Pastor Rick, can you give us three reasons...

        ... why it is so important for us to be extraordinarily faithful to God in the day we are living? I am so glad you asked!

The first reason and, to me, the most obvious reason to be faithful to God in an extreme way is that Jesus Christ is getting ready to split that eastern sky and gather together those whose hearts are on Him.  Matthew 24:37‑42 (NKJV) says “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” The key is He is coming and we must be ready!

The second reason is connected to the first, and should be a wakeup call for all of us. When Jesus comes back we do not want to be lukewarm but we want to be fervently serving the Lord with all our hearts. Revelation 3:14‑16 (NKJV) says  "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Jesus is coming back and He is coming back for an on fire Church! Is that you?

The third reason is tied to the other two: Since Jesus is coming back so soon and knowing that He will vomit us out of His mouth if we are not on fire for Him, we should make it our aim to share Christ with everyone. Mark 16:15 (NKJV) says “And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”  If we truly believe He is coming, if we are filled with His power, then, we should be leading others to Christ with great passion. Come on, Life Church, let’s reach as many as we can through missions and evangelism! Pray with us and ask what God will do through you for missions. Make a Faith Promise and watch how God comes through for you!  

Twenty-one days of fasting started...

            ... January 1, 2019 and who can even believe that we are already starting a new year?  How can we make our fasting more effective this year and what is it that God expects of us as we fast?  Isaiah 58:6‑9 (NIV) "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter‑‑ when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I...”

Please be aware that fasting is not intended to be a “quick-fix diet” for over eating during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year Holidays. It is a time of seeking God with all your hearts and it is a time of searching our hearts and repenting for ourselves and our nation.  According to Isaiah, it is a time of seeing people set free by the power of God, a time of being compassionate to those in need, and about taking care of our own families. It is a time for giving our all to God and holding nothing back.

I am praying this year will be an awesome year for us corporately and for many individually. Maybe your break-through will be with your family, your marriage, your finances, your job, your prodigal, or maybe with your walk with God. Maybe this will be your year to finally surrender everything to God and stop living way too close to the edge. I am praying that men, women, and our children will seek God passionately and for those who are prodigals to return to the Lord with all their hearts. Come on, Life Church Assembly of God, let us fast and pray as one in the Lord, let us see our light break forth in our community, and our healing to come quickly! 

As we approach the new year...

... I want you to prayerfully prepare yourself for our annual 21 days of fasting and prayer.  We believe God going to do wonderful things here at Life Church and we want to make sure that we are in the absolute center of God’s will.  God is pretty clear about how He wants us to fast...about what our intentions are as we fast. Isaiah 58:6 7 (NIV) "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter    when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Our desire should be that through our fasting and praying that we see chains broken, addictions abolished, the cords that are tightly around the necks of the oppressed loosed, and to see them set free.  When Jesus sets someone free...they are free. This is the goal of our prayer and fasting. It is having compassion for the poor and hungry and helping those who cannot help themselves. Understanding that our families have to be of utmost importance to us. Our fasting should renew our love for God and for each other!

What can we expect when we fast in sincerity and according to God’s will?  Isaiah 58:8 11 (NIV)   “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.  The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Come on, Life Church, let us fast together and see God grow Life Church to one thousand plus and start a new campus!

As we approach Christmas...

       ... my prayer is that all of us will keep the main thing the main thing.  We all know this but sometimes we need to be reminded that Christmas is about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He left the splendor and glory of heaven to be born in a manger, live His life among us, go to the cross, and be raised from the dead that we might have the most awesome gift of eternal life with God. It should never be hard for us to worship Him at Christmas time when you consider all He has done for us. A few years ago I preached a message “Wake Up! The Gifts Are Under the Tree!” That is what my parents used to say to us on Christmas morning.  My sermon said for us to wake up because our gifts are under the tree...the cross!

Many get caught up with the pressure of making sure everyone gets a gift and unfortunately many go into debt to do so. Christian financial expert Dave Ramsey says that we should never go into debt for Christmas but that we keep the main thing the main thing.  He said we spend what we have on those we can and trust that everyone will understand. He goes on and tells parents not to get all stressed out over this issue but to sit down with their children and explain to them the best they can their situation.  He also says it is a great opportunity to share with them that the most important things in life are our relationship with God and each other.

  Mary (the mother of Jesus) had to learn Christmas was gaining and losing...how so?  She gained by being chosen to have the Christ-child conceived in her. She had to be willing to lose her reputation and almost her husband. Luke 1:35 38 (NIV) “The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.” As we choose this Christmas to be the Lord’s servants let us choose like Mary to be the Lord’s servants!

Jim Cymbala says, “Prayer links us...

... to the promises and power of the Almighty. Calling out to God threatens Satan’s kingdom because it brings the blessings of heaven to earth and grants salvation to the ungodly.”  As we get ready to go into 2019 let us commit to fasting and prayer like never before. Join us the first full week of January 2019 each night to earnestly seek the Lord and to pray for God’s continued blessings! Also, we want to be thankful for all He has done for us! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The early church devoted itself to prayer (Acts 2:42), it prayed the Apostle Peter out of prison the night before his scheduled execution (Acts 12), and they responded to persecution for the first time by prayer (Acts 4:42).  God responded by granting them a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit and a boldness to witness for Christ.  When Ananias was so fearful to go in obedience to pray for Saul who became Paul, God gave him this sign to let him know he had changed: Acts 9:11 (NKJV)  “...behold, he is praying.”  Prayer is key!

We all in one accord say that we want to grow to one thousand plus and we all acknowledge that there are many adversaries.  Listen to the exhortation of our Lord:  Luke 18:1 (NIV) “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”  If you have not arrived at your destination yet...do not give up and do not stop praying. The Scriptures we read about putting on God’s armor also tells us:  Ephesians 6:18 (NKJV)  “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”  Brothers and Sisters, keep praying and we will see a great harvest of souls in 2019!

Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:8 (NIV) ...

...“I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.”  All of us know that we should pray and that we should pray every day...without ceasing.  We all know we should pray fervently and that we should be constantly making intercession to the Lord for a multitude of reasons...prodigals, sickness, our nation, etc.  We read books on prayer, hear sermons about prayer, go to seminars about prayer, and we even commit ourselves to pray more (New Year’s). Why is it so hard for us to pray consistently and to worship God continually?

Let’s look at some reasons why it is so hard to pray and to worship.

1. We have trouble praying because prayer and worship seem to be unnatural acts for us.  Stay with me...we were originally created to desire communion with God...Adam and Eve walked with God daily in the garden.  Something separated them from this close communion...what was it? Sin. Sin also puts a wall between God and ourselves.

2. We have trouble praying because prayer and worship seem to be admissions of weakness.   Get this...the act of prayer and worship by their nature are admissions of weakness. We are crying out for God’s help! As we pray, our inner man acknowledges our utter dependence upon the One we are praying to. Paul says when we are weak then we are strong.

3. We have trouble praying and worshiping because we do not see the actual results of prayer the way we expect.  Don’t misunderstand me, I believe God absolutely answers prayer.  Most of us have lived long enough to realize that God’s answers do not always come in the way or on the time frame that we would have chosen...was He listening?  

Key: We must begin to see prayer and worship are for the business of aligning ourselves with God’s purposes instead of asking Him and expecting Him to align with ours. Amen!

Today I want you to ask yourself...

        ... why do you want to be filled with Holy Spirit? Because you attend a church that being filled with Holy Spirit power is one of our tenets of faith, I must surmise that you would love to be filled with supernatural power. You probably would not keep coming here if you did not want Him but here’s my question for you today: Why do you want Him...what is your motive?  Before you think I am being rude for asking...the scriptures are clear about people asking for things with the wrong motives.  James 4:3 (NKJV) “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Our desire should be to live for the cause and the glory of God Who put us on this earth in the first place.

So really, why do you want Holy Spirit to work in your life or to fill you up...is it for your own benefit or for the glory of God?  Many believe Holy Spirit is much like a pawn that they have access to so that they can manipulate others and to look spiritual in other people’s eyes. They believe that when they give a “word” people will ooh and awe over their ability to walk so closely to the Lord. What they fell to see is that all of the spiritual gifts of Holy Spirit are for the edification, exhortation, and building up of the body of Christ, not our own grandiose ideas. How much do you love the church?  How much do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Do you want to build them up or tear them down...encourage them or control them? What’s your motive?

It is so important to remember these verses: 1 Corinthians 12:711 (NKJV)  “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”  Let me sum this up: Holy Spirit gives the gifts as He wills (not as we will) and He does it for the profit of all!