March Month 2011

Friday, March 25th, 2011
HAVE  YOU ACCEPTED THE CALL

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet to the nations." -Jeremiah1:5

Perhaps the struggle for many believers is that they feel out of place in the church because they do not know their part. They are not confident where they are supposed to be or what they were supposed to be doing. They are in the choir but not interested in praise and worship, they are on the Usher board but they don’t like people asking them questions. They are teaching kids, but in their heart they don’t like teaching or kids. The question arises have you accepted the call? Not, a call, but rather the call. .

Jeremiah hears the word of the Lord and decides, this is not for me, I don’t want to do this at all. Yet the spirit of the Lord speaks to him and advises him that the Lord has a plan for His life. The key difference between doing something for the church, and answering God’s call is in God’s response to Jeremiah. The Lord tells Jeremiah that I called you and prepared you for service prior to your birth on earth. To form mean to make into a certain shape, and Jeremiah had been made into the shape of a mouthpiece for the Lord. Not only were he shaped for service but he was sanctified (which means set aside) for service. Whatever you are gifted, passionate and prepared to do in the kingdom, God has set you aside, sanctified you to do.

Lastly, the Lord told Jeremiah that he was ordained (set in place) to be a prophet. God had given him a kingdom position before he was borne. If you accept your call, you accept the fact that God has shaped you, sanctified you and set you in a kingdom position to kingdom work on earth as it is in heaven. "Have you accepted your call.".

Pastor SP Courtney

Friday, March 18th, 2011
JESUS IS SUPREME
"He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy." - Colossians 1:18
 
Jesus is the living leader and head of his church. There is no man who has this right. No one but Jesus has earned this position. Jesus is supreme. Even though supremacy is rightfully his because of his divinity, he has earned his supremacy by what he has done for us. He was there before there was a beginning, he was the Creator of all that is, and he was the one who passed through death victoriously for us.
 
Did you know that Jesus is not only our Savior, but he is also our brother! "He had to be made like his brothers" the Holy Spirit says after today's Scripture. We were God's lost children so Jesus came and shared our mortality, our human skin with all its limitations, so that he could defeat our worst enemy, the evil death-maker Satan. Death no longer has its hooks in us or its hold on us, because our big brother has defeated it and has gone to prepare our place at the Father's side!
 
It's very important that we our God's children pray over our leader to keep watch over us!
 
Lord Jesus, I ask you to take control of your church, your Body. Please glorify yourself in us and permeate our leaders' hearts with your will. We want the world to see your supremacy because of our unity and devotion to you. And Holy God, please glorify yourself in Jesus through the Church. To you, Lord God, and to your Son and our Savior Jesus, be all honor and glory and praise for now, and forevermore. Amen.
 
Pastor SP Courtney
 
Friday, March 11th, 2011
DO YOU KNOW GOD'S HEART
"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which I shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." --Jeremiah 3:15
 
I often wonder whether or not God's people really know God's heart? It is His heart that provides the grace that covers us and teh sacrifice of His son that saves us. The church boasts of her relationship with Christ yet we fail to have real intmacy with Him. The heart is a place of inimacy, pasion and purpose. When Jeremiah recorded God's promise of pastors to Israel and Judah he provided some insight to what believers shoudl expect to receive from the Heart of God.
 
It is God's desire, from the bottom of His heart that we are fed physically and spiritually in our daily walk with Him. The bible states that God's people perish for a lack of knowledge, however it isn't because it isn't available. God's servants are there to make available both knowledge and understanding. It is not enough to just know that you are in Christ; we must undertand how to live life aligned to His will and His way. It is not good enough to know that there is power in His word, but we must understand how to apply His word to our daily life.
 
God wants to renew our mind, employ our hands, order our steps, and most of all; He wants to live hi our hearts. If He has residency your heart, you will come to Know His heart well, "DO YOU KNOW GOD'S HEART?"
 
Pastor SP Courtney

Friday, March 4th, 2011

HAVE YOU ACCEPTED THE CALL

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet to the nations."-Jeremiah1:5

Perhaps the struggle for many believers is that they feel out of place in the church because they do not know their part. They are not confident where they are supposed to be or what they were supposed to be doing. They are in the choir but not interested in praise and worship, they are on the Usher board but they don’t like people asking them questions. They are teaching kids, but in their heart they don’t like teaching or kids. The question arises have you accepted the call? Not, a call, but rather the call. .

Jeremiah hears the word of the Lord and decides, this is not for me, I don’t want to do this at all. Yet the spirit of the Lord speaks to him and advises him that the Lord has a plan for His life. The key difference between doing something for the church, and answering God’s call is in God’s response to Jeremiah. The Lord tells Jeremiah that I called you and prepared you for service prior to your birth on earth. To form mean to make into a certain shape, and Jeremiah had been made into the shape of a mouthpiece for the Lord. Not only were he shaped for service but he was sanctified (which means set aside) for service. Whatever you are gifted, passionate and prepared to do in the kingdom, God has set you aside, sanctified you to do.

Lastly, the Lord told Jeremiah that he was ordained (set in place) to be a prophet. God had given him a kingdom position before he was borne. If you accept your call, you accept the fact that God has shaped you, sanctified you and set you in a kingdom position to kingdom work on earth as it is in heaven. "Have you accepted your call.".

Pastor SP Courtney