Tag Archives: God

Pastor Wrinkles: He Completes Me Pt. 2

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Olde Centre Church, Jesus the Good Shepherd

Olde Centre Church, Jesus the Good Shepherd

 

 

Yesterday I published Pt. 1 of last Sunday’s sermon at Cornerstone Church, “He Completes Me”. If you missed that you can catch up by going to http://wp.me/p39vIx-IQ.

Now today’s submission begins:

“You are complete in him” now those are powerful words; At least they made me sit up and take notice. Christian are you complete in him? Do you feel complete in Him?

“He completes me”…that is a statement we usually reserve for the deepest of romantic statements. In fact “You complete me” is right up there with the very cheesiest of romantic sentiments…like

” Once in awhile,
Right in the middle of an ordinary life,
Love gives us a fairy tale.”
Unknown

Or
” Love is like a butterfly, it settles upon you when you least expect it.”
Anonymous

 

Or

” if I could rearrange the letters of the ABC’s I would put U and I together and next to each other forever….”
Anonymous

Yet God uses this statement to speak of our relationship to Him. He says in Colossians 2:10 “You are complete in Him.”

Let’s explore that thought a bit:

The word “complete” is actually the Greek word “pleroo” which means “filled to the brim.” If you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, according to the Book of Ephesians chapter 1 He has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you and you are full to the brim with God. If you have not yet made a decision to give your life to Jesus you do not have God living in you or with you but you could have. All you need to do is ask Jesus to take control of your life and you can begin a relationship with Him as your God.

Let’s pray together- Dear Lord Jesus I realize I want you to be my God and king this day. I invite you to come into my life and take charge of it. You be my God and I will be your servant. Please forgive me for every wrong thing I have done which has set me at odds with you. By your cross Jesus I ask you to make peace between me and the Father God. I thank you that is now done. I believe it and I receive it by faith now. Thank you for filling me up to the brim with your Spirit. Amen!

So tell me what do you think it means to be complete in Jesus?

Pastor Wrinkles: He Completes Me Pt. 1

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I had the opportunity to preach at Cornerstone again this week. I have been so blessed by the work God has given me to do among the people of this region. I  honestly have to say, I don’t know why Jesus chose me for this labor of love but I am so glad He did! I have prayed for you dear reader that this sermon, broken down into bite-sized chunks for you reading pleasure, would be exactly what you need to hear each day!

Let us begin!

Colossians 2: 6-10 reads

 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[a] with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

 

You go ahead and meditate on these verses tonight.I will begin my thoughts on this tomorrow. 🙂

Heaven Pt. 126

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Mel4

 

“Then I said, “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,” Neh. 1:5 NLT

I love the fact that we serve a God of covenants. I am studying through the Book of Malachi with our Wednesday night group and this week we had opportunity to discuss the nature of contracts VS. covenants. We learned…

“With a contract, if one agreeing party does something in violation of the contract then it is considered broken. The whole contract becomes null and void. Basically the signers of a contract agree to hold up their ends as long as the other signatories hold up theirs too.

With a covenant, both parties agree to hold up their ends regardless of whether the other party keeps their part of the agreement. A violation of a covenant by one party doesn’t matter as far as the other party’s responsibility to continue to do what they agreed to do.” Purposelydifferent.com

God has made a covenant of UNFAILING LOVE …not a contract a covenant with those who love and obey his commands.  Because God knows our race and its weakness so well He has made himself responsible to hold up all ends of this covenant. He is responsible for His love for me and out of that love for me He even creates love for Himself in me and the ability to obey His commands.  It is only because of his work at all that I can be called one of those who love him and obey his commands. In fact without God’s saving work among the people of the world there would be no group of those who love Him or obey His commands.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. John 6:44

 

 

9For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

13You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.14He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:9-14

As my friend Angela is known to say, “We serve an amazing God!”

 

Heaven Pt. 125

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I started writing the “Heaven” posts on my previous blog in December of 2011. My goal was to look at every verse in the Bible that used the word Heaven and to bring forth a commentary on the place where God’s throne resides. In the last two years we have made much of Heaven together, dear readers. I have to admit it is not just Heaven I understand a bit better through these meditations but the God of Heaven as well. I have at least two devotional thoughts to put forth concerning today’s Heaven verse. I have prayed that God would bless those that read.

Mel4

“Then I said, “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,” Neh. 1:5 NLT

Sandy Patti sang a song back in the day entitled, “King Of glory”.  In it she asked the question “Who is this King Of Glory?”

Nehemiah 1:5 begins to answer the query for us. According to him the “Lord God of Heaven” is “the great and awesome God…”

That is to say ,”Yĕhovah ‘elohiym shamayim” is “gadowl ‘el” and ” yare’ ‘el”

Gadowl is translated in our text here as “great”. God is GREAT!

Yare’ is translated in our text here as “awesome”. God is AWESOME!

Yeah… those words had little effect on me either. Probably because in our society we make everything ” great”  and “awesome.”

I spill coffee on my pants and say “That’s just great!”

My daughter needs a new muffler for her car and my response is, “That’s awesome.”

 our culture has liberated these terms and turned them into useless slang words akin to “gnarly” and “neato”. So great and awesome can’t really help us to understand who this God of Heaven is anymore. We need other words to help us understand who God is and what He is like.

How about this?

You Oh God of Heaven are Gadowl- That is, Your presence is so large it encompasses every corner of the universe. You are here on Earth and You dwell upon the planets of galaxies beyond the sight of our most powerful telescopes. You presence is so potent and intense I would turn to a pile of ash if I were currently exposed to its fullness. Your voice is louder than all the rivers of Earth combined. You are older than time and more distinguished than all the kings and heroes of Earth put together.

You Oh God of Heaven are Yare’- That is, Your presence makes me shake in my boots. When you are near I am sobered to my core and all my foolish talking dries up. You astonish me with Your creativity, compassion and originality. I can never second guess You and to be honest that makes me a little or a lot uncomfortable. You are the God who takes me out of my comfort zone. I love You and am terrified by where this love might lead me.

Now that is just great and awesome!

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire 7

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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

 

So let’s talk about context today. Context is what goes on around stories in the Bible   sets of verses. None of the biblical writers just suddenly popped onto the stage of life and spoke out your favorite verses. Each biblical character had just come from somewhere and was heading somewhere else when they said or did the things that touch your heart. This is context (or at least a part of it) Understanding the context helps us to gain a better understanding of what may have been going on in the characters head when they said and did the things that changed the world.

Today’s verses are a case in point: Acts 3:1-10

3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

What prompted this miracle?

Where do you imagine Peter was coming from?

Where was Peter going?

Do any of these things change the story for you?

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 6

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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

Welcome back to House On Fire, our discussion study through the book of Acts. I am away this week leading worship at the New England Special Touch Breakaway (that is a ministry to the disabled). So I may not be able to respond to all your thoughts right away but I look forward to reading what the Lord shows you through your study of the text.

Today’s Scripture reference is :

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.43 And awe[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 ESV

In these verses we see laid out for us the five biblical purposes of the church:

Fellowship- breaking of bread and fellowship.

Discipleship- apostles teaching and prayer.

Ministry- holding all things in common, selling and giving for the sake of members of the fellowship.

Missions- Wonders and signs done creating awe and wonder among unbelievers.

Worship- In the temple courts and house to house.

What are some creative ways the Holy Spirit has accomplished each of these purposes in your life?

What purpose is He challenging you towards growth in right now?

What must you do to grow in this purpose?

Pastor Wrinkles: Just Start

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One of my followers, Nicole,

, writes a lot about getting out there and trying new things. Her blog is about living life to the full.  One of her newest endeavors is teaching piano (brave soul). http://justliveitblog.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/taking-a-chance-at-tickling-those-ivories/. I won’t ruin the end of the story for you. Just shoot over and pay the good lady a visit.

Her “tickling the ivories” blog got me thinking about my own attitude towards trying new things. By nature I tend to be a “we can’t do that” type of person…an “if you can’t do it right (which means perfect) don’t do it all” type of person. Do you relate?

I have to admit this attitude has held me back in life and certainly in my spiritual growth. For a long time I lived under the mistaken notion that spiritual growth was something that God alone created inside a person. I equated it with going to the beach and getting a sun tan. All I had to do was sit in the Sonlight and “tadah!” I would get a holiness tan.

I thought this had to be the way it worked because after I received Christ I started trying to do holy stuff and I found out I was really bad at it.

So I thought, “Well then I won’t even try. If God wants me good He can just whammy me with his magic whammy wand and I will become good.”

The thing is waiting for the magic Jesus whammy also didn’t work because becoming holy is not just God’s work anymore than it’s just my work. Becoming holy requires a cooperation between God, who is an expert at holiness, and me, who it turns out is an F student in the subject; Or at least I was until I started practicing.  Yep, you read that right. I have had to practice holiness and I have needed Jesus’ help all along the way to get better at it.

When we are first born again we are real novices at the whole holiness thing and to expect that we are just going to start being good at being holy  is like expecting a one month old to be good at skeet shooting. Holiness takes time… and God… and us.

Maybe you are looking at an out of control area in your life right now. Maybe you have no clue how to get victory. Maybe you have tried and you have discovered that you are really bad at fighting the type of battle required to win. That’s all right because God knows how to train you. He will. All you have to do is start practicing your victory. You don’t have to succeed right away. Just start. God will finish.

Pastor Wrinkles: House On Fire Pt. 5

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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

Welcome back to House On Fire, our discussion class through the book of Acts. If you missed any of our previous discussion, you can find it here:

http://wp.me/P39vIx-Gh

Here is the text we are dealing with today:

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose,since it is only the third hour of the day.[a] 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants[b] and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
    before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus,[c] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Acts 2:14-41 ESV

My question for you today is simple. What are five things that stand out to you about this sermon?

Pastor Wrinkles: The Chapter Charts Pt. 171

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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

 

The chapter charts are a method of Bible study. With each charting session two chapters of Scripture are studied and from those chapters six topics are drawn (three for each chapter). The idea of course is to help us better understand the themes of the Scripture and also to give us fodder for sermons or blog posts. Today we are studying 2 Kings chapters 24 and 25.

Here is what I see in today’s chapters:

2 Kings chapter 24 sermon topics/ titles:

1. What Not To Do When the Lord Won’t Forgive: 2 Kings 24: 1-4

2.  The Goodness Of Being Cut Off: 2 Kings 24:10-16

3.  Being Righteous In Name Only: 2 Kings 24:17-19

2 Kings Chapter 25 sermon topics/titles:

1.  Wearing Down the Rebels: 2 Kings 25:1-4

2. The Last Thing You See: 2 Kings 25: 5-7

3. True Royalty Learns Humility: 2 Kings  25:27-30

Now I would love to hear the lessons you are learning from these chapters! 🙂