I mentioned in an earlier post this week that I feel like the Lord is bringing many things together during this season of my life. I feel like I am on high alert and the that the world is just rushing by. Maybe that’s not quite right. Maybe it is me that is rushing by the world trumpeting as I go, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”
Holy Week always approaches with the force of a level five rapids but this year it feels more like I am heading towards Niagara in a barrel. Maybe I should be terrified; But I am exhilarated and filled with a powerful hope that the dead world around me is about to meet up with the resurrection power of Jesus:
I feel that as I prepare to head off to the sound stage to consult with one of our artists who is cutting his first album. I feel that as I load the sound system for Special Touch into my van for our monthly outreach. I feel it as I prepare for Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter services next week. I feel it as I prepare for two town meetings concerning the makerspace/art center project. I even feel it as I prepare for two potential hospice visits and for two committal services scheduled for the week after Easter. I feel it… even better I feel Him in all these situations because I have called Him into them. He always answers when I call. I have hope and victory in all these situations because He walks with me in them.
As I think about it Holy week would not be holy if Jesus had not chosen to involve himself in it. I suppose that means any moment or day or week into which I call His Spirit becomes a High Holy moment or day or week
What situations do you have to call Him into in order for your times to become holy?
In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. 2 For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. 3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. 5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. 6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face. Psalm 11
This world needs warriors! The Earth needs men and women sold out to Christ who are not going to back down in the face of “overwhelming opposition”. It would seem the foundations are being destroyed. The nations are falling into the quagmire of bad-politics, bad economies and even worse moralities.
Oh I hear the cry as well as you do…”Run! Hide! Protect Yourself! Flee to the mountains! Withdraw! Christianity is a lost cause!”
Christianity may leave the face of the Earth but that will be via the rapture not because it is a dying religion. The foundations might be destroyed but to that event I give the same answers my forbears gave when the Roman Empire collapsed..”It is on Christ the solid rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.”
In the end we have a better reason to hope than anyone else on earth has. Our hope is in Jesus and as the old song goes “Jesus never fails”. So, Warrior Christian don’t flee to the mountains. God sees you from Heaven! He has your cause and He has your back. Run towards the burning building and see who you can rescue from it!
This is our final Turbo Follow blog! As you know Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week 9 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff has been preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation has read the daily devotions and participated weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.
The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other.
As I said, this is our last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you had fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!
Last week we had our discussions on Learning to manage our lives through Christ’s power. Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:
Day 1: God wants you to learn to manage your thought life.
Day 2: God wants you to learn to manage your money.
Day 3: God wants you to learn to manage your body.
Day 4: God wants you to learn to manage your words.
Day 5: God wants you to learn to manage your time.
Day 6: God wants you to learn to manage your gifts and talents.
Here are the questions we asked of one another in our group:
Of the “Managing devotions” which one stood out to you the most?
What made that particular devotion stand out to you?
What area of management does God want you to cooperate with Him on?
How are you going to practically cooperate with Him?
The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie
Hey class! We are continuing on with the formation of the early church through the book of Acts. When we left Paul he had just raised Eutychus from the dead. If you want to put your two cents in on that discussion of any of our others just go to the House On Fire page below and check in!
17 But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.
18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes.21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me,23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault,27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.
28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock.30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.31 Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.
32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.
33 “I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes.34 You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me.35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them.37 They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye.38 They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.
In this passage Paul calls the elders of the Ephesian church to his side. He knows from the Lord that he will never see them again.
There is not a whole lot of good news in this meeting. If you were an elder how would you have received it? What emotions would this have created? How do you encourage yourself in the face of bad news like this?
Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week 8 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff is preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation reads the daily devotions and participates weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.
The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other. This week we will be discussing: Learning to manage our lives with Jesus help.
This is our next to the last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you have been having fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!
Last week we had our discussions on Learning to Pray Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:
Day 1- What prayer is not
Day 2- Prayer is about: relationship, respect and reign
Day 3- Prayer is about: food (daily bread) , forgiveness and freedom
Day 4- We must learn to pray through the pain by 1. Pouring out our souls to God 2. Letting God comfort us 3. Confessing any sin we have let in in our pain 4. Asking God to restore our souls 5. Identifying any lies we have come to believe in our pain 5. Replacing those lies with truth
Day 5- We must learn to do spiritual warfare
Here are the questions we asked of each other this week:
Turbo Follow Questions Week 7- Learn To Pray
What was the Highlight of your week this week?
What stood out to you as you worked through this week’s attribute?
On Step 2 there was a discussion about areas where we have difficulty giving up control. Have you discovered anything that helps you with giving control of things over to God?
What did you think of the process of praying through pain on day four? What stood out to you?
Is there any area of pain we could pray with you about right now?
The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie
We are coming into the home stretch of the Book Of Acts! We have now covered far more territory than we have to go and I hope you have been learning a whole bunch about the early church, the church of today and how you fit into it.
Today we continue our discussion through the Book of Acts chapter 20. If you want to go back and review any of the lessons you may have missed feel free to check them out here:
When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia.2 While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece,3 where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.
4 Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.5 They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.6 After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.
Paul’s Final Visit to Troas
7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight.8 The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps.9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below.10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!”11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left.12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved.
Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week 7 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff is preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation reads the daily devotions and participates weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.
The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other. This week we will be discussing: Learning to Pray
Last week we had our discussions on Learning to love and to look at ourselves through the lens of God’s love Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:
Day 1: Learning to trust God and His forgiveness.
Day 2: Learning, receiving and walking in God’s approval.
Day 3: Learning to enjoy God’s acceptance.
Day 4: Learning that God and you can change you if you will work together.
Day 5: Learning to enjoy God’s peace
Here are the questions we asked of each other this week. I look forward to your responses!
What was your goal last week. How well did you accomplish it?
Put the five subjects from this week’s study in order for yourself from “best” to “needs the most work”.
Trusting God’s forgiveness
Receiving God’s approval
Enjoying God’s acceptance
Partnering with God to change
Enjoying God’s peace
What made you put number 1 as number 1?
What made you put number 5 as number 5 ?
What is God telling you to do to work on number 5 or is He telling you to work on another item and if so how?
Before I sign off I just wanted to point out a follow-up discussion several of us participated in on the subject of healing. If you want to add your voice to the mix you can find it here:
For those of you who may not be familiar with it, C. cada is the artists community of Cornerstone Church our mission is to: give artists from every genre an opportunity to come together to discover, develop, and deploy their talents in ways that will better the church and the community.
The C.cada Cross. One of our collaborative projects
I haven’t written much about our doings because we have been so busy doing them but God has been good! We are currently working on several projects as a group:
1. A group of our artists is in the planning stages of redoing the pediatrics play room at our local hospital.
2. One of our artists just finished collaborating with a local elementary school on the show, Aristocats. In fact, I have to unload our portable sound system, which they used, after I am done here.
3. We are in the midst of preparing for an outdoor art show in honor of our town’s 250th anniversary. Here is our link if anyone out there is interested
4. Plans are underway for C.cada to be a collaborator with many other town committees on a town Makerspace project.
5. One of our artists is preparing to lead worship for a Frontiersmen Camping Fraternity Fellowship in May
6. One Desire, our church youth band is cutting its first album.
7. Clayton Phelps, one of our artists is playing out several times a week reaching people with the gospel through his guitar. In fact yesterday he played at GALA another art association’s art show.
That is just a taste of the exciting stuff going on. Books are being written. Music is being played. choirs are singing. Paintings are being prepared for shows and galleries around the area. GOD IS GOOD.
A few months ago our group project was a short story writing prompt. I have already shared Deb Maciorowski’s offering with you and mine but here is another from our very own Charlotte Dorais
First Day
The flashing school bus lights warned me how late I was. My first day teaching Junior High was causing me enough anxiety without being the last one to arrive in my class room. I had planned on time to pray and make final preparations for the day before the first students arrived, this day would only be blessed if I depended on God to lead me. I prayed God this is your day and I need you more now than ever. Thank you for your peace.
Last nights dream was playing like an old silent film in my mind. Still shots of the class room and each student flashed one by one. I knew a few of the kinds personally from church, but so many of the faces were strangers and the fact that this class was special needs excited me. God see potential where no one else does. He would lead me to the best plan for each student.
The parking lot was filled and late comers like me were left to the back 40. Shouldering my heavy bag I trotted the length of the parking lot. First bell rang as I entered the class room door and most of the students were paired up and talking excitedly to one another. As the final bell rang I turned to close the door Jeff rushed past and slide into an empty seat. Jeff was one of my church kids and I counted on him for support. My greeting to him was ignored and he kept his head down and eyes averted.
These students would spend the day with me, one by one we would get acquainted and develop an individual teaching plan. I looked forward to the challenge.
Marie stood in the front by my desk and introduced herself to me, she knew all the students and offered to assist me in any way I needed. I knew God had sent her. As I turned to get material to pass out I saw Jeff slip out the door. Rule number one broken the first hour of the day, no one leaves the room without permission. I decided to step out and look for him and he was right outside the door with his face to the wall praying, God make it stop.
My quick pray was give me words, and I ask Jeff to tell me what had to stop. His said a line from a book:
He heard the crunch of leaves behind him, he turned……
was playing nonstop in his mind and he couldn’t turn it off. I suggested he finish the thought, when he turned what did he see? All fear left him as he replaced the lie with Jesus. God’s power is always work and He never fails us when we cry out to him. I was where He meant me to be.
Charlotte L Dorais
I can honestly say what we are doing is hard work but it is so exciting! I am convinced that God is in this because the results are beyond us. We are offering what we have. We know it is not enough and yet He is multiplying us even as He multiplied the fish and loaves.
