26 May 2013 - ENCS

Pastor Ken Dew visited and preached at ENCS today

About "What's on God's Heart" he had much to say

On "The Divine Agenda" he did passionately speak

Into five core truths on the gospel he did peek

 

From Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 1, 14-16

"We are obligated to preach the gospel" is it seen

Doing good things of course we must try

But we must augment this by saying why

By explicitly linking Christianity to our action

From others, we can get the appropriate reaction

His life was transformed so indebted was Paul

The same thing must surely apply to us all

Knowledge of Christ brings responsibility

We must act on His truth continually

 

At First Corinthians 15 verses 3-5 we did then glance

The second point is "the gospel is of first importance"

From someone else the gospel we all did hear

It has the answers, so there is nothing to fear

 

And learning from Acts 26:26-29, Pastor did say

"We should speak it with confidence" every day

Paul spoke to Agrippa although his life was in danger

Remember that God's truth should not be a stranger

 

From 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 we learned some more

"God gave us the ministry of reconciliation" is point four

We can do this even if we are not in ministry full time

Not getting the message out to others is a real crime

 

Lastly, Pastor read from 2 Corinthians 5 verses 10 and 11

Point five is "knowing the fear of God", who lives in heaven

In the end, we will be held accountable for our life's action

Versus God's destiny for us, did we do it all or just a fraction?

 

In summary, we should all be moved to the message share

Taking the church to others, to show them that we do care

19 May 2013 - Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer kept saying "I'm okay"

Followed by "because I'm on the way"

We aren't where we need to be, she did then say

Something the enemy reminds us of every day

But in order for our heart to grow

It is obvious who we must know

She spoke of Jesus in Luke chapter fourteen

Where the donkey in the ditch story is seen

Jesus had a habit of shocking the religious crowd

Relying on the truth and actions, not a voice loud

He said we should be led by His spirit, not the law

For the laws could not be kept, as the Pharisees saw

The tenth commandment would condemn, even if we do every deed

Therefore God gave us laws to show that a savior is what we do need

We must die to the law first

Otherwise we will be cursed

We should serve God as a privilege, Joyce did say

That is why we should daily read the Bible and pray

Speaking of the Bible, we should take a look

For as she said, it is actually the smartest book

Yes, into a ditch like a donkey we sometimes fall

Then to God, who will pull us out, we must call

For He will help us and always forgive

Thus enabling us to continue to live

And as we move forward with that truth in mind

Unto others, we should also be forgiving and kind

12 May 2013 - ENCS

Pastor Charles Curtis had several things to say

On "And The Winner Is" series this Mother's Day

A tradition started by a Methodist lady 100 years ago

It soon reached the White House so now we all know

He based his sermon on Ephesians 6 verses 1-3

"Honor your father and mother" is what we did see

This commandment comes with a promise too

Saying that in return "it may go well with you"

 

Our mothers we should honor and remember

We should respect, revere, prize, and value her

This comes from "timao" which means honor in Greek

A language into which Pastor Charles often does peek

We should honor for merit and position, he also did note

Remember that for nine months, our mothers did us tote

Pastor said that work is the job description of motherhood

For young children, being obedient to show honor is good

When older, a relationship of respect with deeds and prayer

Will show our mothers how much we thank them and care

 

About generational faith in 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul did write

Both Timothy's mother and grandmother Paul did cite

We can be the product of generational faith, Pastor did tell

Teaching our children to pray, we can pass it on as well

In teaching things, mothers have a critical role to play

They teach more than anyone else, Pastor did say

This is in line with 2 Timothy 3 verses fourteen and fifteen

"You know those from whom you have learned" is seen

There is also little more powerful than a mother's prayer

Her faith propels the child, because she always does care

 

So here's wishing all mothers a Happy Mother's Day

We thank you all, what you have done we cannot repay

Our lives you continually and positively effect

So you deserve all sorts of honour and respect

12 May 2013 - Nahum 1:3, 7

"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power"

He "will not leave the guilty unpunished" in His hour

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble"

"He cares for those who trust in Him" double

 

This shows God's contrasting yet perfect nature

For He is omniscient and His love is pure

We can have peace knowing that He is near

But if we leave Him, the punishment will be severe

WIth Him at our side, we have nothing to fear

Please God, let your comforting voice I always hear

11 May 2013 - Psalm 34:6

"In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened" David did say

"He saved [David] from all [the] troubles" which had come his way

 

Many times, we tend to think that fear is the opposite of faith

But in way, it is just another form of faith, an author did sayeth

Fear is the absence of believing in what God has said

And believing the insidious words of the enemy instead

This is a real perspective that can often confuse

But there is a better option which we can choose

David's remedy was to cry out to the Lord in prayer

Of course God responded because he does care

When He answers in His time, the situation does change

We should come to expect this and not consider it strange

 

So dear God, give me the strength to continue to try

To let my faith in you overcome every single lie

For You can overcome all of my doubt and fear

As long as I remember that you are always near

11 May 2013 - 2 Corinthians 4:18

"We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen"

"Since what is seen is temporary" from Paul we can glean

"What is unseen is eternal", the verse does conclude

That is a powerful statement serving as spiritual food

 

But how do I go about seeing the unseen, if not with my eyes

It must be with my heart, it is therefore not hard to surmise

In Ephesians 1:18, Paul uses the term 'eyes of the heart"

This is yet another piece of wisdom that he did impart

For into the eternal realm of spirits our heart can indeed gaze

And by focusing on God, earthly matters we do not let us faze

This also helps us overcome temptation, hardship, and pain

For once drawn to God, our lives are never the same again

 

Dear God, please let my heart see your eternal reality

For only then can I overcome my inherent mortality

I want my relationship with you to be real, not just a formality

In that way, your love and strength in me can be an actuality

5 May 2013 - ENCS

Pastor Josh started a new series "And The Winner is"

Which of course reminds us of sports and show biz

He said most awards go to those overrewarded already

Instead of giving to those who are unnoticed but steady

Either way, the series must start with God as the focus

Isaiah 26:12 talks of peace and purpose, no hocus-pocus

"Lord, you have established peace for us" it does say

And He does all things for us, each and every day

A younger Josh looked for both a purpose and peace

Unless he found God, his search would never cease

 

We should remember 1 Corinthians 3 verses 6 and 7

We can plant seeds, but growth comes from heaven

This also means that all of us have an important role

In trying to share God's word with every person's soul

Instead of results, God cares about our relationship

For if that is right, our performance will not slip

And His peace comes to those who in His purpose walk

We should align our heart, our actions, and our talk

 

Matthew 11:28-30 talks of us sharing with Jesus our yoke

He will make the burden lighter for us, that is no joke

But this is rather dififcult if we insist on doing our own thing

Instead, we should always try to know where he is going

God is with us, as He is a good father we can trust

That He is always present, know this we must

And even if we do not feel his presence near

We really do not have anything to fear

For we cannot fail if God is the one we obey

Trust God and the result will always be okay

But by normal standards the performance we should not judge

Our role is to plant seeds, with some people only God can budge

 

Pastor Josh said that to do this there are two keys

First is knowing God, from many passages he sees

The branches coming from the vine, John 15:5 does talk

Without Him, we can do nothing no matter how we walk

As we grow in God, we realise just how desperate we are

We need Him to be near to us all the time, never very far

Then Pastor Josh shared John fifteen verse fifteen

We are Jesus' friends, not servants, it is seen

Second is to do great exploits in God's name

To follow His voice, like sheep we are the same

John 14:12 says that believers will do great things

In part because of the sheer numbers He brings

 

In conclusion, Pastor asked about our heart's motivation

We should glorify God and enjoy Him at every occasion

And when the path is not exactly as we would want it to be

Remember that we should pick up His cross willingly