As I sought the Lord about what to share I was very aware...

  ...that it is Christmas time but I was also keenly aware that we will be challenging you to fast with us Jan.1 for 21 days. I felt that God wanted me to tie Christmas and fasting together. If we can give our first fruits to the Lord…dedication to God’s house. To worship, and to fasting and prayer, blessings will come. Let’s look at Anna: Luke 2:36-37 (NIV) “There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” Fasting and prayer are the push that will swing open the door that we are praying for. The dreams we are believing God for! New Campus! La Vida!

1. To be ready for Jesus to come Anna had a dedication to God’s House. Luke 2:37 (NIV) 37…She never left the temple…” Church was not optional for her but she had a passion for God’s house. Let me encourage you in this coming new year to make God and His House a dedicated and faithful priority. Make a decision that nothing will keep you out of God’s house. With everything being shaken that can be shaken...get to God’s house...His refuge for us! If you are going thru a tough time, if you have a prodigal, if you need a break through...get to church.

2. To be ready for Jesus to come Anna made a choice to worship God night and day. Luke 2:37 (NIV) 37…She never left the temple but worshiped night and day…” Just an observation: those who make the choice to worship God night and day, thru the bad and good, thru blessed times and rough times...those individuals have peace with God and experience His presence! Anna cried out and the Lord heard her…she saw the deliverance that she had prayed for all those years. She prayed for Messiah to come!

3. To be ready for Jesus to come Anna spent time in God’s house, she worshiped, and she fasted and prayed. Luke 2:37 (NIV) 37…She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 

Your pastor and church leadership are admonishing you to join with us in fasting and praying beginning January 1. Could it be that 2023 will be your year! Our year! We are asking you to do a true biblical fast...fast food...Crucify your flesh! We are asking for 100% participation...we are asking for you to especially join with us starting Monday January 1 for the 21 days of fasting and January 8 for our Annual week of Prayer. It is imperative that we are faithful to God’s house, that we worship Him, and that we fast and pray! With 2023 upon us, let’s seek God!

Today is our Christmas Program, “Savior for All...”

 ...As I prayed about the production this year, a word jumped out to me from the title. The word “all” kept being magnified to me. Why a “Savior for All?”

Romans 3:22-24 (NCV) “God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ.”

1. All are the Same. Romans 3:22 (NCV) “God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same:” It does not matter if you are rich or poor, black, brown, or white. We are all the same. You are never entitled to any special privileges because of your nationality or color. When it comes to the Savior, there is no white, black, or brown privilege. We are all the same according to God. God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. You get no extra blessings because you think you are all that. You need Jesus.

2. All Have Sinned. Romans 3:23 (NCV) ^“ All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory,” Romans 3:23 (NKJV) ^“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” It does not matter if you were raised in church or raised in a home where God was only mentioned in a way of cursing. All of our sin nailed Jesus to the tree. Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV) “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” All means all. Many believe sin is only learned. It can be learned but this may be a shock for some of you. Psalm 51:5 (NLT2) ^“For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” All are the same and all have sinned. 

3. All Need to be Made Right with God by His Grace. Romans 3:24 (NCV) ^“ and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ.” All are the same, all have sinned, and all need to be made right with God by His grace. God so loved the world (you and me) that He gave His son for us all to be saved. That’s grace. He is the Savior for All! All of us! Romans 8:32 (NKJV) “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Amen!

Today we continue the series “Courage”...

  ...We will look and see how God wants us to have the courage to trust Him with everything in our lives. Even small things.

1. A Ridiculous Prayer. As we read through Scriptures we see an infinite God Who can do anything but who is also concerned about everything in our lives. I have heard people say ridiculous things about situations in their lives. The sons of the prophets are going on a tree cutting expedition. 2 Kings 6:5-7 (NKJV) “But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, "Alas, master! For it was borrowed." So the man of God said, "Where did it fall?" And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, "Pick it up for yourself." So he reached out his hand and took it. I am sure Elisha’s wheels are turning in his mind so he says to the apprentice, “Where did ax head fall?” What difference does it make? It’s gone but it fell at this spot. Though it is not recorded I am sure Elisha prayed a crazy prayer, received wisdom from God, cut a stick, and then throws it in the water. Something happens…iron floats. A miracle. Batterson – God is great not just because nothing is too big for Him. God is great because nothing is too small for Him either.

2. We Tend to Rank Prayers and Miracles. Similar to the way a judge at a gymnastic competition ranks a routine based on the degree of difficulty, we rank our prayer requests the same way. We have big requests and little requests. We have easy requests and difficult requests. But our thinking is all messed up. Why? To the infinite God all finites are equal. With God there is no big or small, easy or difficult, possible or impossible. When it comes to God, there are no degrees of difficulty. It really does not matter like with Benaiah how many Moabites you are facing, how tall your Egyptian giant is, and the size of your lion is not your issue. The issue is this: How big is your God.

3. God, our Father. You may be thinking, even if God is great enough to do absolutely anything, why would He answer my prayer? Why would He do a miraculous thing through me? He is our Father. Pastor Mark, “Our good good Father! Please do not dismiss this simple truth…God is a proud parent and you are the “Apple of His eye!” I believe He celebrates our accomplishments. I really believe our Heavenly Father celebrates when we are willing to allow Him to defy the odds in our lives. No matter the giant or giants, the lions, or what enemy attacks us. Lion chasers defy the odds and make their Father proud.

With Thanksgiving this week, I thought this article would be appropriate...

 ...There are many “catch phrases” that circulate through Christendom...sometimes they have great meaning and other times not so much.  One such phrase is, “It is not about me” but reality tells us that most of what we do is about us and it is for us.  Max Lucado in his book with the same title as the phrase It Is Not About Me is attempting to help us see that whatever we do should be done for the glory of God.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV) “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Whatever we do we should be doing for God’s glory and because we are thankful but all too many times “me” gets in the way.

Lucado says, “Our society is not wired for this kind of thinking. It’s a “me-centric” world out there, which destroys much of what should be good. Marriages are ruined because one or both partners are focused on their own happiness. Successful men and women are ruined by their own success, believing they don’t need anyone else’s input. And for some, life’s troubles are magnified because they believe life is all about them.”  The Gospel of Jesus Christ seems to be completely backward to our self-centered lifestyle here in the United States of America. Mark 8:34-36 (NKJV) "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? We are taught to believe that we have the right or entitlement to have what we want when we want it. We simply are not thankful for what we have.

I have said for years that God is not so much interested in our happiness as He is our holiness. He wants us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, follow Him and, of course, be thankful. This seems so difficult when we are so comfortable taking care of number one. Lucado says, “Our comfort is not God’s priority. If it is, something has gone awry. If we are the marquee event, how do we explain flat-earth challenges like death, disease, slumping economies, or rumbling earthquakes? If God exists to please us, then shouldn’t we always be pleased?” The truth is that God does not exist to make a big deal out of us but we should exist to make a big deal out of Him.  It is not about you and for a certainty it is not about me, it is all about Him.  Psalm 34:3 (NKJV) “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” Let us give thanks to the Lord!

Today we welcome La Vida Church to celebrate with us One Church, One Family...

  ...This is always such an exciting time of unity. Mark 6:35-37 (NKJV) “When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat." But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." I want share with you three sure ways to fail, and all you have to do is emulate the disciples in this situation. This story is repeated in all four of the Gospels and must have been so important to Holy Spirit as He moved on these disciples to record it. How can we, like the disciples, fail?

1. To fail we need to see the impossibility of the situation. We must admit that feeding 5000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish is an impossible task. Most scholars believe there were between 15,000 to 20,000 people. We can simply choose to fail because nothing can be done to fix it...it is beyond us. Humanly impossible. You keep concentrating on how big your problem is and you are assured of failure! Keep magnifying what cannot be done and you will surely fail. Just send them away.

2. To fail we need to look at our limited resources and know it is impossible. Who can argue with the disciples about the fact (5 loaves and 2 fish) are so little among so much need...A Year’s wage could not feed so many people...No Wal-Mart! No Hungry Howie! Who could possibly fault you not being able to succeed with such meager resources...why try when you do not have sufficient supply? Focus on your own little resources and I assure you that you will fail.

3. To fail we need to ignore the fact that Jesus is with us to work miracles. Had the disciples already forgotten the miracles Jesus had already done in their presence? Couldn’t the One Who healed the man at the pool, delivered a demon possessed man, had power over the wind and waves of the sea, couldn’t He handle this problem. Are we going to ignore the fact that with God all things are possible? Mark 9:23 (NKJV) “Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." If you want to fail...Ignore the fact that Jesus is with you, He is for you, and He is in you! Key - The disciples wanted to start with much and end with little but Jesus wanted them to start with little and end with much. God wants us to end better than we started...He wants us to witness Him multiplying His life, His resources, and His love each time we face what appears to be an insurmountable situation.

We continue the series “Courage” today...

 ... 2 Samuel 23:20-21 (NLT2) “There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.” With God we can defy the odds. 

1. Odd Things About Odds. I am just guessing Benaiah was a two to one underdog when he fought two Moabite champions (warriors). The odds makers would never have given Benaiah a chance against the Egyptian warrior (giant). To start with, the giant had a spear and Benaiah only had a club. For me, a spear wins every time. Let’s not forget about the lion in a pit on a snowy day. I personally would not want to be in a pit with a lion on any kind of day with or without a weapon. A recipe for disaster.

2. Defying the Odds. Benaiah did what lion chasers do. He defied the odds. He didn’t avoid the situation just because the odds were against him. Lion chasers know God is bigger and more powerful than any problem they face in the world. Batterson – “Lion chasers thrive in the toughest circumstances because they know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles. That is how God reveals His glory—and how He blesses you in ways you never could have imagined.” There is a pattern that is repeated throughout Scripture: Sometimes God won’t intervene until something is humanly impossible. And He usually does it just in the nick of time.Mark 10:27 (NKJV) ^“But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

3. Little is Much When God is in it. What do you mean? Think about God’s military strategy in Judge’s 7. Gideon has an army of 32,000 and is terribly outnumbered by the Midianites. God begins to shrink Gideon’s army to 10,000, and then 300. So how big is this army that Gideon and the 300 are going against? Judges 7:12 (NKJV) “as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.” Impossible odds but little is much when God is in it. The odds had to be at least a million to one but that does not matter when God gets involved. You know the rest of the story. Gideon wins. No, God wins! Romans 8:31-32 (NKJV) “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

Again today we continue the series “Courage”...

...2 Samuel 23:20-23 (NLT2) “There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.” There are two types of regret. Regrets of action and regrets of inaction. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Those who simply run away from sin are only half Christians. We are not just called to run away from evil but our calling is to chase lions. 

1. No Guts, No Glory. When we don’t have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. Matthew 10:16 (NKJV) "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” What we fail to see is that these lion chasers are ordinary people like us. What sets lion chasers apart isn’t the outcome. It’s the courage to chase God sized dreams. Lion chasers don’t let their fears or doubts keep them from doing what God has called them to do.

2. Successful Lion Chasers. Mark Batterson has a simple definition of success. He says do the best you can with what you have where you are. Batterson – “Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God ordained opportunities. Think of every opportunity as God’s gift to you. What you do with those opportunities is your gift to God. I’m absolutely convinced that our greatest regrets in life will be missed opportunities.” Benaniah went on to have a brilliant military career. It started by what many would consider him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Benaniah was faced with a choice that would determine his destiny. Fight or flight?

3. Our Snowy Pit. I don’t pretend to know what is going on in every life represented here today but I am very convinced that all of us have had to face a few lions in our lives. Maybe you are facing one now. I don’t know the depth of you pit or how cold your heart is right now. What I do know is that there is a God Who was with Benaniah in the pit and He will be with you in your pit if you will only acknowledge Him. However deep your pit is, however fierce your lion is, you serve a God Who is all powerful who can deliver you from the paw of the lion. Psalm 40:1-2 (NCV) “I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of destruction.” God is not finished with you yet. Wait patiently for Him.