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Showing posts from April, 2019

Prayer, Repentance, and Revival (by Joe Smith)

Recently I read The Kneeling Christian , and have been (and continue to be) impacted by it. The book asks the question – “why is there such a lack of prayer in our churches?” We say we are people of prayer, but most of our prayers revolve around supplication – we routinely short circuit Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving which may also tell us why we lack prayer in power, answers to prayers, dry-ness in our prayers.  My guess is that many of you find that prayer (corporate and personal) is more about us requesting things from God (not that that is necessarily bad in and of itself) but seldom listening for periods of time, reflecting on His beauty, grace, majesty, sovereignty; praising His wisdom and grace, expressing our thankfulness for His abundant mercy and provision and protection, and confessing our sins to God – but also to another person – naming the specific sin. The book presses me to pray more, and when I pray more I become more aware of my sin nature – and my need t

The Vision for Missions at Glory of Christ Fellowship by Pastor Charlie Handren

     Glory of Christ Fellowship (GCF) exists to make disciples for the glory of Christ. Accordingly, while our primary value is the glory of God made visible in and through Jesus Christ, we express our love for and value of God through worship, community, and mission.      In order to accomplish our mission, we are committed to sharing the love of Christ locally and globally, baptizing new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). With regard to supporting global missions, we give preference to missionaries or nationals who are directly engaged in making disciples by establishing and strengthening churches. Further, our desire is to stand with those who are working among unreached or under-reached people groups. For the majority of current missions investments around the world support ministries where the church is already established and the gospel is already being preached. Finally, we ar

Easter Scripture Ephesians 1:15-23

"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who

Worship Songs - April 21, 2019

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. All Creatures of our God and King Christ the Lord is Risen Today Resurrection Hymn What the Lord has Done in Me I Will Rise Greater is He This I Believe -- Making Disciples For The Glory of Christ

Ask Whatever You Wish and It Will Be Done by Pastor Charlie Handren

     Jesus said in John 15:7-8, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” The word “ask” in the original language is a strong one. It means to beg, to call for, to crave, to desire, and even to require of the one entreated. That is to say, this word implies great passion, intensity, and fervency in prayer. And indeed, fervency is a necessary aspect of all true praying. Consider these words from the nineteenth-century pastor E. M. Bounds:      “Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that availeth. Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication. It takes fire to make prayers go. Warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favorable to

Worship Songs - April 14, 2019

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. Hosanna Hosanna Loud Hosanna 10,000 Reasons It Is You Never Once Give Me Jesus The Love Of God -- Making Disciples For The Glory of Christ

A Call to Bearing Witness

Last night at our new Sunday night service, Asa Veek shared a very helpful devotional from Psalm 105 and exhorted us to testify to one another about the works of the Lord in our individual and corporate lives. The Psalmist writes, Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! (Psalm 105:1-4) As we processed this word together, we agreed that we would love to see GCF grow in the habit and joy of testifying to one another. So, please consider taking this exhortation to heart and putting it into practice today: when God does something, say something . Tell someone. Bear witness to "the peoples" and to the people of God. Glorify him, take joy in him, and encourage others. May th

The Gloriously Good News of the Gospel by Pastor Charlie Handren

     As we saw in last week’s devotional on Ephesians 2:1-3, the gloriously good news of the gospel grows out of the ashes of the horrifically tragic news of human rebellion against God. We saw that our sin has caused us to be spiritually dead, incapable of overcoming the world, enslaved by the devil, and subject to the wrath of God. Indeed, the bad news could not be worse.      Against this backdrop, the first two words of Ephesians 2:4 must be among the most glorious words in the Bible: “ But God .” If our sin had the last word in our lives, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “ But God .” If the course of this world was the only course we could take, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “ But God .” If the devil’s power over us was the greatest power over us, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “ But God .” If the righteous anger of God toward sin was the beginning and end of God’s disposition toward sinners, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “ Bu

May 30th Is A Big Day...Do You Know Why?

If you were asked what day May 30th, 2019 is and it was suggested the day was special in some way and you were not looking at a calendar you would probably say it was Memorial day. It isn’t. But nice try. Some of you are already tapping your fingers on Google, thinking you can find the answer to this nail-biter faster than I will reveal it. Well, here it goes, it is Ascension day. That is right, the day that marks the 40th day of Easter (or 39 days after Easter Sunday).  Some would argue, like John Calvin, that Ascension day should be one of the “Five Evangelical Feasts.” I take feasts to mean a holiday that Christians celebrate. Can you guess what the other four are? Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost. This covers the birth, death, resurrection, ascension of Christ and then the pouring out the Spirit of God. Well, we got 3/5...more than 50%. 60% to be exact but I am a theologian, not a mathematician (and who knew until now that they snuck a letter “e” in the middle of

Worship Songs - April 7, 2019

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. Children Of The Living God O God Our Help In Ages Past Stronger Overcome O The Deep, Deep, Love Of Show Us Christ Jesus Thank You -- Sermon Title: I Write To You: A Poem Sermon Text: 1 John 2:12-14 Making Disciples For The Glory of Christ