I did not feel like preaching yesterday morning.  My heart was not in it as I walked to the front to pray.  I even mentioned it to Bryan who was walking with me.  I do not know what it was.  Maybe is was the beginning of a headache that grew that afternoon.  Maybe it was the Sunday School hour and the need to correct my sons again during that time.  Maybe it was a spiritual attack by Satan putting me in a slight depressive state.  Maybe I was a bit weary in doing good (as my message that morning would speak on).  Whatever it was, I shrived to do my best and preach what I had prepared that week.  But I do not know what happened.  I am going to chalk it up to the praise and worship yesterday morning, (it also could have been the prayers of the men up front, especially Bryan), but I felt the sermon went smoothly.  Many of the songs that Anita picked out had subtle hints that I knew I was going to preach on yesterday.  Especially evident in the songs was the presence of God being with us even when times are dark or hard.  And looking back that praise is just what I needed to not grow weary yesterday.   Little did I know that the message was for me.  Press on when you do not know what else to do.  Be faithful even if that faith is tested or dimmed.  Do what God has asked you to do and as Gal 6:9 says, you will gain a harvest at the right time.  Yesterday’s hymns of praise was just what I needed to be faithful until the end (of that sermon at least)

Contentment is not based on the size of your bank account, but is it based on the size of your God.  Big God, big contentment.  You cannot be satisfied if you worship a small God.  With God we can do all things through the strength that he gives us.  So be content in God.

It has been 22 years.  Hard to believe it has been that long.  So today I am going to reflect on all that God has brought us through over these last few years and ask God to renew that sense of depending on Him that our whole country experienced when we were attacked.

I was going to post a reprint from Our Daily Bread from Sunday that talked about how realizing you are an example will influence how we behave in a godly way.  But I read a story from one of our missionaries (who couches football players in his country) and I thought it would be a good example of being an example.  Here is what he said, “Whenever we do bear crawls, I find the person who is struggling the most and I get down with them and do the bear crawl with them and I encourage them along the way. Tonight, a person in the last group was having a really hard time. His name is ____. I got down with him for the last 40 yards. As soon as I got on the ground, I heard something that sounded like a stampede. When I looked up, I saw that all of the guys who had already finished had joined us. They came back to ____, got down on the ground with him, and started yelling out encouragement to him, pushing him forward and helping him to finish strong. It was a beautiful moment.
As I got home and I thought about it more, I had a realizations about this. Nearly all of the guys that joined us for the last stretch have been the one that was struggling, the one that I got down on the ground with and yelled out an encouragement to. To see them come and do this for another was AMAZING. Its never happened before.”

Prayer is so vitally important to the Christian walk.  We get strength from it, encouragement, wisdom, and power from it.  It draws us close to God and allows us to have an intimate relationship with him.  Knowing the importance of prayer though does not automatically give us all the benefits of prayer.  We need to use it and rely on it more often.  We need to stop trying to do things on our own and in our own power.  It is only when we are faithful in prayer that we can tap into the wonder-working power of God and we will see the difference in our lives.  When we pray, things change. Period.

Where do we go from here?  That is a great question to ask ourselves often.  But especially after a significant event happens in our lives.  And our church’s celebration of 125 years of ministry is significant.  So where does Groveland Missionary Church go from here?  Will we suddenly gain the 200+ people we loss over the last decade?  Will we now sink into obscurity?  I do not think either one is the answer.  The answer to continuing on in this church is the same as it has been for the last 125 year: faithfulness.  God wants us to be faithful.  And if we continue to be faithful to him, he will continue his faithfulness and blessings to us.  But how are we to be faithful.  Well in this week’s message, we are to continue teaching sound doctrine.  The Bible has always been our source of live and living and it will not stop if we stay true to God and his teaching.  It will continue to give this church the life it needs to last another 125 years, well into the future.  Know what you believe and why, and you will never stop seeing God work.

Those three Hebrew children were able so stand up under the pressure of a mighty King and his huge statue because they knew that their God was much bigger and mightier than any earthly king or giant statue.  How big is your God when faced with the pressure to conform?  He too can deliver you from the fiery trials.

What is a Christian in your definition?  That is a tougher question than you might initially think and you cannot find it defined in the Bible.  However, the words disciple and servant are defined and have clearer meanings.  So maybe the better question is what is a disciple in your definition?