Wisdom’s Ways

September 29, 2011 at 3:31 pm (Wisdom's Ways)

Aaron Linford

DON’T ENVY WICKED MEN

”Be not thou envious against evil men” –
Proverbs 24:1,2,19,20

The unscrupulous man seems to have
many advantages. In business he lies his way to success, in associations he
bribes his way into prominence. He plays the game of life by his own rules, he
moves the goal-posts to score questionable points, he always fouls on the blind
side of the referee, and gets away with it. He bulldozes his pernicious path to
the detriment of others. He is evil: but it seems to pay. At least so his
Mercedes seems to say, and his fat cigar signals ”Amen” to it.

ENVY NOT. Why not? First
because, believe it or not, the world is built on moral principles, and sooner
or later he will receive his come-uppance. You cannot defy God’s laws and get
away with it: ”God is not mocked. Secondly, because no man can be truly happy
who is evil? Behind the facade of bravado and bluff is bitterness. Whatever
enjoyment he seems to have is superficial, material and ephemeral. ‘thirdly, to
make him your companion is to become tainted with deceit and acts destructive
of character. Personal integrity is too great a price to pay for friendship
with such an ethically corrupt man.

FRET NOT: But we do get
exasperated at the apparent success of the law-defying person. He seems to have
it all, while we honest law-abiders and God-fearers appear to miss so much. His
black-market off-the lorry goods give him quick and cheap profit. His sneer at
morality is irksome to those who try to be honest. But don’t get too upset. He
has no future, for God will snuff his candle. He will find himself in the gloom
of a forsaken man.

Nay, more. when his earthly tenure
is ended he has nowhere to go. Or rather, while the upright godly man “dwells
in the House of the Lord forever”, he languishes in the darkness of Hades –
without hope, without comfort, without God. He lived for self, he is left to
himself – forever.

PRAYER:

May I be content with Thy will for me, now
and always.

 

 

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Sermon Starters

September 29, 2011 at 3:28 pm (Sermon Starters)

Rev. E. Anderson

ON
WITH THE JOB

Reading   Nehemiah 3-6

This section deals with Nehemiah
and the work force getting on with the job. It was one thing to go back to Jerusalem and view the
desolated scene, it was quite another thing to get on with major task of
re-building the walls. The dream had to become reality. The seeming impossible
mission had to begin and to make it possible. This is where his divine
leadership would be proved and tested as to whether he would be a flop or
success. Here it is refreshing to observe a body of people doing something of
real value for a worthy cause. They got with the work:

1/. IN A SPIRIT OF UNITY – Nehemiah 2: 18

Having heard Nehemiah recite what
had occurred they know the mind and hand of the Lord and so desired to see this
project immediately initiated. The thing could not be put off. With one soul
they committed themselves to the vision.

2/. IN A SITUATION OF CONFLICT – Nehemiah 2: 19, 20

There was going to be a sustained
attack by the enemy verbally to break the resolve and unity of the workers and
other ways if necessary. It would be relentless and vicious and they would have
to be wide-awake to the threat and movement of such. There would be a call for
immense courage.

3/. IN A STATE OF WEARINESS AND FATIGUE – Nehemiah 4:10, 21
NLT

They were to be hard at it night
and day and felt the effect of the labour. The demands upon their physical
beings as well as their minds were quite exhausting. It would have been easy to
have given way to their tired limbs and feelings. But this was not so.

4/. IN A SENSE OF INCREASED APTITUDE – Nehemiah 3

It is surprising to note the
personnel involved in the work. People with other callings who were not really
builders discovered an aptitude on this front. There was a release and
manifestation of new and further potential. Expertise of a different order was
coming out. They began to see they could do more than what they previously
thought.

5/. IN A STRENGTH OF DIVINE AWARENESS – Nehemiah 6:16

Nehemiah was convinced the Lord
was with them and proved that this was truly so in many ways.

CONCLUSION

As the construction proceeded,
layer by layer, gate by gate, it was an encouraging sight and witness. It was
little by little and by loving devotion that the walls went up and an historic
feat was accomplished. A living memorial!

                           

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Meet the Christian Ministers

September 29, 2011 at 3:22 pm (Meet The Ministers)

Rev. Mark and Marie aand Family
Lees

Mark & Marie Lees, moved to Rushden in September
2004 to take up the role as Ministers in the Full Gospel
Church. They have 4
children, Jonathan, Jacob, Sophie and Joy and came to the church from a
missions background having previously served as missionaries inNorth Pakistan.

They bring a passion for missions and desire to see the
church in Rushden rise up to meet the challenges and demands of a modern world.

As a Family we have a heart for the poor and needy and
bring this expression of faith and ministry into the life of the church. We
Believe in partnership and seek to work with all of God’s people locally and
globally to bring about the preaching of the Gospel to all nations and the
imminent return of Jesus.

We run an open home, and choose to live simply by faith.
Why not come in and join us for a cup of tea or a meal at any time!

Rushden Full Gospel Church has existed since the 1930’s
and has grown to become one of the most active and well known churches in the
town.We have a membership of around 50 people and including children have up to
100 people in attendance at our weekly meetings.

We exist as one church in two congregations, the main
building and Christian Centre being based in Rushden and a daughter church
called “The Kings Church” based in the neighbouring town ofHigham Ferrers.

BRIEF HISTORY
AND LOCATION

The Rushden Full Gospel
Church is an Assemblies
of God church that was birthed out of an evangelistic crusade in the 1930’s.
Evangelist, the Rev’d Fred Squire came to Rushden in 1932 with Northamptonshire
Revival. He started an evangelistic and Divine healing campaign in the hall
above the Windmill Club. Around the same time he established churches in
Wellingborough,Kettering andNorthampton, as well as Rushden.

WORSHIP AND MUSIC MINISTRIES

We believe that God our Father is seeking those who will
worship Him. As a result Worship is a key attitude of heart to all in the
church.

Worship and missions are linked as core passions of God’s heart
and desire for us as his people. Worship is more than just music and songs and
is a faith filled response to who God has has proved himself to be in our
lives.

We have a mixed worship team of musicians and singers,
able to form in a number of traditional and contemporary styles to facilitate
our corporate expression of worship in music and song in the life of the
church.

 

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Messages of Note

September 29, 2011 at 3:16 pm (Messages of Note)

Rev. John Glass

FAITH IN OUR VOICE

The King’s speech, nominated for
12 Academy Awards and 14 BAFTAS, though not universally uplifting in its
content, is without doubt a powerful story.

For those who have not seen it,
the movie recounts the true story of speech therapist Lionel Logue as he seeks
to assist King George VI to overcome the impediment of his stammer.

There is a powerful moment in the
film when the frustrated therapist endeavours to define his relationship with
the nation’s primary leader and, in the attempt says, ‘My role, your majesty,
is to bring the king to a place where he has faith in his voice’.

Our King’s speech carries no
impediment though we, as his subjects, often prove to be less than articulate.
This is especially so when the words of the Church fail to match her actions
and thus causes the trumpeted give an uncertain sound. The Lord Jesus, on the
other hand, is the Word made flesh.

We understand there to be more
than a hundred titles of Jesus in Old and New Testaments, and He lives up to
every one of them. In the seven ‘I am’ statements where he speaks of himself
there is no spiritual static as He broadcasts his titles before a watching
world.

Declaring himself to be the bread
of life, he satisfies every hunger; as the water of life he quenches every
thirst, and as the light of the world he overcomes every darkness, The world is
drawn to his integrity, his holiness and his purity in their billions – not
because of his eloquent words but because of his eloquent life. It was His
transparency not his oratory that was the power that drew the multitudes into
his magnetic field.

Our King already has faith in his
voice

We could dispense with
conferences, seminars and even sermons on revival if the Church were to do just
two simple yet, paradoxically, difficult things.

The first is to unequivocally and
unashamedly stand on the Word of God as an act of faith before God and as a
declaration of testimony before the world.

That means bowing the knee in
submission to biblical truth rather than timidly genuflecting before the
secular idols of political correctness. To do so can prove to be costly as we
have seen when some of our brothers and sisters have put their careers on the
line and their jobs in jeopardy rather than capitulate to convention or
prostitute their principles.

The second is to have faith in our
own voice. In prayer that means coming boldly to the throne of grace with a
good conscience, knowing that the prayer of a righteous man or woman is
powerful and effective (James 5: 16).

In our witness it is the
challenge, to which all of us at some point fall short, of totally behaving
what we believe, When the Church rises to such a challenge, it will discover a
fresh faith in its voice and achieve the same powerful influence in society as
astound in her heavenly bridegroom.

John Glass

General Superintendent Elim Pentecostal Church

                                

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Points to Ponder

September 29, 2011 at 3:10 pm (Points to Ponder)

Rev. Ian Williams

LIFE IS A CHALLENGE

Life is a challenge – meet it

Life is a gift – accept it

Life is an adventure – dare it

Life is a sorrow – overcome it

Life is a tragedy – face it

Life is a duty – perform it

Life is a game – play it

Life is a mystery – unfold it

Life is a song – sing it

Life is an opportunity – take it

Life is a journey – complete it

Life is a promise – fulfil it

Life is a love – embrace it

Life is a beauty – praise it

Life is a spirit – release it

Life is a struggle – fight it

Life is a puzzle – solve it

Life is a goal – achieve it

Loving life with you, Ian Williams

 

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Illustrations that Light up Life

September 29, 2011 at 3:01 pm (Illustrations)

Rev. E. Anderson

COMMUNICATIONS FEEDBACK

William Barclay, world-famed
Scottish Bible scholar who died in February of 1978, claimed that his unique
ability to communicate the gospel was due to an old Scot lady who lived alone
in an humble house when he was a minister of Trinity Church, Renfrew. During
her illness one winter, Barclay visited her regularly until she recovered. On
his last visit, she remonstrated, “When you’ve been here, talking to me, and
sometimes putting up a wee prayer, it’s been grand, and I’ve understood every
word you said. But man, when you’re in yon pulpit on the Sabbath, you’re awa’
o’er ma head!”

                             

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Message by Rick Warren

September 27, 2011 at 3:35 pm (Messages By Rick Warren)

Rick Warren

 

LET GOD DEFINE YOU 

Jesus spoke to
the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me,
you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads
to life.” (John 8:12 NLT)

Jesus faced constant
demands, dangerous opposition and little privacy. Yet he never allowed others
to define him.

What does that teach us?

Know who
you are
(John 8:12) — There
was no doubt in Jesus’ mind as to who he was. He knew he came from God, and he
knew he had a unique mission to fulfill. As believers, we can know we belong to
God and that God defines who we are and what we are meant to do on this Earth.
Trying to be someone God never intended you to be causes stress!

Know whom
you want to please (John 5:30) — Jesus never let the fear of rejection manipulate him. No one can
pressure you without your permission. You can’t please everyone; even God
can’t!

Know what
goals you need to reach (John 8:14) — Jesus said, “I know where I came from and where I am going.”
Preparation prevents pressure, but procrastination produces it. You work by
either priorities or pressures.

Know how
to maintain your priorities (Luke 4:42–44) — Jesus knew how to handle interruptions without
being distracted from his primary goal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Focus

September 27, 2011 at 3:31 pm (Focus)

Rev. E. Anderson

HIDDEN CAMERA

AND CONCEALED MICROPHONE

“Does he who implanted the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see? Psalm 94:9

Many portions of our lives don’t
come under scrutiny from other people because they’re hidden. Some, such as
questionable activities we might participate in while away on business, are
hidden because we conceal them on purpose. Others, such as our thought lives,
are hidden simply because the/re internal.

It’s sometimes easy to think that
nobody-not even God-really knows about these secret things. But He does know.
As this verse indicates, it’s ludicrous to think that the One who made our ears
can’t hear everything we hear, and the One to made our eyes doesn’t see
everything we see.

The issue here is one of
accountability. We must be careful what we listen to and what we see, because
there will come a day when we will have to explain to Him why we listened and
why we looked. Every word and deed will be brought out into the open and
judged.

This does not mean that God
rejects us if we see or hear something bad. It does mean that we invite God’s
discipline when we intentionally, consciously, and regularly choose to engage
in hearing and seeing things that are dark and sinful.

The bottom line is this: We need
to do everything we do-whether we’re at home, at work, or at play; whether
we’re in a group or by ourselves-as if God is our audience, because He is. We
shouldn’t just remember this when we’re out on the road and have access to
pornographic movies in our hotel rooms. It also applies when we’re balancing
our checkbooks, when we’re working on solo assignments at work, when we’re
driving to business meetings, and when we’re waiting for phone calls.

What are the hidden camera and
concealed microphone of God picking up in your life that you’d rather He not
see and hear?

 

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Leadership Factors

September 27, 2011 at 3:26 pm (Leadership Factors)

Rev. E. Anderson

LEADERSHIP – LESSONS FROM THE ANT 

From Word for Today

Do you want to make a difference? Then pay
attention to the metaphor of the ant.

It’s amazing that one of the smallest of
God’s creatures can become one of His greatest teachers. The lessons the ant
teaches us can be summarized this way:

A – ATTITUDE IF INITIATIVE

Ants don’t need a commander to tell them
to get started.

N – NATURE FOR INTEGRITY

Ants work faithfully and need no outside
accountability to keep them doing right.

T-THIRST FOR INDUSTRY

Ants work hard and will replace their
anthill when it gets ruined.

S – SOURCE OF INSIGHT

Ants store provisions in summer.

If
we consider and learn from the ways of the ant, we can grow wise.

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Christian Testimony

September 27, 2011 at 3:23 pm (Christian Testimony)

EUAN MURRAY

Devout Christian Euan Murray has questioned
the need for Rugby World Cup matches to be played on Sundays.

The Glasgow-born prop, 31, has chosen to prioritise his faith this
weekend, meaning he will miss Scotland’s
Pool B clash with Argentina
on Sunday.

“I don’t see why there have to be games on Sundays,”
said Murray.
“I hope things will change in future.”

Geoff Cross will replace Murray, who has been dubbed by Scotland
coach Andy Robinson as “the best scrummager”.

Murraywill hope that he has
done enough in previous matches to get his place in the team back for next
week’s match against England,
which takes place on a Saturday.

Continue
reading the main story

It’s basically all or nothing, following Jesus. I don’t
believe in pick ‘n’ mix Christianity

Euan MurrayScotlandinternational

Back in 2008, Murraydid play on a
Sunday when Scotland took on
France
in the Six Nations.

But, after his faith deepened, he announced a year later that he
would no longer be available for selection on Sundays.

At the time he said: “It’s basically all or nothing,
following Jesus. I don’t believe in pick ‘n’ mix Christianity. I believe the
Bible is the word of God, so who am I to ignore something from it?

“I might as well tear out that page then keep tearing out
pages as and when it suits me. If I started out like that there would soon be
nothing left.

“I want to live my life believing and doing the things (God)
wants and the Sabbath day is a full day.

“It’s not a case of a couple of hours in church then playing
rugby or going down the pub, it’s the full day.”

Murray is not the first sportsman to be pull out of events because
of his faith, one of the best-known being Eric Liddell who felt compelled to
pull out of the heats for the 100m at the 1924 Olympics.

After finding out the schedule well in advance he decided to
practise doing the 400m and subsequently won the gold medal, breaking both the
Olympic and World records.

More recently, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards missed the 1991
World Championships. After much deliberation he changed his mind two years
later, just in time for qualifying, and went on to win bronze.

Should Scotland
finish as runners-up in pool B, Murray would
also miss the quarter-final and then possibly the semi-final, a similar
situation to the one New
Zealand star Michael Jones found himself in
back in 1987 and 1991.

 

 

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