Leeland lyrics "Beautiful Lord"

When Temptation Wins
I came across this song by Leeland which helps you when you succumb to temptation. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (I John 1:9)." When you sin, you can receive God's forgiveness. So don't despair and give up following Jesus. Immediately ask God to forgive you. He will forgive.

I'm so glad God forgives, but He also desires that I do not keep sinning. In I John 1:8-2:2, the Disciple John tells followers of Jesus about sin and forgiveness.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation concerning our sins, and not concerning ours only, but also concerning the sins of all the world.

Jesus made payment for your sins. He is our advocate before God the Father. He intercedes for you and I when we sin. And the great news is that He has provided the payment of sins for the whole world if each person would just accept Jesus as Savior of their life. Wow! Jesus takes care of your sins, of my sins.

He wants you and I to not sin. You can live with less sin in your life by trusting in Jesus and by obeying His ways. So don't despair or give up. Rather repair and live it up for Jesus!

Pastor D

Wisdom from Proverbs

From time to time I have seasons of temptations. As the Bible states, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all (I Cor. 10:13). " Temptations will come. Some may be less intense than others. Few are fiercely intense. Whatever the richter scale, temptations shake your life and challenge your commitment to Jesus. Temptations abound. So how do you overcome them?

God's truth tells us that God provides the way out so that you can endure it (I Cor. 10:13). In fact God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear! He provides the way out. It now depends on you to take the way of escape. You can overcome temptation. God has provided the way. Just choose the way out.

In Proverbs 11 today, I see the words righteousness throughout the chapter. Righteousness is right living. God's Word defines right living. In this chapter God wants you to live rightly. For example in verses 19-22,

"Truly the righteous attain life, but those who sow righteousness reap a sure reward. The Lord detests those whose harets are pervers, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless. Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free."

Living right according to God's standards bring life abundantly. You can be sure that if you seek evil, then you will gain evil (see verse 27).

So when I face more intense temptation now, I can overcome them by applying what I know God provides. I will choose the way of escape and thus bear up under temptation. I can handle it only with God's help. God wants me to be free of bondage, to be unshackled from temptations bonds and embrace life with boundless energy. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. You have the strength to endure temptation. Choose the way out.

Pastor D

Wisdom from Proverbs

In Proverbs chapter 9 wisdom and folly call out to the simple ones in the world. Both appeal to the simpletons in the same way, but the results are vastly different. One finds life. The other gets death. I re-engage when I read the Message Version which addresses the characters of this chapter as Lady Wisdom and Madame Whore. You need to get discernment and go to dinner with the right lady.

This illustration targets young men but in this present day young ladies need to take heed. It is Gentleman Widsom versus Jerk Gigilo who try to woo you. Or at least that's my attempt at a comparable corrolary. I wonder what you could come up with.

Most of all, ask God for discernment. Seek wisdom. She will give you a deep, satisfying life all of your days. You can dine with Lady Wisdom or Gentleman Wisdom. Share a meal with them and live life to its fullest.

Pastor D

High School Sunday Morning Series

How to Build Healthy Relationships

This week you are going to pause and to assess how relationships remain healthy. You will view various film clips and use your best judgment to discern where the person is on the Relationship Attachment Model. When you are in a relationship, it is hard to discover where you are and where you are going. So Mrs. Feusse wants you to digest and to decide how to assess your relationships. Come ready to discuss and to question how you determine healthy relationships based on the model presented. I can't wait to discover where you are at.

Pastor D

Middle School Sunday Morning Series

Mother's Day

This Sunday we will take a one-week break and highlight mom's. Everyone alive has a birth mom. You will get to honor you mom in a unique manner on Sunday morning. Come ready to honor your mom.

You can be a good daughter or son. You can grow in maturity. This week I will share my own adolescent mistakes. You will benefit from hearing about my teenage regrets and about my past and present relationship with my mom.

You will get practical help to honor your mother better. Come to stop and make a card for your mom. Who says you can’t take time out to take some paper, crayons, markers, and paste and creatively say thanks to your mom.

Pastor D

Sunday Evening Discipleship

I came across by Charles Swindoll that helps illustrate the point that we are in a spiritual battle. We need to march forward for our King. He has made us his princes and princesses. Just like C.S. Lewis' story the Chronicles of Narnia. You need to armor up and join the battle for God's truth. You need to think the truth. You need to live the truth with love. You need to speak the truth in love.

Before the breakup of the Soviet Union, Christians were routinely persecuted for their faith by the Communist regime. We have many inspiring stories of courageous Christians behind the Iron Curtain who were willing to die for their faith during this difficult period in world history.
One such story involves a house church in a city in the former Soviet Union. The small group of believers who gathered there were afraid to carry Bibles, so they memorized large sections of the New Testament and recited Scripture to each other.
Each week they would arrive at the house at different times, to avoid arousing the suspicions of KGB informers. On one particular Sunday the church members were all safely inside the building, with the windows closed and doors locked. They began the service by softly singing a hymn and praying.
Suddenly, the door burst open and two soldiers armed with automatic weapons walked in. One shouted, “All right, everybody up against the wall. If you wish to renounce your faith in Jesus Christ, you can leave now and no harm will come to you.”
Two or three church members left, then another.
“This is your last chance!” the other soldier warned. “Either turn your back on this Jesus of yours or stay and suffer the consequences!”
Another member left. Two more covered their faces in shame and slipped out into the night. No one else moved. Parents with small children trembling beside them looked down reassuringly. They fully expected to be gunned down on the spot—or, at the very least, imprisoned.
After a few moments of silence, the soldiers closed the door and looked back at the church members left standing against the wall. One of them said, “Keep your hands up—but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. We, too, are Christians. We were sent to another house church several weeks ago to arrest a group of believers. But instead, we were converted.”The other soldier added, “We are sorry to have frightened those who left, but we have learned that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted.”

So live for God's kingdom.