Love Wins wk. 2
Revolution – The Beatles
Our God Is Love – Hillsong Live
One Thing Remains – Jesus Culture
Forever Reign – Hillsong Live
Set List 2.19
Feb 20
Oswald Chambers
Feb 15
The Devotion of Hearing
Samuel answered, ’Speak, for Your servant hears’ —1 Samuel 3:10
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends . . .” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
A word about Oswald:
Oswald Chambers was not famous during his lifetime. At the time of his death in 1917 at the age of forty-three, only three books bearing his name had been published. Among a relatively small circle of Christians in Britain and the U.S., Chambers was much appreciated as a teacher of rare insight and expression, but he was not widely known. His devotion and books are now highly regarded.
His devotion is online at http://utmost.org/
Set List 2.12
Feb 13
Love Wins wk. 1
All You Need Is Love – The Beatles
Exalted One – Elevation Worship
Your Love Never Fails – Jesus Culture
How He Loves – John Mark McMillan
I wanted to give you a little insight on a song that we have been singing lately and challenge you to not just sing it but believe it. Today we will look at the song called “YOU” by Hillsong Live. This song is actually off of their 2010 release called “A Beautiful Exchange”, so it a couple of years old. It was written by Joel Houston who is one of their main worship leaders and one of the heads of their entire worship department at Hillsong Church. He also is the creative director for Hillsong United which is more of a touring band from their church.
Verse 1:
Invading all my weakness
You wrapped me up in grace
The worst of me succeeded by the best of You
Verse 2:
My heart is overtaken
My soul is overwhelmed
The worst of me succeeded by the best of You
Verse 3:
My dreams have found their purpose
My future in Your hands
This life would have no meaning if it weren’t for You
(PreChorus)
So I lay me down
For Kingdom come
Steel all that is within me
Cause all I want in this world is more of You
Chorus
And the less of me it is You
Increasing as I fade away
Your light for all the world to see
God It is You who breaks the chains
It is You who lights the way
And everything I am cries out for You
Verse 4
Lord make my life transparent
Your life in mine displayed
And let every earthly glory
Go back to You
I love how this song is journey of the Christian walk. From verse 1 when God invades your life and shows you His grace. To verse 2 when you are taken back and overwhelmed by Him, to verse 3 when you are becoming who Christ wants you to be. The Chorus and Verse 4 is a prayer from John 3:30 to make my life more of Jesus and less of me.
The Prechorus I think has one of the coolest lyrics we sing and it took me time of researching and reading to find out the meaning of it. These words are from Romans 12 that we are offer our lives as a living sacrifice to Jesus as our acceptable worship, but doing that takes faith. The line we sing, “Steel all that is within me”, is a prayer to God to fortify and make everything that He has made in me strong. For the longest time I thought it was just maybe the way those crazy Aussie’s said still and that they need to be versed in American english, but certainly that was not the case and now it is one of my favorite lyrics.
I hope this helps when you are singing this song and understand the meaning of it. Below is a video of Hillsong performing it.
It was a great week in KidVille; we had 64 kids! There were kids everywhere. There is nothing better than having a full house in KidVille! We love hearing about how God uses what kids learned in KidVille during the week. Please let us know if your kids share something exciting with you! Check out what kids learned yesterday.
DownTown (1-5 Grade): Kids are in week three of the Dojo series and boy do they love it!
Main Point: Confidence – When I am obedient to God, I know He will be with me in whatever I do.
Memory Verse: “So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?’” Hebrews 13:6 NLT
Bible Story: Gideon’s story. (Judges 6 & 7)
The kids were really into this story! They were baffled by the fact that God could use 300 men to defeat an army that had too many to count and the 300 men didn’t even have to use weapons! Ask your child about this story. You will be surprised at what they can tell you!
Adventure Avenue (Pre-K and K): Kids are also in week three of the Dojo and they love doing karate moves! Ask them how they learned they can help others.
Main Point: I will help!
Memory Verse: Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NLT) – Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.
Bible Story: The deacons are appointed to minister to the people. (Acts 6:1-7)
Tumble Trail (2′s and 3′s): Kids in Tumble Trail are in a unit where they are learning “God Gives us Food”. Yesterday, your kids learned about vegetables and all the different kinds that God gave us. Ask them about crunchy carrots!
Baby Boulevard (0-23 Months): This month your babies are learning “My Family Loves Me!” Through simple games, stories, and songs they are taught that God gave them a family and that family loves them!
Thanks for entrusting us with your most precious treasures! We love teaching them Sunday after Sunday! Do you want to get involved in KidVille? Email whitney@fellowshipga.org for more information!
Set List 2.5
Feb 6
Think Different wk. 6
Go – Hillsong United
We Rejoice – Elevation Worship
You – Hillsong Live
Hosanna – Hillsong/Starfield
Psalm 119:105: You word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
There is one thing I love to do and do it often, eat. There is nothing better than a good meal. I have been known to travel great distances to eat at restaurants that have great food; this is especially true when it comes to BBQ. When I hear the word feast, an image comes to mind from my upbringing in Carnesville, GA where my great grandmother lived.
What I remember most was how we would arrive at the 100 year old rough-cut wood frame house situated on the front portion of a small farm. As we rolled up to the old family home place we would be greeted by all sorts of animals and someone would have to come out on the porch to get us around the farm dog, Blacky, a jet black yard dog that would sometimes bite. Once the pleasantries were exchanged and everyone was hugged we would enter the house through a wood framed screen door situated in the center of a u-shaped porch.
Inside you could turn right to enter the living room, a room with 12-foot ceilings, linoleum rug and a coal burning heater in the middle. The only light was from a single bulb fixture hanging from a wire at the center of the room, running down beside the vent for the heater. But if you turned left at the front door, you were greeted by a large table (seemed like 20+ feet as a small child) and it would be covered with a white sheet. The smell of fresh fried chicken and garden fresh vegetables filled the room, creating an immediate hunger that cried out to be satisfied. At the end of the table was the kitchen and usually it would be filled to capacity with the ladies putting the final touches on the meal. Soon the family would gather around the table in our designated spots and the cloth would be removed. What would be revealed was enough food to feed a small army and following a family prayer, we would dig in. My favorite part of the meal was the biscuits and gravy, if my great grandmother knew I was coming she would prepare them just for me and I would feast on them until I was almost sick, enjoying every bite along the way.
My memory of the feast I would enjoy in my childhood also ignites in me the desire I have as a pastor to see Fellowship Church feast on the Word of God.
At Fellowship Church we believe, study and hold high the Word of God. We believe the Bible is God’s inspired Word, imparted to the writers as the Holy Spirit guided them. It does not contain any errors and can be trusted as a reliable source of truth. We do not believe it is a antiquated good book, but a book that is as relevant today as it was when written.
As Psalm 109:105 says, the Bible is our guide. It can be considered a flashlight that guides our every step. Therefore, Feasting on the Word is a value we hold important to our faith, church life and worldview. We encourage those who partner with Fellowship Church to make time to join God in reading, meditating, memorizing and enjoying His Word. In doing so we allow ourselves to mature through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is like eating to the human body, we eat for nutrition and strength. Feasting on The Word will give you necessary ingredients to survive and thrive as you follow Christ.
We also consider Feast on the Word a part of our worship each week as we gather to celebrate Jesus as Lord. During every meeting of Fellowship Church, our goal is to impart some truth from God’s Word. Whether we are sharing in family fellowship, Sunday Worship, activities, community outreach, etc. each gathering will include God’s Word. Together as we Feast on the buffet of truth and hope we believe it, will encourage us in our faith.
Will you take the time today to consider how you Feast on The Word?
Here as some suggestions:
1. Make time (set a calendar reminder, alarm or whatever) to read God’s Word.
2. Once you read a passage or verse allow it to bake in your soul. Ask God to reveal truths that you need for the moment of your life and then respond to His teachings.
3. Join other believers in Feasting on the Word. The Bible teaches us that iron sharpens iron and others will help you enjoy the table of blessings found in God’s Word.
4. Seek to listen to more of God’s Word through, radio, TV, podcast and internet resources. The more you listen the more you will desire.
5. Take notes about your Feast, you never know what God wants to remind you of in the future.
6. Share your Feast with others. God wants to use what you enjoy to encourage and challenge follow believers.
Duet. 10:20 Reverently respect God, your God, serve him, hold tight to him, back up your promises with the authority of his name.
Jesus was called a king and a prince but never lead a royal life. He never had a large staff with a bunch of personal assistants, live in a great palace, and the only crown he ever wore was the awful crown of thorns that were placed on his head at his death.
He befriended all the outcasts, the ones that didnt fit in with the way society says they should. He wanted relationships with people who weren’t like him. He got on his hands and knees to wash his disciples feet. He served his fellow men no matter what.
Jesus’ life was the best example of being a servant. His life shows that even the greatest of leaders are called to be servants to all people. Jesus even told his disciples that whoever wanted to be great should be a servant for all. Serving people is what God wants his people to do. I’m not saying that its always the easiest but it is what he commands us to do. Some people wont like or appreciate your efforts to serve them. You may never get a thank you and some just think they are entitled to it. No matter the reason, you are doing what God has called his people to do. If you find that you feel your efforts are not appreciated just keep focused on the reason you are serving them. You are serving the God who loves you unconditionally and does see your efforts.
When your goal is serving others you can be assured that however you efforts turn out that you have a father who is proud of the way you honor him. Think Different about the way you treat others in you life. Do we always want to serve others as God has commanded?
Here is a good testimony on persistent prayer from Benny and Sue Wyrick.
Well what can we tell you about the power of prayer….nothing more than it is awesome and works when you have faith in God’s word….“you can ask for anything…and I will give it to you”… as we all must remember prayer is not “instantly answered” but could take some time and it may not be answered the way we are expecting…. well yesterday, Saturday, 28 JAN 2012…Matthew,Sue,mine and many others prayers were finally answered…and not in the way we thought it would happen either….for over 2 and half years many have prayed that Matthew(while still in prison) would get to see his son Kasen…last time he saw Kasen, he was approximately 18 months old….all through the troubled times Matthew, his family, and friends (and some who did not even know any of us) continued to pray that God would allow, cause, and enable Matt to see his son…the day finally came…there was much joy on everyone’s part and as one might expect much anticipation as to how Kasen would react to it all….again God quelled our concerns and questions….without hesitation, Kasen went to his Dad,jumped up in his arms, hugged and kissed Matt…you cannot imagine the look of surprise on Matt’s face (or ours)…but all that was replaced by pure joy…the interaction between Father and Son will be one of the highlights of our lives…we could not stop praising and thanking God for the tremendous 4 hours we spent together….we all were overwhelmed by God’s grace and the blessing he gave us yesterday….yes the power of prayer was evident yesterday, but more importantly God’s Love (for us all) was even more evident when Kasen hugged Matt’s neck,kissed him and told him “ I Love You Daddy”…. we wanted him and Matt to have a true(honest) experience with each other…we had all decided earlier to leave it up to Kasen how things played out…..none of us could have dreamed it was going to be such a wonderful encounter…Yesterday was proof that God’s Word is the Truth…and that Faith in His Word (no matter how long it takes) will be rewarded….
We continue to pray for Matthew’s release in the near future so that he can enjoy more days with Kasen in a less restricted environement…we ask everyone to pray along with us….Keep the Faith and Stay Strong….Benny Lee and Sue
Set List 1.29
Feb 1
Think Different wk. 5
Exalted One – Elevation Worship
One Thing Remains – Jesus Culture
Kingdom Come – Elevation Worship
Fire Fall Down – Hillsong United