1purpose Church

Who? And with What?   Shamgar    “After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an ox goad, and he also delivered Israel” (Judges 3:31).    Shamgar is defined in Hebrew as: sword ; Shamgar became a sword in the hand of God   Backdrop to story:  Philistines overrule Israel, possessions are seized or destroyed, weapons are confiscated and everyone is running for the hills. And in comes SHAMGAR ?! God often chooses to use unknown people to accomplish great achievements to bring glory to His name.   “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; “(1 Corinthians 1:27)  God working through one person to change the lives of many  We are each called to live for God, knowing that our actions can have tremendous influence over many people.  Not willing to settle for how things are, he aspired to be all that the Lord intended him to be.  Maybe just a little faith, b

 We were not created to “fit in” we were perfectly created to stand out.  Misfits are those people who do not fit in, they are not like everyone else.  We are all uniquely made and our imperfections might make us misfits, but God uses misfits.   Looking through the Bible we see some very good examples of some mighty leaders that where also great misfits:  Abraham: Did not always tell the truth, He denied that Sarah was his wife and placed her and himself in danger. Yet he became the father of the Israelite people and the lineage through which Jesus came into the world.  Moses: Murderer, bad temper – But he lead the Israelites out of Egypt and to the promise land.  Jeremiah: A prophet who heard from God but was always burned with sorrow.  Mary Magdalene: Was possessed by demons, set free , And she was the first one to see Jesus after his resurrection.   All of these people had issues and problems that society would label as “Not good enough” But all of these people dared to do what God called them to regardles

Free Love I will love them freely Hosea 14:4   Salvation was given to us in Christ Jesus Freely.  Free means that you are given something that you did not have to pay for. When you give something and expect nothing in return.  God gives His grace to those who seek it, but His Grace has always been there for us to have, it’s not there because we asked for it, it has been given to us already we only need to reach out to accept was has already freely been given to us.  It is not because of our seeking, our prayers, and our tears, that lead God to love us. God loves us at first most freely.  There is nothing we can do to attract Gods Love to us. He already Loves us.  The origin of Love is that God Loved us even before He created us.  God love is not earned by works,   For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;it is the gift of God,not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9  God Love for us is so great that He gave His only Son to die for our salvation. We did not dese

No More Sleepwalking 1 Thessalonians 5:6 New King James Version (NKJV)6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be [a]sober. 1 Thessalonians 5:6 New International Version (NIV)6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 The Message (MSG)4-8 But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.Awful ignorance. The sleeper knows nothing. Powerlessness. While  Sisera was sleeping, he was killed by the hand of a woman. When you are sleepwalking you have no.Inactivity. When your slipping, you are not productive and you

Scared of What?   “Who are you that…live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?” [Isaiah 51:12-13]   What are we allowing to trouble and worry us from day to day?   We give more thought to the negative and we forget the awesomeness of God.  WHY DO WE DO THIS?   Because we think of God as if he were far off, while we can see the negative ( is, things, people situations) with our eyes, and we can hear with our ears his intimidating words.    1. So many of our Fears are Unnecessary  “Don’t cross the bridge till you come to it;” but so many people are crossing bridges that don’t even exist. They only exist in the heads.   We are harsher on ourselves than God would ever be.   2. Some people are very troubled by the fear of man.     “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” [John 15:19]

 Why is it so hard for us to Believe in the Holy Spirit ?  Look at this Verse:  17 the Spirit of truth,whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:17   The unbeliever/unsaved people of world that prefer their sin to their eternal salvation, those are the ones that despise the Holy Spirit excuse it neither sees Him nor knows Him;   Many people may laugh at the idea that we believe in the Holy Spirit because we cannot see him. I on the other hand am amused at their lack of faith, because when I think of the wind, I cannot see it but the wind is real. I live in Florida, have you seen what the winds of a hurricane can do? I have, and I can tell you that I so not see the wind, But I have no doubt that the wind is real.    You need to listen to the podcast so you can hear a very good example of a Doctor and a Christian having a conversation.  Its funny and a great way to prove just how real the Holy Spirit really is. 

There are 3 People at work in our Salvation  Look at the text, three persons mentioned.   “I"—(that is the Son—) "will pray the Father, - (The Creator) and he shall give you another Comforter." - (Holy Spirit)  3 persons mentioned, all of them doing something for our salvation.   "I will pray," says the Son.  "I will send," says the Father.  "I will comfort," says the Holy Ghost.   When God first made man, he said,  "Let us make man," not let me, but, "Let us make man in our own image."   The covenant Elohim said to each other,  "Let us unitedly become the creator of man."   So, when in ages far gone by, in eternity, they said, "Let us save man:" it was not the Father who said, "Let me save man,  "but the three persons conjointly said, with one consent, "Let us save man."   It is NOT 1 person of the Trinity that is in it for my salvation;    Take NOTE:  that EACH person is spoken of as performing a SEPARAT

Speak up  “We love [Him] because he first loved us.”   1 John 4:19  Everyone has a Voice; it’s how they use it that makes a difference. The Voice of the Holy Spirit  The Non-Believers  The Believers  The Passionate Believers  1. If you ask: Why do I need to speak up and announce my Love for Jesus? BECAUSE he first loved you Some reasons people give for not talking more about their Love for Christ Afraid of being laughed at Afraid of being criticized  They do not want any trouble  “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”?  John 15:19 2. Jesus deserve to be acknowledged He was not ashamed of his love for us.  “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels”  Mark 8:38  3. Because it puts you among the most blessed company. And suddenly a voice c

The Sin of Unbelief  "And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes but shalt not eat thereof" —2 Kings 7:19   1. The Sin.    His sin was unbelief.  He doubted the promise of God.   Unbelief took the form of:   Doubt of the Gods Truthfulness    Unbelief sometimes calls itself humility   Doubt of God's unchanging character:  The Immutability of God is an attribute that "God is unchanging in his   Doubt of God's power.   Doubt that keeps us from coming to Christ     2. Unbelief fosters sin.   3. Unbelief does not allow any good work.  "……Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," ROMANS 14:23    "Without faith it is impossible to please God." HEBREWS 11:6    Obedience without faith, if it is possible, is a gilded disobedience.  23 Jesus said to him, “If[d] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the fa

 The Personality Traits of the Holy Spirit  "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:16-17   Who is the Holy Spirit? Lets look at His at some of His personality traits.    We are so used to hearing and talking about the Holy Spirit in regards to his influence, His actions, His grace, that we forget that He is an actual person.  The Holy Spirit is a person. Why else would we be baptized in the name of the Father (God Creator), in the name of the Son (Jesus), and in the name if the Holy Spirit.  When we are baptize, the words that are spoken over us before the immersion into the waters are: In the name of the FATHER, SON and THE HOLY SPIRIT . Note: "in the name," not names—"of the   2. The Holy Spirit has shown us what he looks like.  In the Jordan rive