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God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.".   God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?     TODAY'S PRAYER: Most merciful God I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Amen.  TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Despair. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Joy. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Essentials Part 2 – More than Just a Man”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.".   God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Most merciful God I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Amen.  TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Self-Centeredness. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “And They Asked Jesus to Leave”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God created light and then created beings to show a physical light. His image bearers failed to live in His spiritual light. So He sent His Son to be spiritual Light and give spiritual light to those who believe in Him. They become His lights to show His Spiritual light in a dark world. And … Continue reading God's Light →

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Most merciful God I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Amen.  TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Anxiety. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Peace. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Beginnings of Prayer – Part 5: Start Now and Improve Your Prayer Life -- A Robust Prayer Life Will Transform Your Life”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Title: The Four Main Views of the Lord's Supper Text: Various; I Corinthians 10 and 11 FCF: We often struggle with the significance and benefits of the Lord's Supper to us. Prop: Because only the spiritual presence view incorporates the widest breadth of scripture, we affirm the spiritual presence view of the Lord's Supper. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Corinthians 11. In a moment I'll read the text starting in verse 23 from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along on page 1294 of the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer. Today we will celebrate our first Lord's Supper of the year. Because it is our first this year, and because we have a few new members and regular attenders it is wise for us to state very plainly what our position is on the Lord's Supper. Not all Christendom sees the Lord's Supper the same way. Today I will endeavor to survey the landscape, defining the key characteristics of each view and finally lead us to where we as a church have come. Today we won't be exegeting a single passage, but will instead be drawing truth from various passages. Have a pen ready to take the passages down as many of them I will only reference. But a great place for us to read and refer to later will be I Corinthians 11. Please stand with me to honor and focus on the reading of the Word of God. Transition: As is true more often than not, we have a lot to get to today, so let's get to it. What is the first main view of the Lord's Supper? I.) [Slide 2] What is transubstantiation? a. Transubstantiation - prefix trans which means to change and substantiation meaning substance. i. The belief in transubstantiation is that the bread and wine used in the Lord's Supper changes in its essence or substance to be the actual physical body and blood of Jesus. ii. It is mystical in that it defies the senses. Although it smells, feels, sounds, tastes and looks like bread and wine, it is in fact the flesh and blood of Jesus. iii. In John 6:32-58 Jesus tells his disciples and others who are listening that in order to be his disciples they would need to eat his flesh and drink his blood. iv. In the accounts of the first Lord's Supper, Jesus holds up the bread and says this is my body. He holds up the cup and says this is the new covenant in my blood. b. [Slide 3] Who believes this in Christendom? i. Primarily the Roman Catholic Church holds to this view. ii. Orthodox Christians hold to a real physical presence of Christ in the elements but basically refuse to comment on exactly how that works, other than it being mystical. c. [Slide 4] What are some other items about this view that should be included to understand it? i. The benefits of the Lord's Supper for Roman Catholics: 1. The Roman Catholic church leans heavily on Thomas Aquinas' theory of the Meritorious atonement of Christ. Christ has earned God's grace by His life and death and has given ways for His church to receive from that merit bank. 2. Those baptized in the Roman Catholic church dwell in a state of grace from which they can fall from or grow in based on their works. In sins venial and grave they lose ground in their state of grace. In performance of sacraments, confession, penance, giving of alms and more, they can receive more merit from Christ or grace, to maintain or improve in their state of grace. 3. Once a Roman Catholic dies, they are ushered to a temporary punitive existence in purgatory, where they earn the remainder of merit they need in order to be made righteous enough to enter heaven. 4. Therefore, for the Roman Catholic, the Lord's Supper is absolutely essential for salvation. So much so that to forgo it is to deny Christ Himself. 5. According to the council of Trent, grace is conferred upon a person ex opere operato which is Latin for “from the work performed.” a. Meaning that the sacrament is the instrumental cause of God's grace being given. Grace is always conferred by the sacrament as long as it is properly administered. b. Since Trent Catholic teachers have tried to put caveats on this requiring proper disposition from the person coming for the sacrament so they can receive the fruit of the sacrament. i. Being of the proper disposition is based on fasting, having gone to confession for grave sins, and coming in perfect contrition. ii. The fruit of the sacraments includes the forgiveness of sins. iii. This again drives home the point underlying Catholic theology – grace is not really about growing in the Lord – it is always about maintaining or re-attaining the status of righteous. iv. Roman Catholic theology teaches that at baptism we are made righteous and the battle from then on is to keep ourselves that way through participation in the sacraments given by the Roman Catholic Church. v. Thus, to be in the proper disposition has little to do with faith in God and more to do with faith that God changed the substance of the bread and wine into Jesus' body and blood. 6. So, to summarize the benefits of the Supper for a Roman Catholic, partaking of the Eucharist, regardless of their personal faith confers the merit of Christ which raises their position in God's economy and shortens the time needed to make them worthy to enter His Kingdom. ii. [Slide 5] According to Pope Gregory the Great, in every mass Christ is sacrificed afresh: 1. In the Roman Catholic view, they would also teach that the Lord's Supper is an unbloody sacrifice. This means that Christ being present physically is sacrificed anew for them. 2. This, they would say, does not mean that Christ's original sacrifice was not enough. They would teach that just as the Passover lamb was killed the day before it was eaten, so there are two parts to this sacrifice. One where Christ dies physically, and another where he is sacrificed again and again so we can eat of Him. d. [Slide 6] What are some problems with this view? i. Are the bread and wine actually transformed into Jesus' literal physical flesh and blood? 1. What of eating human flesh and drinking human blood in scripture? a. In John 6 when Jesus said you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood, non-believing disciples' leave in disgust. Catholics would say that they leave because He spoke literally. But the Old Testament forbids cannibalism and blood drinking. b. The bible speaks of cannibalism always as a curse to the person eating it – not on the person being eaten. c. In Leviticus 7:26-27, none shall drink any blood. Or they will be cut off. Again, it is the person drinking the blood that will be cut off. 2. [Slide 7] Let's look at the two main texts. a. Let's start with John 6. i. Since the bible clearly forbids cannibalism and blood drinking, we must look for an alternative explanation. ii. Did Jesus ever say anything else counter to Old Testament law that he clearly meant figuratively? 1. Did he not advise people who sinned with their eyes to gouge them out? 2. Did he not advise people to hate their fathers and mothers? 3. Take up your cross (kill yourself) and follow me. iii. Is it truly a stretch for Jesus to have meant a spiritual feeding in John 6? I think not. In fact, it really is the only meaning since both are forbidden in the Old Testament. b. [Slide 8] When Christ says this IS my body i. If we must apply this literally than Jesus is also a door, a shepherd, a vine, a fountain of living water, and a light. ii. Furthermore, there are passages like Psalm 34:8 which talk about tasting God and even in I Peter 2 where we drink milk from God's breasts. iii. Jesus' point in all of these seems to be metaphorical to express His Spiritual provision for His people. 3. [Slide 9] Is Christ truly human? How can His flesh and blood occupy two places at once without being separated? a. If Christ is Fully man and fully God and both natures were joined but not mixed as the early creeds say, then Jesus' divine nature could not leak into His human nature allowing His human nature to be omnipresent. b. So how can Jesus be present with God the Father and also present with us at each mass? It is only possible if you disregard the Athanasian Creed and the Chalcedon Definition – both of which the Roman Catholic church Affirm. ii. [Slide 10] Must we earn Christ's merit to maintain or re-achieve the status of righteous? 1. Romans 4:5-6 says our faith is counted as righteousness and that God counts us righteous apart from works. In other words, our works, our deeds, have nothing to do with our status before God as righteous. We stand as righteous because we are united to Christ by faith. 2. Romans 3:22 – righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. 3. I Peter 2:24 says that Christ died so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness… which initially sounds like we must maintain or keep it up… but then he says, “By His wounds… you HAVE BEEN healed.” Meaning that we live to righteousness while simultaneously being healed from sin. 4. Romans 5:8-10 – While we were enemies Christ reconciled us to God by His death… and now that we are reconciled we will be saved by HIS life. 5. It seems as though our standing before God is not dependent on a constant supply of grace to keep us there. It is a declared verdict that God has given all who believe in Christ. iii. [Slide 11] Is the Lord's Supper a re-sacrifice of Christ in any way? 1. A covenant or testament is like a will of one who died. Death happens once and then the will is applied. How silly would it be to have to meet with the lawyers daily to reup the will. 2. The New covenant was instituted in Christ's blood. It does not need to be renewed or redone in any way ever again. It is, as Christ said, finished. e. [Slide 12] Summary of the Point: In case it wasn't glaringly apparent, we as protestant, evangelical, Reformed leaning, independent Baptists would have a lot of problems with the Transubstantiation view. Not just in the nature of the elements of the table, but even in what is happening in the sacrament itself and how it is conveyed to those who partake. So, if you hold to this view, we'd ask that you refrain from partaking of the Lord's Supper until you can settle the matter fully in your heart. I'm always available to discuss this if you have questions. II.) [Slide 13] What is consubstantiation? a. Consubstantiation - con meaning with and substantiation meaning substance. i. In this view the real physical presence of Christ's flesh and blood are joined in, with, and under the bread and the cup. ii. In dealing with the issue of Christ's human body being locally present in heaven, this view would say that God the Son communicates His divine attribute of omnipresence to his human nature in that Christ is able to be physically present everywhere and everywhen. iii. One advocate of this view likened it unto a sponge. The bread and the wine are the sponge and the physical presence of Christ's flesh and blood are the water. Though to eat one you have the other, they are not joined together, one is merely contained within it. b. [Slide 14] Who in Christendom believes this and where did it come from? i. Primarily Lutheran and Episcopalian churches adhere to this, although they would probably quibble with the terminology. ii. Martin Luther is the founder of this view. c. [Slide 15] What are some other items included in this view that would help us to understand it? i. Like Roman Catholics they would say it is ex opere operato – the sign confers the grace without respect of the one receiving it. ii. Also like the Roman Catholics it is a means of saving grace: 1. Meaning that to partake of the Lord's Supper would be to receive from Christ remission of sins through the Supper itself. 2. They equate the supper to the gospel. iii. They would strongly reject the idea that Christ is being re-sacrificed. 1. Even though they affirm that our sins are remitted by the flesh and blood of Christ at the sacrament meal, they emphatically deny the Roman teaching that Christ must be re-sacrificed. 2. They do this stating very plainly that Jesus' atonement was sufficient to forgive sin once for all. d. [Slide 16] What are some problems with this view? i. Arguments against the physical presence endure. They actually voice the teaching of the communication of the divine attributes upon the human nature. Thus, they mingle the two natures which is against the early creeds. ii. Is the Lord's Supper truly forgiving sins? We spoke at length that this is not how Justification works. iii. There is also an obvious contradiction of denying a re-sacrifice but affirming it being a fresh remitting of sin. e. [Slide 17] Summary of the Point: As we close out this position it becomes clear that as much as Lutherans attempt to find some separation from the Roman Catholic view, many of the same problems endure. So, if you hold to this view, we'd ask that you refrain from partaking of the Lord's Supper until you can settle the matter fully in your heart. I'm always available to discuss this if you have questions. III.) [Slide 18] What is the Memorial view? a. The memorial view is the first of the 4 views to abandon the physical presence of Jesus in the elements. i. The memorial view denies that Christ is physically present in the elements themselves. ii. This view is attributed to the statement Jesus makes when he says “Do this in remembrance of me” in Mark 14; Luke 22; and I Corinthians 11. iii. This view would see the statements that Jesus makes about the bread being his body as mere symbolic language to speak of His atonement at the cross. b. [Slide 19] Who in Christendom believes this and where did it originate? i. Most evangelical, non-denominational, and Baptist churches. ii. This view is associated best with Huldrych Zwingli. Although recently Zwingli's beliefs have been seen through his writings to reflect a more nuanced position than this. Nevertheless, he is associated with this view's primary originator. c. [Slide 20] What are some other items we must know in order to understand this view? i. The Lord is not present in the meal itself 1. There is no presence of Christ in the elements themselves. 2. As God's people gather together, He is among them. We certainly all have the Spirit of God dwelling with us, and we have Jesus' promise to be with us until the end of the age. 3. However, in the memorial view there is no special presence of Jesus with His people in the Supper itself. ii. [Slide 21] The Lord's Supper is NOT a means of grace. 1. Although Zwingli would not agree with this as its founder, the memorial view has become a view that not only denies any presence of Jesus in the meal, but also denies that the Lord's Supper is a means of grace. 2. In the memorial view, there is no inherent benefit to taking the Lord's Supper beyond the benefits conveyed by simple remembrance of the Lord's atoning work. iii. [Slide 22] There is no re-sacrificing of Christ because Christ is not present with us in the meal. iv. [Slide 23] The Lord's Supper is a pictorial reminder of the atonement 1. The bread broken and chewed represents how his body was broken and mangled. 2. The wine spilled freely is representative of his blood which flowed for our remission of sins at the cross. d. [Slide 24] What are some problems with this view? i. It is a large step away from much of Christendom in several ways 1. It is the only view that denies the presence of Christ in the elements. 2. It is the only view that denies that it is a means of grace. ii. It tends to trivialize the Lord's Supper as merely symbolic. 1. The significance of a meal is utterly lost in the pictorial reminder. 2. It divorces the meal from its original Passover roots. iii. It fails to deal with some significant passages which indicate that the meal is more than merely symbolic and dealing with what those symbols actually represent. e. [Slide 25] Summary of the Point: All four of these views were borne out of the Reformation. It is worth noting that this view is by far the most extreme deviation from the Roman Catholic view… AND… it has gotten even more extreme in the years following the reformation. While having fewer serious problems with the view, and not having any teaching that seems to directly oppose scripture, it still falls short. At our church we would not reject or deny the memorial view, even in its extreme present-day form. We would simply say that the memorial view is unsatisfactory in dealing with the whole of scripture on, and too quickly dismisses historical church doctrine regarding the Lord's Supper. If you fiercely hold to the memorial view, I would still encourage you to refrain from partaking in the Lord's Supper today. Not because you hold to a false view, but because you may want to put more time and thought into our position, especially after hearing the fourth option. IV.) [Slide 26] What is the Spiritual Presence view? a. This view would affirm that Jesus is present with His church in the bread and the wine. i. Serving as an intermediary view of the Lord's Supper between Luther and Zwingli, this view does not reject the presence of Christ in the elements of the table. ii. However, it does as the name suggests, reject the real presence of Christ's human nature at the Lord's Supper. iii. The view supposes that Christ is present in a spiritual way with His people in the bread and juice or wine. b. [Slide 27] Who in Christendom believes this and where did it come from? i. Presbyterians, Baptists, and Pentecostals. ii. It was put forward by John Calvin and Heinrich Bullinger 1. The fullest expression of this view is found in a document called the Consensus Tigurinus aka the Consensus of Zurich. 2. After Zwingli died Heinrich Bullinger took up his mantle. 3. In 1549 Bullinger and Calvin attempted to come together with one another on their views of the Lord's Supper since they seemed much closer to one another than to Luther. 4. After writing back and forth a few times, eventually they published this consensus position on the Lord's Supper in 1551. 5. It is an excellent read and makes some amazing points. I'd strongly encourage you to read an English translation of the document. You can find that online with a simple search for it. c. [Slide 28] What are some other things we should know about this view to understand it? i. First, we must understand that although Presbyterians, Baptists, and Pentecostals have a spiritual presence understanding of the Lord's Supper, there is considerable variance as to what that spiritual presence means. 1. As we might guess, in Pentecostal churches they expect physical healing to come through the Lord's Supper. 2. Some may see the body and blood of our Savior as particularly spiritually effective and misunderstand it to mean that they are still consuming the spiritual essence of his body and blood. As if his body and blood in and of themselves were somehow beneficial to us. ii. As the memorial position does, this view denies the re-sacrifice of Christ. Christ's atonement was once for all. iii. Also like the memorial position, this view recognizes that the Lord's Supper is a memorial. We remember what Christ has done for us in this event. iv. Unlike the memorial view this position does affirm the Lord's Supper as a means of grace. However, unlike transubstantiation and consubstantiation this view does not suggest that the Lord's Supper is a means of saving grace but rather a means of sanctifying grace. 1. [Slide 29] The penalty of all of a believer's sins has been paid for by the work of Christ on the cross. 2. We could never and have no need of earning Christ's continued merit in order to put ourselves in a better position with God. We are declared righteous, meaning when God sees us, He sees His Son. 3. However, to be declared righteous is a legal verdict and not a complete present reality. The reformers said we were simultaneously justified and yet still a sinner. 4. [Slide 30] We are still growing in righteousness and continuing to turn from sin. 5. Our ongoing growth in becoming more like Christ is a continual battle whereby we must draw on God's grace for help in time of need. (Heb 4:17) 6. Therefore, the Lord chose the sign of a meal, in which our body gains physical strength, to communicate a spiritual truth to His people. We are sustained and strengthened by Him and His atonement. 7. Therefore, although our body eats a physical sign, God in that sign meets us with the spiritual truth of it. He feeds us on the body of Christ and the blood of Christ. 8. But not the physical flesh and blood. There is nothing inherently beneficial to us in the physical body and blood of Jesus. But what His physical flesh and blood accomplished for us spiritually in the atonement, is overwhelmingly beneficial and continues to feed our souls as we grow in grace. 9. The book of Hebrews explains how the body of Christ was split in two, like the curtain, so that we may have ongoing access to the presence of God. The writer of Hebrews also says that the blood sprinkles us clean so that we may go before God's presence as purely washed sons and daughters. 10. And so, in essence we connect the spiritual truths and spiritual presence of Christ in the meal together. We come to spiritually be sustained on the presence, mercy, and grace of God which is all accomplished for us by the body and blood of Jesus. v. [Slide 31] Unlike the Transubstantiation and consubstantiation view this view does not see God obligated to give grace as long as the sacrament is administered properly. 1. Such feeding is only available to those who are truly God's children. 2. Such feeding is freely given by God in the sense that He is the sole dispensary. a. Meaning of course that it is not the mechanical ex opere operato of the Supper that ensures God gives them grace – but rather God decides in what supply and when His grace is dispensed to help His dear children grow and sustain them. b. We see Paul was told that God's grace was sufficient for Him… meaning God can say at times – you have enough. vi. Unlike the Memorial view, this view concludes that it cannot be a mere memorial. It must be more. 1. [Slide 32] Such feeding unites us in fellowship to Christ. I Corinthians 10. a. Paul tells the Corinthians to cease their practice of going to pagan temples to get a free meal at their worship services. b. Although they are concluding that such gods do not exist, Paul reminds them that these pagan gods are actually demons leading people astray. c. He tells them that by eating at their worship feasts they are partnering with, fellowshipping with, or uniting themselves to the demons. d. He then draws a correlation to the Lord's Supper. e. When we eat the bread are we not uniting with the body of Christ? When we drink the wine are we not uniting with the blood of Christ? f. Just like eating food at worship festivals of demons unites us to demons, so also eating the bread and drinking the wine at the Lord's Supper unites us to Christ. g. If the meal were a mere memorial, such truths would make no sense at all. 2. Such feeding is dangerous to those who abuse it. I Corinthians 11. a. Paul is correcting some fairly egregious behavior in the Corinthian church regarding the Lord's Supper. b. The rich are selfishly eating all the food and getting drunk on all the wine before the poorer believers even arrived. c. Such selfish behavior lacking love for one another communicates not only a misunderstanding of the Lord's Supper but even indicates that such people may not be genuine believers at all. d. Paul warns that each person should test themselves, judge themselves, to see whether they are worthy to partake of the Lord's Supper. Paul is not advocating sinless perfection, but rather testing and judging whether or not we are truly God's children. e. If we are not – then God may punish us with sickness or even death. These punishments are designed to save His true children from the ultimate condemnation at the end of days. f. Once again – if the Lord's Supper was a raw symbol, only a memorial, why are there physical and spiritual consequences to doing it improperly. d. [Slide 33] What are some problems with this view? i. This position relies on a systematic understanding of what the whole bible says regarding signs with redemptive meaning. Thus, it can be a little difficult to see it clearly taught in one passage of scripture. ii. Unlike the memorial position, this view still has a good deal of mystery and spiritual meaning that can leave those who participate to feel as though they are dealing with something that is somewhat mystical. iii. Neither of these problems are incredibly problematic. e. [Slide 34] Summary of the Point: Overall, the spiritual presence view accommodates and incorporates the whole of scripture not just concerning the Lord's Supper but on salvation, justification, sanctification, and how God meets with us and helps us to be what He desires us to be. It is to this view that our church adheres. There is a lot more context to our decision to adopt this view. I simply don't have time to get to all that. I have preached several messages on the Lord's Supper and they are all collated in a playlist on Youtube called “The Lord's Supper.” I'd encourage you to go back and view those chronologically. It should give you a well-rounded understanding of our progression to this view. Conclusion: So CBC, what have we learned today and how shall we live? Can we compile all this into a doctrinal takeaway? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 35] Although we admittedly went through each view of the Lord's Supper from a very high level, we can reasonably conclude that when analyzing the full breadth of the scriptures not only on the sacrament but also regarding the doctrines core to salvation, the spiritual presence view is the best view of them all. Therefore, we as a church ascribe to its teachings, not because Calvin taught it, not because Bullinger taught it, but because the scriptures clearly testify to it being what the Lord intended and the church received as the proper understanding and practice of the Lord's Supper. But let me improve upon this in some specific ways to help us today. 1.) [Slide 36] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe about the Lord's Supper?” We must believe that the Lord Jesus communes with us in a special way in the Lord's Supper. a. Perhaps you are here today and you have never truly thought about the Lord's Supper in this way. b. I think on average in our culture we tend error on the side of not thinking deep enough rather than thinking too deeply. c. But based on the scripture we have presented today and the understanding by comparison to other views, we must confess together that Jesus Christ is present and communing with us at the meal in a special way. d. True He is always with us. But in this meal, He comes to us in the bread and the juice bringing the redemptive achievements that His body and blood won for us. e. We eat this meal with Him only because He has made it possible for us to do so. f. We eat this meal with one another as a body of people whom He has purchased with His blood and saved with His torn body. g. In this meal He feeds us on His redemption. He feeds us on His atonement. He connects us to His Father. He infuses us with what we need to live as He has commanded us. h. As believers we survive on the daily eating of the Word of God… who is Jesus. We survive on the daily drinking from God's word, like a tree planted by water, so we drink from the living water, the vine who connects us to nourishment through His blood. i. And so, as we eat the body of Christ we remember how His body was torn so we might approach God. As we drink His blood we remember how His blood was spilled to sign a will and testament which took effect once He died. He bequeathed all He had to His Bride. j. And eating and drinking in faith, the Lord meets us there and builds our faith and feeds our souls. k. This is no mere symbol my friends. There is much more here than meets the eye. Behold in wonder the depth and richness of the sacrament. And prepare yourselves to be sustained on Christ and His atonement for you! 2.) [Slide 37] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe about the Lord's Supper that is false?” We must deny that the Lord's Supper is necessary for salvation. a. In denying that this is a means for saving grace, we deny that the Lord's Supper is necessary for salvation. Just as we also deny that Baptism is necessary for salvation. b. The thief on the cross died having not partaken of the Supper or of baptism. Yet he that day joined Christ in paradise. c. So also, there is no element of The Lord's Supper that is contributary to our Justification before God. d. But lest we pendulum swing too far… 3.) [Slide 38] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe about the Lord's Supper that is false?” We must deny that the Lord's Supper is unnecessary or optional for believers. a. Although we know that neither sacrament of baptism or the Lord's Supper contributes in any way to our standing before God… we cannot conclude that either sacrament is optional. b. One of the reasons we call it a sacrament is because Jesus affirmed it as a practice that ought to be continued in the church. Jesus commanded the disciples to baptize new believers and He commanded that as often as they have the Lord's Supper that they do so remembering His atonement. c. Therefore, when we encounter a believer who refuses or is apathetic to being baptized or to partaking in the Lord's Supper, there is great cause for concern. d. There is a very real probability that such a person is not truly a believer. e. Obstinate disobedience of and apathy toward Christ's commands are not a characteristic of His followers. f. The Lord's Supper is not optional or unnecessary. And given what we have learned today, I hope you see it as just the opposite. It is absolutely necessary – not to save us – but to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and in communion with His people. 4.) [Slide 39] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What must we do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing regarding the Lord's Supper?” We must approach the Lord's Supper testing and judging ourselves to be sure that we are truly God's child. a. The warnings in scripture about eating unworthily bring us to this point. b. We all must test and judge ourselves to be sure we are truly God's children as we approach the Table. c. There are three particular kinds of people who ought not approach the table today. i. First, those who are not truly believers. If you have never repented of your sins and believed on Jesus alone for salvation, then you should by no means partake with us this morning. ii. Secondly, those who claim to be of Christ but who are actively unrepentant of a particular sin in their lives. They know what God says, but choose to continue in sin assuming that the Lord will forgive them. Such a person should not approach the table, for they may not be a true believer. iii. Finally, someone who believes that the Lord's Supper contributes in some way to their Justification before God or believes that the meal can wash away sins by simply partaking of it. Such a person reveals that they either do not understand the doctrines of salvation or the Lord's Supper or both. 5.) [Slide 40] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that we must stop doing regarding the Lord's Supper?” We must stop allowing sin battles to keep us from the Lord's Supper. a. Even though we must examine ourselves and make sure we are true believers, oftentimes in churches this feels as though we must come before the table as a spotless vessel. b. We have a mad rush to confess all our sin and make sure that there is “nothing between our souls and the Savior.” c. Such a belief is just as guilty of misunderstanding the doctrines of salvation. As a believer there is NEVER anything between you and Jesus. He has borne all your sin and there is now no condemnation in Christ. d. If you are struggling with a sin, feel disconnected from Christ, feel alienated from His church, are beaten down by the world, are in need of great refreshment… my friends that is what this Supper is for! e. It is to sustain you. It is to grow you. It is to encourage you. It is to unite you further to Christ and His people. f. If only the perfect could step to the table, then none could come. But Jesus invites His true people, broken and battered, to come and dine. Are meals for the full and quenched or the empty and thirsty? g. So also, is this meal for us… who are battle worn and suffering from many defeats. h. Come and be renewed! 6.) [Slide 41 (end)] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of the Lord's Supper?” God will Spiritually sustain His children through Christ and will do so in a special way at the Table of the Lord. a. This is my body… which is broken for you! Eat all of it b. This cup is the New Covenant in my blood poured out for many. All of you… drink from it! c. My friends… come and feast. Not on flesh and blood… but on what the incarnate Emmanuel accomplished with His flesh and blood. d. Be sustained by His presence among us in the bread and juice. e. Be encouraged f. Be edified g. Be renewed. h. Come and dine with us. Let me close with a prayer by the Puritan Robert Hawker Dear Lord, surely you are the all in all of everything that is sacred and blessed. You are the altar, the sacrificer, and the sacrifice! And it can only be from your blessing on our poor worship, when we remember your one, all-sufficient sacrifice with a feast, that we discover the deeper spiritual meaning. Until I hear you call, Lord, I cannot eat. But if you say, “Eat, friends; drink – yes, drink abundantly, beloved,” then I feel a confidence in your welcome to every gospel feast. Then I can sit down under your shadow with great delight. Your fruit is sweet to my taste. Come often to your table, dearest Lord, and sit as a king. Everything at the table is yours: the bread of life, the water of life, and the wine of your banquet. Come then, dear Lord! Come to your own banquet, to your church, your table, your house of prayer, your ordinances! Come and bless your people! In Jesus name we pray… Amen! As you walk upstairs for the meal, Do not speak of earthly things, Rather come prepared in your heart for communion with Christ and His people. We'll begin the meal in a few moments.

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Most merciful God I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Amen.  TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Compulsions. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Patience. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Are You Committed to Spending Personal Relationship Time with God Through Prayer? (Video Sunday Sermon)”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

The devil has no need to attack those that are already trapped in their own sin. It's when we live in obedience and faithfulness to God, armoring ourselves with His Spiritual armor and choosing to trust in Him despite our circumstances that we become a threat to hell. Ultimately, the devil will end up in hell for eternity and we must put our trust in God to not end up there with him. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/640/29

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.".   God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Most merciful God I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Amen.  TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Despair. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Joy. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “The Resurrection -- Part 3: Jesus Gives Us His Great Commission Just Before His Ascension”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.".   God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my defense, and He is my savior. Therefore, you shall draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation. And on that day, you shall say, “Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name; make His deeds known among the peoples; see that they remember that His Name is exalted.”. Amen. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Anxiety. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Peace. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “From the Gospel of Matthew (1:18-25): “Advent, Part 4: Prelude to Jesus' Birth””, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

There has been a common theme running through many of the episodes lately which has been of finding spiritual freedom. Not only just finding spiritual freedom for yourself but obtaining that feeling of freedom. My guest this week has lived some life and he has found ways that have helped him find and feel his inner spiritual freedom and he is on a mission to share that with others.His name is Richard LassiterRichard's mission is to enable others to rise to their potential. His Spiritual thrust is I am the freedom lover. He is uniquely qualified at helping people see, feel and understand how they can free themselves from the bondage of limiting concepts. He became involved with The Wayshowers College community group work in 1973 while a member of the College of Wm & Mary's Physics Dept.In 1976, he became involved full time with the college. He have taught classes and consulted throughout the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and New Zealand. He served as President of the college from 2000 - 2005, after the passing of the founder. He has found this training so life-changing that he have dedicated his life to sharing it with others. Insights to add to your spiritual toolbox from this episode:1. Feeling Inner Freedom2. Releasing bondage of limiting concepts3. Wayshowers College4. Jealousy5. Meeting other like-minded people6. Commitment & sincerity7. Living others lives instead of yours8. Today's world for children9. What is a wayshower?10. The changing look of spiritual workBelieve it or not, you were enthusiastic when you arrived back for your life. If you have lost that enthusiastic feeling, there is a way to ignite it again. It is by getting a bigger spiritual picture of your life as a soul. The Wayshowers College has created a series of free videos that can help you recapture the enthusiasm you have within you for your unique journey.Support the show"Life is too short to not be enthusiastic about YOUR UNIQUE JOURNEY!"Need support for YOUR UNIQUE JOURNEY?Then check out: Spiritual coaching sessionshttps://tntspiritworks.com/beginning-spiritual-coaching/MERCH shop for inspiring gifts to give to others or for yourselfhttps://merch.tntspiritworks.com/UPCOMING events https://tntspiritworks.com/spiritual-events/

Do you realize how much God has blessed you? Sampson was blessed by God, but was unable to see it. His Spiritual blindness eventually led to his downfall. In this message pastor Chris teaches that God can restore what you lost.

Do you realize how much God has blessed you? Sampson was blessed by God, but was unable to see it. His Spiritual blindness eventually led to his downfall. In this message pastor Chris teaches that God can restore what you lost.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, David was adopted as an infant, by a first generation Mexican-American family. He enlisted into the U.S. Air Force after High School and spent his entire tour at Torrejon Air Base in Madrid Spain in Medical Administration.After his military service, he began his career in Marketing and Advertising with BBDO (Batton,Barton,Durnstien&Osborne) Ad Agency in San Francisco, CA with full focus on the Apple Computer campaign for MacIntosh. The experience he gained, lead to his Professional careers in Radio and TV, Software Sales, Medical Marketing and Real Estate.His Spiritual awakening began at 22, after a near-death experience from a severe motorcycle accident. Struggling to accept his religious upbringing as a fundamentalist Christian, versus, hiding his true personal spiritual experience and his love of the ancient metaphysical sciences, at 33, personal integrity was glaring. Being a preacher's kid, choosing his own way vs. his family and tradition was the “road to hell” in their beliefs. He finally asked himself which one felt like hell. As he quotes “to thine own self, be true.”At the end of his first year, emotionally and physically sober, reading and learning spiritual philosophies from Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Richard Bach, James Redfield and Neale Donald Walsch, David was given a re-occurring dream that lead him on a spiritual journey of discovery. The illumination and connection with Spirit took place atop the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico outside Santa Fe. The experience with Spirit was extremely profound and life changing. David re-located to Albuquerque for a 10 month sabbatical of spiritual exploration. “When the student is ready. . . the teacher appears.”Returning back to San Antonio with this new knowledge and spiritual understanding, he began his spiritual career working with others involved in a 12-step recovery program. A place where the sheer number of readings involved, kept him in the books studying happily. A friend of Bill W. and an active member of his work, the experience caused David to excel as an Intuitive Reader, and metaphysical Teacher. Since 1998 David has pursued his passion as a Professional Astrologer, Numerologist and a Master of Tarot.

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.".   God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my defense, and He is my savior. Therefore, you shall draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation. And on that day, you shall say, “Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name; make His deeds known among the peoples; see that they remember that His Name is exalted.”. Amen. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Self-Centeredness. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Our Realities Speak to Our Real Priorities”, at our Website: https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

This episode shares with the listeners God's provision for renewing His Spiritual relationship with His people. " Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you would prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God." Romans chapter 12 verse 2. " All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD : and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the Kingdom is the LORD'S: and He is the governor amongst the nations. Psalms chapter 22 verses 27 and 28. ( King James Version). "All Souls belong to God. But the soul that sinneth it shall die." Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 4 ( King James version) This death does not mean to become nonexistence but to be eternally separated from the Presence of God and His eternal life in the New Heaven and New Earth that is to come; where only righteousness exist. " God So Loves The World and all souls belong to Him. Evangelist Juanita Douglas

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my defense, and He is my savior. Therefore, you shall draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation. And on that day, you shall say, “Give thanks to the Lord and call upon His Name; make His deeds known among the peoples; see that they remember that His Name is exalted.”. Amen. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Anxiety. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Peace. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “How God Says He Loves Us: Part 2 -- The Covenant with Abraham”, at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

We have been tracking the progress of Journey Participant, Niles Graham, from Sacramento, CA.  We interviewed him right as he started The Journey, and then, right after his first Prayer Retreat.  His group just completed their Spiritual Gifts retreat, and we interviewed him again.  Niles talks about the things he's learned about The Holy Spirit, about Pruning and about His Spiritual gifts.  It is so encouraging to hear Niles' depth of wisdom and insight.  The Lord is definitely doing a mighty work in his life.  Listen and be encouraged.

Title: God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Most merciful God I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. For the sake of your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on me and forgive me; that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Amen.  TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Compulsions. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Patience. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “As Christians, We Tend to Easily Walk Away from Jesus, but He Rejoices When We Return.”, at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

There is no greater treasure, than being in touch with the You in You. Life starts from within and not externally. There are so many out there who are pouring in their energy doing what they ought not to be doing, just because they lack the Consciousness of the Holy Spirit, we go through extreme pain and losses, not caused by anyone else but us because we know not the Voice of the Spirit. How can one live Life that was given to Him without the insight and direction from the One who gave Him? We have made so many mistakes, married to the wrong partners who have brought more pain and misery in our lives, entangled with the wrong crowd that intoxicate us and keep us stagnant and retarded. Engaged in the wrong business, studied the wrong course, invested with the wrong person, all of these is born from one limitation, which is "The Absence of the Holy Spirit Consciousness" and as a result, the lack of "Spiritual Sensitivity". The same way the 5 senses are trained to be sharper and more accurate resulting in intelligence, so too do our Spiritual senses, need to trained through "Speaking in Tongues or Praying in the Spirit" Always - Romans. 8. 26-27. A man who speaks in tongues everyday is a mystic on the earth realm because His Spiritual senses are heightened, and you can decode the atmosphere of a place, a territory, the intents of a people's hearts, negative energies and contrary influences. There is nothing natural about Life, Life is Spiritual, you cannot use natural knowledge to withstand that which is superior. There are negative energies suppressing all that which is good about your life, and it comes in the form of low self esteem, procrastination, sickness, laziness, even comfort, etc. Become superior today, open your Mouth and Pray in the Spirit...Speak Mysteries and set the evil one on his heels. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/britney-ak/message

In today's episode, Stacy and Sam talk with Mathues Imhotep about awakening to our divine consciousness with sacred symbol activation. **NOTE: Toward the end of the episode, Mathues provides a three minute symboi activation, during which, there is complete silence. Share what you felt with us!!** Mathues has been working as an entrepreneur, business system designer, developer, consultant and spiritual leader. His Spiritual life and quest to uncover the deepest hidden wisdom continued to expand in a parallel path and was his saving grace and solace. Many people have been on the front lines, risking their lives for the light. This group has been called the Earth Alliance and has been working decades to support the mission of bringing the light. And helping to support the activation of a New System. Mathues is the author of the 7th Seal - Hidden Wisdom Unveiled.He is a speaker on Spirituality and has created over 25 videos on his material. Mathues' Links: Websites: https://7sealcodes.com/ (https://7sealcodes.com/) https://stargatecodes.com/ (stargatecodes.com) https://deepdisclosure.com/ (deepdisclosure.com) Be the Love Links: Website: https://www.bethelovepodcast.com/ (https://www.bethelovepodcast.com/) YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ6GvpAkucjPbLvv-S492NQ (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ6GvpAkucjPbLvv-S492NQ) Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bethelovepodcast (https://www.facebook.com/bethelovepodcast) Patreon Website:https://www.patreon.com/bethelovepodcast ( https://www.patreon.com/bethelovepodcast) To donate to the Kimote Foundation: https://gofund.me/969a4863 (https://gofund.me/969a4863) If you would like to learn more about becoming a Donor, Mentor, Volunteer or Sponsor, please email Kimote Foundation Director, Eric Kifampa at: kicouganda@gmail.com or go to the foundations Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Kimote-Foundation-412600252444953/ (https://www.facebook.com/Kimote-Foundation-412600252444953/) Heatherlyn's website: https://www.heatherlynmusic.com/ (https://www.heatherlynmusic.com/)

God Reminds Those Who Want a Deeper Relationship with Him of His Expectations for Their Management of His Resources He Provided Them MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “'And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Compulsions. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit's fruit of Patience. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, you are good, and your love endures forever. Help me to trust you — with the good as well as the difficult, the successes and the failures, the joys, and the sorrows of my past. I surrender to your voice that whispers to me, “All is well, and all will be well.” In Jesus' name, amen. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. THIS SUNDAY'S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach's Current Sunday Sermon: “Jesus Followers' Personal Pentecost Characterizes Life Positively Through the Holy Spirit and a Personal Relationship with God", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

The Spirit at Work in the Shake-Ups of Life- part I Lourdes Pinto and Fr. Jordi Rivero, 5/3/21 John 3:1-15 “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (3:3) “Unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (3:5) To see and to enter the Kingdom of God is our greatest desire. We pray daily, “Thy Kingdom Come!” But, like Nicodemus, we are tempted to doubt that we can really see or enter the Kingdom, given our brokenness and our sins. We have tried for years only to find ourselves frustrated and disillusioned.  Jesus tells us that we enter the Kingdom by being born anew of water and Spirit. But we have been baptized, confirmed, ordained… and still do not seem to experience the promised new life. Those sacraments are essential, but something else is needed. We received the Holy Spirit through them, but we now need to allow a spark of His grace to release all that power.  We learn from the saints who also had their trials, struggled, and experienced defeat. It was when their human efforts were exhausted, including their well-intended hard work for the sake of the Kingdom, that they finally abandoned themselves to God in a way that they were previously unable to do. God permits the shake-ups for a powerful release of the Spirit. You have suffered trials, and you may feel defeated. You are in good company. Look at Saint Ignatius of Loyola. He had lofty dreams, but his good plans were rooted in his ego, just like it happens to us. God blesses him with a great “shake up” and his life dreams are shattered. At first, he lived in anger, blaming, resentment and self-pity, but eventually, through the grace of God, he opens his heart for the Spirit of God to start a fire within him. A new vision, a new direction in life. The graces of his sacraments begin to be released in a new powerful way. He is “born anew.” His Spiritual Exercises, which you know well, are his experience of the process of dying to self y rising to a new life in the Holy Spirit which transforms him into a new creation in Christ. His Spiritual exercises are not a technique. St Ignatius believed that the Spirit guides the process and we need to learn to be attentive, listen and to let go of our expectations and control. It is a path of faith towards being born anew, to receive the first fruits of seeing and entering the Kingdom.   The key to holiness is to trust in the Lord as He allows our own crisis in life to shake us up. Another exemplar of this grace is St. Alfonso Rodriguez. He was inconsolable when his wife and three children died. Then he lost his business and saw himself as a failure. The widower spent sad and lonely years in prayer, not knowing what good could come from his life. But God used this crisis to draw Alfonso into an intimate relationship with Him. He then wanted to give himself to God as a Jesuit but was rejected due to his poor health and limited education. He spent two years seeking the education necessary to become a priest, but again the fathers who examined him came to a negative conclusion. Finally, the provincial recognized his holiness and permitted him to enter the Society of Jesus as a brother. Did he finally achieve recognition in an influential position? No. Instead, he spent the rest of his life as a humble doorkeeper at a school. As St Alfonso abandoned himself to accept God's will for his life, his daily seemingly monotonous and tedious work gave glory to God. Alfonso saw everyone who knocked at the door as the Lord himself. By letting go of his expectations for his life, he allowed the Lord to transform him according to God's desire for his life and not his own. He became a saint who influenced many, including St. Peter Claver. God allowed St. Alfonso to be recognized as a saint so that we could discover the value of trials and the hidden life that all of us live, yet

The etymology of Swarved itself is sourced from two words; ‘Swaha' meaning Brahm, the Universal Energy, and ‘Ved', meaning knowledge. Hence, the Swarved is an unparalleled Spiritual text dealing with the Knowledge of the Universal Being; The Almighty Himself. Swarved can emphatically be considered the holder of the world's most eloquent knowledge, containing the doctrine and practical experiences accompanying one on the Spiritual Path; an exploration of the human condition itself. Being authored by Anant Shree Sadguru Sadafal Deo Ji Maharaj, the Swarved is a collection of His Spiritual experiences in the state of Samadhi (conscious oneness with God) – composed at the location of Shoonya Shikhar Ashram, Himalayas. Join the session to know hidden secrets about it. Speaker: Abhinav Kishore (Australia) Language: English

Topic: Secrets from the Swarved: Mind control and success The etymology of Swarved itself is sourced from two words; ‘Swaha' meaning Brahm, the Universal Energy, and ‘Ved', meaning knowledge. Hence, the Swarved is an unparalleled Spiritual text dealing with the Knowledge of the Universal Being; The Almighty Himself. Swarved can emphatically be considered the holder of the world's most eloquent knowledge, containing the doctrine and practical experiences accompanying one on the Spiritual Path; an exploration of the human condition itself. Being authored by Anant Shree Sadguru Sadafal Deo Ji Maharaj, the Swarved is a collection of His Spiritual experiences in the state of Samadhi (conscious oneness with God) – composed at the location of Shoonya Shikhar Ashram, Himalayas. Join the session to know the hidden secrets about it. Speaker: Raghavendra Upadhyay (India)/Subhash Chandra (Singapore) Language: English

God wants you to be jointly formed into the image of Jesus Christ. But what is the image of Jesus Christ we are to conform to? Is it physical, moral, or spiritual? To answer the question, let's use the law of first mention where the word “image” is first used. In Gen 1:27 says So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. The word “image” in that scripture is the word “tseh'-lem” and it means to be a representative figure, a model or resemblance. Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), then it goes without saying that those created in His image will be created in His Spiritual image first. God created the spiritual nature of humans first – in His spiritual image then created the physical body of Adam later in Gen 2:7. So, when the word image is used, it is referring to the spiritual nature first and foremost. So, Rom 8:29 is saying God destined us from the beginning to share the likeness or the image of His son. To share in or conform to the spiritual image of Jesus requires us to be born again. The moment you are born again, the Spirit of Christ comes into you. His spiritual image became yours. So, now you are conformed to the spiritual image of Jesus Christ. This is the reason why the scripture says in 1 John 4:17 that because as He is, so are we in this world. Right now, you are 100% like Jesus in your spirit. This is the beginning of your conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. Affirmation: I am thankful Father that I am already conformed to the image of Jesus Christ the very moment I became born again. I choose by your grace to allow this reality to make me an effective witness of the Lord, dispensing the fragrance of His grace everywhere I go. So, help me God. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-lights-house/message

In Your Personal Relationship with God, Demonstrating Material Gift Responsibility Shows God You Will Be Responsible for His Spiritual Gifts MESSAGE SUMMARY:  Many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, also, want to know His will in our lives and in the world. Also, we would like to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. Additionally, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have comes from God; God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". To this end, God is saying to some of us that we must start being responsible for the material things that He has provided. Also, we are to be good managers of His gifts. God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, that He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures in a deepening personal relationship with Him.?   TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Procrastination. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Self-Control. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Without Jesus In Our Lives and the Life of Our Country There Is No Person or Institution to “Face Our Difficult Circumstances” With Us", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Jesus Tells Us that Resources We Have, which We Call our own, Come from God; God Has Expectations for Our Management of His Resources He Provides Us MESSAGE SUMMARY: As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts; however, in Luke 12:19-21, Jesus completes a parable about a man who thought that all his assets were his and not from God: “’And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”. Pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Fear. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Faithfulness. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “What Is God’s Will for You in the New Year, 2021?", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “We All Need “Hope” in Today’s World of Fear, Doubt in Our Faith, and Feelings of “Hopelessness”; and God Is this “Hope””:  www.AWFTL.org/watch DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

To Deepen Your Personal Relationship with God, Meet His Expectations for Management of His Resources which He Provided You MESSAGE SUMMARY:  As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations, in our personal relationship with Him, for our good management of His resources that He provided us: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts. Very pointedly, God is telling us that if we cannot be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Resentment. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Compassion. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Jesus the Christ Is Our Hope In Life and Death and He Is “Hope” for the Wave of Loneliness and Uncertainty Sweeping Our World Today", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “Jesus the Christ Is Our Hope In Life and Death and He Is “Hope” for the Wave of Loneliness and Uncertainty Sweeping Our World Today”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

To Receive More Spiritual Revelations, We Must Meet God’s Expectations of Our Responsibility for His Material Gifts MESSAGE SUMMARY:   As followers of Jesus, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. However, God tells some of us that we must start being more responsible for the material things that He has provided before we can go deeper into spiritual revelations. Also, many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts. Very pointedly, God is telling us that if we can’t be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to deepen our personal relationship with Him?   TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my Heartlessness. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Kindness. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “Jesus Will Call You; If You Have Reservations or Constraints To Following Jesus, He Is Not Lord of Your Life!": at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “As a Christian, You Are Equipped for God’s Purpose; Be Courageous and Let Others See Jesus In You for God Is With You”:  www.AWFTL.org/watch DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB3

Today in a world of chaos, The Church has a responsibility to do something…But first we must believe in the words we speak…The Bishop reminds us that it is not enough to Know Jesus, WE MUST BELIEVE! The church is powerful, we work in the spiritual realm that manifests itself in the natural. Things we speak ARE AT WORK, we just need to believe. God does an inside job, meaning He works from the inside out, so when you speak over a thing you don’t see it immediately from your external vantage point, you must allow the Holy Spirit to show you the view from His Spiritual point of view… Grace and Peace

Song: Come Down O Love DivinePassage: Numbers 11:24-30, Acts 2 1-21, John 7:37-39Hello everyone and Welcome to episode #14 of the Anno Domini Podcast. A podcast dedicated to the supremacy of Christ over all things including our days, weeks, and months.Join me as we explore how Christ is revealed through the cyclical life of the church calendar year. We’ll discover how this calendar once structured culture and how it can again. We’ll also discuss practical ways to observe and celebrate these holy days in our quest to glorify God and live the good life in the midst of all good He has given us. Pentecost has come! Christ is Risen, is Ascended and is Reigning, and now in the kindness of God the Spirit has been poured out onto all believers. Just as at the beginning of the world the Spirit hovered over the waters of the deep and from the formless and void was brought forth a new creation, on Pentecost, the Spirit hovers over His lost children and recreates them into living sacrifices fitted with tongues of fire from heaven. On Pentecost we celebrate an unraveling of the curse of Babel, tongue’s in Christ are now united in love and truth instead of divided and confused. On this day we celebrate that when the Spirit comes, people are changed, lives are renewed, and the Gospel marches on in victory. On the Day of Pentecost, that great vision of hope that came to Moses in the wilderness became not just a hope only but a reality. What was his vision and hope and how was it fulfilled? That is what we will find out together as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on this glorious Day of Pentecost. BiblicalThere are three major readings for Pentecost. One is from of course Acts 2 where we learn about the story. However there is an Old Testament reading as well from Numbers 11 as well as a 3 verse section from the Gospel of John. All together it is Numbers 11, Acts 2, and John 7. In Acts chapter 2 we read the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The believers are together with one accord in Jerusalem during the most holy week of the Jewish calendar. Jerusalem is filled with people from all over the known world. All of a sudden there is a mighty wind. This wind however isn’t whistling through the eaves of the house, oh no this wind is INSIDE the house and what’s more coming with the tremendous wind comes FIRE! This fire descends and rests on each of the heads of the believers and they are filled with the Holy Ghost. They then began to speak in a variety of real languages which, not by accident, were spoken by the multitudes that had come from all over the region to Jerusalem. We are given an extensive list of the many nations present each of which is hearing the gospel preached in his or her own language for the very first time. Some marvel that plain Galileans could speak fluently the many languages present. Some mock, and explain it away by saying they were drunk. And then Peter rises and gives his first real sermon preaching the good news that God has come to dwell among us and made His Son Jesus both Lord and Christ. The multitudes are convicted and 3000 souls were converted.This is familiar ground to many of us. There is a temptation though to fall into the modern day trap of thinking atomistically instead of holistically. To the modern man, everything can be reduced to atoms or at least to the simplest of its parts. We say you’re sick because a tiny virus has infected you. We say you’re healthy because tiny building blocks called vitamins and minerals are in sufficient quantities to keep you healthy. Anything worth understanding the thinking goes is worth understanding in its parts. But the bible isn’t like this. The bible is one story. It is one arching narrative of God choosing a people for Himself and then setting out to bless them, feed them, correct them, and ultimately save them. So when we read this account of the Holy Spirit, we might be tempted to think that this is the beginning of the Spirits work. But it’s not. The Spirit has been at work throughout all of history and seems to always show up during periods of creation, recreation, and change. In the beginning the Spirit was hovering over the waters and then God speaks and the world is formed. The Spirit comes upon men their fearful hearts are strengthened, and they no longer walk in disobedience but in obedience. Ezekiel 36:26 promises the fulfillment found in Pentecost when Ezekiel prophecies that “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” This same Spirit that descended on believers in Acts 2 was present at the crossing of the Red Sea, came over Samson on multiple occasions often with catastrophic results for the enemies of God. David begged God NOT to take His Holy Spirit from him in Psalm 51, and it was the same Spirit in the book of Numbers that rested upon Moses until one day when an extraordinary thing happened. In Numbers chapter 11, we read yet again about the unfaithfulness of Israel. They are moaning and complaining about the food even though they have been struck down by God in His anger multiple times for this sin. God is angry with the people. Moses is fed up and shows us the proper way to bring your complaints or your petition to the Lord, he pours out His heart before Him and says “ Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”To this God replies“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone.”He also promises Moses that because the people are feeling so sorry for themselves that they wish they were still slaves in Egypt He would give them what they asked for in abundance until it became loathsome to them. Moses asks the next question which seems reasonable “where are we going to get all of this meat?” This is almost the exact question the disciples ask Jesus when they are in the wilderness with the multitudes. To this very “reasonable” question Yahweh responds in what I assume to be incredulity “Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” We are reminded that nothing is too much for the Lord and we should never question How He will do something but instead Trust Him to accomplish His work.So Moses gathers all the 70 men out side of the camp just as the Lord commanded and then the text continues “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.” The Spirit has now been shared amongst the elders of Israel and they are prophesying but there are two in particular that were still in the camp when this was going on and they received the Spirit as well and began prophesying while they were IN the camp! This news gets back to Joshua who is jealous for Moses because to prophesy IN the camp is an honor that Joshua feels should be reserved for Moses. To this display of team loyalty, Moses makes an astonishing reply. “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” This is an amazing display of humility. It is not surprising that we are told in the following chapter “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” This truly is the kind of humility that seeks the good of others over one’s own exaltation. Moses desired to see the day when all the people of God would be prophets speaking God’s truth in love. With the coming of the Spirit, what was once the dream of the most humble man in all the earth, is now a reality. As the people of Christ, we are now prophets. Not in the predicting-the-future, wearing-camel-hair prophets; But faithful followers of Christ ready to give truth to a waiting world; a reason for the hope that is in us. HistoricalPentecost is a big deal. It is the 7th day of the 7th Week from the Resurrection. This may seem hard to believe. We live in an age that has been completely secularized and the few remaining holidays we do celebrate are understood mainly within the confines of their commercial and pop culture influence. Pentecost is a holiday that once held immense sway in our culture and political structure. Up until the 70s it was still a national holiday for the United Kingdom. It wasn’t always historically referred to as Pentecost but more commonly as Whitsun which is a contraction of the words White and Sunday, a reference to the color white being prominent during liturgical usage during Pentecost Sunday… From this came a national holiday Whit Monday, and entire of week of celebration Whitide, parades by different churches called Whit Walks accompanied by brass bands and girls in white dresses. Whit fairs and different weeklong celebrations were common when our people had a common culture that wasn’t steeped in a secularized worldview. In other countries such as Italy, it is common to throw red rose petals from the church steeples to symbolizes the fiery tongues that fell on the heads of believers. In France, often during the worship service there will be tremendous blasts on trumpets to remind people of the “sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind which actually filled the house!” Also common within the historical view of this holiday is that some have used the time between Ascension Day and Pentecost (the 9 days in between) for fasting and prayer much in what could be speculated was the actions of the apostles during those 9 days before the Holy Spirit was given.Here is a key historical takeaway as you think about the Day of Pentecost and the entire liturgical calendar as a whole. We as a people used to have these days as a blessing in structuring our lives. When I say we as a people, I mean everyone, not just our Christian brothers and sisters but everyone that comprised our county, state, or nation. Whether you were a Christian or not didn’t matter, the holidays came and the people as a whole observed them. Holidays are didactic by nature. They are meant to teach the observer something. Christmas teaches us that we were lost in the darkness of sin until the Light of the World descended. Epiphany teaches us that Christ has come to save ALL the world, not just the Jews. Easter teaches us that while we are dead in our sins, Jesus has conquered death and offers us Life abundantly. I could go on but you get the point. Holidays are meant to teach, impress, and shape cultures. This is no different today. What a nation feels is worth celebrating and emphasizing describes well the priorities of that nation. As an American, we have fallen far from the blessing of the church calendar. The holidays we celebrate are either completely secular (think Presidents Day, the 4th of July, Veterans Day), or celebrate secular ideals and morals devoid of Christ as King. (Memorial Day, MLK, Labor Day). As I said before, the few remaining holidays we have that ARE on the church calendar have been sanitized and stripped of their potency. Think easter bunny, santa claus, etc. When our culture was shaped by the liturgical calendar, common grace allowed that non Christians could benefit from the celebrations and observances that were meant to teach, spread, and live out the gospel. Non believers could ignore them, could join them, and could even blessed by them but they were teaching and calling the celebrant to an explicit Christ-centered righteousness. There was no worry about making the message “relevant” to heathens. The heathens were expected to make themselves relevant to God by responding in repentance to the call of the Gospel poured forth from the church every day including the church calendar holidays. As a nation and often within the church as well now preach a Christless righteousness through our holiday observances. We endlessly moralize the holidays and make them entirely humanistic and man centered. This is profoundly wrong as our celebrations should prioritize getting the focus off ourselves. C.S. Lewis noted a phenomenon in his day as it regarded preaching the gospel to heathens. His observations have become so common that I believe we are amazed to see anything to the contrary.“The greatest barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin... The early Christian preachers could assume in their hearers, whether Jews, or Pagans, a sense of guilt…Thus the Christian message was in those days unmistakably the Evangelium, the Good News. It promised healing to those who knew they were sick. We have to convince our hearers of the unwelcome diagnosis before we can expect them to welcome the news of the remedy.The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man, the roles are quite reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge; if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the bench and God is in the dock.”― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and EthicsThe modern man makes holidays for himself that are self serving and full of the pride of life. Part of the role of the church is to continue to preach the reality that God is the judge and man is “in the dock.” Without this knowledge, man will perish in his blindness and vainglory. He will continue to reject days of celebration that honor anyone but himself and replace those holidays with celebrations more relevant to his own designs. MusicalEach episode of the Anno Domini podcast I highlight a hymn or psalm of some sort. Often these are ancient hymns and other times they are fairly new. This episode for Pentecost has a hymn that was written 586 years ago by Bianco da Siena. The hymn is called Come Down O Love Divine. I’ve set it to new music but my favorite arrangement is still the tune DOWN AMPNEY written by Ralph Vaughan Willians in 1906. I will have both versions linked up in the show notes so you can here the far superior Williams tune as it is sung by Kings College.This hymn is a Pentecost Hymn and basks entirely in the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I will read the stanzas and then briefly comment on them.Come down, O love divine, seek thou this soul of mine,And visit it with thine own ardor glowing.O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.O let it freely burn, til worldly passions turnTo dust and ashes in its heat consuming;And let Thy glorious light shine ever on my sight,And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.Let holy charity mine outward vesture be,And lowliness become mine inner clothing;True lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,Shall far outpass the power of human telling;No soul can guess the grace, till he become the placeWherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.The first stanza asks the Holy Spirit, here called “Love Divine” to come and find our souls and to visit it with the “ardor” which is a great word and seems to mean passions and warmth. We ask that the ardor of the Spirit would come. We then sing, asking the Comforter, another name for the Spirit to draw near to us, to fill our heart, and kindle a fire of holy flame. All this is very challenging for me. Jesus is a physical King in a physical place. He had to go away and told us that only in His leaving would we receive the Spirit and a new heart. He then sent His Spiritual presence (The Holy Spirit of Christ) which is meant to stir our hearts in our zeal for the Lord just as Christ was filled with zeal for the House of God.Having asked the Spirit at the end of the first stanza to kindle a fire in our hearts we then ask that the flame would freely burn and that the ardor of this presence would consume our worldly passions turning them to dust and ash. We ask that the Spirit’s glorious light would fill our eyes and surround us while still being a light to our path. To put it succinctly, stanza 2 expresses a desire for the Spirit to cleanse us and guide us in the paths of life.While stanzas 1 and 2 are somewhat ethereal and open to various practical interpretations, stanza 3 is crystal clear with imperatives. We ask the Holy Spirit to clothe us in love with the hymn using the more ancient word charity. If love is what we put on we are also asking that lowliness or humility would be the clothes that we wear on our insides. In other words, we are asking the Spirit to give us hearts that are dressed in humility. That is convicting but just you wait. The hymn continues that if you truly want to be lowly in heart, you ought to be weeping over your OWN shortcomings. In other words be tough on yourself and be gracious to others. Give your own heart no quarter and believe the best in the intentions of others. The hymn even uses the phrase to “loath” our shortcomings. That is some cleansing stuff to hate the sin you sin in your own heart. That can ONLY come when the Spirit is at work in your heart.Stanza 4 ends in hope. For those that belong to Christ, our hearts long to be the dwelling place of the Spirit. While we don’t have the words to describe the yearning and longing of our hearts for the Spirit to fill us even if we did, we couldn’t even guess the blessings that will be received when we become the willing temple to the Holy Ghost. With that I will play the song and I hope you enjoy it. We will be back next week for Trinity Sunday and then there will be a long break as we enter into ordinary time.Have a blessed Pentecost Sunday everyone and enjoy this new setting of the ancient hymn Come Down O Love Divine.We’ll see you next week!

MESSAGE SUMMARY:  Many of us, while seeking to know the Lord better, also, want to know His will in our lives and for the World. Additionally, we want to go deeper in our personal relationship with God. At the same time, we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Mathew 6:19-21, Jesus is telling us that all that we have, which we tend to call our own, really comes from God. God has expectations for our good management of His resources in our personal relationship with Him: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.". To this end, God is saying to some of us that we must start being responsible for the material things that He has provided us. Also, God tells us that we are to be good managers of His gifts. Very pointedly, God is telling us that if we can’t be responsible for the earthly treasures, which He has provided us, then how can we be responsible for His Spiritual treasures that He wants to provide us as we seek to  deepen our personal relationship with Him.?   TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, because of I am filled with the Holy Spirit, I will not be controlled by my I Procrastination. Rather, I will walk in the Spirit’s fruit of Self-Control. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22f). SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): Mathew 25:14-30; Luke 12:13-21; Romans 3:19-20; Psalms 21:1-13. THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “How God Says He Loves Us: Part 1 -- The Covenant with Noah", at our Website: https://awtlser.podbean.com/ WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO: https://awordfromthelord.org/video-archives/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

God doesn't do anything accidentally. Sanctuary Pastor Rob Meyer illustrates how God works in specifics, and how He equips His Kingdom with the necessary tools to effect His purpose provided we allow His Spiritual principles to operate in our lives. The Garment We Wear Rob Meyer Jan 26, 2020, 9:00 AM

Mutsa heads up Ubuntu Lab - which translates from its Southern African roots to mean, a quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity. "there is a need for understanding not vengeance, ubuntu not victimization" Mutsa's focus is to help people achieve transformation in their life, through bespoke coaching practices and principles that are designed to foster introspective reflection, recharacterization of life events and the adoption of new habits that enables individuals to thrive.   His company runs focused groups across the globe from the office, virtual meetups to exotic locations, with a clear goal to help people ‘Transform' As a Critical Thinker, Mutsa has realised the importance and lack of the crucial skill of critical thinking in Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole. From this need Ubuntu Leadership Academy was created, where through interactive seminars and workshops people were taught how to think and feel differently in order to better themselves. UbuntuLab focuses on holistic development of the individual, were the end result is to BECOME a person who proactively contributes in bettering society. Under ULbuntuLab are programs such as Level Up: (a 3 month intensive entrepreneurial development program), Boys to Men ( an 8 week crash course in Effective Leadership for +18 orphans) and Your Authentic Self ( a series of blogs, vlogs, podcasts, e-books, books and seminars, that dares people to find out who they really are). I had the pleasure of catching up with my cousin Mutsa whilst on holiday in Zimbabwe, this podcast is an extract of that conversation.  Mutsa debunks the modern ‘work-life balance paradigm', His Spiritual journey and why he believes the current ways of living are not good for personal growth, “it is all about being connected to something far bigger than yourself. He drops many Mic Drop Jewels the highlight being a technique ACRR (Acknowledge, Confront, Remove & Replace) - used to help people come to terms with traumatic events and move forward in their lives.    Watch out for the collaboration Live in The UK 2019 - details to follow. Time to evolve or dissolve - Make Life Boom!   For more information on Mutsa Samuel Check Out www.mutsasamuel.blogspot.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/mutsa-samuel-2b955b1b/    Books of Influence - Reading is only useful if you apply the lessons in your own life.     Rising strong by Brene Brown https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rising-Strong-Bren%C3%A9-Brown/dp/0091955033/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Rising+strong+-&qid=1573999745&sr=8-1   Seeds for the Soul by Chuck Hilig https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seeds-Soul-Living-Source-Who/dp/1591810620/ref=sr_1_2?crid=8C2BLU2G9DSQ&keywords=seed+of+the+soul&qid=1573999799&sprefix=Seed+of+the+soul%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-2 1984 by George Orwell https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nineteen-Eighty-Four-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/014118776X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=1984+George+Orwell&qid=1573999900&sr=8-1   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Astonishing-Gods-Ben-Okri/dp/1784082554 Astonishing the Gods by Ben Okri   Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autobiography-Malcolm-X/dp/0141032723/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Autobiography+of+Malcolm+X&qid=1573999984&sr=8-1    

We all face a Spiritual battlefield which is real, but most Christians fail to see them. Once visiting the Belgian town of Mons I asked my American friend if there were any 1st World War battlefields close by. He said he’d lived there for 2 years and there were no battlefield or graveyards from the war. I walked 5 houses down to the end of the street and there was countless graves from the battles of Mons. They are there, but my American friend never recognised them!   Our PM said overnight that he’s always believed in miracles, but regardless of the results of this election, Australian Christians should be under no illusion about our future. If the last year or so has taught us anything, it has shown us that we are facing, and more than any other time in our history, a Spiritual battlefield, we are battling for hearts and minds and even souls of our country.   So rather than sail along and ignore what we face as a church in this nation, I want to preach about it. We can get down, we can get fearful, but I’m going to get real and get mobilised as we face the enemy. And we do face a fearful enemy, but   1 John 4:4 (ESV Strong's) you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.   Over the coming weeks, we are going to talk about key battlefields in our lives, like the heart and mind, homes, families and even church. The enemy is active in all these areas, and I’m believing that these messages can be like a reconnaissance mission, to understand we can fight effectively and win. SPIRITUAL BATTLEFIELD... THE UNSEEN ENEMY, AN UNSEEN ALLY   Ephesians 6:12 (ESV Strong's) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.   Our enemy is not the government, it’s not people, it’s not gays or socialists or drug dealers, our real enemy is the devil. Our battle is not against what we can see, against people who oppose God but against an unseen, far deadlier opponents. Elisha faced a huge army coming to capture him in 2 Kings 6…   2 Kings 6:15-19 (ESV Strong's) When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.   In this story, the young man could not see beyond the physical world in which we live, just like almost everyone today in our nation.  We might be Christians, we might say the battle is not against flesh and blood, but honestly, we don’t really get it… we don’t see this realm, this Spiritual battlefield.   Yet an unseen Spiritual battlefield realm exists–a world every bit as real as what we can see, hear and feel in the physical world. It consists of a countless multitude of ministering angels who are active in the lives of God’s people (Ge 32:2; Isa 63:9). It also includes demons who battle against angels and are trying to destroy us, or at least ruin our relationship with God.   You cannot see or touch this enemy, but he is there. You cannot sense the presence of angels, but I have a feeling we encounter them more frequently than we realise as they protect us…   Psalm 34:7 (ESV Strong's) The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.   My mum and dad we’re in a car accident years ago on a remote stretch of road. Once the car came to a stop, they knew serious damage had been done, and out of nowhere a woman appeared claiming to be a nurse, and she reached through the broken car window and held my father’s head straight until ambulances arrived. Turns out his neck was broken, and this mysterious lady saved his life. However, not of the paramedics saw a woman, and we never learned her name, or why she was randomly on that stretch of road. You might call it coincidence, but after much reflection, we believe this mystery woman who save dad’s life was in fact an angel.   THE UNSEEN INFLUENCE   We are obsessed with earthly things, but the Bible encourages us to look beyond what we see to see a Spiritual battlefield…   2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV Strong's) as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.   The heavenly realms fight to influence us in the Spiritual battlefield, and there is a spiritual battleground all around us. Books like Daniel or Revelation should show us that this world exists, and that it is fighting for influence. Demons are real, and they seek to destroy the bodies, the minds and the souls of people. Angels are real and they fight for us. But please realise that this battle is not on a knife edge… I know who wins!   Philippians 2:8-11 (ESV Strong's) And being found in human form (Jesus), he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   We should be aware, but not obsessed by this unseen world of the Spiritual battlefield and it’s influences. Our prayers, as we have seen overnight, can reach into this world and mobilise forces beyond our understanding.   WHAT WE SEE ISN’T WHAT WE GET   The young man with Elisha could not see what the prophet saw. But just one prayer opened the spiritual eyes of the servant, and what he saw stunned him! God’s power and influence is immense in this Spiritual battlefield.   Every believer should have an awareness of the spiritual battle that rages around us. Most modern Christians have no concept of this spiritual conflict at all, because our western, scientific minds exclude what we cannot measure or see, and so we think it does not exist. I can claim gravity doesn’t exist, but if I step off a cliff, regardless of what I believe or can see, I’m going to experience the consequences of my choice.   Psalms 119:18 (ESV Strong's) Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.   Elisha did not pray that his servant would stop seeing the enemy; he prayed that he would start seeing the goodness and provision of the Lord. Trusting God means looking beyond what we can see to what He sees. Elisha understood this and learned to look beyond his own limited perspective to the Lord’s reality. And because of his faith, God showed Elisha amazing things and did miracles through him.   Hebrews 1:14 (ESV Strong's) Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?   So when we face spiritual forces unseen. When we face life’s troubles, how can we begin to see the provision of the Lord all around us instead of the giant we seem to be facing? Well, when I think giants, I think David and Goliath, and I think of victory against all physical odds!   THE BIGGER THEY ARE THE HARDER THEY FALL   David faced a seemingly insurmountable task… a giant that the army of Israel had fled from, that he faced as one, scrawny kid. All the polls predicted a Goliath win.   Elisha saw what the young man did not, and through faith, David saw what his countrymen did not.   1 Samuel 17:45 (ESV Strong's) Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.   In times of extreme pressure, God stretches our faith and deepens our dependence on Him. Without a strong, abiding faith, we can quickly yield to temptation and fear, especially when the trial or difficulty is intense or prolonged. God developed David’s trust until it became unshakable. Whatever Goliath you face today, you need to bury one truth deep within your heart:   God loves you, He is on your side and He wins the battle every time!  You may go through times of failure. Life may not always turn out the way you planned—but ultimately, God will be glorified, and you will be blessed. When you trust Him, when you open your eyes to see the true spiritual battle, when you train yourself to see beyond the physical world into the eternal, you will live differently and keep battling!   So how were David and Elisha able to see beyond their giants, and how can we?   1.      RECOGNISE THE TRUE BATTLE   So often when we face difficulties and giants, we concentrate on the people attacking us rather than on the true nature of the battle.   Ephesians 6:12 (ESV Strong's) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.   David did not see just Goliath on his Spiritual battlefield, he saw God’s enemy. Elisha didn’t just see the Syrian army, he saw the heavenly army ready to battle.  When someone attacks us, don’t concentrate on the person and hate them. Recognise the spirit that is behind the attack. We need to look behind any political party making immoral decisions, beyond any person making our lives miserable and see the devil battling to destroy our nation, our homes and our future.   This is why prayer is so effective, because prayer battles in the heavenlies, it does not just deal with the here and now, the people, the sins and the attacks. See eternity, and see things God’s way!     2.      RECALL PAST VICTORIES   David recalled how God had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the grasp of the bear (1 Samuel 17:32–37). You first win spiritual victories in your mind. If you cave into feelings of fear and doubt, you will lose. When you focus on the truth of God’s Word, you win every time. If you want victories in a Spiritual battlefield you face, remember how God has given you victories in the past, and know He can do it again.   We are facing the prospect of moving our church to bigger and better premises. The dollars involved are terrifying, but when I recall how God moved amazingly to provide for us to gain this property, I see that His unseen forces are working on our behalf, and my fear is overcome.   3.      REJECT DISCOURAGING WORDS   The young man with Elisha spoke words of fear and defeat. No one in the Israelite camp encouraged David in his quest to defeat Goliath. The soldiers laughed at him. His brothers felt embarrassed by his presence and urged him to go home. Even King Saul doubted him. If David had listened to the advice of others, he would have given up. If Elisha had listened to the young man, he would have been plunged into captivity or even death.   But they both turned their hearts towards the Lord and there they found the encouragement they needed.   People often say horrible things, even if they don’t mean to be mean, but their words cut us to the quick. As a pastor, I’m often criticised, and it always hurts. But I need to make the choice to give the hurt to the Lord  and keep doing what I know He has called me to do. I recently had a pastor ask me what’s the difference between a politician and a pastor. If 51% like the politician he calls it a victory. If 99% like a pastor, he wonders why the 1% don’t like him!   Often you are criticised by people who should be encouraging you. Look at Peter…   Acts 11:2-3 (ESV Strong's) So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”   Gentiles had come to Christ, and the big criticism was not from unbelievers but from Jewish believers! If you face discouraging words, even from believers, your family or friends, you can choose to see the spiritual battle driving those words, and reject the words, not the people.     4.      RESPOND WITH GOD’S WORD   Elisha said to the young man who was full of fear,   2 Kings 6:16 (ESV Strong's) He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”   David was constantly told he could not beat the giant, but he responded…   1 Samuel 17:37 (ESV Strong's) “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”   Hebrews 13:6 (ESV Strong's) So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”   And it is not enough to just speak positively, you need to live trusting the Lord in every way. When you face attack or some other giant, we are tempted to worry. Worry is a sin, so confess it and give it to God and trust Him by faith that He will protect and guide you…   Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV Strong's) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   Jesus faced incredible attack and pressure in His Spiritual battlefield from the devil himself in Matthew 4, and Jesus didn’t try and argue or drum up positive words. He answered using Scripture, and so should we, that’s why I want you all to be reading the Bible every day. Read it, learn it, study it, memorise it!   5.      RELY ON GOD’S POWER   2 Kings 6:18 (ESV Strong's) And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.   David went out to Goliath with a sling shot, 5 stones and an attitude! In front of Goliath he said,   1 Samuel 17:47 (ESV Strong's) and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”   You can’t win a battle with the devil on your own. But thanks be to God, we don’t face him alone, we face him with Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lord, and the power of His Spirit can triumph over the evil one! Stand and fight on your knees and see the victory God will bring upon the situation in this Spiritual battlefield.     6.      RECKON ON THE VICTORY   Elisha saw an army struck with blindness. David saw a giant losing his head, and even before he stepped onto the battlefield, David knew he wasn’t going to lose. He knew it wasn’t his reputation on the line, but God’s. He knew it wasn’t his strength or cunning that would win the battle, but God’s strength and wisdom.   1 John 5:4 (ESV Strong's) For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.   We face a Spiritual battlefield in our nation. We face battlefields every day in our families, our homes, our minds, our finances, and our churches, and over the next few weeks I want to target these battlefields and prove to you that victory is possible because God is on our side… But the real battle is not against people, even people who seem to hate us, but it’s against spiritual forces and powers in this Spiritual battlefield.   ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?   Try and make church every week, because over the coming weeks I’m going to centre in on areas where the battlefield is fiercest in our lives… the family, finances, our nation and morals and even in the church.  Make no mistake, Christians are under attack in this Spiritual battlefield across the board more than ever before in this nation, and I for one am not going to bow my knee to the frauds of the enemy.   Today, if you feel like you are under attack, then I want you to make a stand. Some of what you face might be natural, it might be selfish people or bad decisions, but much of what you face could be driven by the enemy, demonic forces arrayed against you. You can’t see them, but they are there, and like Elisha, I want you to open your eyes to see the incredible army of God lined up on your side!   There are demonic spirits, evil powers and principalities that come against you, whether you see them or not, whether you believe in them or not. But I refuse to concentrate on them when there are myriads of angelic servants to protect, guide and direct our lives for us. They are watching, ready to step in, but they will not force you to act as God wants. You always have a choice in this Spiritual battlefield, but when you choose righteousness, when you choose obedience, when you pray in faith and obedience, they act on your behalf…   Psalms 55:18 (ESV Strong's) He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.   If you feel like many things are arrayed against you, it’s time to reveal the enemy for the fraud he is and recognise the power of the Lord of Hosts.  We face seemingly insurmountable forces against us in our lives, our families and our church, but I for one will stand up and fight because I’ve read the Book and I know who wins!   Today, if you feel you are facing a Spiritual battlefield and demonic opposition in an area of your life, I want you to stand. I am standing, because I often feel a hopelessness about life, business, family and our church, but I am standing and committing to fight, not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark work in this Spiritual battlefield. And I’m going to win!

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, David was adopted as an infant, by a first generation Mexican-American family. He enlisted into the U.S. Air Force after High School and spent his entire tour at Torrejon Air Base in Madrid Spain in Medical Administration.After his military service, he began his career in Marketing and Advertising with BBDO (Batton,Barton,Durnstien&Osborne) Ad Agency in San Francisco, CA with full focus on the Apple Computer campaign for MacIntosh. The experience he gained, lead to his Professional careers in Radio and TV, Software Sales, Medical Marketing and Real Estate.His Spiritual awakening began at 22, after a near-death experience from a severe motorcycle accident. Struggling to accept his religious upbringing as a fundamentalist Christian, versus, hiding his true personal spiritual experience and his love of the ancient metaphysical sciences, at 33, personal integrity was glaring. Being a preacher’s kid, choosing his own way vs. his family and tradition was the “road to hell” in their beliefs. He finally asked himself which one felt like hell. As he quotes “to thine own self, be true.”At the end of his first year, emotionally and physically sober, reading and learning spiritual philosophies from Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Richard Bach, James Redfield and Neale Donald Walsch, David was given a re-occurring dream that lead him on a spiritual journey of discovery. The illumination and connection with Spirit took place atop the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico outside Santa Fe. The experience with Spirit was extremely profound and life changing. David re-located to Albuquerque for a 10 month sabbatical of spiritual exploration. “When the student is ready. . . the teacher appears.”Returning back to San Antonio with this new knowledge and spiritual understanding, he began his spiritual career working with others involved in a 12-step recovery program. A place where the sheer number of readings involved, kept him in the books studying happily. A friend of Bill W. and an active member of his work, the experience caused David to excel as an Intuitive Reader, and metaphysical Teacher. Since 1998 David has pursued his passion as a Professional Astrologer, Numerologist and a Master of Tarot.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, David was adopted as an infant, by a first generation Mexican-American family. He enlisted into the U.S. Air Force after High School and spent his entire tour at Torrejon Air Base in Madrid Spain in Medical Administration.After his military service, he began his career in Marketing and Advertising with BBDO (Batton,Barton,Durnstien&Osborne) Ad Agency in San Francisco, CA with full focus on the Apple Computer campaign for MacIntosh. The experience he gained, lead to his Professional careers in Radio and TV, Software Sales, Medical Marketing and Real Estate.His Spiritual awakening began at 22, after a near-death experience from a severe motorcycle accident. Struggling to accept his religious upbringing as a fundamentalist Christian, versus, hiding his true personal spiritual experience and his love of the ancient metaphysical sciences, at 33, personal integrity was glaring. Being a preacher’s kid, choosing his own way vs. his family and tradition was the “road to hell” in their beliefs. He finally asked himself which one felt like hell. As he quotes “to thine own self, be true.”At the end of his first year, emotionally and physically sober, reading and learning spiritual philosophies from Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Richard Bach, James Redfield and Neale Donald Walsch, David was given a re-occurring dream that lead him on a spiritual journey of discovery. The illumination and connection with Spirit took place atop the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico outside Santa Fe. The experience with Spirit was extremely profound and life changing. David re-located to Albuquerque for a 10 month sabbatical of spiritual exploration. “When the student is ready. . . the teacher appears.”Returning back to San Antonio with this new knowledge and spiritual understanding, he began his spiritual career working with others involved in a 12-step recovery program. A place where the sheer number of readings involved, kept him in the books studying happily. A friend of Bill W. and an active member of his work, the experience caused David to excel as an Intuitive Reader, and metaphysical Teacher. Since 1998 David has pursued his passion as a Professional Astrologer, Numerologist and a Master of Tarot.

In a series leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we look at certain pillars in God's Theological infastructure for His Spiritual building - the Church. This one is focused on the Gospel itself.

In a series leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we look at certain pillars in God's Theological infastructure for His Spiritual building - the Church. This one is focused on the Gospel itself.

Pastor Jeff Williams: November 20, 2011 Meet the Philippians, Part IV: Chapter 2:1-4. I'm going to share a story that I've shared before. It's probably been seven years [since I've told you]; so I feel like after seven years, I'm free to tell it again. If you've already heard it, you're dating yourself. Our house is in the woods, so there are a lot of creatures in the woods that sometimes get caught in the ceiling or the walls. You can hear them scurrying around. I heard the pitter patter of little feet-not the kind you want-in our rafters for a long time. Sometimes it seemed like I'd heard squabbling and fighting, and I used to wonder what in the world was in our walls. One day, something got trapped down in the wall. It was right by the couch where I would like to sit and watch television. Over the days, I could hear this thing jumping and trying to get out. I could hear it over and over again, and it was just breaking my heart because this went on for several days. Every day it would get quieter, and it wasn't jumping as high. It wasn't jump as long. I was like, “Oh, this poor thing! He's just dying this horrible death inside my walls.” I decided I was going to try to get it out, so I took a carpet knife and cut a little hole in the drywall. I put a little bushel basket there to try to catch it. It wasn't any bigger than that. I was figuring if anything was bigger than that hole, I really didn't want it climbing out anyway (congregation laughing). It could just stay right in there. If something was small enough to get through that hole, I could handle it. I set up this trap, and then I went back and was watching a movie. All of the sudden I heard something in the trap, in the bushel basket. It was a flying squirrel, and I named him Rocky-you know, after Rocky the flying squirrel. He also looked like Rocky Balboa after Apollo Creed had beaten him up quite a bit. I thought, “Well, that's a fitting name.” His fur was all gone, and he looked like he'd been in a fight and lost. He just looked like a mess! He was weak, sickly, and skinny. He could hardly stand up. I took the bushel basket out on the deck. I gave him a strawberry. He ate a little bit of that, and I wished him luck. He then kinda walked off into the woods, never to be seen again. I thought, “Well, just in case he has family in those walls-I think it was probably just him-but I'm going to put this bushel basket back. Sure enough, I caught another one. Rocky II surfaced. Rocky II was still pretty sickly, but he was just a little bit more spry than Rocky I. I let him chew on the strawberry a little bit, and then he kinda went off into the woods. I thought, “Hmm. Exactly how many “Rocky” movies were there? This could be a long night. Sure enough, I caught Rocky III. He was much more spry and pretty energetic. He wasn't sickly at all. I thought, “Wow, how many are there?” Then I caught Rocky IV. This was the strongest one yet. He had a full fur coat and was looking good, well-fed, well cared for. I thought to myself, “If there is a Rocky V, he is going to be hard to catch.” Sure enough, I was watching that movie, and you could almost hear the movie “Rocky,” (Pastor is humming the music from the movie). He came out just fighting, and this guy was tough. It took me a long time to catch him. He'd dart in and out from the wall. I finally caught him, and he was in that basket. He was strong and he was fast. He was chewing on that basket for all he was worth; and he was looking me in the eyes as he was chewing through this basket-Rocky V. He was looking at me like (in Pastor's best Rocky voice), “If I ever get out of this basket, I'm going to kill you!” (congregation laughing). I finally got him outside. There was no strawberry for this guy, and he just bound for the tree. He left for that tree trying to figure out a way to get back in the house, so I shut the door really fast to keep him out. What was going on in those walls was a microcosm of what goes on in the world. We have the weak and the vulnerable, those who are left out, weak, hurting and sick. Then we have those at the top of the food chain who are healthy, well-fed and doing great. Just like in the walls, they're just scratching, pushing, and fighting to see who is going to be the top flying squirrel-so it is in this world. People push and fight to see who is going to be number one, who is going to be the top banana, and who is going to be down here. Down here is not where you want to be. You want to be on top. Jesus comes on the scene, and he inverts the pyramid, doesn't He? He says, “The greatest among you should be the servant of all.” Jesus takes what was regarded as humility, and He elevates humility to the point where it becomes something we desire to have and to be. Prior to Jesus, humility was not something you wanted to be. It meant you were inferior; you didn't have a good self image. You let people walk all over you, but Jesus takes humility and servanthood and lifts them up to a place that had never before been seen. Paul is going to echo those sentiments. Paul is going to come on, and he's going to talk about unity. He's going to talk about humility, and he's going to talk about servanthood. He's going to tell us why there's motivation behind unity. He's going to tell us what the marks of unity are, what it looks like; and he's going to tell us the means, the method, and the how of unity. How is it maintained? You see, because any time selfishness, egos and that competitive drive come into a situation, it destroys unity. I want you to notice here that Paul is talking to a healthy church. He isn't correcting doctrinal errors like he did in some churches. He's not correcting moral failure like he did in some churches. He's talking to a healthy body, and it's really preventative. He's saying, “Look, even in a healthy church if you're not careful-if somebody has their own agenda or starts thinking their group is more important than another group-there could be discord and disunity within that body.” He said, “So beware of that.” I heard a story-I don't know if this is true or not-but it was rather humorous and sad at the same time. The story says that in Kentucky in the 1800s, there was a power struggle between two elders about who was in charge of a given church. The pastor asked if he could have a hook for his hat. He asked one elder, and he said, “Sure, you can put a peg right there in the wall, Pastor, for your hat.” When the other elder found that out, he became really upset. He said, “Nobody puts a peg in the wall without my permission.” The fellow said, “Well, I said he could put it there, and it's fine,” so a church split arose. People went with one guy [who didn't agree with putting a peg in the wall] and left. People who were behind the guy who put the peg in the wall, they stayed. Rumor has it to this day in Kentucky that you either go to the “peg church” or the “anti-peg” Baptist church. I don't know if it's true, but there has to be some resemblance of truth to that. If you've been in the church long enough, you've seen factions or dissentions. Usually they happen when there is a power struggle, when ego gets in the way of ministry. Instead of working together, pooling our talents, abilities, and gifts for a common cause and vision, a person or a group tries to take over, tries to assert their influence. You've seen it happen, or you've heard of it happening. A healthy church can become a dysfunctional church. An effective church can be rendered impotent because instead of working with each other and moving toward our goal, they begin to fight with each other. We actually become counter-productive for the cause of Christ. Therefore, Paul writes this as a warning, “You need to maintain your unity.” Let's pick up the text in Philippians 2:1 (page 1162 of pew Bibles). Dr. Doerfer finished up [with Philippians 1 last week]. Did you enjoy his message last week? Good stuff! Verse 1, Paul writes and he says, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort…” By the way, let me just insert this. When Paul says, “If you have any comfort from his love… If any encouragement from being united in Christ…” it's not that Paul is questioning that. He's not saying, “Well, if you're encouraged by God's love-I'm not sure you are. I'm not sure he does love us. I'm not sure.” It's not that at all. This is what's called first class conditional cause in the Greek. If the verb is in the indicative mood, it means that it's a statement of fact. Basically, Paul can be saying here, “Since you are encouraged… Because of the comfort of His love.” Even though it says if, because it's a first class conditional love, he's saying it's a statement of fact; so we could translate it as because or since. “…if any comfort from His love…” Or, because there is comfort from His love. This word is agape, and this means an unconditional love. He says, “I know you find comfort in the fact that God loves you unconditionally.” There is nothing you can say or do that would stop God from loving you. You may have had somebody who loves you say to you, “There is nothing you can say or do that can stop me from loving you.” I can say those words to my family. There is nothing you can say or do that will keep me from loving you. That's unconditional love. When somebody says it, and you're the recipient of that love, you find great comfort in that, don't you? That's what he's saying. We have great comfort in the agape, knowing that God is not going to love you any less or more tomorrow than He does now; and there is nothing you've done to earn that love. There's nothing you can do to earn the love of God. The love of God is unconditional. “…if any fellowship with the Spirit…” The word fellowship is the word Koinonia. We said it means a partnership. If any partnership in the Spirit... The Holy Spirit partners with us; He comforts us when we're grieving. He guides us; He gives us discernment. He gives us strength to persevere when we're weak. He gives us insight into the Word of God. As I'm preaching this morning, the Holy Spirit will give you insight into His Word. He makes Christ known to us. The Holy Spirit comes and encourages us in our walk, so the Holy Spirit partners with us. He's in Koinonia and fellowship with us. Paul says that is a motivating factor for unity, the presence of the Holy Spirit. “…if any tenderness and compassion…” He said because there is tenderness and compassion, God has given you mercy. The law said death; Christ received that death; and you've received forgiveness in life. You've received grace. That's tenderness; that's compassion. God has given you compassion through Christ. He says that should make you feel like you can be unified. I'm going to say a little bit more about that in just a while, but that is the why. That is the motivation for unity-the blessings that God has given us in abundance. In Verse 2, he's going to talk about the what. What does unity look like? What are the marks of unity? How can you recognize it when you see it? He says, “…then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and purpose.” When you see that happen, then you know unity is taking place. I'll go back to our Fuddruckers event. We have an agency in our city, the YWCA, working in partnership with a church, working with a burger joint, and working with the media for one purpose; and we all came together whether you were bussing the tables or consuming your burger. Whatever your role was, we were all working together to try to get the word out to our community about these needs and about these agencies and do something to help. What happened? It was effective. There was joy. There was like-mindedness; there was a common cause. We all understood what it was, and we were working together to make a difference. When there is unity, there is productivity. You didn't see fighting; you didn't see one group try to be more important than another group. We all became humbled. We all served: we bused tables, we greeted, we invited people, we made bread-whatever it was that we did, we worked together for a common goal. That's what it looks like. That's the mark of unity. Paul says, “This is what I want to see in the church in Philippi.” Verse 3: he is going to talk about the how. These are the means and the methods for oneness. He says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Another translation-one of yours-might say, “Do not look out for your own interest only, but also for the interest of others.” He says this is the how. You lay aside your ego; you lay aside your agenda for the common agenda. You don't resemble the world where everyone is scratching, pushing, and clawing to be number one, to take as much as they can, and to step on people along the way. You've experienced that. You've experienced that in the work place; maybe you've experienced it at school during your education where someone pushed their weight around and tried to use their influence to gain advantage over another person. I don't know if we've ever seen that in politics (congregation laughing). Maybe someday we'll see that. [Honestly, though], we see it in our politics. It's all around us in the world that exists. Paul says, “It's not to be the way it is in the church.” The church will not only look out for our own interest but also for the interests of others. How many of you have a favorite Thanksgiving dish that you really look forward to every Thanksgiving? Who can volunteer what they really like? (Various people in the audience are answering.) Sweet potato casserole. Green bean casserole-you can have that (congregation laughing). Anything anybody else brought that you didn't have to work for (congregation laughing). Who is a pumpkin pie person? Dressing people? Yeah, I'm with you. Just imagine that you're sitting down at this Thanksgiving feast, and you've been starving yourself all day. You know this meal is going to be good. It smells good; it looks good. You can't wait. You wait till everybody gets to the table and you're going to say grace; but you have your eye on that favorite dish you were looking forward to. You're looking at it, and you want it. It comes to the time when we start passing it, but Uncle Joe takes your favorite dish and parks it right in front of himself. He gets out a fork and just starts digging in eating it. He starts saying, “I know you made this just for me! You know how much I like it!” He starts eating it, and you're thinking, “When are you going to pass that around? That's not just for you! That's for everybody!” What happens to your Thanksgiving spirit at this point? You start snarling a little bit. You might even say something. You might say, “You know, other people might want some of that casserole too!” The next thing you know, there is disunity. There is arguing breaking out. Maybe it's the potatoes, “Oh, I love my potatoes!” They put the potatoes in front of them, and they keep scooping. I loved potatoes when I was growing up, and I had somebody in my family who would just fill his whole plate with potatoes! I would be thinking to myself, “Come on! Save some!” So you are upset right now because they are taking your favorite dish. That is what you're waiting for, and they are being selfish. Because they're being selfish, because they're taking it all, you're not going to have any. You start thinking, “Boy, I wish they would share! I wish they'd realize they're not the only person here!” You become very angry and upset. You might even vocalize your anger and the fact that you're upset. A Thanksgiving holiday is ruined because you're at the table having an argument with Uncle Joe. What if you knew that no matter what anybody took, your hostess was always going to fill that bowl with the same contents, and it's going to be just as good? What if you knew when the dressing was gone that there was another bowl of dressing coming out of the oven that was just as good? What if you knew when somebody took a slice that was too big of that pumpkin pie that there was another pumpkin pie coming out of the oven right now? You were going to be able to eat just as much as you wanted, as long as you wanted, and whatever you wanted? Now are you upset when Uncle Joe takes too many potatoes, too much casserole? Not at all. I heard a true story about a woman who loved to feed birds. She moved into her house, and she saw these birds. She said, “I'm going to feed these birds. I love birds.” The starlings started picking on the other birds. They'd pick on the robins, the sparrows, and the cardinals till they drove them away, “This is our food!” She would just keep feeding them. The starlings would eat until they were full. Then there'd be enough for the robins, enough for the sparrows, and all the way down the bottom of the food chain-whatever that bird was. She said, “Over time, something changed because every day I would feed them, and every day I would feed them more than they needed. Every day they knew they were going to be full, and they stopped fighting. Unity happened in the bird family in that neighborhood.” Actually the first birds on the scene began to sing for the other birds and let them know, “Food's here. It's here now. You can come now!” They would be singing their song, and all these birds that were fighting and squabbling to see who would be first were now getting along. Nobody was pecking at anyone else. They were actually calling for each other to come and eat because they knew that the hostess was going to give them plenty. That's what Paul is saying. He is saying, “You are arguing and fighting, but as God gives us His Spiritual food, He gives you more than you need. He gives you more than you want; He gives more than you can ask for.” That becomes the motivation for unity. You see? He says, “Remember, we can be unified because there is no limit to His love. There is no end to His fellowship. There is no end to His compassion and His mercy. God loves you all the same, and because God has bestowed to you all the same blessings and has given you Jesus Christ, there is no end. There is no limit, so you can all come and partake. You all matter; you're all important; you're all loved. You don't have to fight about who is more important. You're all important. You can just relax. You can come to His banquet table, you can enjoy fellowship, and you can do so united because of the blessings of God. That's the message that Paul was seeking to convey to the church. Friends, we have to realize that even though we're a healthy church, unity can be taken away from us if we allow the world system and our egos to creep in. If we start to resemble those flying squirrels pushing and clawing, we have to realize there is more than we need. God has no limits. His grace knows no boundaries. We can rest in Him. Our identity is secure in Him. Our blessings are eternal in Him, and that becomes the motivation for our unity. We have the same goal and purpose: to make Christ known to our community, to show His love in a tangible way, to advance the Kingdom of God. We do that together. We use all of our gifts, all of our abilities, and all of our passions to work together for the common good of making Christ known to our city and our world. When we do that, we love and encourage one another. The Thanksgiving meal-you take just enough for yourself, and you pass it around. You make sure that nobody else has seconds until everybody has had firsts. We're going to make mistakes. There is no question about that; we're not going to always get it right. There are going to be times when we need to apologize to each other, make amends with one another; but as a body if we will maintain what Paul is talking about here, we will be united and we will be effective. God will use us in even greater ways than He has up to this point. Let's pray together: Father, we thank You for this preventative teaching by the Apostle Paul. We're not dealing with immoral crisis or doctrinal error, but he was making sure that what they had remained. In order for them to be effective-in order for them to make a difference-they must have maintained their unity. They could maintain their unity because they had the same Spirit; they had the same Lord; they had the same purpose that they were living for. Lord, You invite us to check our egos at the door. Church is to be a different place than the world. It's not a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. It's not a place where the strong step on the weak. It's a place where the strong bend down to help up the weak. It's a place where the strong serve the weak. It's a place where we look out for the needs of those around us. I pray as You have used our church [in the past] that You would continue to use our church in greater capacities and dimensions. May we prove ourselves worthy. Father, I pray that You would cause our unity to increase, our love to abound, and a partnership with the Holy Spirit to be evident to all and that Christ remain in this place. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.