Good morning to you all. Let me ask you, what sort of life do you think God wants for you. I believe what he wants you and me to live an amazing life, and we can.
Let us worship him and sing; Crown Him with many crowns
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11:1-8 again
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the world was prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was made from things that were not visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s, through this he received approval as righteousness, God himself giving approval for his gifts, he died but through faith he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death and he was found because God had taken him, for it was attested before he was taken away that he had pleased God. And without faith it’s impossible to please God for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out not knowing where he was going.
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God is good, and we need to count our blessing and we need to name them one by one.
Sing with me.
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A Time Of Prayer
As we enter into a time of prayer and thanksgiving for all that God is, let us sing together
the Lord's My shepherd
Let Us pray
Psalms 92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
Father, you are the almighty God, the unchanging God that can change all things. All good and perfect gifts comes from you, you are the source of love, life and holiness. You are the God who alone does great wonders, what a mighty God you are. God, You cannot be equalled or rivalled; you are the self-existing and uncreated God.
Today, I give you thanks for your life in me, for I live, move and have my being in you. I give you thanks for your good hands upon my life, for with them you shield my head in the days of battle. God, I give you thanks for my faults and weaknesses that you forgive, showing me your mercy. I give you thanks for the righteousness of Christ that you input in me thereby giving me access into your presence.
What a great God you are, your works to me and in me are wonderful and glorious. I thank you because only a father like you would love a child like me in spite of me. Thank you for daily transforming me through your word.
Everlasting Father, I choose to thank you for both the good times and the seemingly bad times I face, knowing that through it all, you have continually worked out your good purpose for my life. Thank you for the things I have gained and the things I have lost, you are the reason I haven’t lost all and the reason I will gain all.
No matter what comes my way LORD, you will always be my God. I thank you today that you are more than enough for me. As you hold my hands, you take me through the day and I will return victoriously, giving you the praise. Amen.
Please join with me in The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Isn't it wonderful that we are able to pray freely. Its wonderful to have the privilege to worship freely, in churches or in our own homes. Let us not take for granted what we have and let that make us rejoice in Jesus' Holy name. Let God teach us to dance in our journey with Him.
Sit back and enjoy the Staff songsters as they sing, Teach Me To Dance
You wrote the rhythm of life
Created heaven and earth
In You is joy without measure
So, like a child in your sight
I dance to see your delight
For I was made for your pleasure
We can live an Amazing Life
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Jesu before we go to the word let us, stand, sing, clap and rejoice. We are a new creation, no more in condemnation.
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A Stunning, Amazing Life
What sort of a life do you think that God would want for you? Well, your answer to that I guess is going to depend on two things, whether or not you believe that God actually exists and what sort of a life you’ve had so far. Those two things more than any others are going to shape your answer to that all-important question.
Throughout the years, I’ve thought a lot about the life that I’m living, and the lives other people are living. There are a good number of times I have received letters, emails, phone calls etc, from people who ae struggling with life. Many people share their deepest despairs of their lives with me. But in between the good and the bad, there comes wonderful testimonies of God’s grace, forgiveness, love, redemption.
It doesn’t seem to matter what cycle of life you are in, down in the gutter or on a crest of a wave, we all come back to the question, ‘What sort of a life am I living and what sort of life does God want me to live?’ I’m utterly convinced that God wants you and He wants me to live an absolutely stunning life, difficult though that may seem its true and its possible. So, if it possible, if God really does want you to live a stunning life how do you get yourself on that road? The ‘what’ is pretty meaningless without the ‘how.’ I’m sure you and I have heard it a million times before, we get one chance at this life and pretty soon it’s going to be over.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
So, here is the first step, believe that God is God, that He exists, that He is who He says He is. This may sound a little trite to you and you may be saying, “I don’t need platitudes in my life, I need some real, grass-roots stuff to get me through this trial.” I know you do, and that’s why I’m sharing this first step with you. Let me say it again, the first step, is to believe that He exists, that He is who He says He is because it’s a step that has some significant consequences. We live in a world of cause and effect, you do this then that happens, sometimes the consequences are predictable, sometimes they’re totally unpredictable. In this case the consequences of taking this first step are completely predictable.
This is what God says what will happen to you if you believe in Him, Lets read Hebrews 11:1-8 again
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the world was prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was made from things that were not visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain’s, through this he received approval as righteousness, God himself giving approval for his gifts, he died but through faith he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death and he was found because God had taken him, for it was attested before he was taken away that he had pleased God. And without faith it’s impossible to please God for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned by God about events yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out not knowing where he was going.
See, when we step out on that road in faith, believing that God exists, God’s Word tells us that we’re going to receive these things. First His approval and acceptance, second freedom from death, third His rewards and fourth an inheritance. That’s what that passage we just read tells us. Like Abraham when we step out on that road, we have no idea really where we’re going to be headed. Simply God’s promise to approve us, accept us, set us free from death, reward us and give us the most amazing inheritance. Come on if that’s not a stunning life I just don’t know what is.
I know, you’re going through bad things right now. And I know that It’s hard for you. So how does any of this make any difference whatsoever to all of that now? When God promises us something, even something spectacular like this, He delivers and when God delivers that makes all the difference, it completely changes your life. All He asks us to do is simply to believe, to believe in Him, to believe that He is, to believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him out.
Let me ask, do you believe? But before you answer let me say, I’m not asking you this as a question of theory, I don’t want to know whether or not you give intellectual ascent to the existence of some supreme being, that’s not what I’m asking you at all. Just to say, “sure, I believe there’s a God,” that’s not enough, what I’m asking is this, ‘Do you believe in God with your very life?’ With everything that you are, with everything that you have, with every hope and with every dream are you seeking God out, are you seeking to approach Him, to be with Him, to know Him? Do you long for Him with all of your heart? Because when you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him and when you do, you’ll discover that He is the God who accepts you, who approves of you, who rewards you, who sets you free and who gives you the most amazing eternal inheritance and that’s a complete game changer, that’s why it’s the very first step on the road to an utterly stunning life. But let me say this, even though you begin to live in the victory of his promises, even though you live a stunning life, it doesn’t mean you won’t feel the pain and the hurt that life brings. But God is with you and so are all His promises. Listen to what Jesus say’s in John 16:33.
I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble but take courage; I have conquered the world.
What we should be hoping for is that the victory that Jesus won for us on Calvary will bring courage into our hearts. And what we should be hoping for and looking forward to and expecting is the prize that comes at the end of this life. We can either hope in this world with all its struggles for the rest of our lives, our we can place our hope in Jesus and live an utterly stunning life.
What is it that makes us expect life to give us this fairy tale dream that we know is completely and utterly unrealistic and then get all disappointed when it doesn’t work out that way? God’s promise is not that He’s going to take the pain and the suffering away. In fact, when you listen to Jesus, it’s quite the opposite. His promise is, in the midst of the pain and the suffering and the loss and the tears, we will know His unspeakable joy; His peace which passes all understanding’ the certain, rock solid hope of an eternity with Jesus.
His promise is that with our eyes firmly set on the Author and Perfector of our faith, we will be transformed from glory to glory into His image – the power of sin being washed away and the freedom that only comes in Christ an abundant reality in our lives. Is that a stunning life or what? But we can’t grab a hold of that stunning life, we can’t live that stunning life, when we’re always chasing after the trinkets that the world dangles under our noses. Don’t let the false promises of this world rob you of the absolutely stunning life that God wants to give you. Look to Jesus. Look to the cross and believe that a stunning life awaits you.
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Let us sing and receive a stunning life from Him who is Life in all its fulness.
There is none like You
No one else can touch my heart like You do
I could search for all eternity long
And find there is none like You
The Lord bless thee and keep thee
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee
And be gracious unto thee
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee
And give thee peace.
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