I Am Still Here, Evans Olang

Psalm 118:17, “I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD”

A question once asked, “Why are we here on earth?”, someone responded, “to live this life to the fullest“. I wouldn’t say that is the reason why we are here primarily, that is what we do while we are here. God designed the earth, populated it and finally created man to fit into what He had created. God being a God of order did not create man on the first day. The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, that is the purpose He created us for. No one is here by accident but by the divine will of God. The question then you ask yourself, “if I am here, why I’m I here and how long am I going to be here?”, Until what He had planned for me is fulfilled in my life.

Honesty In The Face Of Confusion, Pastor Phil Sessa

Job 10:15-16, “If I be wicked, woe to me; and if I be righteous, yet I will not lift up my head. I am full of confusion: Therefore see my affliction; for it increases. You hunt me as a fierce lion; and again you show yourself marvelous to me.”

Job is in a state of confusion here. He is willing to take an honest assessment of himself although still not coming up with an answer to his situation. How many of us would be willing to take such an honesty test. This can be helpful for us if done right or harmful to us if done wrong. Let me explain. Many of us either think too less of ourselves, or more highly than we ought to. So we either look like the next best thing to sliced bread, or worse than the scum of the earth. Neither of these outlooks speaks balance and order. If we are Christians we are NOT even sinners saved by grace. We are saints that struggle with sin. Why do I say this, because the Apostle Paul NEVER wrote to the “sinner’s saved by grace” in Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, etc…. NO, he wrote to the saints in those places. I will save “the sinner saint devotion” for another time soon. However I will say we need to look at ourselves in the right way, like Job.

Preach The Word In Season Or Out Of Season, Part 1of3, Pastor Phil Sessa

Daniel 5:26-27, “26This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians”

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Tim 4:2).” Ray Comfort says there are only two times to preach the Word of God, in season and out of season! That constitutes all times. In the book of Daniel, The prophet Daniel was summoned because the king, Belshazzar, was told by the queen that “There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods (5:11).” Daniel means “God is my judge,” but was changed to Belteshazzar, or “Bel protect the king. This king, whose name (similar to Daniel’s, cf. 4:8) means “Bel, protect the king,” is about to be conquered by the Medo-Persian army, and is warned as such in the midst of a feast that he threw at his palace. It was in the midst of this feast that Daniel was called upon to preach the Word of God.

Marks Of A Disciple, Part 3of3, Pastor Phil Sessa

John 8:31–32, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

I often hear that all one needs to do when it comes to salvation is to simply believe. Some take it a step further and use Romans 10:9 which Paul writes, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” If one quoted this verse alone as the means of salvation, then it sounds like Paul is saying all one must do is to confess sin, believe Jesus and salvation is bestowed. However the key in this whole thing, Jesus is Lord. This confession was made publicly among other disciples. Then this new convert was disciple into Christian maturity.

Marks Of A Disciple, Part 3of3, Pastor Phil Sessa

John 8:31–32, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

I often hear that all one needs to do when it comes to salvation is to simply believe. Some take it a step further and use Romans 10:9 which Paul writes, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” If one quoted this verse alone as the means of salvation, then it sounds like Paul is saying all one must do is to confess sin, believe Jesus and salvation is bestowed. However the key in this whole thing, Jesus is Lord. This confession was made publicly among other disciples. Then this new convert was disciple into Christian maturity.

Marks Of A Disciple, Part 2of3, Pastor Phil Sessa

Matthew 10:40-42, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

In part one of Marks of a Disciple; we examined the new commandment Jesus gave to His disciples, to love one another as He has loved them. In light of that, Jesus speaks again about another mark being His disciple. Jesus starts off by talking about receiving Him.

Crucified With Christ, Benjamen Leahey

Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” I would like to share with you about the nature of regeneration, and the life that follows as described by the Apostle Paul here in his letter to the Galatians. He speaks of an experience that one must truly enter into, this is not something God forces us to do, but we willingly enter into. The KJV renders the beginning of this verse “I am”, which more directly points to something we must daily enter into. I am daily crucified with Jesus, daily I die to myself, daily I live by faith. I cannot say enough that Christianity does not consist in church attendance, nor in bible reading, not in evangelism or good deeds, not even in the sacraments, for without a true work of grace within the heart, all of those things mean nothing. I must be crucified with Him, I must enter in to His death. I must repent of my sin, I must be born again.

Pastors Who Don’t Pray Are Unable to Bring Men to Greater Heights in Christ, Pastor Gregg T. Johnson

How frustrating it is to plan elaborate training seminars and intensive discipleship programs that are met with little or no interest from those we are trying to reach. How discouraging it can be to labor over a sermon, studying and preparing for hours only to have no response from those to whom it is preached. How agonizing it is to organize, administrate, plan and coordinate only to be met by resistance, criticism and rejection. Such scenarios are repeated over and over for those leaders who don’t pray.

Power To Save, Evans Olang

Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes …”

Since last week, the Lord has been dealing with me concerning the power that ought to be present in my life, and in other people as well, and I have found myself meditating heavily on this word “power.” Many people know about God’s power. The question is this; is it present in our lives and are we craving to see it at work, or is it possible that the Lord has shut down his power in our lives because we are not hungry enough to actually cry out to Him for it?