Resolve

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Today we meet together for the last time in the year of our Lord, 2013.

Some of you will remember 2013 with great fondness as the year:

·        you graduated

·        met that special someone

·        got married

·        landed that great job

·        built your dream home

·        took the trip of a lifetime

·        retired

Others will remember 2013 with sadness … it will always be the year you:

·        wish had never happened

·        got laid off

·        separated from your spouse or filed for divorce

·        lost your house, job, girlfriend or your money

·        made that stupid mistake

·        experienced the death of someone you love

Still there are others who will not remember 2013 much at all – it just didn’t make that much difference to you – life has just kept going on as expected, nothing new.

Without regard as to what you think about 2013 or how it has treated you, 2013 is almost over. On Tuesday night at midnight the calendar will roll over to a New Year once again and off we will all go on another adventure.

This New Year thing is not just something some man or group of people thought up. Each New Year is a gift from God. And God expects us to pay attention to this gift and use it to our very best advantage.

So as we approach the end of 2013 and ready ourselves for a New Year I want to suggest 3 New Year Resolutions we might consider. They concern:

  

1.   Our Family

2.   Our Finances

3.   Our Future

First our Family

·        I want to remind us one more time before we close this year that:

When it is all said and done, the only thing God will have left from all of His hard work and the sacrifice of His only Son, is family … Family Matters!

o   Our Biological Family

o   Our Adopted Family

o   Our Church Family

Genesis 7:1  When everything was ready, the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous.”

Hebrews 11:7  It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before.

In Acts 10 Cornelius and his whole family were gloriously saved as a direct result of his sincere commitment to please God.

Proverbs 12:7  The wicked die and disappear, but the family of the godly stands firm.

Next our Finances

·        What we do with what we have reveals who we are and what we believe.

·        Money Matters … If you don’t believe it just try living without it.

·        Money however, wants to be your master – don’t fall in love with it

Matthew 6:24  “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Malachi 3

10  “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

11  "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts.”

Proverbs 3:9  Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.

Finally our Future

2 Corinthians 5

1 ¶  For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.

2  We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.

3  For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.

4  While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.

5  God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

6  So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.

7  For we live by believing and not by seeing.

8  Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

9  So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.

As we leave 2013 and embrace another New Year, resolve to:

·        Live a godly life for the sake of your Family.

·        Honor the Lord with the firstfruits of all your increase.

·        Have hope in a future that is out of this world.

Countdown to Christmas: The Son of God

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Isaiah 7:14  “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Some years ago a well known talk show host who is also an agnostic was asked whom, of all people who have ever lived, he would most like to interview. He immediately replied his choice would be Jesus of Nazareth and that he would ask Him just one question: "Are You indeed virgin born?" "The answer to that question," he said, "would explain history for me." The talk show host, though agnostic, hit the bull's eye on this one. For if Christ's virgin birth is a reality (and it is), the answer to every other question becomes clear.

Luke 1  NKJV

26  Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

27  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28  And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"

29  But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.

30  Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

31  "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.

32  "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.

33  "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

34  Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"

Although Mary was both attentive and sincere, she had no idea the depth of the question she asked Gabriel. “How can this be?” It’s not possible!

Mary may not have known the intricate biological dynamics necessary for her to conceive, carry and deliver a child, but she was aware that she could not accomplish this task on her own …

Only in the last few decades have we realized the complexities of the human anatomy and physiology that serve to make the virgin birth an outlandish claim. You see, the more medical science learns about the makeup of the human body, the more they are overwhelmed.

For example: Most of us know that we are made up of cells. Brain cells; hair cells; blood cells; white blood cells; red blood cells; skin cells and cells of all sorts that somehow know how to make and maintain bones, lungs, eyes and ears and every other part of our body. In fact, it is estimated there is somewhere between 35 and 100 trillion cells at any given time resident in the human body.

A cell can be broken down into three main parts:

1.   Outer cell membrane

2.   Cytoplasm

3.   Nucleolus

Everything in our body is made up of cells.

There are nerve cells, muscle cells, red and white blood cells, bone cells, reproductive cells and others. It is simply amazing how each one is linked together to create and maintain the body as they are continually being replaced and each one takes its place. Some cells, like those in the digestive tract, live only a few days while skin cells can live 2 to 3 weeks, red blood cells up to 4 months, white blood cells near a year and some muscle cells as long as 15 years. Eventually however, every cell in the human body is replaced.

In the nucleolus of each cell there is a non-living chromatin material called deoxyribonucleic acid, more commonly known as DNA. If stretched out each strand of DNA would be about 6 feet in length. Multiply that by the number of cells estimated to be a single human body and if put together end to end would make a DNA rope that would reach all way from the sun to Pluto and back again. That’s a lot of DNA for each one of you to be carrying around on any given day.

If you were to find a piece of paper whereon was written:

         ryola=-[polkbe2faz=[pkm;nxc98698yu[‘m.n,q7i87=-08ujn-pjnlq2btbgieb090ipok;JMLNKLTGEZVUI[Klm;n,vm/,??

]\=]p-o[0ip9uihu7i8tiuk098yuijkbM, F,vz/
\]      [pjo;enkf.zbn boipp[p’;,?>?Vn Hop[p’

?

[E[]GONIKPL’09IUJHG09iuyhgf5tyhj09IUH5TGHJ0oiu54rt9IUY65T9ii

What would you think? Perhaps I would consider some kid or maybe a monkey had been randomly banging on my keyboard or maybe a janitor had inadvertently brushed it while cleaning. However, I would not think for one minute that there was any intelligible intent or any intelligence at all.

Conversely, if you saw a piece of paper with:

1.   1. Cook first 3 ingredients in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbly. Add bananas; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat.

2.   2. Whisk together 3/4 cup granulated sugar, next 3 ingredients, and 4 egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until a pudding-like thickness. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted.) Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

3.   3. Divide half of banana mixture, pudding, and wafers among 8 (1-cup) ramekins or ovenproof glass dishes. Layer with remaining banana mixture, pudding, and vanilla wafers.

4.   4. Beat 4 egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves (2 to 4 minutes). Spread meringue over ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

5.   5. Bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes or until meringue is golden. Let cool on a wire rack 30 minutes.

Note:

For the best flavor, choose firm, ripe bananas with brown speckles.

        

You would immediately accept the absolute fact that someone wrote this on purpose with intelligent design and aimed at a specific outcome. This is in no way random nor would anyone imagine that it was. If somebody tried to tell you that they dropped their keyboard or drug it through a maze for a million years until it finally, randomly, got every letter and every space so perfect that you could follow these instructions and get banana pudding every time – you would count them either a liar or delusional.

The recipe above is only 202 letters long. Can you imagine enough letters to reach from the sun all the way to Pluto and back, each one in perfect order so as to accurately record and play back the schematics necessary to build a human being and link them to every ancestor they have ever had as well as connecting them to every relative they will ever have in the future? That’s what is written in microscopic detail on the chromatin material contained in every nucleolus of the trillions of cells in your body.

Don’t tell me it was randomly written through the trial and error process of evolution. And it would have had to have happened not once, but twice in perfect order within only a few years, ever so slightly different so as to create one male and one female of every species we observe and evolve the food and water sources at that same instant as well. Either that or … man is a created being by someone so intelligent that we cannot comprehend them.

That’s our God!

Every cell in the body has 23 pair of chromosomes which make up the 46 necessary for life … Every cell that is except the reproductive cells. The reproductive cells in both the male and female only carry 23 single chromosomes. When the male sperm and the female egg are joined together they make up the 46 chromosomes and life begins, merging the characteristics of each parent as the two become one and a child is conceived.

When Mary said, “How can this be?”, she could not have understood the complexity of her dilemma. Since she was a virgin and her reproductive cells only had 23 chromosomes, she was near 6 billion bits of genetic information short of having a child … where would the other 23 chromosomes come from? God designed us so that life could not come from a single reproductive cell.

If God created mankind (and He did), then it was only a matter of choice for Him to make a virgin conceive and bring forth His Son. Things impossible with man are possible with God. Herein was the answer:

Luke 1

35  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

36  "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.

37  "For with God nothing will be impossible."

38  Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Upon Mary’s submission to God’s will and declaration of His Word, she received the seed of the Holy Spirit and conceived the Son of God.

The Apostle John described it thus:

John 1: 14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is Jesus, our Immanuel, the Messiah, Son of man and Son of God.

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary who was espoused to a man named Joseph. Shepherds heard the multitude of heavenly hosts worshipping God and declaring “Peace on earth, good will towards man.”

We do not know the day on which the Son of God was born, but the whole world has set aside one day each year to celebrate His birth. In 3 days it will be Christmas. Remember the reason for this season and as well remember:

With God, nothing will be impossible.

Merry Christmas!

LifeShape Prayer & Discipleship Module 4 – The Future Block 12 – What Next?

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We have come to the end of our Life Shape Prayer & Discipleship Series. At this point we understand:

·        Redemption

·        New Creation Realities

·        New Creation Responsibilities

·        The Future

So, what’s next?

Revelation 22

6 ¶  Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.

Important Point #1: Jesus is coming quickly!

7  "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

8  Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

9  Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

Important Point #2: Worship God!

10  And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

11  "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."

12  "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

13  "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

14  Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

Important Point #3: Keep His Commandments!

15  But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

16  "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."

Important Point #4: Jesus is building the Church as His Bride.

17  And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Important Point #5: The message is always, “Come to Jesus”!

18  For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;

19  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Important Point #6: Don’t change one thing in the Bible.

20 ¶  He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Important Point #7: You can always depend on the grace of God.

Countdown to Christmas Peace on Earth

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We are at 10 days and counting on our Countdown to Christmas this year. Today we are going to continue the Christmas story and hear the heart of God as we look at another passage from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2.

Luke 2 NKJV

8 ¶  Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

10  Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

11  "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12  "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14  "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

Imagine what those shepherds must have seen that night. Suddenly the heavens opened and there was a multitude of heavenly saints and angels giving glory to God for the birth of Messiah.

In all the excitement heaven spilled over into the earth and the shepherds heard the wonderful news. Heaven declared a new day of: “Peace on earth and good will toward men!”

With this heavenly declaration, things changed, forever. That’s what declarations do. A declaration is the most powerful and least respected dynamic in the universe.

Declarations change things …

·        Among the first lessons God teaches us – “Let there be light”

·        Declare a thing and it shall be established – (Job 22:28)

·        Say to the mountain be removed – (Mark 11:23)

·        Speak the Word only – (Matthew 8:8)

·        With the mouth confession/declaration is made unto salvation

·        Words contain power and words change things – (Hebrews 1&11:3)

There is only one problem with a declaration … both: Death and life are in the power of the tongue ~ Proverbs 18:21

The reason God promised and ultimately sent Messiah as our Savior was so we might know peace and experience good will in life … His declaration.

There is no person who has ever lived who has not been acquainted with grief and familiar with the common sorrows of the heart. Each one of us have faced disappointments and encountered tragedies which seem all too unreasonable and worthless to any account. Individuals and families, genders, cultures, races, tribes, nations and generations carry terrible burdens of hurts and weights of pain unjustly inflicted on them by others.

Some small amounts of trouble are agreeably self-inflicted but by and large the greatest hurts known to man are those visited upon them by the actions or inactions of others. Generation after generation has experienced the same unfolding injustices and limitations which we encounter today.

The Torah contains a record of the Children of Israel and their journey from Egypt to the Promise Land. At one point we find the Israelites camped in the northern borders of Moab near the land of Midian, which is directly across the Jordan River from the city of Jericho. The sheer numbers and strength of the Israelites concerned the King of Moab, especially since the Israelites had proven themselves in battle having utterly defeated all their enemies in the wilderness including the formidable Amorites.

Balak, King of Moab, conferred with the elders of Midian and together they agreed that they needed a greater force than their combined armies could muster. In order to defeat the Israelites, the elders of Moab and Midian decided they needed somebody to make a spiritual declaration on their behalf. They believed, as does God and the hosts of heaven, that a spiritual declaration releases power to change things.

Balak sent for a man named Balaam who was known throughout the land for making powerful spiritual declarations. Balaam’s words had power and not only did the Moabites and Midianites believe it but also heaven was acutely aware of the power of Balaam’s words. Heaven was concerned that Balaam might be successfully tempted to make a declaration against Israel and put them at a disadvantage in the face of those who wanted to see them defeated.

I encourage you to read the account of Balaam and his encounters with messengers and the angel and the donkey and the Israelites as he stood and made his powerful spiritual declarations over the Children of God.

King Balak said to the Prophet Balaam:

"Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (Numbers 22:6) 

And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed." (Numbers 22:12) 

King Balak believed faith filled words would release power to bless or power to curse people and groups of people according to what was spoken by someone with passion and conviction. Interesting to note … so did God, so did the angel and even a donkey. As well …

James 3

8  No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.

9  Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

10  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

Well it might not be right but nonetheless it happens, and that’s what James is saying. Both blessings and curses are real and powerful in our lives. And, both are often the result of the words spoken over us by others.

I need not tell you that some problems are spiritual problems … hurts from the inside and not something that can be fixed with medicine or money. The pain of a wounded spirit or a broken heart cannot be remedied by natural means but must be dealt with spiritually. Many fears, continual failures and some of those things we call addictions are the results of curses visited upon us by family lineage, cultural heritage or others around us releasing curses over our lives whether consciously meaning to or not.

Words have power as testimony confirms throughout the Bible. Perhaps the trouble you or someone you know has been facing is beyond the realm of natural remedy. The Holy Scriptures speak of curses attached to finances, curses on health, curses on relationships, curses on families, curses on the success of your job, business, promotion, your mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

In Matthew 21 Jesus cursed the fig tree by the words He spoke and soon it dried up and withered away. Curses are real and that’s what curses do.

Is there something in your life that is drying up or is withering away? Let me assure you, Jesus is not cursing you today. Galatians 3 says He gave His life to set you free from the curse. But, the devil hates you …

It may be that you are facing some dilemma which has a natural cause and can be remedied with money, medicine or mental help. Perhaps a little discipline or better decisions might fix your problem. If so, great. However, some of you have done absolutely everything you can do and nothing has gotten better, in fact, for some of you things have only gotten worse.

Worry, depression, financial hardship, pain, problems, attitudes seem to be against you, you can’t capture your thoughts or you keep falling into the same trap over and over again, sin has a hold of you or you feel like you are always one step ahead of failure or losing everything and nothing you do fixes the problem. It might be a spiritual problem. If so, good news, spiritual problems can be fixed, regardless of who/what caused the curse.

Deuteronomy 23:5  "Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.

God loves us today and He has made a way for us to effectively deal with curses caused by others against us in this life.

Isaiah 54:17  No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.

Today you can break the spiritual chains that bind you. There is no power in the universe stronger than the spoken word. And, no one has greater power over you than you do yourself.

Pray with me right now and make a new and powerful spiritual declaration over your life, your family, your finances and your future. Join me as we lift up our Church family, our communities and the nation.

I have a passionate conviction that you can change things in the spirit realm and reverse the curses in your life. I am convinced there is power in your words and that the LORD our God will not listen to other voices or the words spoken against us but will turn every curse into a blessing for us – even if we are the one who needs to change - because He loves us.

This is not the time for you to check out or to just listen to my prayer. You get engaged in your mind, in your heart and in voicing your spiritual declaration. Today you can break the chains that bind you, your family, your finances, your friends, and your future.

What would you change in your circle of life if only a word would fix it?

Let’s speak that word forth as a declaration. Things will change and you will begin to see the difference. Look for it – testify to it – help others …

Revelation 22:3  And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

LifeShape Prayer & Discipleship Module 4 – The Future Block 11 – In Conclusion

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Our Key Scriptures are taken today from the Book of the Prophets, specifically the Prophet Micah.

Micah 6

6  With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?

7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Key Scripture: Micah 6:8  He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

We have come a long way together, studied the Word of God and discovered truths and principles which every Believer should know from God’s Holy Word. Now we are quickly drawing to the close of these Life Shape lessons and it behooves us to draw some conclusions from our many weeks of study.

Merely hearing the Word of God and the doctrines of Christ are not enough to transform us into the people God wants and needs us to be. Rather we must harness ourselves to believe, embrace and live the Word of God. People around us need to see those who claim to know Jesus living the life of a Believer in the face of the daily challenges which come to everyone. The world hates a hypocrite but they use every means available to them to tempt the Christian in efforts to make them compromise.

I have found 5 principles of life that seem to endure. If we will remember these things we will be encouraged to stay on the right track. Life is still a choice and failure is forgivable however, it is better to live victorious over temptations of life instead of recovering from them. So, keep these things in mind while you continue on your journey. They are not law but they are tried and true principles of life.

1.   What we say will be said.

2.   What we do will be known.

3.   What we believe will be tested.

4.   What we compromise to keep we will lose.

5.   The journey is our friend.

It is the journey that prepares us for destiny. At each juncture in life we are offered the opportunity to turn towards God. In every high moment and in every low moment we find a pathway that will keep us walking in the direction of God’s will. There is no temptation, test, trial or tribulation we face in life without God being right there with us, speaking to us, comforting us and offering us guidance. God sees our potential and shines His light on our way. He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us.

Together, during these LifeShape lessons, we have discovered how:

·        God created us and everything we needed from things which did not previously exist.

·        The devil subtly tempted Eve and made her believe it was ok to disobey God’s Word and do her own thing.

·        Sin separates man from man; separates man from God’s temporal blessings; and separates man from his eternal purpose.

·        Eternal forgiveness requires a perfect sacrifice.

·        God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes on Him shall never perish but have eternal life.

·        We are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast.

·        Grace only demands we believe and receive.

·        When we accept and receive Jesus, God accepts and receives us.

·        God’s children are granted access to Him through prayer.

·        The Holy Spirit lives in Born Again Believers with power to be a witness.

·        God places every person in a Church family according to His need and will.

·        Every Christian is expected and encouraged to grow up and take on a personal responsibilities for the health and growth of the Church.

·        Each Church is responsible to accomplish the Great Commission through world evangelism and continued discipleship.

·        The same Jesus who ascended will come again and receive the Church unto Himself to be with Him forever.

·        A great 7 year tribulation period will come upon the earth as judgment from God.

·        Jesus will lead His armies of saints and angels to defeat the antichrist at the battle of Armageddon.

·        Satan will be bound for a thousand years.

·        Jesus will set up His Kingdom and reign in Jerusalem as King of the whole earth for a thousand years.

·        Satan will be loosed for a short time to deceive the nations and gather them to a final battle against Jesus the Messiah.

·        God will intervene, bind and cast satan, his angels, death and hell along with all whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life once and for all eternity into the lake of fire which will burn forever and ever.

·        The heavens and the earth will be consumed and utterly destroyed and the elements will melt with a fervent heat and there will be no more sea. The earth will be without form and void and darkness will cover the face of the deep.

·        God will create a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. He and His Son will live on the earth with man and there will be no more crying, pain, sickness or death.

·        This is eternity.

What more shall we say to these things? In conclusion of these matters I am compelled to call to mind the scripture which says:

Ecclesiastes 12

13  That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.

14  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

Important Points

1.   Do justly

2.   Love mercy

3.   Walk humbly

4.   Obey God

5.   Keep His commands