Praise the Lord that it is Saturday and Sunday is coming. It is a very sweet Saturday here in our church this day as our church
is hosting a Sweetheart Banquet. The
banquet is scheduled for 6:00 PM today. The church is
preparing and fixing a very special menu with sumptuous and delicious entrees and
diverse decadent desserts. There will be
special music following the banquet. We
have so many reasons to celebrate and rejoice and to taste the good things of
the Lord and feast on His abundance and generosity. We will gather for Sunday school tomorrow at 9:30 AM and for worship at 10:30AM. Plan to be in the house of the Lord to
worship the Risen Savior. May Jesus the Lord of the church bring about a
great outpouring of His Spirit and anointing and great revival accompanied by a
great harvest in the world.
We had some face time with our grandchildren Addie and Asha yesterday,
along with their mommy Sunita in Washingtton . Gabe was
in school. Addie loves chicken curry. Asha loves mangoes. Sunita told me that Asha had two and a half
mangoes one day last week. (She is not
quite two and half years old). They are all going to Florida next week
for a short vacation. Asha is wearing
her swim suit all the time and talking non-stop of going to the beach. Sunita was sharing with me that Gabe has a new
student in his class who is a young girl, a miracle child. Her mom is a US Congress woman. During the pregnancy it was discovered that her
baby had severe high risk complications. She was advised for abortion. The mom and her
husband refused the doctor’s advice and through much prayer and medical
intervention the baby was born at full term, but she was born without kidneys. Her dad gave her one of his kidneys. She is a beautiful winsome girl. Praise the Lord for committed Christian
parents who have the courage and audacity to follow Jesus in the face of extreme
adversities. Somehow Jesus comes and gives us the victory.
Men and women of deep faith, self-abandon, and extreme courage
make it easy for others to believe in Jesus. Somebody once said that the saints are those who
make it easier for others to believe in Jesus.
The early church was incredibly generous with its time, its
energy, and its material resources because the church knew what Jesus had done
for them, and they believed what he said about centering their lives in his
kingdom. They shared their resources
inside and outside of the church. They
helped the needy and took care of orphans and widows. They tended to the sick,
and as they did that, they won more people to Christ. In the early fourth century the emperor known
as Julian the Apostate came to power. He
hated Christianity and wanted the empire to revert back to paganism. That goal was nearly impossible to accomplish
because by that time the church was so widespread and so generous that it was
touching most of the people in the empire. At one point Julian became so frustrated, that
in a rare moment of honesty he said, "Those Christians not only feed their
own poor but they feed ours as well."
The early church realized that storing up possessions on earth is
silly because it all gets left behind, so they centered their lives in God's
kingdom and gave generously to all in need. This is the call of God on us as well. May Jesus, the Lord of the Church, ferment our
lives to be generous, sacrificial, energetic, enthused and fervent. May He provoke us to live with gratitude and
serve Him with gladness. See you in
church.
Brown
https://youtu.be/8MfBQ30Ta9w
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