Alot has happened this week, and I have had a hard time focusing.
I also just found out that a Kansas church plans to picket the funerals in Appomattox tomorrow. They believe that the shootings are God's judgment on America because we accept homosexuality.
But I want to write last weeks sermon down before I receive another,
and doing it so late will help me be ready for tomorrow's sermon,
because usually, one sermon builds on another.
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Song:
"I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hand
Lay back against you and breathe-
Feel Your heartbeat
This love is so deep,
it's more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace, It's overwhelming."
"What is in the cup in His hand? Do I want to drink it? Am I able to drink it? What cups are there? The cup of suffering...the cup of salvation...the cup filled to overflowing...the cup of living water....the cup of the New Testament... the cup of the Lord...the cup of blessing...
I think the cup holds a mixed drink.
But, He drank it.
It killed Him to do so.
And He offers it to me.
But since it is the only way to
be close enough to feel
His heartbeat,
I think I will trust Him,
and drink. AH
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The following is my perception of Pastor Frank's sermon and what I think I heard him say.
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Worship in Heaven is done without request.
A church without spot or wrinkle is one who worships God without requests.
Let the worship of Heaven be the worship of the earth.
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11 Tim. 3:1-5-"...in the last days, perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"
Pastor Frank emphasized the 5th verse-"..having a form of godliness but denying its power."
(My Bible notes say,"Some will maintain an outward pretense, speaking the vocabulary of Christianity, but refusing the reality that Christian faith expresses. The power they deny is the heart of Christianity-the fact of a risen Redeemer, the truth of the inspired Word and the indwelling and overflowing of the Holy Spirit, working within believers and transforming their lives. ")
What does it mean to have a form of godliness?
A form creates a void to hold the substance which will be poured into the mold.
It can be shaped by your upbringing, theology, disappointments, religion, lack of answers to prayers, our morals and standards, etc.
We try to pour God into that mold because we want God to be conformed into our way of thinking.
But, God is a mold breaker, not a mold maker.
Take the story of the adulterous woman.
The traditional mold said that she should be stoned.
Jesus broke the mold.
According to a more literal translation of the Greek,
what He actually said was more like,
"He who is without this particular sin (of adultery)
may cast the first stone."
Remember, He had taught that if you even think about participating
in this sin, you have done it.
We want God to be regular at an irregular price.
We've settled for less than who God is.
Our religion, our experiences, have boxed God in and we have labeled Him as regular.
We have a form,
but we deny the power that could make us holy.
Rom. 1:16-"..the gospel..is the power of God..."
1 Thess. 1:5-"..our gospel...came in power..."
1 Cor. 2:3-5-"...my preaching...was a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,...so your faith
would be in the power of God."
11 Cor. 4:7-"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power
may be of God, and not of us.
11 Cor. 12:9-"..I boast in my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest on me."
The power of God comes in the midst of weakness, in the weakest time of your life.
Walking in the Spirit will open up your eyes to hear and see and do things through Him
even when you are weakest in your flesh.
You will see a small cloud and hear the abundance of rain.
Last week, we talked about keeping your fire burning on the altar...
using good wood, taking out the ashes (hindrances) so our fire burns brighter,
and burning up all of our offering.
What do you do when your fire is barely burning?
You get on your knees and blow into the embers.
Fan into flame the fire that is going out.
Listen to the Word of the Lord.
Fan into flame your fire on the altar.
Let the joy of your salvation be restored to you.
We pray for a greater hunger...break the mold we have you in..
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Time was spent at the altar...people were fanning their flames...pushing through...
I thought of the verse in Isaiah 64:7-"And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You;..."
We don't have to wait until we receive an experience from
God in order to feel close to Him again.
We can stir ourselves up, to take hold of Him. Being emotionally stirred up and stirring ourselves up to get a hold of Him are not the same thing. Sometimes, we focus on the spiritual experience we are having rather than focusing on God Himself. And really, He is right here. He is within us. We don't have to get all worked up to try to find Him. We don't have far to go.
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I had to think of the 10 virgins. All ten of them had the appearance of godliness. They all had lamps. Only 5 of them had the power of God (oil) filling them.
I thought of the Pharisees, who had the form of godliness in their keeping of the Sabbath law.
"Don't carry your mat on the Sabbath." But they denied the power of God to heal a man on the Sabbath. Jesus broke their mold. He healed the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, and He told him to carry His mat.
Double Whammy.
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