Text: Hebrews 11:1, 6. You can apply your faith to anything you do not see but which is promised in the Word. We should be like Jesus. That means that we should please God with our faith. In Mark 9:23 Jesus told the father of the child who had seizures: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” In Matthew 9:29 Jesus told the blind men, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Where you are in life is a measure of your faith. We must speak the Word (Romans 10:8-17) and have it in our hearts. You were saved by speaking the Word after hearing the Word. You cannot make someone else receive salvation. You have to receive salvation (John 1:12). Your faith cannot rise above your knowledge of the Word. God loves everyone equally. Jesus healed all who came to Him. The faith that you used to get saved is the same faith that you can use to be healed. Faith does not come by miracles or praying or reading. It comes by hearing the Word of God. Have you run out of faith? You have to stir up your salvation. You cannot live off of thirty-year old steak or a thirty-year old experience. The Word in Romans 10:17 is “Rhema”, the spoken Word. You do not have a faith problem, but you have a “Word” problem. Get into the Word. The carnal mind is enmity with God, so if you are fighting a habit or a lust, double-up on your Word intake. Experiences of the past are not faith. Faith is now. Do not think that you would believe if you saw a miracle or an angel, because faith does not come that way. They cannot save people or give people faith.
Faith – Speak the Word
Faith Is
Sermon message: Hebrews 11:1, 6. Faith is not in your brain but in your spirit. Faith comes by hearing the Word. You must speak your faith. Faith is obedience to the Word. In Luke 5:1-8 Jesus told Peter to let the nets down after a night of catching nothing. Because Peter obeyed Jesus, the fisherman caught an overabundance of fish. The Lord is speaking to you, telling you what to do. Listen to Him, because He has good things for you. In Joshua 1:6-9 God told Joshua to be strong and not afraid, and then he would make his way prosperous. God is with you wherever you go. In Jeremiah 1:12 God tells us that He performs His Word. Sometimes timing is an issue. In Genesis 28:12 Jacob saw the angels ascending and descending with the answers to prayers. In Number 13:2-23 God told the Israelites and leaders to be of good courage, but because ten of the spies did not believe God, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. When you are in a problem, see and remember what God did for you before. (Frank told of several miraculous events in his and his father’s lives.) Speak and act on your faith and listen to the Spirit. We are living in the time of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ home town, the people did not receive miracles because they did not believe He was the Son of God. God will touch you and set you free. The communion part of the service held earlier is located after the sermon. Communion: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32. Examine and judge yourself, and if needed, repent and get right with God.
The Power of the Word: What Is Faith?
Texts: Luke 5:15-26; Hebrews 11:1-3. The people in Luke’s Scripture came to hear first and then to be healed. The power of God was there to heal, but the one who was healed was the one who showed his faith when his friends lowered him through a roof to reach Jesus. You can see faith, and it works. Jesus told the blind men, “According to your faith be it unto you.” Faith puts the priority on the living Word of God. Faith brings God into the now. Faith is the substance (reality) of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. You need hope for your healing or for your prosperity first, but do not confuse hope for faith. Make sure that you are not parroting what someone else has said when you are “confessing” or “professing” your faith. If you are wavering or in doubt, do not even think you will receive anything from the LORD (James 1:3-6). If you are in hope and not in faith, or your faith is wavering, get more Word in you (Romans 10:17). Faith is a measure of God’s faithfulness. We can be confident in Him and believe what we have heard God say. We can believe God’s report (Isaiah 53:1). Locate your faith. Am I in hope or in faith? Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). Hold fast to your profession of faith (Hebrews 10:23).
Being Transformed By What We Think
Offering message (Karen Burrows): Learn for the purpose of taking action. Think about what you are saying about your finances. Speak God’s Word and speak positively. Sermon: Our minds think in pictures. The dominant picture will direct your life. What are your dominant pictures? What are you looking at with your spiritual eyes? Elisha’s servant’s perspective changed when he saw the reality of God (2 Kings 6:8-20). Your perspective will change, too, if you change the picture in your mind. You can renew your mind through God’s Word (Romans 12:2). Transformation takes your involvement and allows us to know the will of God. Think about what you’re thinking about. To be conformed means being pressed, squeezed, and shaped into a mold. Allow God to conform you into His image. You decide what will form you by what you choose to think about. The angel called Gideon “a mighty man of God”, but that’s not how he saw himself. As soon as he accepted God’s word about himself, he became the mighty man of God. Think about what God thinks about you. A thought can be carnal or spiritual. What you think about, you will say and eventually do. Words are carriers of thoughts. Your thoughts are powerful. Wrong thinking about God leads you to deception. When you’re wrong but you think you’re right, you won’t change. Our problem is wrong thinking. To think like He thinks, you must be willing to change, and you must immerse yourself in the Word. To overcome, feed your spirit with the Word. What is on the inside needs to be addressed. Don’t treat only what’s happening on the outside. Find out the cause and let the Word put pressure on the inside. What you focus on is what you will see clearly and that’s where you’ll go. Ask yourself if what you’re thinking on is true, pure, noble, just. Speak the Word! Don’t talk about your problems. Our mistakes can be huge successes through Him. In the storm, think on these things. Take captive every thought and make it come into the obedience of Jesus Christ. Pray in line with the will of God. Stop yourself and ask, “What am I thinking about?” (Luke 8:35; 2 Timothy 1:7; 1 Corinthians 2; Philippians 4:4-7)
Thanksgiving Victory
Texts: 1 Cor. 15:57; 2 Cor. 2:14. Capacity is the largest number or amount that can be held. How do we increase our capacity? The answer is thankfulness. Thankfulness increases our capacity, and conversely, thanklessness decreases our capacity for victory. The Israelites grieved, tempted, provoked, limited, and didn’t remember God’s power (Ps. 78:40; Ps. 143:3-6). Grumbling opens the door to the devil. There are three steps to victory: #1 Believe the Word. Believe the promises. Recognize that His Word is the final Word. Everything must bow to Jesus. (Is. 55:11; 2 Cor. 1:20; Jer. 1:12; Luke 11:9-13) When the enemy comes, combat him with the Word. Submit to God, to the Word, and then the enemy must go. Christ is in you. Let Him have the right of way. (Rom. 4:20-21) #2 Rejoice at the promise. We can say and believe that we have the victory over anything that comes our way. Faith that believes that it receives can only rejoice. Just as children start thanking their dad when he says they are going for ice cream, so we can rejoice at our Father’s word. They don’t have the ice cream in their hands, but they believe that they will because of their dad’s promise. We have the promise of victory. All of the promises of God are in the face of the enemy. Refuse to get off the promise. #3 Tell someone about it. Tell about the LORD in your testimony. (Ps. 95:1-2)
How to Be Broken From Gravity and Reach Heaven
(A word was given after praise and worship.) There is spiritual gravitation. Before a plane can take off, there is preparation, such as acceleration and an increase of pressure under the small wings to bring lift to the plane. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 says about turning from idols to serve God and to wait for His Son from heaven. Find your place where you can minister to God, and then wait for God. Waiting for God is like expecting and preparing for a guest. You do what you can to make it possible for him to come. You should be in expectation of heaven. There is a way to take off. We don’t know how long we will have to wait. Heaven is drawing us. Col. 3:1-4 reminds us to set our minds on things above. When Jesus appears, then we will appear with Him in glory. Our actions should keep in mind that one day we will be with God. Seek Him and keep your focus on heaven. Phil. 3:18-20 tells of people who think about earthly things, whereas our citizenship is in heaven. What are you thinking about when you first awake? What do you think about most of the time? Where is your heart? Look to heaven. The disciples thought Jesus was bringing an earthly kingdom and responded that way on the Mount of Transfiguration. When we meet with God and are filled with the Holy Spirit, we taste heaven. Jesus did everything for us to be able to take off. God increases the pressure “under our wings” so that we are pushed up. We don’t know how long our runway will be. Jesus will come for those who expect and have their focus on heaven. The Spirit and the Bride are calling us to come. We may have to suffer and pay a price, because earth pulls us down. Given thanks to God, stick together, and have fellowship with and help one another.
I Can’t Go With These
In 1 Samuel 17:38-40 Saul dressed David in armor that David couldn’t walk in. He told King Saul, “I can’t go with these.” Instead David took them off, got five stones and a sling. Sometimes we need to say, “I can’t go with these,” meaning we aren’t giving in to compromises. What does God say? What are you standing for? David said he would go in the name of the LORD. Be yourself, the way you were designed. When you draw a line, you have mercy and goodness with you. When you fall, get up. Don’t compromise. Are you ready to mark a line in your life? When things are going too far, say, “It’s enough!” It may not be easy, but God will help you, and you will see wonders and miracles. God is drawing a line in our lives. Are we ready to take it?
Take Your Words And Return To The Lord
Hosea 14:2 says to “Take words with you and return to the LORD”. What are your words? Return to the LORD, to your first love, to your commitment. Be where you are supposed to be. The prodigal son went away from the father, but after wasting his life, his words were, “I will go to my father’s house as a servant.” The father received him will celebration, blessing him with authority and peace. Come back to the Father. Spend time with Him. Your words carry the power of life and death. Take your praise and offerings to the LORD and experience a party in His house. The woman with the issue of blood used her words: “If I can but touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole”, and she received her healing. At the beginning of this passage, it says, “A certain woman”, but after Jesus knew that power went out of Him, He called her, “Daughter”. When you touch God and release your faith, you receive. Jacob said to the angel of the LORD, “I won’t go until I get the blessing”. Samson missed it by being in the wrong place. He knew that God had given him vision, power, and strength for a purpose. After he missed it, his hair grew again, and he used his words to return to the LORD: “LORD, remember me one more time”, and he killed more Philistines in his death than in his life. The thief on the one side of Jesus took his words to the LORD, and Jesus told him that today he would be with Him in paradise. Take your words to the LORD. He restores you. Today.
Where’s Your Focus
Sydney shares during the offering. Dale than introduces the special guest. Ethan Armstrong – Texts: Matt. 6:22-24 and Heb. 12:1-3. Checking out the meaning of “light” and “eye” and “full of light” in Matthew’s text, Ethen gained the understanding that the light is the spirit of the person, the eye means focus, and to be full of light signifies the knowledge and power of God. Don’t let go of your focus on Jesus. If you do, it affects you and the whole Body of Christ. Consider what Jesus did for you. He kept His eye single. Ethen exhorted us to connect with the vision of the church. Your focus changes your life. He shared his life’s testimony and what happened when his focus got off of Jesus. To run this race, it’s up to you as an individual to set aside your sins. You are the righteousness of Jesus, no matter how often you fall. Look to Jesus and the Word. Follow Him! Do what He says to do! Joy disappears when you get your focus off of Him. Are you connected to the church? Allow God access to your life. Is my focus where God wants it? Have I been personally serving God and the church?
Love Covers a Multitude of Sins
God teaches us to love one another (1 Thess. 4:9), and 1 Peter 4:8 tells us to maintain an intense love for each other, because love covers a multitude of sins. We are to consider others more important than ourselves, loving, honoring, and protecting the other person. Prov. 17:9 exhorts us to conceal an offense in order to promote love. Instead of bad-mouthing someone, don’t shame them, but forgive them, and you will strengthen a friendship. Repentance is not feeling bad about yourself, but it is changing your direction. Jesus showed how to protect a guilty person, when he dealt with the Pharisees concerning the woman caught in adultery. Instead of exposing someone, bring them into the love of God and restore them. Jesus said that the peacemakers are the blessed sons of God. James 5:19-20 gives instruction about turning a sinner from his way. If God has forgiven your sin, don’t remember it. We’re in the business of setting people free, so tell the Good News!
The Love and Power of God Displayed
Missionary Bob Dunfee shared his testimony about the supernatural way God worked and is working in his life in the USA and in Burkina Faso. This same supernatural love and power is in God’s body, the church, all over the world. God wants us to act on what He says to us and by doing so, we glorify Him. Bob related how God raised the dead, transported him 400 miles in 0 minutes, healed blind eyes, and appeared to him. We can do nothing without Him. Hear and obey His voice, change the atmosphere around you, trust and believe in Him. Scriptures used in the sermon:1 Peter 1:23; John 5:24; 1 John 3:14; John 14:12-21; John 6:47-69.
Your Normal Is Their Supernatural
When you use the name of Jesus, you invoke His presence. Don’t live without the presence of God in and on your life. Jesus is alive, seated in heaven, ruling this world. Jesus Christ always causes you to triumph (2 Cor. 2:14). You don’t know how anointed you are, because when you conduct the anointing, you don’t feel it. When you walk in the light, people in the dark see you glow. There should be a savor of victory around us. Liberty is an unveiling and being in the presence of God in mercy and truth. His presence is not a place. We should praise God for what He has done in the past, as well as for things more recent. David praised God for what He did for Moses. You become what you worship. Heb.4:14 tells us to hold fast our profession. A profession or confession is positive if it’s based on the presence of the living Christ. He is easily touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Heb. 4:15). People run and hide from His presence because of sin and condemnation, but we should come boldly (freedom of access) before the throne of grace, not crying and hiding (Heb. 4:16). Boldness comes before grace. The main point is that we have a High Priest (Heb. 8:1). We must offer something to Him. What is that? Heb. 13:15 tells us that we are to offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, giving thanks to Him who always causes us to triumph… who redeems us… who sets us on a firm foundation. Hosea 14:1 notes prophetically that our sins are taken away when we repent and sacrifice praise.
The Love of God – Part 7
Text: Gal. 5:6-22. Love is a choice and a commandment. Sin always hurts someone. Love will purify you and can motivate you to serve others. Change the way you talk to others. Walk in the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh. When are you walking in the lusts of the flesh? It’s when you do things for what’s in it for yourself. Walking in the Spirit is walking in love. Don’t set yourself up as an idol. The love of God will get you out of sin. You won’t be fulfilled until you serve and bless others. Walking in love is tapping into the Spirit. Love your enemies and pray for them. Bless implies finances. Give out of your heart.
The Love of God Part 6 – Get Outside of Yourself and Serve Others
Text: Gal. 5:13-14. Dig in and chew on the Word concerning love. Charity (selfless love) fulfills the commandment along with the commission of serving others. You can’t cover up the wrong thing by doing a good thing. (Review: 1 Kings 3:16-28.) Love gives without limitation and reservation, and love always wins. You have to take the initiative to love. 1 Cor. 13 tells us to love, which begins in the spirit, and then comes the act, and then the emotion. Get out of yourself and serve others. Prov. 15:1 tells us that a soft answer turns away wrath. Don’t try to prove a point at the expense of hurting others, but listen respectfully to others. Prov. 25:21-22 says to serve your enemies. Pastor Dale tells of a man in Russia who saw the fruit of doing that. (Pastor Dale also explains the Hebrew meaning of the term “coals of fire”.) What is in it for you? The Lord rewards you, “reward” meaning “paycheck” (Gen. 15:1). Fear makes us think, “When is it my turn?” Sometimes God has us kill a dream, so He can have us fulfill a bigger one. Get outside yourself and ask, “What would love do?” Don’t be afraid of walking in love.
The Love of God Part 5 – The Heart of the Father for You
Offering: Jer. 17:5-8; Mal. 3:10-11; Ps. 121:1-7; Ps. 119:130. Sermon: 1 John 4:15-16. God is love! If we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God and His love abide in us. Do you believe in God’s love? God is full of compassion, gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in mercy (love) (Ps. 86:15). He Loves Us! Don’t judge God’s love by your unfaithfulness. He loves us today! What did Jesus do on the earth? He preached, He taught, and He healed (Matt. 9:35-38). He was moved with compassion (Matt. 14:14). The more revelation you have of God’s love, the greater you can believe for His willingness to heal you. He heals because He loves you. He healed the blind men, because Jesus had compassion on them (Matt. 20:30-34). Jesus was moved by compassion and cleansed a leper (Mark 1:40-45). He healed a demon-possessed man (Mark 5:19), telling him to tell others so they would know that if He healed him, He would heal them. The father of an epileptic boy called on Jesus’ compassion for his son’s healing (Mark 9:20-23). Jesus raised up a dead boy, because He had compassion on the widow mother. When He had compassion, He healed. Do you have faith in Jesus’ love? Having faith in God’s love is more important than having faith in His power. What do you believe about the love of God?
Walk in Love Part 4
In 1 Kings 3:23-27, King Solomon revealed what was in two women’s hearts to find which was the honest mother. Just like the mother in that passage, we need to let love be our guide. Walking in love is walking in the Spirit. Whatever we do, we need to do it in humility and love, esteeming others better than ourselves. Jesus was led by the Spirit of love: in John 4:1-3 Jesus left the area because He didn’t want to become famous, and He ended up at the well of Samaria talking to a woman about the living water. The secret to seeing miracles is walking in humility in ministry and love. Walking in love will help you get what belongs to you and looks at the best interests of people. When strife broke out between Abram’s and Lot’s men, Abram allowed Lot to pick the best land. Love guided Abram to prefer Lot, because he knew God was his source. Love will always give without limitations. In Gen. 26:17-23, love led Isaac, and the Lord made room for him. James 3:16 says that envy and strife bring confusion and every evil thing. There’s joy at the end of the journey if you do the right thing. Know that God is your source, and learn what love is (1 Cor. 13). 1 John 3:16-18 tells us to lay our lives down for our brothers and to love in truth, serving one another. There is no fear in love (1 John 4:16-20). The love of God will support, guide, and supply you. We are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2) and to please our neighbor (Rom. 15:1-3). In love, we ought to serve one another. (We discerned the body of Christ and served communion to someone else.)
The Love of God – Part 3
Gal. 5:13-16 tells us to serve one another by love and to walk in the Spirit. When you serve one another by love, you’ll use your prosperity to bless others. Love is like an iPhone: most people don’t know what it can do. We need to pray to comprehend the love of God (Eph. 3:13-19). We are in a relationship, that of a family. We carry one another’s burdens, restore others, and serve because of our love for people (Gal. 6:1-2). If your problems aren’t mine, you’re probably not family. Learn to serve others in the body; otherwise, you’re a guest. Charity is a love that gives (1 Cor. 13:1-4). Spiritual relationships should be stronger than physical family relationships. Love should motivate your giving and doing good deeds. Be longsuffering in love. Walk in love, even when the other person doesn’t treat you right. (There were four words given at the end of the service.)
Love Is The Direction – Part 2
Text: John 13:34. Part of the commandment of loving God and others is to love ourselves, which we can do if we understand how much God loves us. The love of God is already in us, if we are full of Him (Romans 5:5). Life is about 1) choices, 2) words, 3) actions, and love should determine each of these. Jesus prayed that the love that God loved Jesus with would be in us (John 17:26). Love is an action and is the direction we need to take. Every problem that has ever defeated any Christian is the result of not walking in love. If the question is whether to walk in love or to be “right”, choose walking in love. Allow love to temper all your decisions. The three facets of love are: 1) Learn to receive and believe in the love God has for you; 2) Respond in love to people; 3) Learn to direct your love on the right objects of affection. Love righteousness and hate sin. Ask yourself: Where am I directing my love? Meditation is more powerful than experiences. Meditate on the Scriptures that will help you overcome whatever sin you’re in or need you have. Meditate on Scriptures about meditation and those about the love of God.
Four Key Elements of How To Stay Full of God
Mary Beth Rutter had a Word before Karen preached. Text: Romans 1:21. We can stay full of God. The first way is to glorify Him. To glorify Him is to magnify Him. God is bigger than your problem, sickness, disease, whatever, and when we glorify Him, our problems shrink. Magnify the Word over your problem. Renew your mind and your talk to speak the Father’s language. God loves you now as much as He ever has or ever will. Love God and love others as you love yourself. God’s Word trumps everything in your life. Secondly, be thankful and have a thankful heart (Ps. 103; 100; 2 Tim. 3:1-5). If you can’t be thankful for the people you see, how can you be thankful for God, whom you can’t see? The anecdote for complaining: when a thought comes, discern if it’s from God or the devil, and then pray in tongues. Thirdly, God wants our thoughts, and you must discern where they are coming from. Use your imagination for Him, meditate on truth, and put more value on what He says than what others are saying. Picture yourself doing what He wants you to do. Finally, keep your heart right (Matt. 23:25-26). God is more interested in your heart than even your actions.
Testimony of Healing from Colon Cancer
Pastor Dale interviews a young Armenian couple who live in Washington, D. C. They share their powerful testimony of God’s miracle saving, healing, and prospering power in their lives. Listen as they tell of the husband’s salvation and of the victory they won through the power of prayer, agreement with God’s Word, and the words of their mouths over the most aggressive colon cancer in the husband’s body and the enemy’s threat of breast cancer in the wife’s body. This is a testimony of one challenge after another and the following victories. God is good!