Daily Prayer Guide

How Great is the Father’s Love

Matthew 26:53

Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

Sermon Outline, June 25, 2017, “Committed Workers”

Committed Workers

Nehemiah 10 ~ 13

 

Be Committed to the Person of God.

Be Committed to the Word of God.

~ II Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

 

 

Be Committed to the Service of God.

~ II Corinthians 9:6-8             Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

 

 

Be Committed to the People of God.

Be Committed to God’s People when they are Discouraged.

~ Romans 8:18            For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

~ II Timothy 4:7-8       I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; ⁸ in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

~ James 1:12                Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

 

Be Committed to God’s People when they are Disobedient.

~ Isaiah 6:8     Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

~ Isaiah 6:11   Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate,

 

 

Be Committed to the Worship of God.

Worship God with Holiness.

~ Psalm 24:3-4            Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? ⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.

~ Matthew 5:8                        Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

~ Philippians 4:8                      Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

~ Romans 12:1                        Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

~ I Corinthians 6:18-20           Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

 

Worship God Always.

~ Matthew 25:21        His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

Daily Prayer Guide

How Great is the Father’s Love

John 14:2

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

Update from the Selbys in Ethiopia

Greetings from Nekempte, Ethiopia!  It is a great joy to say “from Nekempte” because it means that we have moved into our actual field of service.  We officially moved to Nekempte on March 7, and April 22 marked completion of our  first year of ministry in Ethiopia.  We have been busy negotiating contracts, settling in, building relationships and finding a home here.  And to top it all off, we are expecting our second child (due September 2)!  Needless to say, life is full these days.

Our move to Nekempte has filled us with joy, hope, and expectation. We are blessed especially to now live in a place where we can use and practice our new language skills in Oromiffa every day.  (In Addis Ababa, it was challenging to find Oromiffa speakers).  As our language ability grows and we form new friendships among the Oromo in Nekempte, we are full of hope for the work we are beginning here as we come alongside the church to help establish a college ministry.

 

Already, we have met many college students within the church.  Living in Nekempte gives our hope for this ministry a clearer shape:  we can envision how these young students are the future of the church.  Our hope is that we can help to deepen the students’ relationship to Christ and to broaden their vision to reach out to their neighbors so that ultimately a strong foundation for the future church in Ethiopia might be built. With God’s help and guidance, we are eagerly starting out on this ministry in Nekempte.

Thank you for your partnership, love, and support.

Tyler, Katie, and Ruby Selby

Daily Prayer Guide

How Great is the Father’s Love

John 1:18

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Momentum…Rebuilding the Wall

The book of Nehemiah is one of my favorite Old Testament books.  Most of the 13 chapters of this book are told in a first person format as Nehemiah reflects back on this wonderful episode demonstrating the power of God when His people depended and trusted Him.

I almost hesitate to say anything about building or rebuilding a wall given our present political environment, but this story is too good to ignore.  This is a story of a man of God with a desire to rebuild the wall and gates surrounding the city of Jerusalem and his mission to give his life to do so.  Against many odds, the people rallied around Nehemiah to complete this monumental task in just 52 days!  This angered Nehemiah’s enemies even more.  Please don’t name your children Sanballat or Tobiah!  These are just two of the jealous men who worked against the workers led by Nehemiah.  There were others as well and the concerns were so great that half of the workers continued rebuilding the city walls while the other half took up arms to protect the workers.  People got behind this cause.  They had momentum.

Have you ever been a part of a work that grew due to momentum?  I have.  The church I served from 1993 through mid-2001 was such a church.  In 1993, the church averaged between 500 & 600 in attendance.  Five years later, the church averaged around 1,850—1,900 with some Sundays exceeding 2,100!  Against the odds of not having enough parking, parking on grass lots during the rainy season, parking across the highway (not a quiet street!) and dodging cars going 55 or 60 mph, we grew.  Against the odds of being understaffed, not having enough classroom space, and having to add more services because of parking problems, we grew.  Our building seated 1,100!  We could seat our congregation in 2 services, but had to add more services so people could find a parking spot.  In spite of a minister struggling with a drug addiction problem, we grew.  Why?  We gained momentum and those attending were willing to look beyond these problems and see that God was in the midst of this work.  People invited their friends and colleagues to come and be a part of this work that God was blessing.  Was it perfect?  Certainly not!  The church has now relocated and averages over 2,800 on Sundays!  Momentum is a valuable tool in God’s work and seeing beyond the “now” and seeing what can be in the “future”.

Don Seevers

Daily Prayer Guide

How Great is the Father’s Love

John 14:21

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

Daily Prayer Guide

How Great is the Father’s Love

John 14:13

Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Committed Workers

As we continue to read and study Nehemiah 10-13, we see just how well the people of Jerusalem served God.  They were committed to rebuilding Jerusalem, so the leaders signed the covenant to obey God’s law.  The people followed their leaders and committed to obeying these laws as well. They were all committed because they fully believed that God was their Lord.

Only two chapters later, in Nehemiah 13, we see the people who were so committed to follow and obey the laws of the covenant slip away from those laws and break the commitment they made.  We must be in constant communication with the Lord to be reminded of His word which keeps us from slipping away from the true will of God.  To know and understand the truth, we must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us because the world can pull us away from God and it can be easy for us to abandon our first commitment.

It is sometimes hard to find our place in what God has planned for us and we overlook the obvious.  God will lead us to our work, we just need to be committed to follow him and go where he leads us.  It may be that we have a calling to do big things; to travel the world in ministry helping and witnessing to the lost or serving the impoverished.  Sometimes our commitment and strength is supporting those who are committed to doing just that, by staying in prayer for them, showing them guidance, and showing them love.  We see examples of this everyday in our church and community and the commitment to pray for each other is a blessing.

In our family, our daughters are both committed to go where God takes them.  One, to Cambodia to the those who have been abused and sold into slavery.  She has been called to bring awareness about human trafficking, something that is hard to imagine and believe.  Our younger daughter has committed to work with children who are hurting physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally because of their impoverished circumstances.  She is committed to traveling to Ghana this summer to serve the children there.  They both inspire me as I watch them go where God leads.

As with the people of Jerusalem, we must be committed to serve and obey God wherever he calls us.  We are all sent with the Great Commission, to go out and make disciples of all nations, in whatever way God has individually called us. 

Laura Mullins

Daily Prayer Guide

How Great is the Father’s Love

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?