From Major Messes to Masterpieces - that was the theme of today, as well as the next couple of weeks. We are focusing on Ephesians 2:10 - "We are God's masterpiece..." and today's service was good for many reasons.
1) We created our first Journey masterpiece, making a collage of handprints, thumbprints, brush strokes, and more that represents our renewed commitment to the church as the body and masterpiece of God. It went surprisingly smooth.
2) The Lord's Supper - communion - was precious, especially in the second service as we mixed in music during the communion, singing "Amazing Love" with the distribution of the bread and "Nothing But the Blood" during the juice. Very powerful.
3) The message was well-received, and Ed's application at the end of the first service was perfect - the declarations "I am timeless, priceless, and part of a greater picture" are things we can say anyway, even when the enemy would tell us differently.
4) The decor aided the message - people were surprised by the artwork displayed, the music - it created ambience that is good to have.
5) We had 159, which is fantastic!
6) Best news of the day - we had one teenager who was visiting with Leiah indicate that she prayed with me and invited God into her life. I did not get her name.
7) George, who got saved two weeks ago, was also back!
There is so much growth that needs to happen at The Journey, and so many of you are struggling with personal issues or spiritual issues. The declarations you heard can help stand in your fight against the enemy who would lie and tell you that you are worthless and have no value.
My encouragement to you for next Sunday when we meet at the Knights of Columbus Hall is from the song "Sing to the King":
Come, let us sing a song. A song declaration "WE BELONG TO JESUS" - He is all we need."
Lord, we Your church, The Journey, we belong to YOU!
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2 comments:
Those first 3 declarations have been taped to our bathroom mirror.This is a word that the Lord has made very easy to apply.I can now voice what God thinks about me. What He says is true.No matter how things appear. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I can" hear" the word of God anytime I choose..... by voicing these declarations.I'm hearing God's word out of my own mouth. Thankyou Lord for providing us with "say it anyway" ammunition.
The messages from Ephesians have been great! One thing that I wanted insight on is that it says we are going to be God’s example of the “incredible wealth of his favor and kindness.”
Ephesians 2
4But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!) 6For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms--all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.
The question struck me “Examples to whom?” I always understood it to mean examples to non believers. But I see in Ephesians 3 this section.
9I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
10God's purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church. 11This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
The secret kept from the beginning is that the Jews and Gentiles would be united under Christ, and the purpose was to show God’s wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
Who are these rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms? And why does God need to show us off to them? What could it possibly matter?
Your thoughts…
jim
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