11-15-2021

J. Fields

 

Where has this year gone? I cannot believe we are only a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving! The smell of fresh-baked pies, deep-fried turkey, sweet potatoes, and oh, did I mention fresh-baked pies, oh how I love this time of the year.

 

While Thanksgiving gives us a time to come together with friends and family and have a wonderful meal it is also a great times to just reflect. Personally, I get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the world that I sometimes forget to just stop, contemplate, and let God know just how thankful I am for all of His blessings.

Let me ask you when you think of Thanksgiving what are some of the thoughts that come to your mind? Do you think about family? Do you stop and consider just how blessed you really are? Do you think about all the Black-Friday sales? What is it that you enjoy about this Season?

Being thankful isn’t just for this time of year, yes it is a great reminder but scripture tells us to always be thankful. You may be thinking, “You expect me to be thankful when everything around me seems to be falling apart” — My answer is honestly pretty simple, Yes, while you may not want to hear it, I believe it is something we all must be reminded of.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. It’s easy to be thankful when everything is going great in life but the real testing of your faith is how thankful you are during the low times. What if I told you that your breakthrough or miracle was on the other side of your thankfulness, would you then praise Him in the valley? I believe that is exactly what God wants to see from us, He wants us to showcase our faith through the thick and thin.

This November I give you a challenge — Get up every morning and start thanking Jesus for all of His goodness. Turn your complaining into praise. When you go through your day just give Him the honor. When something challenging happens, just thank Him. In everything you do give God all your praise, honor, and thanksgiving. I guarantee you one thing, when you start declaring the goodness of God in everything you do, God will, in return bless and shine upon you. 

 

Psalm 118

 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let Israel say: “His love endures forever”. Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever”. Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever”. When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down. They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down. I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me.”

 

Blessings,

Pastor Jason

11-1-2021

C. Hayden

 

Let’s start off this blog with scripture. The Apostle John says these words, “…every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:3-4). In this passage, God warns us not only of the coming Antichrist, but that his spirit is already existing in the world in John’s day that rejected Christ. We see that foul spirit in our own time as well, distorting, deceiving, and destroying lives. The good news is that we have not been left alone to our own devices. Jesus, the Lord of hosts, is in us and with us always. As the scripture above states, greater is He (Jesus) who is in us, than he (the devil) who is in the world.

 

Because Christ lives in us, we have access to His power to overcome what the devil may put in our path. In Ephesians 6 we are told to put on God’s armor so that we can withstand the enemy’s schemes. With God in us, there is no attack Satan can bring our way that we cannot overcome. 1 John 5:4-5 says this, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” The Scriptures are referring to us! We believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Simply put, our faith in Him makes us overcomers of this world, allies of the One True God and an enemy of an already defeated foe, the devil. So who are you really? You are a child of the King, a family member of the One True Lord of Hosts, who also lives inside of you. Trust in the Lord and let the overcomer come out in you!

 

Be Blessed Even More!

 

Pastor Chris

10-15-2021

J. Fields

 

Have you ever heard someone joke around about them spending their life in hell after they die? How about this, have you ever heard someone  tell someone else to go to that place? Or how about someone just teasing around saying that it is hotter than hell? Whatever the circumstance may be, hell is truly no laughing matter. We should never want to see anyone, even our worst enemy to spend the rest of their life in total destruction.

 

Throughout Scripture, there are many mentions about the horrible place known as hell. The bottomless pit known as hell was never created for you or me to spend eternity in rather it was specifically created for Satan, and all that worship and follow his ways. Even though we weren’t created for hell, God does allow us to have free will in the choices that we make in life. SCripture states that the wicked will go down to the realm of the dead (Psalm 9:17) while the righteous will spend eternity in Glory (Matthew 25:46). 

 

There is a generational belief that someone can get into heaven by being a good person in life, while being a good person is important it will not lead you into the glorious life of heaven. Scripture explains that the road to heaven is narrow while the way to hell is much wider (Matthew 7:13-14). The first step in your walk with Christ is to live out His goodness in all the days of your life (Philippians 2:12-16).

 

Ponder these questions for a moment. Are you doing everything in your power to live a life that mirrors that of Jesus? Are you just trying to go through life as you do at work (punching your ticket)? When someone sees you do they see the love of Christ? Have you talked with anyone recently about God? Do you try and make church about you or do you go to glorify Him? These may be some tough questions to swallow but what would Jesus say about your answers?

 

We are living in a world that is looking for something. The way we have been doing church, and I use church as a broad term, it isn’t working (remember some of my statistics). I believe that we are getting closer and closer to the last days. Jesus is knocking, He is looking for the church who will rise up and preach the truth, speak the truth, and go out into all the world to save the sinners for His glory. Central Christian has done an incredible job of building up the congregations, you have “it” inside of you, the Holy Spirit is in charge but are you willing to step out of your comfort  zone and snatch someone out of hell and into heaven?

 

Yes, this is a subject that I am passionate about because as a lover of Jesus I am called to also love and pour into others. Take the time and pray to God about how you can be used for His glory. There are many ways we can be the light of the world, stretch your thinking and seek Him. Now let’s put our faith into action and reach the world for Jesus!

 

Blessings,

 

Pastor Jason