This was an unusual Sunday service.
But then, what else is new?
My niece, Katie, liked it very much. She appreciated that Pastor Frank followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and didn't just follow the schedule he had in mind.
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This month's theme-Community-'Farmville First'
We are hoping to bless Farmville with some community and outreach service.
I believe that when we invest ourselves in the community of Farmville,
we will love its people more.
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I was reminded today, that Jesus is in Farmville, and Jesus is in our church.
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Favorite Song-"There is a Fountain filled with grace...flowing from Emmanuel's veins...so I will rejoice...I will rejoice...and be glad..."
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Pastor Frank shared this thought-
We have been satisfied with a gleaning mentality and our buckets are full
but now we are going to reap and fill our barns.
I can feed my family with a bucket.
When my barn is full, a community can be fed.
The harvest is ready to be reaped.
The scriptures promise that there is a day coming
when we will reap before we sow.
I just read that I think, in Amos 9:13-"Behold, the day is coming,"
says the LORD, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;.."
Amos is prophesying about the day Israel will be restored. The blessings will be so great that scarcely will one cycle of growth be over before the next begins.
It sounds like a day to get ready for.
It sounds like God, restoring the church.
"This is the day when we no are no longer going to glean but we are going to reap. Help us to get beyond the bucket mentality. You can use us even in exile to speak to the world. Give us the vision to have our barns full."
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Scripture-Ps.67-"God be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations..."
"Let all the peoples praise You, O God;...Then the earth shall yield her increase;..and God..shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."
It appears that God blesses an individual and through that individual, God blesses a people, and through the people, He blesses a people group, and through that people group, He blesses the world.
Let all the people learn to praise Him, and then the earth will yield its harvest.
Worship changes the climate of things.
As we worship Him, the earth around us will yield its harvest.
If we try to plant orange trees in Maine, it won't work. We can till the soil and plant our seed and have the blessing of rain and sunshine, but nothing is going to grow unless our climate changes.
Even so, we will not be able to gather a harvest unless the climate changes and the climate changes when we know who God is and worship Him with all our hearts.
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Why? Because He inhabits the praises of His people. When we praise Him in spirit and in truth, He shows up. And when Jesus shows up, good things happen. People are healed and saved and homes are changed. We can point people out to Him and ask Him to bless them and His presence changes our minds and gives us contrite hearts.
The presence of Jesus changes the climate to accomodate the harvest.
It is then we will reap a harvest that fills our barns.
Our buckets will no longer be filled with bits and pieces of the harvest.
Our buckets will be used to stand on to reach the branches laden with fruit.
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Does the presence of our church change the climate of our community?
If our church closed down, would our community notice?
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There is much happening in the world right now.
Things are in an upheaval and there is the temptation to worry about the government
and our future.
But the stage is being set for the church to move;
not for the devil to take over.
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A Hymn of Faith-Habakkuk 3:17-19~
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls-
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer's feet,
and He will make me walk on my high hills.
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In spite of the collapse of everything normal
around the writer of this hymn of faith,
he rejoices in the Lord who is His salvation
and trusts Him to be His strength.
God will make his feet strong
and will help him to walk on the high places.
This doesn't sound like defeat or fear or hunger.
It sounds like an opportunity for God to show His power
and for the singer to be an overcomer.
Terrible defeat greeted with a song,
turns into an opportunity for incredible victory.
These verses remind me of the altar call.
Are you overwhelmed with life?
Come worship with me at the altar.
"I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad."
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