Tag Archives: God

Turbo- Follow Week 4

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week 4 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 post is a weekly follow-up of our class. For those of you who are unable because of business or geography, to join us on Thursdays this blog is a perfect way to virtually join in on the fun.

Last week our devotion covered Learning to Listen to Jesus:

Here is a summary of the daily readings from Dan Mcnaughton’s Book,  Follow:

Day 1: Learn to Be Happy: Blessedness is a state of mind not bound to physical circumstances.

Day 2: Learn to God to the Source:  God is our source and His Word reveals the course from the source.

Day 3: Learn to See Jesus in the Scriptures: The whole Bible points to Jesus. He is the Word of God and the Word of God is about Him. History is HIS- STORY.

Day 4: Learn to Overcome Temptation:  Part of listening to Jesus is obeying Him and walking away from the old behaviors that kept us away from Him.

Day 5: Learn to Be Productive: As we listen to Jesus our lives become reservoirs of His power and Kingdom success. The amount of success we experience depends on the condition of our hearts which Jesus likens to soil.

Here are the questions we asked each other during group:

  • 1.    Tell your group one thing you did last week you think God was happy about. Now tell the group one thing you could have done better. OPEN YOUR GROUP BY PRAYING THAT GOD WOULD HELP EACH PERSON IN THE GROUP TO WORK ON THE AREA THAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT.

 

 2.     On  a scale of 1-10 how blessed do you feel today (1 being not very blessed and 10 feeling totally blessed). Explain to the group what makes you feel that way today.

 

 3.     Of the four types of heart soil we discussed: Pathway soil, rocky soil, thorny soil, good soil what kind of soil has your heart been like this week?

 

 4.    What could you do this week to help make the soil of your heart even better?

 

Don’t miss group this week. We are talking about God’s desire to heal us body, soul, mind and spirit!

 

 

 

Skywatch Friday: A Light In the Eastern Sky!

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Light in the eastern sky, Jesus returning!
Light in the western sky, Jesus is near!
Soon shall the nations, His advent discerning,
Hail Him with gladness, or see Him with fear.

Refrain

Lord, by Thy hands that were nail pierced and torn:
Lord by the crown that they wove of the thorns:
Lord, by Thy passion in Gethsemane:
Christ of all tenderness, plead Thou for me!

Bright be our lamps as we watch for the dawning,
Girded our loins, that our strength may not fail;
So as He shines through the mists of the morning,
We may be ready to cry Him, “All hail!”

Refrain

Not as at Nazareth—lowly they found Him;
He as the Judge cometh back from the sky;
Borne on the whirlwind, with angels around Him,
Veiling their face from His glory so nigh.

Refrain

Judge of the earth, who in mercy unfailing
Offered Thyself as atonement for sin,
In that great day, by Thy love all prevailing,
Grant us the rest of Thy heaven to win!- Daniel B. Towner

This post was created for:   http://skyley.blogspot.com/2008/06/da-rulez.html

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 41

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

 

These discussions on the Book Of Acts have become a precious part of my week. I love the discussions that are framing up from them. These discussions will definitely fuel the atmosphere the next time I teach this material in a traditional setting. If you have missed any of our past discussion you can find them here:

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Here is today’s discussion topic:

Review our lessons from Acts 15-18 Here:

 

House On Fire 32       http://wp.me/p39vIx-S1

House On Fire 33        http://wp.me/p39vIx-Sj

House On Fire 34       http://wp.me/p39vIx-SN

House On Fire 35        http://wp.me/p39vIx-Tp

House On Fire 36       http://wp.me/p39vIx-TX

House On Fire 37        http://wp.me/p39vIx-Uq

House On Fire 38     http://wp.me/p39vIx-UI

House On Fire 39    http://wp.me/p39vIx-Vf

House On Fire 40    http://wp.me/p39vIx-VA

How successful was Paul as a church planter? What qualities helped him? What qualities held him back?

Life Opens On the Dawn!

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“When I go down to the grave I can say, like many others, ‘I have finished my day’s work!’ But I cannot say, ‘I have finished my life.’ My day’s work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare! It closes on the twilight, it opens on the dawn! “
~Victor Hugo

I had another quote set for Ese’s  Shoot & Quote Challenge this week which is:

http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/ese-s-weekly-shootquote-challenge-alive/

but when I found this quote by Hugo over at

http://boyslumber.wordpress.com/2014/02/26/quote-victor-hugo-feb-26/

I knew I had to change it up!

We Were Made For Work

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The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Ge. 2:15 NIV

Statue of Peter the Great in Zaandam, North Holland

Statue of Peter the Great in Zaandam, North Holland

 

From the greatest of us to the smallest we were made to work. It is not a curse it is our wiring.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
― Confucius

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Cheese vendors in Alkmaar

The goal is not to get away from work or to stop working but to find the work we were born to do!

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Pro. 22:6

The Proverb deals more with helping a child find their personal giftedness than it does with right moral living. Have you found the gift within yourself you were meant to share with the world?

A pastoral moment in Coeur D'Alene

A pastoral moment in Coeur D’Alene

It may not look like work to some people but to others it could be just the lifeline they need to keep going.

What work were you created for?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Col. 2:23

Wood Carver 3rd annual C.cada art show

Doug Stevens, Wood Carver 3rd annual C.cada art show

 

This post was created in response to Ails’a challenge at     http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/02/21/travel-theme-work/

Check out what others have said about work!

 

Heaven Pt. 139: From A Distance or Close At Hand

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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Job 22:12-14 NIV

“God is so great—higher than the heavens,
higher than the farthest stars.
13 But you reply, ‘That’s why God can’t see what I am doing!
How can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 For thick clouds swirl about him, and he cannot see us.
He is way up there, walking on the vault of heaven.’

My God sees everything. He misses nothing. According to the Scripture He is intimately acquainted with every man, woman and child on the planet. He clocks the moment we awake and He is aware when we fall asleep. He sees our public triumphs and is present at our private failures. The Bible goes so far as to say he keeps track of the numbers of hairs on our heads ( when you consider half the population is bald that’s not as huge a miracle as say healing cancer…but still).

  In spite of all He sees, though, God does not interfere where He is not invited. God is sovereign and He has sovereignly given us free will. For some of us that means God is intimately involved in our everyday decisions through prayer. He is our safety rope as we scale the peaks of life. For others of us that means God is totally cut out of our lives and any rope we have from Him is only enough for us to hang ourselves with. Those who pursue God intentionally and regularly understand that God is the unseen visitor at every gathering and the silent participant in every conversation. Those who ignore God take His invisibility and silence as absence or abandonment.  For them if God exists He exists somewhere far off and only observes our lives From a distance.

Pastor Howard Renker said to our congregation just the other night, “What you perceive is what you will believe. What you believe is what you will receive.”

Applying that logic, where we perceive God to be in our lives determines what we will believe about Him. That belief will affect what we can receive from Him. So if we think of God as far away in Heaven we may believe He is not present to help us with our everyday problems. If we believe that, then we will receive little help from Him on an everyday basis. If however we believe that Jesus lives with us in our homes,  in our hearts and is ever-present with us, then we will believe He is present to help us with the broken down car or the wayward child. In that case we will receive help everyday.

So let me ask, is God working with you from a distance or is He close at hand? 

What needs to change in order for you to see God as “closer” to you?

Turbo-Follow: Week 2

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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I have lost track of which winter storm knocked us out of commission last week. It was Pax or Quentin or something like that. Regardless of its name it shut down our Turbo-Follow group last week. On the up-side that gives all of you an extra week to get through lesson one on “Being With Jesus.”

If you are just tuning in with us, Turbo-Follow is a class our church leadership is currently teaching using the “G.r.o.w. S.m.a.r.t.” method. Each week I write one of these posts in anticipation of my personal life group class on Thursday to help the participants prepare their hearts for what lies ahead!

If you missed the sermon on Sunday you can listen to it here:

http://cornerstoneag.net/2014/02/16/learningtorelyonjesus/

In the sermon I mentioned several different kinds of fruit or blessings that God desires to release into our lives:

Fruit is godly attitudes that manifest in good behavior: Gal. 5:22

Fruit is prosperity and holiness in our households and children: Psalm 127

Fruit involves personal prosperity:  Deut. 28, Luke 8:8, Mark 4:20, Ma. 13:23

Fruit involves the lives around you that you influence drawing closer to God: Pro. 11:30

Fruit involves being able to speak positive words that bring life to yourself and those around you: Prov. 12;4/ 13:2/18:20, Heb. 13:15.  Isa. 57:19

Fruit involves good works that lead to reward:  Prov. 31:31, John 4:36, Jer. 17:10, 21:14, 32:19, Isa. 3:10

Fruit involves  being ale to think good thoughts:   Isa. 26:3

As you read this list which type of fruit/blessing do you think is most important for your life right now? What can you be doing to give God entrance to your life so He can produce this fruit in you?

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 40

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

Many thanks to those of you who commented on our last discussion on being relevant with our witness. We had some great spiritual discussion on the topic from:

http://tracyleekarner.com/

http://debbestillandlisten.com/

http://rosehallmedia.com/

Drop by these ladies blogs when your done here and tell ’em Pastor J sent you!

If you missed it or any of our other conversations they can be found at

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Here is today’s topic for discussion from the next segment of the Book of Acts:

Acts 18:1-17

Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers  just as he was.

4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. 5 And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”

7 Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.

12 But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. 13 They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.”

14 But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul’s accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case. 15 But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.”16 And he threw them out of the courtroom.

17 The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention.

What does Paul seem to do with the conflict here?

What does the church do?

Would you have reacted differently? How?