Sunday, May 27, 2012

27 May 2012 - ENCS

Pastor Larry spoke about Romans chapters 15 and 16
Bringing to an end the longest series ENCS has seen
First he did recap the entire Romans book
Into Faith, Hope, and Love it does look
Chapter One deals with the realities of being alive
The need to build standards through chapter five
Understanding our struggles from six to eight
Between God and us, nothing can separate
Clarification to lead us through, from nine to eleven
Twelve to sixteen provide encouragement from heaven

Pastor said the final challenge is to receive others
Whether Jew or Gentile, all can be Christian brothers
We must overcome cultural biases, per Romans 15:7
Receiving each other as we have been by Christ in heaven
We should work with people of every nation and age
Whether they be rich or poor, uneducated or a sage
We should receive patience and comfort, per verses 5 and 6
Towards one another be like-minded, on God our eyes fix
Moving on to chapter fifteen, verse thirteen
Receive hope, joy, and peace can be seen
And from Pastor's message we did hear
That faith is the best way to fight fear
In verses 18 and 19, Paul states as clear as he can
That it is wrong to worship the accomplishments of man
For to Christ alone, all accomplishments are due
And we should remember all of them, not just a few

Chapter 16 says to receive women, who are not weak
About their strong points, Pastor's wife Elaine did speak
And it is important to note that in the eyes of the Lord
Women have a key role to play in spreading His word
God uses circumstances to get us to the right place
Different people have different challenges they face
But in ministry all people can be effective
Through their words and how they live
Per 1 Timothy 4 verses fourteen and fifteen
We should not neglect our gifts, even if unseen
To our life's doctrine we must stay near
In a word, we must always persevere
In Romans 16 verse twelve we can see
That women have the gift of hospitality

Turning to verses 17 and 18, Pastor then did say
Avoid the divisive types, as they get in the way
And concluding with verses 19 and 20
There are comforting words aplenty
We should be wise about what is good
And be innocent about evil, that we should
Know that God will crush Satan under his heel
For that, we should bow to God and kneel

Sunday, May 20, 2012

20 May 2012 - ENCS

About Romans 14 Pastor Josh did speak
But into philosophy first he did peek
If we came from nothing, then nothing matters
But God created us, so that view is in tatters
He created us to bring love and joy
Wanting a relationship, not a toy
He loves each of us despite our obvious flaws
"To love each other" is core to all of His laws
Romans 14 is about choice, Pastor Josh said
Each of the twenty three verses we then read

In verse one, "accept him whose faith is weak"
It is not our job to judge others or to critique
That message is repeated through verse four
Some can eat less, others can eat more
It is not right for us to on others look down
If we do so, God will in our direction frown

Verses five and six talk of how we look at each day
Whichever is special, we honor God in that way
Then through verse nine, none of us lives alone
We should live and die to Jesus on the throne

And then as we looked at verses nine to twelve
Into the reasons for this we did somewhat delve
For we will each bow to God and our sins confess
So let us not be stumbling blocks creating a mess
But we do have a stewardship role on this earth
This God-given authority comes with a new birth

Moving on to verses thirteen to seventeen
We should note that "no food is unclean"
But if we want to be good by "acting in love"
Our eating should not provide a negative shove
"Do not allow...good to be spoken of as evil"
It is better to back down than to cause upheaval
"The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking"
But the Holy Spirit's joy and peace driving our thinking

The same message comes through verse twenty one
Do not make choices that allow God's work to be undone
If we make choices to prevent others from stumbling
We should not then complain or go around grumbling
Think about the impact our actions may have on others
We don't want to hurt the walk of our Christian brothers
In regards drinking alcohol, Pastor Josh then declared
We should never allow decision making to be impaired

The summary of the chapter we can plainly see
Reading verses twenty two and twenty three
Is says "the man who doubts is condemned if he eats"
For his eating is not from faith but the one who deceits
For "everything that does not come from faith is sin"
Following that path can only lead us to feel chagrin

God wants us to follow Him, not a set of written rules
Remember that for His work, He has given us tools
The key is to spend time listening to God's direction
Then applying it, even if we can not reach perfection
In conclusion, Pastor Josh did therefore us cajole
To have an eternal relationship with God is our goal

Saturday, May 19, 2012

19 May 2012 - Proverbs 3:5-6

From The Message this passage does start
"Trust God from the bottom of your heart"
Self-reliance is not something it does condone
"Don't try to figure out everything on your own"
"Listen for God's voice in everything you do"
"He's the one who will keep you on track" anew

This passage reminds me of "Trust and Obey"
Which of course continues "there is no other way"
For although God has given us many a skill
We must rely on His strength to do His will

Sunday, May 13, 2012

13 May 2012 - ENCS

Pastor Larry today talked about Romans thirteen
Verse number seven was the first one seen
"Give everyone what you owe him" that verse does say
"The Power of Honoring MOM" was the topic of the day
Masters, Others, and Messiah were the key words three
Although a Happy Mother's Day it was also meant to be

Submit to all authority is stated in verse number one
For God has put all authority in place, bar none
Parents, government, business, and even church
Pastor gave us passages to read and research
Ephesians 6:1-3 and 1 Peter 2 verses 13 and 14
Colossians 3: 2-22 and 1 Timothy 5 verse 17
For God uses authority figures to us mold
In some cases, the results were quite bold
Think about Moses with Pharaoh and David with Saul
Remember that our God is really on charge of us all
Per John 19:10 and 11, much to Pilate's dismay
All power comes from above, Jesus did say

Pastor then said, moving on to verse two
To rebel against authority is against God too
In the same vein, how we respond to authority
Also indicates whether we give God priority
Pastor mentioned the example of King Saul
Who, by rebelling, ended up losing it all
That said, there are limits to how far we obey
Look at Acts 5:28-29 Pastor Larry did say

Verses eight to ten talking about honouring others
We must love all, not just our fathers and mothers
For anyone who does others so love
Has fulfilled the law of our God above
"Love your neighbour as yourself" is the key rule
Which is why we learned it in Sunday school

"Behave decently" per verse thirteen
Whether in day or when the moon is seen
By the desires of the flesh we should not be enticed
Instead we should clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ

13 May 2012 : Joshua 1:5-8

After His servant Moses' life was done
The Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun
"No one will be able to stand up against you"
"As I was with Moses", I will be with you too
"Be strong and courageous" after verse five
And into the promised land you will arrive
"Be strong and very courageous" per verse seven
"Obey all the law" given to Moses from heaven
Then God instructs, in verse number eight
On His words, day and night should meditate
"Be careful to do everything", even if stressful
For "then you will be prosperous and successful"

These few words serve to encourage and uplift me
A reminder that "strong and courageous" I should be
God keeps His promises and provides us His word
So to ignore either one would really be absurd
I ask to be "strong and courageous" in decisions I make
As well as in the words I say and the actions that I take

Sunday, May 6, 2012

6 May 2012 - ENCS

Pastor Neli returned, his overseas trip done
To talk about Romans 12 verses 1 to 21
He said that the chapter belongs in this place
For it tells us how to respond to God's grace
In reverse order Pastor Neli did then go
For an important point he wanted to show
The sermon title was "Worship - From the Inside Out"
That he loves to worship God, there is no doubt

"How we worship" is covered in verses nine to twenty one
It is about giving our best from sunrise until the day is done
Verses nineteen back to thirteen talk about things to give
ForGIVE, GIVE honour, GIVE selflessly in how we live
GIVE compassionately, GIVE liberally
GIVE fervently and GIVE constantly
A core truth Pastor Neli did then impart
When we give, what matters is our heart
And then Pastor Neli did strongly assert
Like Jesus, we should give until we hurt

He moved onto verses three through eight
With a list of gifts to set us straight
Prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation
Plus leadership, mercy, and contribution
Per verse six, this diversity we should celebrate
For all of them equally valuable does God rate
So don't be conceited in words or even in the mind
Be the measure of faith that God has assigned

Then to the key verses Pastor Neli did reach
"Therefore" refers to earlier chapters, he did teach
For only here about "what is worship" can we read
Even though such knowledge we clearly need
Then of course is the phrase that sounds so nice
To "present our bodies as a living sacrifice"
There are two types of worship that can be inferred
"Spiritual" worship is how most understand the word
But "reasonable" worship is a response most logical
After reading the preceding chapters theological

In summary, Pastor Neli said not to the world conform
Instead, we should let our hearts by God transform
For if the will of our God we really know
We will surely go against the world's flow
By the grace of God, our minds can be renewed
Whether from insecurity, greed, or something lewd
"Worship is our lives laid down", Pastor Neli did say
That is something to remember each and every day

6 May 2012 - Isaiah 33:5-6

"The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high"
"His justice and righteousness" will never die
And they will surely fill the Zion nation
"For He will be the sure foundation"
"A rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge"
To obtain these, one does not need to go to college
For "the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure"
And paradoxically, this fear leads to great pleasure

Believing in our Lord leads to more than one paradox
For only with this faith can the enemy we outfox
We must surrender to God to become eternally free
Praying with eyes closed allows us His path to see
He sent His son to show us how to really live
But His death was the best present He did give
Yet no matter how many paradoxes there may be
Believing in God is the only way forward for me