The Importance of Fellowship in your Church Family!
Have you ever wondered about the importance of being in fellowship with one another? Or have you ever imagined what life would be like if there was NO fellowship among the body of Christ?
Fellowship just happens to be a natural act that just happens, but without it, life would be just hard!
Based on the Word of God, fellowship with other believers in the body of Christ is of crucial importance. Without it, not can we not benefit from each other, but we ourselves become starved of the benefits that come from being in a community and would not completely fullfill Gods will andpurpose in our lives!
To have fellowship, is to have relationships of inner unities among believers that expresses itself in an outer co-participation with Chrsti and one another. It also means to stay strong with one another, accomplishing Gods will on earth, with the time allowed by him.
We can often see how important it is to stay strong together. When one individual falls, there is always someone there to help them get right back up. There is someone that will love them the way Jesus loved us and help them in prayer and anything they are struggling with in life.
As we take a look at how Jesus lived his life, we can CLEARLY see that he always had his disciples near, especially in his hardest times. They fellowshipped together, prayed together, and stayed connected with one another.
"That whcih we have seen and heard declare unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
Christmas Night “Urban Village” (What to wear)
Hopefully that will answer all of the question about what to wear to the Christmas night!!!
Thanksgiving…
What Is The Purpose of Thanksgiving?....
“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven”
In definition, Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday which is celebrated throughout the entire USA. On this special day of the year, families unite with a feast, giving thanks to the Lord for everything. Of course, God teaches us to give thankful for the good and bad, not only on this day but every day; so for many individuals, it’s a reminder to ALWAYS be thankful to our Lord and Savior.
This special day is also a chance every one of us has to express our gratitude towards our families, friends, and people who are surrounded in our world. Throughout the year, there are so many things and people whom we can be thankful for to God for putting them in our lives. Sometimes, we just don’t realize what we have or appreciate all the blessings that are sent to us.
Psalms 140:1 “Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.”
This verse, from the book of Psalms clearly explains to us what the meaning of Thanksgiving shall be- to give thanks unto HIS name. If you come to God with a thanks-giving heart, he will never leave or forsake you. He will always be by your side. So many times, we receive so much from him but forget to thank him from the bottom of our hearts for all the goodness he has put into our lives.
Let’s learn to be greatful for everyone and everything. No matter what the obstacles are, just take a minute or two and thank Jesus for it all. Often we don’t realize or look into other people’s life, but God has blessed us abundantly with more than we have ever asked for!
Interesting Facts about Thanksgiving:
-The author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was largely responsible for the establishment of the national Thanksgiving Holiday
-91% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving
- The only things that were known to have been served on the first Thanksgiving were deer, different kinds of fowl, flint corn, cod, bass and other types of fish
-only about HALF of the people on the Mayflower were Pilgrims
What is your Relationship with God like?
Tonight, we kicked off our Thanksgiving week by welcoming our Guest speaker Vlad Savchuk, from the tri cities- who shared a word with us on "Being Rooted in Christ".
Based off of Psalm 92:12, Vlad spoke about the difference of being connected with God, and planted in him.
Sometimes our relationship with God is like charging an iPhone. Sundays we come and get connected, all excited about Jesus, and then Monday we come to school and disconnect ourselves, and our battery immedietly starts to go down and we just wait for another moment to quickly re-charge.
We as Christians are supposed to be rooted in Him, like a mighty tree. NOT like an iPhone being charged!
"The way a fish needs the sea, the way a tree needs soil, is the way we need God. He wants us to move in him, live in him, and be planted in him."
The bible doesn't only tell us to be rooted like a tree, it tells us what type of tree--a palm tree.
Every tree that's stripped of its bark will begin to die. Except the palm tree. We as Christians will also be beaten by the world, but we live inside out not outside in.
Since Christ dwells in us we are able to stand strong no matter what.
There will, however, be storms in life that you cant pray out. We're in bondage during those times. Think about Job..He couldn't just rebuke the storm and immedietly have everything back again. We must learn to bend in our storms, be submissive and flexible under the mighty wing of God. Don't allow your storms to break you, rather, bend before God and after its over you'll be right back up.
There are two things that wont let you bend in the storm: Pride and "why" before worship.
Don't pepper God with accusing questions like "why did you make me like this?" "why am i going through this?" "why is this happening?" don't put your "WHY" before your worship. Just worship HIM!
Any abuse or trauma you may go through you will get through. Right now you may be holding a knife by the blade. Take whats been cutting you and grab hold of the handle. What killed you before will now be your weapon!
When a rope is left around a tree, it begins to grow into it and become a part of it. Then you see people who've backslid-en so far, and when you ask them whats happened they just say "Its part of who i am" because theyve allowed that bondage to grow into them.
As palm trees we are supposed to break away anything holding us back. When were in the presence of God, we grow. So sometimes it feels like were unable to break off a bondage, but don't give up! Continue to devote yourself wholeheartedly to Christ, and as you grow in Him it will only be a matter of time before you break out of it.
Moments of Gods Grace in Africa
THURSDAY, OCT 20 | DAY 1 It was around 8pm and 80 degrees as we stepped off our last plane and onto African land - at last!! Although we were pretty jet lagged, we were super pumped to finally get the trip rolling. We grabbed our luggage and got our passports stamped as we walked through the airport and met the amazing Gotte, who we’ve heard so much about! We piled into all-terrain safari vehicles and drove out to the missionary house that we’re staying at for the night in Arusha. The house is really nice, running water and electricity! After setting our stuff down we had our first dinner of bananas, toast, and coffee! Africa... we’re in Africa!! We have been waiting for this moment so long, it almost seems unreal! Tired but happy we tumbled into bed excited to be able to get out and explore tomorrow! ...
What Does Your Future Hold?
Many of us have a passion within our soul that we want to come true, in the life that we are given. We all have desires- and if we don't get too lazy, we will put the energy to achieve these desires of ours. As we age, year by year, our desires change. Before we reach our adulthood, we desire and dream about things that seem so simple and unnecessary. Sometimes we loose interest or achieve what we desired and ind that we need new desires and accomplishments to fill our empty space; since we achieved what we were wanting,but still are not satisfied with it.
So many of us, just live day by day in our busy life schedules, without setting up any goals for our future and too busy to make a difference in someone's life. Have you ever thought of doing something out of the ordinary, to be remembered by the next generation after ours? A big piece of the future depends on us. Are we willing to sacrifice and live for others throughout our life? So many times, we think of ourselves, live for ourselves, and care about making ourselves happy and comfortable. But, what will make a dramatic difference is changing the life of someone by doing something very simple. Jesus has left us with many amazing gifts and talents that we can lean on and use on others. Before Jesus went up on the cross to build a future for every individual and pay the price for your eternal life, he left us with numerous examples that show us how to a Godly life, that resembles our love and passion for others.
Everyday, he lived for people- to free them from spirits, heal them from their illnesses, and call them into his kingdom. He left us with many examples of how to make a difference, and he wants us to take advantage of it. We might not know, or sometimes not even notice, but on a daily basis, we are surrounded by people who are broken inside out, and just showing them some love will lighten them up and bring happiness into their hearts. Lets not just expect others to do our job, but depend on our own actions; leave positive footsteps behind ourselves and show goodness, love and passion to all.
The Battlefield is your destiny…
Christianity is a battlefield. By committing our lives to Christ we are enrolled in the army of God. As soldiers we give up our rights and desires to do all that the officer in charge (God) commands us to do. Many of us today live as if were not even in the army. We are live the way we want, not the way God intends us to live.
Don’t Quit Half Way!
Tonight, Church of Truth had welcomed a guest speaker- who spoke to us about having certain goals in our life and pursuing the right type of pleasure. The choices we make, or
places we go all depend on us. What we need to remember is- who will pay the price for the life we lived? Everyone, for our ownselves.
Preparing The Way…
For this weeks service George spoke about Preparing the way. We as Christians are called to direct people to the path, the true way.
There are people out there who are in valleys so deep they don't even know what they're doing anymore. Sometimes we don't know what to say or do, but just open up your mouth and begin to speak. When you take that step of faith and begin telling them of whats coming, convicting with love, people will open up to you and ask you what to do. Don't worry about what to do next, the Holy spirit will lead you with that. Just take that first step of faith.
George also spoke about going through deserts in our spiritual life, Whenever we go through our deserts we constantly think "Jesus, where are you?" "Why are all these things happening?" "Why aren't you here?" but instead of whining and complaining, check yourself. Do you truly seek Him in those hard times? Were always thankful and happy when everything goes good, but are we as faithful in the difficult times? We are CARRIED by God Himself in those times, whether we feel it or not.
The only reason we haven't fallen apart in the desert is because were in his arms.
Jesus went into the desert before he began his ministry, and there satan questioned his identity, "If you are the son of God, then...." (Matt 4:1-11) Jesus verified who he was; "I AM the son of God.." before replying with scripture. The devils first attack is on your identity, to make you doubt who you are (the son/daughter of God) Everyday proclaim your identity and thank God for who you are. "Going through the desert is a good thing--when you're with Jesus, it makes you who you are supposed to be."
Worshiping the devil is something we would never think about, but if your speaking about your problems more then you are about the power of Jesus, then your worshiping it. Speak, better yet, PROCLAIM who you are in Christ and who the devil aint!!
Whenever you think you wont make it, too many problems, too much going on, Just remind yourself of someone who overcame a lot more, and your problems will become small real quick. Satan will be looking for anything to pull down, but he Ain't got Nothin' on Jesus!
"No time to waste, no time to Chill..Jesus is coming back, stop messing with your free will"
Personality Types by Angie Kalenichenko
p.s. here are some more info about personality types..