What's in a prayer?

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

Leonard Ravenhill, an English evangelist said that "A sinning man stops praying, and a praying man stops sinning."

I was just thinking about how in my Christian life, praying has always been one of the most challenging aspects. It's difficult to wake up early in the morning to pray...or to pray continuously throughout the day. However Jesus did it, and men of God still do it today. So why can't we? It's the only time where we can truly pour out our hearts to God...so what's stopping us? I've come to learn that Ravenhill was a preacher with a devoted prayer life. He prayed 6-7 hours a day, every day...except the Lord's day. In fact, he was an evangelist who spent more time in praying than studying the scriptures. He studied the scriptures for about 6 hours as well...so altogether, he would spend 12-14 hours with God daily! That's true devotion to the maker of the Universe.

The thing that stops us from praying and spending time with God can be the sins and the inevitable guilt that follows it...but quite often, it's the emails that we're replying to, or the hang outs we have with our church friends. The devil will certainly bring about godly things in our daily life to trip us in our prayer life...to make us falter in yet another aspect of true adoration to God. So set aside that time for prayer daily and follow through with it, because few things surpass it in importance. The only thing other thing that is more important I guess would be hearing God speak through His word.

It is said that a person is only as great as their prayer life. So where do we stand in that?

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Unity

the pharisees and sadducees were rivals
but in mark 14:53 , we see that

" They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire."

They=a group of mixed people aka sadducees + pharisees

people that hate each other will come together to take down Christ

theres no bibletalk today so we cant get together physically

but that doesnt mean we should let our guard down

~costin

Mindset

Matthew 3:13 - 15

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

As I was reading through this passage this morning I was stopped by the concrete mindset of Jesus, and the driving force behind everything He did here on earth.

Fulfillment. Fulfillment of the Father's will.

The question that I kept thinking about was - Do I have the same mindset? How easy is it for me to get off of that track and attempt to do my own thing?

Notice how although John observed what was happening, and tried to deter him, Jesus was focused, He knew what had to be done, but not only did He know - He carried it out.

It's pretty awesome. He's pretty awesome.

Crack open that bible today and see how the Lord speaks to you this morning.

See you soon

- Ben

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...''

Thank You Jesus. +

~Suffering Of JESUS! ~

Man Can you even imagine how much pain Jesus Christ,The Great I AM, Our God, Our Lord, Our King, Our Judge, The Light, Our Rock, Our Redeemer, Our Righteousness, Our Shepherd, Our Creator, Our Giver of Life... went through for US???. He suffered not us be HE suffered the unbearable pain of a Roman whip called The Cat O Nine Tails. Then, they brought him to a place called Golgotha which means the place of the skull there they put those nails in his hands and feat. But he didn't do Anything wrong he didn't! But we did! WE DIDN'T DESERVE IT FOR HIM TO DIE FOR US!!!  He died for me and for YOU! We should have been in HELL! "But God he loved us SO much that he sent his son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life"-John 3:16

"For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21    
                                                           Lately
I've been thinking about a lot of things lately and lately I wanted God to give me a mentor and well God really answered that prayer and not how I expected! All this time I was praying to God for a mentor but the mentor was right in front of me and that was God himself. 
                                                              I'm just a instrument of HIS hand....Jivin Mammen

Merry Christmas! :)

Tis the season

- Ben

Pray

I've been thinking about all the outreaches for a long time and EVERY time anyone plans to go witnessing something happens to me whether it be spiritually or physically for example: one  outreach we had around September and i had a asthma attack , then recently (today) my fingers jammed from playing basketball. Today, well I was praying and I believe the Holy Spirit showed me that I have to really be equipped with the Full Armor of God  (Ephesians 6:10-18) You can't go out fighting the enemy with your underwear haha thats just crazy if your a person who watches movies the fighters don't just go out with a christian t-shirt and a pair of shorts. NO! They go out with ARMOR and we need to do this! As I was praying God really showed me that like right now I'm being used to PRAY (PRAYER IS POWERFUL!) But sadly I haven't been praying as much as I would like to. Come on Justin Bieber even prays and he prays for lots of things haha just like he sang in his song (Justin Bieber- Pray) While Justin Bieber is praying your looking on the computer come on deny your self with me and pray i know its hard but DENY YOUR WILL AND GO PRAY!

                                                                              - I'm just a instrument of HIS hand....Jivin Mammen

Will You Pray With Me?

Praise God! I'm sure you all know by now that tomorrow and Friday, we'll be having an outreach. The sun rises and sets only by God's command, so the day is the Lord's, victory has already been accomplished because of Christ, so there is NO such thing as defeat. Whether the message of the Gospel is accepted or rejected praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who even gives us even the privilege to utter the beautiful words of His truth. 

Jesus said Himself, that He came to seek and save that which was lost. If we really care about the things of God, then our hearts have to burn for those who are perishing without the knowledge of the Savior. By His grace, we know the truth, and the truth has set us free, so we would only be selfish to keep that truth to ourselves. Our desire should be to see Christ glorified, so that everything that has breath should praise Him. 

The reason for this post is a call for us as a community to get on our knees and pray. Pray that the Lord of the harvest may send workers. Lets pray for all those that are going tomorrow and Friday that the Lord may go before them, and that the Spirit may give them unction. There is much power through prayer, because we are depending on a strength far greater than ours to supply us at the time of need. That takes faith, patience, and trust. When the great man of God Moses made tons of excuses as to why He cannot represent the Lord like "oh I got st-st-stu-stuttering problems", the Lord God said you go, and I will be your mouth. Pray that God will open doors that are usually shut, and that the Holy Spirit will lead whoever is heading out. There is no effective preaching, without earnest prayer behind it, because without the guidance of the Spirit, it's nothing but vain words hitting the air. For those of us who aren't going tomorrow, God can use us so much through prayer alone, so don't disqualify yourself from being used even though you aren't going. So whose with me? Let's do this!

-jayson

                                                                                                                                     

1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.

What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?

The Truth Shall Make You Free

John 8:31-36

31. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciple indeed.

32. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

33. They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, "You will be made free?"

34. Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

35. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

36. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

hows your foundation?

muchos gracias to everyone who came yest. night to hear me speak at church
it made the room A LOT more comfy haha

for those who didnt get to come,

http://www.4shared.com/audio/vhYp8Fq4/Hows_your_foundation.html

~costin

Sharpen Your Swords!

THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND POWERFUL, SHARPER THAN A TWO-EDGED SWORD.SO. COMMIT SCRIPTURE TO MEMORY-HIDE THE WORD OF GOD IN YOUR HEART SO THAT YOU CAN DRAW IT FOR BATTLE AT ANY TIME!

TROUGH PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I CAN TELL YOU THAT MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE WILL HELP YOUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST AND WHEN YOU COUNSEL PEOPLE.
SO ITS IMPORTANT THAT ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE THE WORD OF GOD HIDDEN IN THIER HEARTS. HOWEVER, JUST LIKE TELLING OTHERS ABOUT JESUS AND HIS LOVE, WE ALL KNOW THAT WE SHOULD DO IT, BUT OFTEN WE DON'T KNOW HOW. THEIR ARE DIFFERENT WAYS ON HOW TO MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE BUT I DO IT THE OLD WAY. TAKE A INDEX CARD, WRITE OUT THE VERSE AND MEMORIZE IT LOL ;)
SEEK ALETHEIA, SPEAK ALETHEIA, MEMORIZE ALETHEIA, WALK AND LIVE IN ALETHEIA !
ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS,
-TOM

Be prepared

Confidence, True confidence, confidence from God and not from men.

Make sure to put on that armor today

and make war

- Ben

Do I Really Believe This?

Psalms 107:9 For He satisfieth the longing soul; and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Song: Pour Out My Heart

"I am longing to..."

I am longing to worship something, isn't everyone?

But only God can satisfy that longing.

Because He fills the hungry soul with goodness, it should make me want to keep coming back to be filled.

Jesus satisfies the longing soul, that's why I need Him.

The Gospel is not about the good news of heaven, it's about the good news of Jesus Christ.

I see how Jesus gives, so I should also be willing to give like He did despite the discouragement from others. It's not about people as so much as it is about being like Christ.

Jesus gives the longing soul peace, He gives the longing soul companionship.

We are all looking for something to worship, and while we worship God, He molds us into His image.

Do I personally believe that He satisfies?

Well if I don't, then all this christianity/faith stuff really doesn't matter. It takes discipline, and a big leap of faith to keep believing...

-happy

Romans 12

⁹Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

¹⁰Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

¹¹Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

¹²Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

¹³Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

¹⁴Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

¹⁵Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

¹⁶Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

¹⁷Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

¹⁸If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Greetings

hello all,

My apologies for flying under the radar this past week, I have some major tests this week that really define my entrance into nursing school this semester so I've just been focusing on that, studying away in the depths of my room, actively fighting to not be distracted by pretty much everything (those of you who have been in my room probably know what I'm talking about when I say "everything").

I just posted up the teaching from last week. Unfortunately we had some technical problems with recording the worship set so we couldn't get that up. For those of you who were there last week, that set is a memory that only you can remember, I hope you can hold onto it.

My request to you: Take some time out to really sit down and listen to the teaching from last week. As I continue to get my thoughts together for tomorrow, I realize how much the teaching that the Lord has placed on my heart for tomorrow ties into the message we heard last week. They really build off of each other and work hand in hand. What I have to share may not be anything complex or profound, But I can say with confidence that it is something vital to our beings so do come with your hearts prepared.

So please, don't push it for later, don't brush it off, take some time to be still and listen.

Still got some tests to finish up this week to lock in the grades I need, but trust me when I say I'm looking forward to tomorrow to just get away from all those things. I encourage you to do the same, come with a clear mind and an an open heart because You never know how the Lord will surprise you once you have.

Let's get it together, Let's get back to where we need to be, Let's not let finals or the stressors of life overwhelm us to a point where we decide to place God in 2nd gear, because He has proven to us time and time again that He is worth so much more than that.

Let's be ready.

Looking forward to tomorrow, hope you are as well.

- Ben

Coin Drive (round 2)

$197.85 added to the munis fund, thanks to your spare change and efforts in this coin drive.

Word. one hundred ninety seven dollars and eighty five cents (just in case you didn't catch it the first time). 5308 of those coins were pennies.

That's a total of $274.53 between this coin drive and the last.

Praise God

The Gates

I don't know if you guys started up on the hw from this week, but it's pretty awesome. I just went through 2 of the gates and I'm amazed by what I've learned.

If you haven't started it yet, start it now, don't miss out on what God might have to teach you with it.

- Ben

Proverbs 2: 3 - 11

3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.

God is...

A L W A Y S 

there.

               -talk to Him