Pastor Lorne continued his series on being a Disciple of Christ by reminding us of the importance of the Word of God.
We need a daily time with God’s word so when we come across situations where we need answers, the Word will already be in our hearts to fall back on. As we study the Word, the Holy Spirit will bring Scriptures to our memory and tell us how to react in situations.
We really need to live the Word of God. John 1:1 says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ And a bit further in v14, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, theglory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’ Pastor Lorne says every time he reads the word, he thinks he understands it but the greatness of God overwhelms him. He said his interpretation is that the word of God is Jesus. We know Jesus through the Bible. Pastor Lorne said he knows us because he can actually see us and talk to us. But Jesus isn’t here in the physical form. No man has seen God, but we can know him through his Word. As a disciple of Christ, we need his Word deep down in our hearts.
Pastor Lorne said he knows people don’t have time to read several chapters every day, but he finds even 1 or 2 verses of Scripture helps. Found in the church foyer, the Daily Bread is a nice free little booklet which shows a daily Bible reading and a story to start your day. Pastor Lorne says during the day as he’s doing whatever he needs to do, he’ll remember the story or Scripture in the Daily Bread. In other words, it sticks with him throughout the day. Or, if he turns to his Bible after something has happened, he’ll usually find a verse that will relate to the same circumstance.
Everyone has daily rituals like brushing their hair and teeth, showering, maybe shaving. You take time for what is important to you. Part of that ritual should be to make time for the Lord and let His word speak to your heart at the same time every day. God’s heart is His word, the Bible. It’s teaches us and is the light to lead our path. Just a little bit of time spent in the word. Pastor Lorne said you will be surprised how accurate the Spirit of God knows your life and what you’re going through and he’ll have the right Scripture for you in your particular situation.
Pastor Lorne reminded us of his visit to Hungary. He said he met a German who did whatever he needed to become a farrier including university courses. Then, for on job training, he lived with a Master farrier for 2 yrs and went out with him for calls and whatever situations demanded a farrier. He even had to dig the Master farrier’s potatoes when required.
To Pastor Lorne, that paints a picture of how we as a Disciples of Christ, should follow Him daily and see how He handles(ed) each situation. Sometimes in our life we have to dig the potatoes even if it has nothing to do with our calling. Maybe God brings it into our lives for balance.
The way we follow Christ and see how He dealt with situations is through his Word. There are 66 books in the Bible written by 40 authors and they all have the same theme. So many years and they all point to Christ:
- Psalm 119:89 says, ‘Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.’
- Isaiah 40:8 says, ‘The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever."
- Mattt 24:35 ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’
No matter what else is going on in the world, the word of God stands true and will be there forever.
The word of god is inspired. 2 Tim 3:16 & 17 says, ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.’
The Word of God shows examples of right from wrong and it shows the path. It shows how to love and trust and even the proper way to rebuke – a touchy subject which Pastor Lorne said he doesn’t like doing too much. He said if you were to go to him and say something, he wouldn’t like it but, if you go to him with the word of god and say, “Look what you’re doing”, Pastor Lorne has to take it because it’s what the word of god says to do.
The Word of God is used for correcting. A teacher corrects and uses a reference. So, when someone corrects us with the word of god, they are following a reference.
The Word of God is used in training righteousness – as a disciple of Christ, we get to know His Word, it will make our lives easier because we have a reference to fall back on – a clear idea of what we have to do.
The Word of God is powerful. Rom 1:16 says, ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Gentile).’ The Word of God is so powerful, it can change lives and make a difference. Pastor Lorne could spend his time with us and start off on some analogy or motivational speech but there’s no power in that. The Word of God has the power of God. When you believe in the power of God and it’s in your heart and you live it, there’s a power in your heart. Pastor Lorne can motivate us but he is totally powerless to change our situations. But the Bible says the Word of God gives correction, and when we come to Christ, the Word of God gives us the power to change whatever situation we are in at that time.
Make sure your life has the Word of God in it. You don’t need to be a great theologian with 6 or 7 yrs in seminary. Just spend 5 mins every morning in Scripture and let God speak to you. Your faith will build up. Heb 4:12 says, ‘For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ Isn’t that good news? The living God is living and active and it gives power to go through any problems you may have.
Pastor Lorne wants to encourage you to get some of the Word of God into your heart. He wants to emphasize there are 66 books and lots of chapters and Psalm 119 is daunting. Bbut you know what it says in Psalm 119:105 – ‘Thy Word is a lamp under my path and a light unto my path.’
Pastor Lorne remembers being at camp and the kids would play tricks on the counselors. He said they would check to see if any kids were hiding in the bushes and as he walked in the dark, he felt a wire where the kids had placed it across the path so he was able to step over it. Let Christ light your path in life so you know where to go and what to do.
Quite often the Word of God won’t show the end, but far enough to see a bit, then a bit more as your go forward, just like car lights when you’re driving at night and your car lights shine in the dark and light up the distance ahead, a bit at a time.
Pastor Lorne wants to encourage you to look in the Word of God even if it’s only for one verse so you have it in your mind throughout the day.
If you'd like to take to Pastor Lorne please email.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Be a Disciple: Pray
Scriptures: Matt:14-13-14, Luke 18:1, Luke 18:10-14, John 17
Ashlee sang a lingering, worshipful song written by her
brother, Josh. Jessica accompanied her on the piano. Ashlee flies out of Regina on Wed, May 13th but won’t arrive home in Australia until Friday. Please pray for her safe arrival.
Pastor Lorne wanted to continue his message about being a being disciple of Christ. He said it’s one thing to accept Christ as our Savior to escape spending an eternity it hell, but it’s another thing entirely to be a disciple of Christ and a real follower.
The definition of a disciple is: someone who follows the teachings of someone else. So, to be a disciple of Christ, you must follow his example.
Pastor Lorne reminded us of a church that was ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’. It translates into a big church with lots of things happening, but the people aren’t really disciples of Christ. And when the pastor left, the church fell apart.
For you to become a real disciple of Christ, you must first have an experience with God. We must take Him into ourselves and take on the characteristics of Christ before we can be real disciple of Him.
Pastor Lorne said Christ was motivated to heal the sick, feed the hungry, cast out demons, and bring people back to life because he had compassion for the people who wept over them.
But another big part of Christ’s life was that he spent a lot of time in prayer.
Pastor Lorne mentioned his own life. When he was growing up, prayer never appealed to him. He was too busy to spend time on his knees as there was always other things to do. Of course, he’d always pray when he got into a bind. As he grew older, he found one of the best times of the day is when he spends time in prayer and gets away to the Lord. Usually early in the morning because it makes the day go better, but sometimes late at night so he can think about the next day. He goes to the Lord in prayer and leaves it with Him and everything comes into perspective and he can manage things better.
Turn your attention to how Jesus dealt with prayer. To Pastor Lorne, it stood out that Jesus was the Son of God because He:
- fed 5,000 men plus women and children on one little boy’s lunch
- healed the sick
- cast out demons
- conquered death
- commanded the weather to obey Him, and it did
Pastor Lorne commented it would really be something to have the ability to direct the weather. Except, we’d all want something different and it would never work.
But why would Jesus need to pray?
I
n Matt 14:13, Jesus hears about the death of his cousin, John the Baptist, and goes off by himself to pray. But, he’s not there very long before the crowds discover him. V14 says, ‘When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Pastor Lorne said he would have thought Jesus would be on a high after performing these great miracles, but He sent the crowd home, and his disciples on ahead, and He went up a mountain and prayed. If Jesus did that when He was in mourning, how much more do we need to develop a life of prayer – to develop a relationship with him – and become a true disciple of Christ?
You don’t need to take 6 hrs of your day and spend it in prayer. Work, families and the world keep us busy. We don’t have time to spend hours in prayer. But, if you can work it out to have just 5 mins somewhere in your life, it will make a great difference. Christ did that – He took time to pray after his greatest triumphs.
People say the greatest time of temptation is when they see a great power performed. So, find a little place and make some time in your busy life. Maybe while you’re driving to work even. Or, maybe while you’re working in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter where, but have that relationship with Him. It’s very important to just take a few mins to pray and seek His face. Pastor Lorne said it’s a great thing to pray together, but it’s just as important to pray alone.
Luke 18:1 says “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” This is the story of the judge who didn’t care about anybody but the lady kept coming and asking for help. This women continued to come so finally the judge said he’d find out what and take care of it so she wouldn’t bother him anymore. Thank goodness God isn’t like that. We can keep going back over and over and He never gets tired of listening to us.
In Luke 18:10-14, two men go up to the temple to pray. Jesus gives us this example that when we go before Him, we need to open all the rooms in our house. Maybe you have a room in your house that you’re not using and keep shoving stuff in it and keep the door closed from company to hide the junk. Pastor Lorne believes when we go before Christ, we need t open all the rooms of our house. Like the tax collector – he didn’t show just the nice kitchen and shiny sink or dining and living rooms with nice furniture – he opened his house and said, Lord, this is it.
We need to come before God and open up our lives to Him. Come before the Lord in prayer. Christ wants us to show him everything. We are human and sinners and need His grace to come in and be a part of our lives. You know what the bible says – all our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) because our righteousness is in Christ. We need to come before God with an open heart.
John 17 is a complete chapter of prayers that Jesus prayed. He prayed for Himself, for His disciples and He prayed for the believers. Pastor Lorne said he noticed some interesting things in this chapter of Jesus:
- v10 “All I have is yours and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.” Pastor Lorne said that’s quite a statement. Jesus acknowledged that His followers and disciples brought glory to Him. As true disciple of Christ, our lives would bring glory to God. We might think we’re failures and mess everything up, but we can bring glory to Christ in our lives.
- v24-26 – this is Jesus’ prayer for you and me. It’s one of the prayers for the father to his son. The love God had for his Son. Jesus is praying that you and I, as children of God, will have that love in our heart. He is in you and me in his Holy Spirit in our hearts and our lives.
Pastor Lorne asked us to forgive him but he had another grandfather story: He said his young granddaughter stays overnight sometimes. And he’ll get up early and be reading and doing his devotions and she’ll come downstairs, climb into his lap, and tell him her dreams and other little things important to her heart. Little special times of talking. No one else, no toys, just talk. He said he thought of how we can come to God, crawl on his lap, tell him our dreams and disappointments and they may not make sense to anyone else but to you and your heavenly father. He wants to hear what you have to say.
And the way we can do it is in the avenue of prayer. Even though we feel weak and helpless to change our situations, when you come before God, you have the resources that created heaven and earth.
Pastor Lorne wants to encourage each one of you as a follower to pray. That time you spend in prayer is important to just talk to Him and He’ll talk, listen and encourage you. Just like a grandchild will share, share your little things with God. We need someone to listen without judgment or suggestion. Your heavenly father is that person. Have that time to talk with God and share what’s in your heart.
If you would like to speak to Pastor Lorne about this, please email .
.
Ashlee sang a lingering, worshipful song written by her
brother, Josh. Jessica accompanied her on the piano. Ashlee flies out of Regina on Wed, May 13th but won’t arrive home in Australia until Friday. Please pray for her safe arrival.Pastor Lorne wanted to continue his message about being a being disciple of Christ. He said it’s one thing to accept Christ as our Savior to escape spending an eternity it hell, but it’s another thing entirely to be a disciple of Christ and a real follower.
The definition of a disciple is: someone who follows the teachings of someone else. So, to be a disciple of Christ, you must follow his example.
Pastor Lorne reminded us of a church that was ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’. It translates into a big church with lots of things happening, but the people aren’t really disciples of Christ. And when the pastor left, the church fell apart.
For you to become a real disciple of Christ, you must first have an experience with God. We must take Him into ourselves and take on the characteristics of Christ before we can be real disciple of Him.
Pastor Lorne said Christ was motivated to heal the sick, feed the hungry, cast out demons, and bring people back to life because he had compassion for the people who wept over them.
But another big part of Christ’s life was that he spent a lot of time in prayer.
Pastor Lorne mentioned his own life. When he was growing up, prayer never appealed to him. He was too busy to spend time on his knees as there was always other things to do. Of course, he’d always pray when he got into a bind. As he grew older, he found one of the best times of the day is when he spends time in prayer and gets away to the Lord. Usually early in the morning because it makes the day go better, but sometimes late at night so he can think about the next day. He goes to the Lord in prayer and leaves it with Him and everything comes into perspective and he can manage things better.
Turn your attention to how Jesus dealt with prayer. To Pastor Lorne, it stood out that Jesus was the Son of God because He:
- fed 5,000 men plus women and children on one little boy’s lunch
- healed the sick
- cast out demons
- conquered death
- commanded the weather to obey Him, and it did
Pastor Lorne commented it would really be something to have the ability to direct the weather. Except, we’d all want something different and it would never work.
But why would Jesus need to pray?
I
n Matt 14:13, Jesus hears about the death of his cousin, John the Baptist, and goes off by himself to pray. But, he’s not there very long before the crowds discover him. V14 says, ‘When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Pastor Lorne said he would have thought Jesus would be on a high after performing these great miracles, but He sent the crowd home, and his disciples on ahead, and He went up a mountain and prayed. If Jesus did that when He was in mourning, how much more do we need to develop a life of prayer – to develop a relationship with him – and become a true disciple of Christ?You don’t need to take 6 hrs of your day and spend it in prayer. Work, families and the world keep us busy. We don’t have time to spend hours in prayer. But, if you can work it out to have just 5 mins somewhere in your life, it will make a great difference. Christ did that – He took time to pray after his greatest triumphs.
People say the greatest time of temptation is when they see a great power performed. So, find a little place and make some time in your busy life. Maybe while you’re driving to work even. Or, maybe while you’re working in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter where, but have that relationship with Him. It’s very important to just take a few mins to pray and seek His face. Pastor Lorne said it’s a great thing to pray together, but it’s just as important to pray alone.
Luke 18:1 says “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” This is the story of the judge who didn’t care about anybody but the lady kept coming and asking for help. This women continued to come so finally the judge said he’d find out what and take care of it so she wouldn’t bother him anymore. Thank goodness God isn’t like that. We can keep going back over and over and He never gets tired of listening to us.
In Luke 18:10-14, two men go up to the temple to pray. Jesus gives us this example that when we go before Him, we need to open all the rooms in our house. Maybe you have a room in your house that you’re not using and keep shoving stuff in it and keep the door closed from company to hide the junk. Pastor Lorne believes when we go before Christ, we need t open all the rooms of our house. Like the tax collector – he didn’t show just the nice kitchen and shiny sink or dining and living rooms with nice furniture – he opened his house and said, Lord, this is it.
We need to come before God and open up our lives to Him. Come before the Lord in prayer. Christ wants us to show him everything. We are human and sinners and need His grace to come in and be a part of our lives. You know what the bible says – all our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) because our righteousness is in Christ. We need to come before God with an open heart.
John 17 is a complete chapter of prayers that Jesus prayed. He prayed for Himself, for His disciples and He prayed for the believers. Pastor Lorne said he noticed some interesting things in this chapter of Jesus:
- v10 “All I have is yours and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.” Pastor Lorne said that’s quite a statement. Jesus acknowledged that His followers and disciples brought glory to Him. As true disciple of Christ, our lives would bring glory to God. We might think we’re failures and mess everything up, but we can bring glory to Christ in our lives.
- v24-26 – this is Jesus’ prayer for you and me. It’s one of the prayers for the father to his son. The love God had for his Son. Jesus is praying that you and I, as children of God, will have that love in our heart. He is in you and me in his Holy Spirit in our hearts and our lives.
Pastor Lorne asked us to forgive him but he had another grandfather story: He said his young granddaughter stays overnight sometimes. And he’ll get up early and be reading and doing his devotions and she’ll come downstairs, climb into his lap, and tell him her dreams and other little things important to her heart. Little special times of talking. No one else, no toys, just talk. He said he thought of how we can come to God, crawl on his lap, tell him our dreams and disappointments and they may not make sense to anyone else but to you and your heavenly father. He wants to hear what you have to say.And the way we can do it is in the avenue of prayer. Even though we feel weak and helpless to change our situations, when you come before God, you have the resources that created heaven and earth.
Pastor Lorne wants to encourage each one of you as a follower to pray. That time you spend in prayer is important to just talk to Him and He’ll talk, listen and encourage you. Just like a grandchild will share, share your little things with God. We need someone to listen without judgment or suggestion. Your heavenly father is that person. Have that time to talk with God and share what’s in your heart.
If you would like to speak to Pastor Lorne about this, please email .
.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Mini stories from Sunday
I'm working on Sunday's message but in the meantime, here's two short stories of other things that happened on Sunday.
Every Sunday, I carry my little typing table to church and set it up in the last row so I can take down the message. Well, this Sunday, I reached for my table and at the last minute I backed away. I remembered a computer desk sitting in the alcove behind the window where we usually sit. The desk was facing the wrong way, but I thought if I sat at it and someone from the congregation saw my back, maybe they’d offer to move things around so I could sit in front of the window while I typed. So, I left my table at home…and stood stunned when I walked into the foyer and saw the desk already in front of the window and the alcove had been enclosed with a wall and door. Wow! Thank you, God. Oh – and Maurice who is leading the work of building a sound room. What a delightful surprise.
With her charming Australian accent, Ashlee gave a report on the youth retreat she and other members attended on Sat. They headed up to the Strasbourg Bible camp and came back quite late. Ashlee said the session was an awesome testimony to what is happening with the youth. She said she saw young 12 and 13 yr olds touched by the words and music, raising their hands in worship. It was really encouraging. Ashlee also said God has been watching out for her and she’s blessed to be able to stay at Pastor Lorne and Dianne’s place. When she left Australia, she didn’t think she was coming here to meet with God, but He’s been showing her stuff and getting closer to her.
Thank you for sharing, Ashlee.
Every Sunday, I carry my little typing table to church and set it up in the last row so I can take down the message. Well, this Sunday, I reached for my table and at the last minute I backed away. I remembered a computer desk sitting in the alcove behind the window where we usually sit. The desk was facing the wrong way, but I thought if I sat at it and someone from the congregation saw my back, maybe they’d offer to move things around so I could sit in front of the window while I typed. So, I left my table at home…and stood stunned when I walked into the foyer and saw the desk already in front of the window and the alcove had been enclosed with a wall and door. Wow! Thank you, God. Oh – and Maurice who is leading the work of building a sound room. What a delightful surprise.
With her charming Australian accent, Ashlee gave a report on the youth retreat she and other members attended on Sat. They headed up to the Strasbourg Bible camp and came back quite late. Ashlee said the session was an awesome testimony to what is happening with the youth. She said she saw young 12 and 13 yr olds touched by the words and music, raising their hands in worship. It was really encouraging. Ashlee also said God has been watching out for her and she’s blessed to be able to stay at Pastor Lorne and Dianne’s place. When she left Australia, she didn’t think she was coming here to meet with God, but He’s been showing her stuff and getting closer to her.
Thank you for sharing, Ashlee.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Changes
Welcome to a new look for Church on the Hill.
I've been having technical problems with my computer and with the little voice recorder I use to tape Pastor Lorne's messages so I don't have a current message for you.
However, I've been trying to find a new layout for this blog and I thought this might be a good one.
The only thing I don't like about it is that there are no buttons for you to push to go to the different pages for the Prayer List, Music, Youth, Sunday School, etc.
What do you think? Do you think it's okay?
Or would you mind if I try another one?
Please leave a comment so I know what you're thinking.
God bless you.
I've been having technical problems with my computer and with the little voice recorder I use to tape Pastor Lorne's messages so I don't have a current message for you.
However, I've been trying to find a new layout for this blog and I thought this might be a good one.
The only thing I don't like about it is that there are no buttons for you to push to go to the different pages for the Prayer List, Music, Youth, Sunday School, etc.
What do you think? Do you think it's okay?
Or would you mind if I try another one?
Please leave a comment so I know what you're thinking.
God bless you.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Jesus' Triumphant Entry
Pastor Lorne started the Palm Sunday service by thanking Kathy for another inspiring banner. He said visitors to the church always pay compliments for our banners and our church is becoming known for them. So, thank you to Kathy for all her hard work. The church is blessed with their presence.
This is Holy Week for those Christians who use the liturgy in their worship
Pastor Lorne said he wasn’t sure how it was back in Jesus’ time, but for us from now until Easter, we celebrate His triumphant entry on Palm Sunday. We remember how He gave His life for us on Good Friday, and then Holy Week climaxes with the joyful day of Easter when we proclaim Christ has risen from the dead. All those important dates to our culture, our faith and the whole basis for what we believe.
Pastor Lorne said he wanted to take a few minutes and talk about Jesus’ triumphant entry. In His life, He had high points with great flocks of people following Him everywhere. At times during his ministry, He would say He couldn’t do many miracles due to unbelief, ridicule, and the religious leaders who tried to engage Him in debates to make Him look foolish. At times, He had to slip through the crowd so He wouldn’t be caught and killed.
A high point of Palm Sunday for the people who followed Jesus was that it gave them a glimpse of the future. Pastor Lorne said they’ve been following Revelations in the Bible study and it parallels the Easter story.
In Matt 21:1-11, as Jesus rode through Jerusalem, the people threw their coats and palm branches on the road. Some went ahead and some followed shouting Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!
Pastor Lorne said the word Hosana has a couple of meanings:
-the real literal meaning is ‘Lord save us’.
-but it also means a word of praise and worship to God
So as these people were following Jesus and shouting, they were saying Lord save us and praise the lord. This procession was going through the city and it was a real uproar. In Regina, you probably wouldn’t even notice due to the traffic and everyone inside with their furnace or air conditioning units on depending on the season, but back then, everyone was outside. There were no trucks or buses to hide the sound. Everyone could hear the shouts of the people and they must’ve wondered who was causing it all. The crowds were so happy saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Galilee.” Matt 21:11
While the procession went along, hope was rising in the people of Israel. They were living under the roman thumb of rule. They were looking for someone to deliver them. Prophets had said God would send someone and deliver them from all their troubles and problems. From the tyranny of Rome. For a few brief hours, they had this hope of a Messiah taking them away for the problems of other countries running all over them and tearing down their temples.
Can you just picture it? Pastor Lorne said he’s seen movies and pictures on this but do you know it was kind of short lived, wasn’t it? It wasn’t too long before those people who were happy with Jesus turned their back on Him because He didn’t do for them what they expected of Him. They wanted someone to reign with all authority.
It is coming. According to the book of Revelations, Christ will rule and reign with total authority. But on Palm Sunday, so long ago, we see that Jesus came with a donkey, quietly and in peace with people praising and worshiping Him.
Jesus also came humbly. Pastor Lorne said he has 3 donkeys at their place and there’s a big difference between horses and donkeys. When a horse is happy, his head is up and he’s prancing around. Donkeys chug along, big eared and even handling them is humbling. He said it’s good because of the way they walk. Jesus came like the donkey although not quite such a big stride. As one bringing peace humbly, before the people of the day.
Jesus first came humbly and triumphant. But Rev 19:11-14 shows the difference when Jesus comes in the future. He’s coming with a white horse and a whole bunch of different crowns. Following behind Him are angels also riding white horses. Jesus destroyed and defeated his enemies with the sword of his mouth. It finally came to pass. The fact that Jesus ruled and reigned in absolute authority. It was a time peace. No wars because Jesus was there. (Rev 20)
Zacheriah 9:8 is prophesying about a Messiah coming forth in a triumphant entry riding on a donkey. And it’s speaking of a Messiah who will rule until the end of time.
It’s exciting to see how God’s word was fulfilled totally and completely. The 2nd part is still coming. As we read and celebrate his triumphant entry, it gives us just a brief glimpse. Pastor Lorne said he was so glad he was privileged to know about this and made the personal commitment to allow Christ into his life. When Christ comes back if we’still here, we’ll go with Him and if we’ve passed on, we’ll meet him in the air as He’s gathering His children.
So as we go through this Holy Week, Pastor Lorne wanted us to know that even though Jesus was beaten, ridiculed, called a friend of the sinners, and ate with people of ill repute which angered many people, He is the triumphant King of Kings. We read all the wonderful things He did. It’s a privilege we can have a personal relationship with Him. God loves each one of you and He will bring to pass His word.
There’s coming a day when we will be with Jesus and this march into Jerusaem will not compare to Him in glory. That’s the glorious hope we have.
Jesus is triumphant! He is going to win.
We will win in the end because of what Jesus proclaimed.
Pastor Lorne said in this Holy Week, as he studied these things, he could see the human part of Jesus coming out. In the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) Jesus says, ‘Abba Father," He said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
We have some real hard things we have to go through. We say we don’t want to do this, or we don’t have to put up with that. We just want someone to take our troubles away. Jesus also prayed this but He also prayed for God’s will to be done and then He went right to the cross.
Pastor Lorne said he trusts during this week, you’ll turn your mind to what Jesus has done for you and me. The scriptures say by His stripes you are healed.
Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We have the right to come before God because of Jesus and ask for help with the needs in our lives and the healing in our bodies. Hosanna!
This is Holy Week for those Christians who use the liturgy in their worship
Pastor Lorne said he wasn’t sure how it was back in Jesus’ time, but for us from now until Easter, we celebrate His triumphant entry on Palm Sunday. We remember how He gave His life for us on Good Friday, and then Holy Week climaxes with the joyful day of Easter when we proclaim Christ has risen from the dead. All those important dates to our culture, our faith and the whole basis for what we believe.
Pastor Lorne said he wanted to take a few minutes and talk about Jesus’ triumphant entry. In His life, He had high points with great flocks of people following Him everywhere. At times during his ministry, He would say He couldn’t do many miracles due to unbelief, ridicule, and the religious leaders who tried to engage Him in debates to make Him look foolish. At times, He had to slip through the crowd so He wouldn’t be caught and killed.
A high point of Palm Sunday for the people who followed Jesus was that it gave them a glimpse of the future. Pastor Lorne said they’ve been following Revelations in the Bible study and it parallels the Easter story.
In Matt 21:1-11, as Jesus rode through Jerusalem, the people threw their coats and palm branches on the road. Some went ahead and some followed shouting Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!
Pastor Lorne said the word Hosana has a couple of meanings:
-the real literal meaning is ‘Lord save us’.
-but it also means a word of praise and worship to God
So as these people were following Jesus and shouting, they were saying Lord save us and praise the lord. This procession was going through the city and it was a real uproar. In Regina, you probably wouldn’t even notice due to the traffic and everyone inside with their furnace or air conditioning units on depending on the season, but back then, everyone was outside. There were no trucks or buses to hide the sound. Everyone could hear the shouts of the people and they must’ve wondered who was causing it all. The crowds were so happy saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Galilee.” Matt 21:11
While the procession went along, hope was rising in the people of Israel. They were living under the roman thumb of rule. They were looking for someone to deliver them. Prophets had said God would send someone and deliver them from all their troubles and problems. From the tyranny of Rome. For a few brief hours, they had this hope of a Messiah taking them away for the problems of other countries running all over them and tearing down their temples.
Can you just picture it? Pastor Lorne said he’s seen movies and pictures on this but do you know it was kind of short lived, wasn’t it? It wasn’t too long before those people who were happy with Jesus turned their back on Him because He didn’t do for them what they expected of Him. They wanted someone to reign with all authority.
It is coming. According to the book of Revelations, Christ will rule and reign with total authority. But on Palm Sunday, so long ago, we see that Jesus came with a donkey, quietly and in peace with people praising and worshiping Him.
Jesus also came humbly. Pastor Lorne said he has 3 donkeys at their place and there’s a big difference between horses and donkeys. When a horse is happy, his head is up and he’s prancing around. Donkeys chug along, big eared and even handling them is humbling. He said it’s good because of the way they walk. Jesus came like the donkey although not quite such a big stride. As one bringing peace humbly, before the people of the day.
Jesus first came humbly and triumphant. But Rev 19:11-14 shows the difference when Jesus comes in the future. He’s coming with a white horse and a whole bunch of different crowns. Following behind Him are angels also riding white horses. Jesus destroyed and defeated his enemies with the sword of his mouth. It finally came to pass. The fact that Jesus ruled and reigned in absolute authority. It was a time peace. No wars because Jesus was there. (Rev 20)
Zacheriah 9:8 is prophesying about a Messiah coming forth in a triumphant entry riding on a donkey. And it’s speaking of a Messiah who will rule until the end of time.
It’s exciting to see how God’s word was fulfilled totally and completely. The 2nd part is still coming. As we read and celebrate his triumphant entry, it gives us just a brief glimpse. Pastor Lorne said he was so glad he was privileged to know about this and made the personal commitment to allow Christ into his life. When Christ comes back if we’still here, we’ll go with Him and if we’ve passed on, we’ll meet him in the air as He’s gathering His children.
So as we go through this Holy Week, Pastor Lorne wanted us to know that even though Jesus was beaten, ridiculed, called a friend of the sinners, and ate with people of ill repute which angered many people, He is the triumphant King of Kings. We read all the wonderful things He did. It’s a privilege we can have a personal relationship with Him. God loves each one of you and He will bring to pass His word.
There’s coming a day when we will be with Jesus and this march into Jerusaem will not compare to Him in glory. That’s the glorious hope we have.
Jesus is triumphant! He is going to win.
We will win in the end because of what Jesus proclaimed.
Pastor Lorne said in this Holy Week, as he studied these things, he could see the human part of Jesus coming out. In the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) Jesus says, ‘Abba Father," He said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."
We have some real hard things we have to go through. We say we don’t want to do this, or we don’t have to put up with that. We just want someone to take our troubles away. Jesus also prayed this but He also prayed for God’s will to be done and then He went right to the cross.
Pastor Lorne said he trusts during this week, you’ll turn your mind to what Jesus has done for you and me. The scriptures say by His stripes you are healed.
Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We have the right to come before God because of Jesus and ask for help with the needs in our lives and the healing in our bodies. Hosanna!
Friday, February 27, 2009
A Glimpse of God
Scriptures: Isaiah 6:1-7, Daniel 7:9-10 , 2 kings 19:28, Prov 21:1,
Rev 1:12-18, Rev 4:1-6, Rev 5:11-14, Rev 14:2,
Pastor Lorne gave us this message back on Feb 15th but I think it’s something we all need to hear.
He started by saying over his lifetime, he’s studied scriptures, read them and preached on them but lately, mainly because of the Wed night Bible study, something caught his eye. He said he never really had a good picture of before in his mind, of what the glory of God really was. So he wanted to take a few moments and paint an picture of the glory of God. How great and majestic He is.
He said sometimes we hear flippant remarks about Him and sometimes people talk about Him as if He was just another guy. We take him for granted. If we need help, we ask what we want and expect to get it. We sometimes refer to him as the man upstairs. Or we see pictures of a frail old man sitting on a throne and kind of looking down. So many times we hear and see God as being a little better and a little stronger than us. Someone who an do more things than we can.
But as Pastor Lorne started to read through scripture, about what some of the people saw and heard from God, he figured if he’d been there at the time, he probably would’ve had a heart attack. He said he didn’t think his human body would be able to stand it. He said they were almost near death from experiencing it because it was just so great and so wonderful.
In Isaiah 6:1-7, Pastor Lorne said Isaiah had a vision of great and wonderful things that caused him to realize how much of a sinner he really was. And as he looked at these things, his cry was, ‘Woe to me I’m ruined because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.' So he was really filled with fear and wondered what was going to happen. He said he was ruined, done for. He’d seen this great vision of what God is like and all of a sudden, the glory and the righteousness of God was in sharp contrast to his own life. So he was in the presence of God for those few moments, he was just totally taken by what he saw.
There are many places in the Old Testament where people had an opportunity to stand in the presence of God. Daniel 7:9-10 says, ‘As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.’
So this is the vision that Daniel saw. Pastor Lorne said if you go back to V7, Daniel describes the beasts as ‘terrifying and frightening and very powerful’. These are things Daniel saw that would happen in the future. Pastor Lorne said he could imagine Daniel just pouring sweat as he saw and experienced all these great and wonderful things.
He said we hear of men and dictators and others who aspire to be world leaders and they say ‘I’m going to do this and you do that.’ And James talks about that and says we can’t take tomorrow and say this will happen because we don’t know what will happen. Things just don’t work that way.
But what does God think about all this? In 2 kings 19:28 God says, ‘Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in
your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.' Pastor Lorne said if you know livestock at all you know if you put a ring in a bull’s nose, you can pretty well take a 2000 lb bull and control him. Same as a bit in a horse’s mouth. And God says that to this king who thought he was pretty big. So God still is in control. He’s big enough that he can cause people to do whatever he wants them to do.
Prov 21:1 says, ‘The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.’ Pastor Lorne said you know when you have a creek and the water follows along that ditch and goes wherever the ditch is, and God said he would direct that king just like water through the curves and turns in the ditch. God said that’s how that king will have to follow Him. So he uses that as an illustration of how He can control and deal with people.
Pastor Lorne said we’ll go right to the book of Revelations for the next scriptures. He said this is where we really find the greatness of God and how wonderful he really is. He said he trusts in a small way, to be able to paint a picture for us of how majestic and powerful God is. He said he doesn’t think our human bodies can survive being in God’s presence because we are so weak compared to Him.
When you consider what John saw in Rev 1:12-18 and the effect it had on him, no wonder he fell before Him like he was dead. It was too wonderful and too great, he just couldn’t take it all in.
Another illustration of the greatness of God is in Rev 4:1-6 where John saw all these great and wonderful things. Pastor Lorne said reading that scripture gave him another glimpse of how great God really is. How wonderful and powerful is the God that we serve and life for. He said it amazes him as he thinks of those things.
In v4, John then talks about the 24 elders surrounding the throne which threw off flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Pastor Lorne said he could just imagine the loudest and most brilliant summer thunder storm he’d ever been in. A deep rumbling, crashes of thunder, flashing lightning and everything happening around the throne of God. The God we serve isn’t just “the man upstairs”. He’s not this old man. He’s not just some figure that we pray to or lift our eyes up to. Here’s a picture of the greatness of God. The pealing thunder just a roaring. John must have been totally overcome by those things.
Pastor Lorne said when John saw all those lamp stands blazing, he must have looked for a welding helmet to ward off the blazing light. He was unable to stand and look because of the brightness of God.
He said v6 talks about the 4 winged creatures. Pastor Lorne said he was sure John hadn’t seen anything like it. They had eyes all over them, front and back. One had a lion’s face, another like an ox, another like a man and the other one like an eagle. They were covered with eyes all around and they even had eyes under their wings. And they were crying out, ‘Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is to come.' And whenever they did that, the 24 elders would fall down and they would worship God. There would be just a great lot of activity with the thunder and the lightning and the blazing lights and all these people worshipping God.
Pastor Lorne said that would be quite an experience. Something to see. It would be wonderful and terrifying. He said he was sure John would’ve been ju
st quivering as he experienced all these things. Pastor Lorne said it would be a terrible thing – an experience of a lifetime wouldn’t even be a good enough way to describe it. He was sure John was just weak after seeing all that.
Rev 5:11-14 adds a little more to this picture: ‘Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise....’
Now if you do the math about this thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten t
housands, it would be millions of angels singing praise to God. Lifting up His name. And the elders and the winged creatures all worshiping God. it would be an amazing experience. It would number in the millions. Pastor Lorne said he’s never seen a million people in one place at one time. That’s quite a crowd. But, he said he could imagine the sound, the noise. Then in Rev 14: 2, John said, 'And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder...' Pastor Lorne said it would be like standing and listening to the volume and force of Niagara falls and yet that isn’t even a good enough illustration.
So all these things is what John saw when he saw God lifted up and saw what His glory was all about. Pastor Lorne said it’s just a little glimpse of how great God is. How wonderful and powerful he is. And majestic. Like they say, it blows your mind. It’s almost too much to imagine. The Bible even says the description John gives doesn’t really even describe God. He describes the throne and everything that happened in the surr just the throne and everything that happens around it. But John only talks about God briefly. Pastor Lorne said he believes it’s because John couldn’t really look at Him. We know that Moses covered his face before he met God. Even the winged creatures around the throne covered their eyes with one set of wings because of the glory of God.
Rev 5:13 says, ‘13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" Pastor Lorne asked us if we can imagine what that would sound like, with every creature in heaven, every creature on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea all singing. It would be a choir we can’t compare to anything else.
Pastor Lorne spoke of George Beverly Shea who has sung with great choirs made up of 1500-2000 people and yet all those choirs combined is nothing compared to what the choir in heaven that will bow down before God and look at His majesty and at His Grace. The Bible says every living being on the earth and in the sea will lift up its voice and will say, ‘"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
Pastor Lorne said you and I don’t serve a God who’s rushing around in heaven thinking: this guy’s in trouble, how can I fix this. He just covers everything. He said the thing that really got to him was that even in all His greatness, He still cares enough for you and me to send His son from all the glories of heaven to die on the cross and shed his blood to pay the penalty of our sins.
God cares about our lives. He cares about the things we’re going through. Our aches and pains, sicknesses and heartaches and our situations. Yet Pastor Lorne said he just don’t understand how God can be so concerned with us when you consider all this other stuff going on in heaven with people singing, praising, worshiping and throwing down their crowns. He said in another place, vials of all the saint’s prayers were brought before God and in their time, all these things would be brought to pass.
But to realize that He loved his creation enough to give up His only Son so that you and I could be free from sin so that one day we will stand before that throne and we’re going to put our crowns down before Him. We’re going to worship Him and we’re going to praise Him. And we’re going to say, ‘"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" And that’s just going to be one marvelous day. It’s going to be terrific!
Mat 11:28 says ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Today, even though God is so great and so wonderful, He wants to give you rest in your heart and in your soul. He tells us in Scripture that in this life, we will have tribulation and problems but He will give us rest.
Pastor Lorne said he fails at telling us how great and wonderful God really is. He said in heaven, people are worshiping God. Worship and praise going on all the time. He said as the Keller’s go back up to lead worship, if we couldn’t lose ourselves in the presence of God...
Pastor Lorne gave us this message back on Feb 15th but I think it’s something we all need to hear.
He started by saying over his lifetime, he’s studied scriptures, read them and preached on them but lately, mainly because of the Wed night Bible study, something caught his eye. He said he never really had a good picture of before in his mind, of what the glory of God really was. So he wanted to take a few moments and paint an picture of the glory of God. How great and majestic He is.
He said sometimes we hear flippant remarks about Him and sometimes people talk about Him as if He was just another guy. We take him for granted. If we need help, we ask what we want and expect to get it. We sometimes refer to him as the man upstairs. Or we see pictures of a frail old man sitting on a throne and kind of looking down. So many times we hear and see God as being a little better and a little stronger than us. Someone who an do more things than we can.
But as Pastor Lorne started to read through scripture, about what some of the people saw and heard from God, he figured if he’d been there at the time, he probably would’ve had a heart attack. He said he didn’t think his human body would be able to stand it. He said they were almost near death from experiencing it because it was just so great and so wonderful.
In Isaiah 6:1-7, Pastor Lorne said Isaiah had a vision of great and wonderful things that caused him to realize how much of a sinner he really was. And as he looked at these things, his cry was, ‘Woe to me I’m ruined because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.' So he was really filled with fear and wondered what was going to happen. He said he was ruined, done for. He’d seen this great vision of what God is like and all of a sudden, the glory and the righteousness of God was in sharp contrast to his own life. So he was in the presence of God for those few moments, he was just totally taken by what he saw.
There are many places in the Old Testament where people had an opportunity to stand in the presence of God. Daniel 7:9-10 says, ‘As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.’
So this is the vision that Daniel saw. Pastor Lorne said if you go back to V7, Daniel describes the beasts as ‘terrifying and frightening and very powerful’. These are things Daniel saw that would happen in the future. Pastor Lorne said he could imagine Daniel just pouring sweat as he saw and experienced all these great and wonderful things.
He said we hear of men and dictators and others who aspire to be world leaders and they say ‘I’m going to do this and you do that.’ And James talks about that and says we can’t take tomorrow and say this will happen because we don’t know what will happen. Things just don’t work that way.
But what does God think about all this? In 2 kings 19:28 God says, ‘Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in
your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.' Pastor Lorne said if you know livestock at all you know if you put a ring in a bull’s nose, you can pretty well take a 2000 lb bull and control him. Same as a bit in a horse’s mouth. And God says that to this king who thought he was pretty big. So God still is in control. He’s big enough that he can cause people to do whatever he wants them to do.Prov 21:1 says, ‘The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.’ Pastor Lorne said you know when you have a creek and the water follows along that ditch and goes wherever the ditch is, and God said he would direct that king just like water through the curves and turns in the ditch. God said that’s how that king will have to follow Him. So he uses that as an illustration of how He can control and deal with people.
Pastor Lorne said we’ll go right to the book of Revelations for the next scriptures. He said this is where we really find the greatness of God and how wonderful he really is. He said he trusts in a small way, to be able to paint a picture for us of how majestic and powerful God is. He said he doesn’t think our human bodies can survive being in God’s presence because we are so weak compared to Him.
When you consider what John saw in Rev 1:12-18 and the effect it had on him, no wonder he fell before Him like he was dead. It was too wonderful and too great, he just couldn’t take it all in.
Another illustration of the greatness of God is in Rev 4:1-6 where John saw all these great and wonderful things. Pastor Lorne said reading that scripture gave him another glimpse of how great God really is. How wonderful and powerful is the God that we serve and life for. He said it amazes him as he thinks of those things.
In v4, John then talks about the 24 elders surrounding the throne which threw off flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Pastor Lorne said he could just imagine the loudest and most brilliant summer thunder storm he’d ever been in. A deep rumbling, crashes of thunder, flashing lightning and everything happening around the throne of God. The God we serve isn’t just “the man upstairs”. He’s not this old man. He’s not just some figure that we pray to or lift our eyes up to. Here’s a picture of the greatness of God. The pealing thunder just a roaring. John must have been totally overcome by those things.
Pastor Lorne said when John saw all those lamp stands blazing, he must have looked for a welding helmet to ward off the blazing light. He was unable to stand and look because of the brightness of God.
He said v6 talks about the 4 winged creatures. Pastor Lorne said he was sure John hadn’t seen anything like it. They had eyes all over them, front and back. One had a lion’s face, another like an ox, another like a man and the other one like an eagle. They were covered with eyes all around and they even had eyes under their wings. And they were crying out, ‘Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is to come.' And whenever they did that, the 24 elders would fall down and they would worship God. There would be just a great lot of activity with the thunder and the lightning and the blazing lights and all these people worshipping God.
Pastor Lorne said that would be quite an experience. Something to see. It would be wonderful and terrifying. He said he was sure John would’ve been ju
st quivering as he experienced all these things. Pastor Lorne said it would be a terrible thing – an experience of a lifetime wouldn’t even be a good enough way to describe it. He was sure John was just weak after seeing all that.Rev 5:11-14 adds a little more to this picture: ‘Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise....’
Now if you do the math about this thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten t
housands, it would be millions of angels singing praise to God. Lifting up His name. And the elders and the winged creatures all worshiping God. it would be an amazing experience. It would number in the millions. Pastor Lorne said he’s never seen a million people in one place at one time. That’s quite a crowd. But, he said he could imagine the sound, the noise. Then in Rev 14: 2, John said, 'And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder...' Pastor Lorne said it would be like standing and listening to the volume and force of Niagara falls and yet that isn’t even a good enough illustration.So all these things is what John saw when he saw God lifted up and saw what His glory was all about. Pastor Lorne said it’s just a little glimpse of how great God is. How wonderful and powerful he is. And majestic. Like they say, it blows your mind. It’s almost too much to imagine. The Bible even says the description John gives doesn’t really even describe God. He describes the throne and everything that happened in the surr just the throne and everything that happens around it. But John only talks about God briefly. Pastor Lorne said he believes it’s because John couldn’t really look at Him. We know that Moses covered his face before he met God. Even the winged creatures around the throne covered their eyes with one set of wings because of the glory of God.
Rev 5:13 says, ‘13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" Pastor Lorne asked us if we can imagine what that would sound like, with every creature in heaven, every creature on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea all singing. It would be a choir we can’t compare to anything else.
Pastor Lorne spoke of George Beverly Shea who has sung with great choirs made up of 1500-2000 people and yet all those choirs combined is nothing compared to what the choir in heaven that will bow down before God and look at His majesty and at His Grace. The Bible says every living being on the earth and in the sea will lift up its voice and will say, ‘"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
Pastor Lorne said you and I don’t serve a God who’s rushing around in heaven thinking: this guy’s in trouble, how can I fix this. He just covers everything. He said the thing that really got to him was that even in all His greatness, He still cares enough for you and me to send His son from all the glories of heaven to die on the cross and shed his blood to pay the penalty of our sins.
God cares about our lives. He cares about the things we’re going through. Our aches and pains, sicknesses and heartaches and our situations. Yet Pastor Lorne said he just don’t understand how God can be so concerned with us when you consider all this other stuff going on in heaven with people singing, praising, worshiping and throwing down their crowns. He said in another place, vials of all the saint’s prayers were brought before God and in their time, all these things would be brought to pass.
But to realize that He loved his creation enough to give up His only Son so that you and I could be free from sin so that one day we will stand before that throne and we’re going to put our crowns down before Him. We’re going to worship Him and we’re going to praise Him. And we’re going to say, ‘"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" And that’s just going to be one marvelous day. It’s going to be terrific!
Mat 11:28 says ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Today, even though God is so great and so wonderful, He wants to give you rest in your heart and in your soul. He tells us in Scripture that in this life, we will have tribulation and problems but He will give us rest.
Pastor Lorne said he fails at telling us how great and wonderful God really is. He said in heaven, people are worshiping God. Worship and praise going on all the time. He said as the Keller’s go back up to lead worship, if we couldn’t lose ourselves in the presence of God...
If you would like to speak to Pastor Lorne about this, please email .
Who is Jesus? Find answers at: http://www.who-jesus-is.com/
.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Gospel Music Concert at COTH
.
Everyone is welcome
Please join us for an evening of Country Gospel music.
.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine Dessert Fundraiser a Success!
Holly-Lee Lambert drove 4 hrs from Westbourne, MB to sing her country gospel songs for us on Friday night. Wonderful love songs entertained the 60 or so adults and youth gathered in the Church on the Hill basement.The Annual Dessert Auction is the main fundraiser for the Youth Group. Already this year, the youth are asking to go out on mission trips like Street Invaders to work with troubled youth on the streets.
Youth leader Noelle said this year, area merchants stepped forward to support the fundraiser without even being asked. Donations included:- Solar Light Set by Sluser's Garage
- Bath Beauty Set by Fairmont Farms
- Afghan made and donated by Rose Pollock
- Valentine Snack Bowl Gift Basket by Perras Family Foods
- Original Painted Rock made and donated by Celine Giroux
- 2 x Free Brunch Gift Certificates from Charlotte at the Glenavon Bakery
With the teens in charge of the night's entertainment, they invited 5 couples to play a fun game of 'Tell Your Mate How to Find Your Shoe'. The wives were directed to politely tell their blindfolded husbands where to find their shoes in the pile. Once the hubby had the shoes in hand and still with their blindfolds on, the hubbies had to put the footwear on their feet. This was a very entertaining game. I believe Erin and Ben won the prize for this game.
Kevin Lackey drove up from Weyburn just to be our volunteer auctioneer for the evening. The first thing he did was pick Pastor Lorne as his ring man. His next thing was to instruct Pastor Lorne how to be one.
With youth member Samantha's help, Kevin started the auction with the donations from the local businesses.
Youth member Jessie displays a Chocolate Mint Torte.
Youth member Nicholas has bid and won some cupcakes. Now he just wants to dream about them.
Rose made and donated this warm afghan.
The highest bid of the night ($130) went for this tray of Chocolate Cream Puffs. (below)
25 items were donated to this year's Dessert Auction. Total money raised for the Youth Group was $1600.
Thank you to everyone who contributed in even the smallest way to the success of this night.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Valentine Dessert and Auction Night
Please join us for the Church on the Hill Annual
Valentine Dessert and Auction Night
Feb 13 at 7:30 pm
Entertainment by Holly-Lee Lambert
Desserts Auctioned off by Kevin Lackey
Come on out for an evening of music, sweet desserts and coffee and a chance to bid on something special to take home.
All proceeds go to the COTH Youth Group
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