commandments at Hillcrest Church, God wants us to honor His name. Today, we can see how God honors OUR names.
In today's reading from 1 Chronicles there are many names. My wife, Anita, and I like to listen to the One Year Bible as read by Tom Dooley (www.mastermedia.org). Sometimes, I admit, the Ipad with the OYB application has taken the place on our breakfast table of the OYB book. At times recently the lists of names read by Tom in the daily readings have been rather long. It's like NYC streets with too many name tags for people we don't know. But in today's passage, I am struck by how God cares about His people and knows them by name! As a popular worship song goes, "He knows my name!"
Here are three quick points on names:
1. God knows our names, loves us and links our names to what He has given us to do.
God in His wisdom reveals throughout the Bible that He knows each of us intimately, knows our names, and knows what He wants us to do. Remember Abraham: "I will make your name great and you will be a blessing" Genesis 12:2? Today we read about dozens of people including leaders like Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab; musicians like Heman, Asaph and Ethan; Berekiah and Elkanah the doorkeepers. Cymbal players, trumpet players, harp and lyre players, singers, ark-carrrying Levites--all are individually named and identified in the Scriptures today for their service to the Lord.
2. To be more like God, we should know one another by name, love each other and value what each of us does to serve God.
As we see God's character revealed in Scripture, it gives us a blueprint for our own character. Since God so clearly cares about names, we should too! May we learn and use the names of those around us. May we value the unique gifts and talents, roles and jobs that each of us have. Notice verse 15:22 from Chronicles today, "Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it."
I challenge each of us to learn the names of those around us. One way I like to learn names is to pray for people. As I pray for them, I have their faces and their names before me. Over a period of days and weeks, I can usually "learn" the names of many of the people I am praying for. Likewise, getting to know what it is that people do to serve the Lord, in church and out of church, is a good way to have them on your heart and mind. God associated people's names with what they did for Him. We should too!
3. Ultimately, we want our names, and those of all we can lead to Jesus, to be found in the book of life!
We want more than temporary name tags! The Bible talks about having our names remembered or blotted out for all eternity. It is our decision whether to make Jesus our Savior and Lord and thereby whether to get our names in His book. By His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be victorious in this life. Those who, in faith and by grace, live victoriously have the promise of Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my father and his angels."
Joyfully, we can be thankful to God for loving us so much that He knows our names and values us for who we are and what we do. We can be like God by knowing the names of those around us and valuing them for who they are and what they do for Him. Most importantly, we can follow Jesus and share His gospel with others so that, together, our names will not just be on name tags on earth but will have the eternal value of being in the Book of Life!
Blessings,
Pastor Paul
Name tags. I saw a comedy skit on television recently about the absurdity of having everyone in New York City wear name tags. It seemed like a fun idea to me! I love getting to know people's names. As we have seen in our study of the ten commandments at Hillcrest Church, God wants us to honor His name. Today, we can see how God honors OUR names.
In today's reading from 1 Chronicles there are many names. My wife, Anita, and I like to listen to the One Year Bible as read by Tom Dooley (www.mastermedia.org). Sometimes, I admit, the Ipad with the OYB application has taken the place on our breakfast table of the OYB book. At times recently the lists of names read by Tom in the daily readings have been rather long. It's like NYC streets with too many name tags for people we don't know. But in today's passage, I am struck by how God cares about His people and knows them by name! As a popular worship song goes, "He knows my name!"
Here are three quick points on names:
1. God knows our names, loves us and links our names to what He has given us to do.
God in His wisdom reveals throughout the Bible that He knows each of us intimately, knows our names, and knows what He wants us to do. Remember Abraham: "I will make your name great and you will be a blessing" Genesis 12:2? Today we read about dozens of people including leaders like Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab; musicians like Heman, Asaph and Ethan; Berekiah and Elkanah the doorkeepers. Cymbal players, trumpet players, harp and lyre players, singers, ark-carrrying Levites--all are individually named and identified in the Scriptures today for their service to the Lord.
2. To be more like God, we should know one another by name, love each other and value what each of us does to serve God.
As we see God's character revealed in Scripture, it gives us a blueprint for our own character. Since God so clearly cares about names, we should too! May we learn and use the names of those around us. May we value the unique gifts and talents, roles and jobs that each of us have. Notice verse 15:22 from Chronicles today, "Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it."
I challenge each of us to learn the names of those around us. One way I like to learn names is to pray for people. As I pray for them, I have their faces and their names before me. Over a period of days and weeks, I can usually "learn" the names of many of the people I am praying for. Likewise, getting to know what it is that people do to serve the Lord, in church and out of church, is a good way to have them on your heart and mind. God associated people's names with what they did for Him. We should too!
3. Ultimately, we want our names, and those of all we can lead to Jesus, to be found in the book of life!
We want more than temporary name tags! The Bible talks about having our names remembered or blotted out for all eternity. It is our decision whether to make Jesus our Savior and Lord and thereby whether to get our names in His book. By His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be victorious in this life. Those who, in faith and by grace, live victoriously have the promise of Revelation 3:5 "He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my father and his angels."
Joyfully, we can be thankful to God for loving us so much that He knows our names and values us for who we are and what we do. We can be like God by knowing the names of those around us and valuing them for who they are and what they do for Him. Most importantly, we can follow Jesus and share His gospel with others so that, together, our names will not just be on name tags on earth but will have the eternal value of being in the Book of Life!
Blessings,
Pastor Paul
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
July 6--Sleep Like a Baby
1 Chronicles 2:18-4:4 Acts 24:1-27 Psalm 4:1-8 Proverbs 18:16-18
Any sleepless nights lately? Tried counting sheep? Have the injustices of the day found you awake with anger on your mind? Wouldn’t it be great to “sleep like a baby”? As a grandfather, I get to see my grandson sleep like a baby. Little Hunter can’t talk much yet, and I am sure he doesn’t count sheep, but he knows how to do a couple of things that may contribute to his ability to sleep—he cries when he wants something, trusts that he will get it, doesn’t stay mad very long, and finds joy in almost everything. Those are some of the lessons for all of us in today’s reading from Psalm 4 that I’d like to call, “How to Sleep Like a Baby!”
The references to being in bed and lying down to sleep in Psalm 4 suggest that King David was thinking about how best to sleep. However, the implications are greater than curing insomnia. Remember Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 18:3 “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” So, how do we become like little children so we can sleep well and enter the kingdom of heaven? There’s somewhat of a four-step formula here in Psalm 4.
- Turn your concerns over to your Father, your heavenly Father. Ask Him to hear your prayer. (Psalm 4:1 “Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”)
- Have faith and trust that your Father hears you when you pray. (Psalm 4:3 "Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.”) Jesus promised that He would give any who come to him rest (Matthew 11:28).
- Let go of anger. If you are angry about something, do not let it become sin. Be silent. Rather than thinking about someone's offense against you, search your own heart. (Psalm 4:4 “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.”) This point is like Ephesians 4:26, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”
- Rejoice. Find joy in God, not in wealth, nor in alcohol (or sleeping pills), but in God. (Psalm 4:7 “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”) Here King David is contrasting the joy he has with those who, even in their wealth, are asking, “Who can show us any good?” (Psalm 4:6). Although David is praying in the context of distress, he turns his heart to giving thanks to God. His heart is filled with thanksgiving rather than self-pity.
Let’s sum this up in one word, one word that my grandson seems to exhibit whether it is in sleep or in squealing with joy as his Dad tosses him high in the air. That word is TRUST. Psalm 4:5 says, “Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.” Better than any man-made sleeping pill is this trust in God: Psalm 4:8 “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” To sleep well and enter the kingdom of heaven, pray to God, have faith in Jesus, let go of anger, and find joy in all that God provides. Trust in the Lord. Sleep in Peace. Sleep like a baby!
Blessings,
Pastor Paul
Monday, July 4, 2011
The Antioch Church
Psalm 2:8 says, “Ask of Me and I will give you the nations…”
God has called Hillcrest Church to be a church as the one at Antioch. As we are also reading through the book of Acts, we know that the church at Antioch was a sending church through which God sent Paul and Barnabas as the first missionaries to the Gentile world. This is the fulfillment of God’s original plan through Israel as He spoke it to Abraham that “through you all the families of the earth will be blessed,” (Genesis 12:3).
As Pastor Mark continues to lead us into the destiny that God has for our church, I want to encourage you to pray for the nations of the world. We must ask for them or they will never be opened up to us! God has given us a vision that extends far beyond the four walls of our church—one that reaches to the ends of the earth! Let’s continually do what this Psalm tells us to do: Ask for the nations!
Blessings!
Pastor Kyle Bauer
Saturday, July 2, 2011
July 3
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the [consistently] righteous man [upright & in right standing with God] runs into it & is safe, high [above evil] & strong. - Amphlified version
How I love the name of the Lord! As a little girl, I used to fall asleep w/severe leg cramps "growing pains." I fell asleep saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" over and over because His name was the only thing that brought me comfort. Anytime I had nightmares, I'd call upon Jesus in my sleep and wake up w/joy instead of fear. I heard story after story of Jesus rescuing people from crimes as they cried out, "JESUS!" The name of the Lord is our strong tower. It's our place of strength and safety from emotional, physical, or even spiritual assault. His name is safety. His name is power. The name above all names that you can trust. Do you know His name? Do you know His strength? Call upon the name of the Lord today and rest in Him as your strong tower.
Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the [consistently] righteous man [upright & in right standing with God] runs into it & is safe, high [above evil] & strong. - Amphlified version
How I love the name of the Lord! As a little girl, I used to fall asleep w/severe leg cramps "growing pains." I fell asleep saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" over and over because His name was the only thing that brought me comfort. Anytime I had nightmares, I'd call upon Jesus in my sleep and wake up w/joy instead of fear. I heard story after story of Jesus rescuing people from crimes as they cried out, "JESUS!" The name of the Lord is our strong tower. It's our place of strength and safety from emotional, physical, or even spiritual assault. His name is safety. His name is power. The name above all names that you can trust. Do you know His name? Do you know His strength? Call upon the name of the Lord today and rest in Him as your strong tower.
Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister
Friday, July 1, 2011
July 1
2kings 18:13-19:37;acts 21:1-17;psalm 149:1-9;proverbs 18:8
What has the Holy Spirit said to you lately?
In our New Testament scripture today we see Paul on the move between cities visiting the disciples. During a visit Agabus comes to Paul with a message from the Lord,
It seems that we are always seeking the Lord for direction, guideance, safety, prosperty and all the other things we think we are "missing" in life. When is the last time you heard the Lord give you some bad news? How many times do we recieve the voice of the Lord regarding persecution? Do we really believe God only speaks to us about clear paths and calm seas? I am thankful for every word of comfort, peace and love the Lord has spoken to me during my life but am I prepared to hear every word God says to me? Will I continue to believe that He will care for me during the hard times?
My prayer for us today. Lord, because you are always faithful to love us and you have promised to be with us, prepare our hearts for every word you give today. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor David
What has the Holy Spirit said to you lately?
In our New Testament scripture today we see Paul on the move between cities visiting the disciples. During a visit Agabus comes to Paul with a message from the Lord,
"10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
It seems that we are always seeking the Lord for direction, guideance, safety, prosperty and all the other things we think we are "missing" in life. When is the last time you heard the Lord give you some bad news? How many times do we recieve the voice of the Lord regarding persecution? Do we really believe God only speaks to us about clear paths and calm seas? I am thankful for every word of comfort, peace and love the Lord has spoken to me during my life but am I prepared to hear every word God says to me? Will I continue to believe that He will care for me during the hard times?
My prayer for us today. Lord, because you are always faithful to love us and you have promised to be with us, prepare our hearts for every word you give today. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor David
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)