Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
4th of July
Had a wonderful service yesterday morning. Our pastor preached a message on "Who Am I". He posed three questions to each of us.
1) Who is God in our families and are we serving Him?
2) Who is God in our churches and are we fulfilling His commands?
3) Who is God to me?
He challenged us to answer these questions honestly within ourselves. We need to know who God is to each one of us. Christ asked His disciples who others said that He was, then after they answered, He asked them, "who do you say that I am?" Is He some genie waiting to wave a magic wand over our situations and make everything okay so that we can continue to live any way that we want? Is He some meanie looking down from heaven just waiting for us to mess up so He can strike us down? What is HE to YOU?
We sang a song in worship yesterday, called "Made Me Glad" by Hillsong. As I sang that song, I reflected on the words and when I think of God, this is what He is to me.
1) Who is God in our families and are we serving Him?
2) Who is God in our churches and are we fulfilling His commands?
3) Who is God to me?
He challenged us to answer these questions honestly within ourselves. We need to know who God is to each one of us. Christ asked His disciples who others said that He was, then after they answered, He asked them, "who do you say that I am?" Is He some genie waiting to wave a magic wand over our situations and make everything okay so that we can continue to live any way that we want? Is He some meanie looking down from heaven just waiting for us to mess up so He can strike us down? What is HE to YOU?
We sang a song in worship yesterday, called "Made Me Glad" by Hillsong. As I sang that song, I reflected on the words and when I think of God, this is what He is to me.
Made Me Glad
I will bless the Lord forever
And I will trust Him at all times
He has delivered me from all fear
And he has set my feet upon a rock
And I will not be moved
And I'll say of the Lord....
You are my shield
My strength
My portion
Deliverer
My shelter
Strong tower
My very present help in time of need
Whom have I in Heaven but you?
There's none I desire beside you
You have made me glad
And I'll say of the Lord....
He is my Savior, my Redeemer, my Peace, my Comfort, my Healer and so many other things. We must know and have it settled in our heart, soul and mind what and who God is to us, because that dictates who He will be in our families and in our churches.
We are very thankful for the way God moved in the service. Sister Loree had been very sick during last week's service and started feeling sick again as they got to church yesterday. We anointed and prayed for her before the worship service began. During the altar service, the ladies gathered around Sister Loree and began praying for her again and God wonderfully touched her body and the sickness left and God blessed her as she worshipped Him for being her healer!
Following the morning service, we had a BBQ. Everyone stayed and even though it was raining and the little ones couldn't be outside playing much, we all had a good time. Lots of wonderful food. Garlic and herb grilled chicken, burgers, hot links and hot dogs. Baked beans, garden salad with fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, pasta salad, a veggie platter, fruit, a berry trifle and brownies for dessert. We were all stuffed. We had great fellowship with one another. Wonderful day to celebrate the independence of our great nation, as well as enjoying the freedom to worship our God and Creator.
Next week we will be in our Regional Convention, so there will be no services held in OKC. Be in prayer for Brother Ray as he is on to preach first thing on Saturday morning and pray for me also, I will be teaching the 9-11 year olds about sanctification on Saturday morning as well. We both need the anointing of God, but I need inspiration to be able to explain and teach these little ones about sanctification so that they will understand it and be able to live a holy, sanctified life once they receive this second definite work of grace.
Hope to see you at convention! Until next time.
We are very thankful for the way God moved in the service. Sister Loree had been very sick during last week's service and started feeling sick again as they got to church yesterday. We anointed and prayed for her before the worship service began. During the altar service, the ladies gathered around Sister Loree and began praying for her again and God wonderfully touched her body and the sickness left and God blessed her as she worshipped Him for being her healer!
Following the morning service, we had a BBQ. Everyone stayed and even though it was raining and the little ones couldn't be outside playing much, we all had a good time. Lots of wonderful food. Garlic and herb grilled chicken, burgers, hot links and hot dogs. Baked beans, garden salad with fresh tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, pasta salad, a veggie platter, fruit, a berry trifle and brownies for dessert. We were all stuffed. We had great fellowship with one another. Wonderful day to celebrate the independence of our great nation, as well as enjoying the freedom to worship our God and Creator.
Next week we will be in our Regional Convention, so there will be no services held in OKC. Be in prayer for Brother Ray as he is on to preach first thing on Saturday morning and pray for me also, I will be teaching the 9-11 year olds about sanctification on Saturday morning as well. We both need the anointing of God, but I need inspiration to be able to explain and teach these little ones about sanctification so that they will understand it and be able to live a holy, sanctified life once they receive this second definite work of grace.
Hope to see you at convention! Until next time.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
All Your Promises Are True!
We had an awesome service yesterday morning...starting with a class on presumptuous self-will. As I studied for that lesson, I was amazed at the things that God was revealing to me. It was a very thought-provoking lesson and if you will allow it to, it will change your life and how you behave. The worship service was amazing. From the very first song to the last...everyone really began to worship from their heart...it wasn't a "going-through-the-motions" kind of song service. Everyone who was present, came prepared to worship God. The Sciptures tell us in Psalms that He inhabits the praises of His people and it was very apparent that He was indeed present to receive the worship that was being sent up. His presence was so strong that even the children were still and well behaved. The two songs that blessed me the most were "Because of Who You Are" and "All Your Promises Are True". The second was a song that I had learned the night before and the more I sang it, the more it blessed my soul. I thought that I would put the lyrics up for those who read this blog. If you want to actually hear it, go to youtube.com and type in the title. The artist is Shannon Wexelberg.
All Your Promises Are True
(Shannon Wexelberg)
VERSE:
When the new day begins,
Lord, Your mercies are new again.
How my heart overflows with thanks to my King.
When the night closes in,
I'm so grateful You are my Friend.
You said that You'd never leave,
And Lord, I believe. Lord I believe.
Chorus:
All Your promises are true. I will lift up my eyes to You,
For You're all that I need and by faith I can see
The wonderful things You will do.
All Your promises are true. I will lift up my eyes to You.
When my heart starts to fail, Lord, You're strength will prevail,
And all You have said, You will do. Your promises are true.
BRIDGE:
They are comfort and healing, strength for the journey,
Hope for the hopeless, gladness for mourning,
Life and salvation, power and victory.
Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe.
We had a new visitor last week. It was so good to see Cameron back with us...hoping that he'll make it a habit. We have so enjoyed having Brother and Sister Brock join us for services. I hope they have been as blessed in the services as we have been to have them worshipping with us.
We are praying for God to open the door for a property that we toured earlier this year. Our pastor has written a letter to the owners, offering them a couple of options that might allow us to either lease or possibly purchase. We want God's will, so we are praying that He'll either open the door or close it tight so that we might know plainly what His will is. If you would be praying with us, we would appreciate it. Also, please keep Brother Rob in your prayers while he is still deployed overseas...he is in a dangerous area and we need to cover him with prayers of protection, as well as praying for his family here.
Father's Day is coming up in 6 days, so don't forget to do something special for the Dads in your life. Happy Father's Day to all those dads who read this blog. May God bless each of you abundantly as you lead your family in the way of truth!
All Your Promises Are True
(Shannon Wexelberg)
VERSE:
When the new day begins,
Lord, Your mercies are new again.
How my heart overflows with thanks to my King.
When the night closes in,
I'm so grateful You are my Friend.
You said that You'd never leave,
And Lord, I believe. Lord I believe.
Chorus:
All Your promises are true. I will lift up my eyes to You,
For You're all that I need and by faith I can see
The wonderful things You will do.
All Your promises are true. I will lift up my eyes to You.
When my heart starts to fail, Lord, You're strength will prevail,
And all You have said, You will do. Your promises are true.
BRIDGE:
They are comfort and healing, strength for the journey,
Hope for the hopeless, gladness for mourning,
Life and salvation, power and victory.
Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe.
We had a new visitor last week. It was so good to see Cameron back with us...hoping that he'll make it a habit. We have so enjoyed having Brother and Sister Brock join us for services. I hope they have been as blessed in the services as we have been to have them worshipping with us.
We are praying for God to open the door for a property that we toured earlier this year. Our pastor has written a letter to the owners, offering them a couple of options that might allow us to either lease or possibly purchase. We want God's will, so we are praying that He'll either open the door or close it tight so that we might know plainly what His will is. If you would be praying with us, we would appreciate it. Also, please keep Brother Rob in your prayers while he is still deployed overseas...he is in a dangerous area and we need to cover him with prayers of protection, as well as praying for his family here.
Father's Day is coming up in 6 days, so don't forget to do something special for the Dads in your life. Happy Father's Day to all those dads who read this blog. May God bless each of you abundantly as you lead your family in the way of truth!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Not a whole lot going on...
There really hasn't been much in the way of terribly exciting news to blog about...rather than ramble...I was hoping that something would happen so I would have something to share. Since nothing earth-shattering has occurred...I'll ramble about the what has been going on, which means this will be a short post. ~hee hee~
The biggest and best news has been that for the past two Sundays, we've had the same 6 visitors attend services. That is exciting! We hope they will make worshipping with us a habit. We are already trying to figure out what to do once the living room completely fills up with people and the only solution on the horizon is opening the French doors to the office and setting up more chairs in there, but that also presents a problem...we've already run out of chairs. Truly, that is a great problem to have! The other exciting news is that our pastor found a pulpit for sale from a Christian campground...needs to be sanded and re-stained, but is in awesome condition and the price is oh so wonderful, $50 for the pulpit and $10 to be delivered! Can't beat that...couldn't buy the wood for that, so we are very happy...now our pastor can use a real pulpit rather than the three boxes taped together and covered with a table cloth to preach from. Delivery will be next week and he is getting very excited to use it.
This Saturday, we will be having a 3-church rally in Shawnee, starting at 5:00. If you are in the area, please join us for a time of worship and fellowship.
I do want to express our sincere condolences to Sis. Amy Montgomery's family in the passing of her uncle; to Bro. Jason Mullins' family in the passing of his father...our thoughts and prayers are with each of you in this time of sorrow.
God be with you...
The biggest and best news has been that for the past two Sundays, we've had the same 6 visitors attend services. That is exciting! We hope they will make worshipping with us a habit. We are already trying to figure out what to do once the living room completely fills up with people and the only solution on the horizon is opening the French doors to the office and setting up more chairs in there, but that also presents a problem...we've already run out of chairs. Truly, that is a great problem to have! The other exciting news is that our pastor found a pulpit for sale from a Christian campground...needs to be sanded and re-stained, but is in awesome condition and the price is oh so wonderful, $50 for the pulpit and $10 to be delivered! Can't beat that...couldn't buy the wood for that, so we are very happy...now our pastor can use a real pulpit rather than the three boxes taped together and covered with a table cloth to preach from. Delivery will be next week and he is getting very excited to use it.
This Saturday, we will be having a 3-church rally in Shawnee, starting at 5:00. If you are in the area, please join us for a time of worship and fellowship.
I do want to express our sincere condolences to Sis. Amy Montgomery's family in the passing of her uncle; to Bro. Jason Mullins' family in the passing of his father...our thoughts and prayers are with each of you in this time of sorrow.
God be with you...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
It's been awhile...
Things have been quite busy around here since my last post. When I last posted we had taken in a new member, attended Couple's Retreat and were preparing to wish Brother Rob "bon voyage" as he deployed. Since then, we have indeed sent Brother Rob off and already miss him terribly. When you have a small congregation, you feel the absence of each of your members strongly.
The beginning of April, my father-in-law had a stroke which accelerated the Parkinson's disease that he had been battling for the past 4 years. My husband and his sister faced the heartbreaking decision of putting him into a nursing home since my mother-in-law was not physically able to care for him, nor was any of the rest of us. The day we took him to the home, he wanted to go down the hall to visit his aunt, but told us that "he wouldn't be staying long". At that moment, we figured he was talking about the length of his visit with his aunt, but now realize that he meant that he wouldn't be staying long in the home. Exactly one week after being admitted, my father-in-law entered into his rest and finally stood before the throne of God to meet his Savior. It was truly a bittersweet moment. We were thrilled that he was no longer in pain or having difficulty remembering...but at the same time knew that we were going to miss him terribly. God has been our strength and the grace of God truly is sufficient. God sent His Comforter and has been beside us as we have grieved our loss knowing that it was heaven's gain. God also sent extra special comfort for all of us in the form of our first grandchild, Lilli...she and her parents arrived two days after Papa's passing and she brightened everyone's heart.
The end of April found us in Washington state to perform a baby dedication. It was an honor to be asked to come back to the church we had formerly pastored and a privilege to dedicate the newest arrival, Mr. Noah Sweeney. You truly do not realize how much you miss someone until you've been separated by miles and time, then see one another...we miss the people in the northwest region terribly and especially those at The Church of God in Sedro Woolley! They each hold a piece of our hearts. While in Washington, we also got to spend some time with our youngest son and his wife. They are expecting their first child around the middle of November and this will be our second grandchild. We are looking forward to his/her arrival.
You may have noticed that our location and service times have changed. The building that we were renting, was lost to the parent organization of the group we were renting from, during a law suit. The new congregation that moved into the building decided that they didn't want to share their building any longer, so we are now meeting in our home until we are able to find a more suitable place for service. While most don't like to visit a church that is in a home, we are not down about this turn of events, as God's presence has blessed us in every service since we switched locations. We are thankful for the time that we had to use that particular place, but know that God has something better for us in the long run, so we will patiently wait upon Him and continue doing what we know that we are to do.
I want to take this moment to wish each mom a very Happy Mother's Day! May God grant you strength and wisdom as you raise your children and for those that have grown children, may He grant you the strength and wisdom to know how to help them when they need it and know when to keep silent. ;-)
God bless and keep you!
The beginning of April, my father-in-law had a stroke which accelerated the Parkinson's disease that he had been battling for the past 4 years. My husband and his sister faced the heartbreaking decision of putting him into a nursing home since my mother-in-law was not physically able to care for him, nor was any of the rest of us. The day we took him to the home, he wanted to go down the hall to visit his aunt, but told us that "he wouldn't be staying long". At that moment, we figured he was talking about the length of his visit with his aunt, but now realize that he meant that he wouldn't be staying long in the home. Exactly one week after being admitted, my father-in-law entered into his rest and finally stood before the throne of God to meet his Savior. It was truly a bittersweet moment. We were thrilled that he was no longer in pain or having difficulty remembering...but at the same time knew that we were going to miss him terribly. God has been our strength and the grace of God truly is sufficient. God sent His Comforter and has been beside us as we have grieved our loss knowing that it was heaven's gain. God also sent extra special comfort for all of us in the form of our first grandchild, Lilli...she and her parents arrived two days after Papa's passing and she brightened everyone's heart.
The end of April found us in Washington state to perform a baby dedication. It was an honor to be asked to come back to the church we had formerly pastored and a privilege to dedicate the newest arrival, Mr. Noah Sweeney. You truly do not realize how much you miss someone until you've been separated by miles and time, then see one another...we miss the people in the northwest region terribly and especially those at The Church of God in Sedro Woolley! They each hold a piece of our hearts. While in Washington, we also got to spend some time with our youngest son and his wife. They are expecting their first child around the middle of November and this will be our second grandchild. We are looking forward to his/her arrival.
You may have noticed that our location and service times have changed. The building that we were renting, was lost to the parent organization of the group we were renting from, during a law suit. The new congregation that moved into the building decided that they didn't want to share their building any longer, so we are now meeting in our home until we are able to find a more suitable place for service. While most don't like to visit a church that is in a home, we are not down about this turn of events, as God's presence has blessed us in every service since we switched locations. We are thankful for the time that we had to use that particular place, but know that God has something better for us in the long run, so we will patiently wait upon Him and continue doing what we know that we are to do.
I want to take this moment to wish each mom a very Happy Mother's Day! May God grant you strength and wisdom as you raise your children and for those that have grown children, may He grant you the strength and wisdom to know how to help them when they need it and know when to keep silent. ;-)
God bless and keep you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
