No Life Group this Thursday, November 24th

H a p p y T h a n k s g i v i n g ! ! !

Thursday November 17, 2005

Isaiah 43. We spoke of this a few weeks ago (click here).

He doesn't say He will keep us from the fire and other things, but that He will be with us.
Mat 14:22-32
verse 27, the I can also be translated as "I am" Just like when God met Moses at the burning bush. A deeper understanding of who God is helps us remember during tough times.

The different ways that Jesus said "I AM"

Jesus said, "I AM the Bread of Life" - John 6:35,41,48,51
Jesus said, "I A M the Door" - John 10:7,9
Jesus said, "I AM the Good Shepherd" - John 10:11,14
Jesus said, "I AM the Way the Truth and The Life" - John 14:6
Jesus said, "I AM the Light of the world" - John 8:12;9:5;12:46; Luke 2:32
Jesus said, "I AM the True Vine" - John 15:1;15:5
Jesus said, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:25
Jesus said, "I AM the First and the Last" - Rev 1:17;2:8;22:13
(source)

Jesus manifests in the storms of our lives defying what seems like impossible conditions, when weve lost all hope, in order to reach us. --Francis Frangipane

Peter had lost all faith. And when the Lord said come, Peter acted on faith and walked on the water. Not for long though.

People that say they can live without God, do not know who He is. God wants all of us to come to know Him. What is "to know."

Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:30

Isaiah 41:10-13

December 15 at around 6pm is the proposed Christmas party. It will be a potluck.

Today at Church

At the end of each service at Gateway, one of the pastors make an altar call. They ask if anyone wants Jesus. Many times, I pray and ask God to open hearts and cause someone to break down, and raise their hand or go to the front. I used to do that often. Today at church, a man was sitting next to me. We glanced at each other several times during the service, when we both agreed on a point that the pastor made. Today the message was on giving thanks. The Pastor preached from Psalm 100:4 about how we can enter into His gates by simply saying Thank you, and from Luke 17 about the ten lepers.

After the message, we were getting ready to take part in Communion. The lights dimmed. People started giving thanks, and praying to the Lord. It was quiet, and then in the back of the church a man started saying, in a voice full of emotion, Thank you Father. The man kept repeating that phrase, as his voice started breaking. Then he started sobbing, Thank you Father. To me, that set off a spark, and others, listening to his heartfelt thanks to the Lord, started praying and offering their thanks. The man who was sitting next to me, well, he started breaking down. He started tearing up (I could tell by the tissue he was holding, rather than tears or sobs). After we took part in the bread, Pastor Brian then asked if anyone wanted Jesus. His eyes swept the congregation once, and then, on the second request someone on the other side raised their hand. Then to my surprise, the man next to me raised his hand, as he broke into sobs. As he wept I placed a hand on his shoulder, and after we took part in the cup, I gave him a hug.

His name was William, and he has been going through a lot. Problems with his job, and most of all with a relationship he has, and the person who he loves, is now at a distance. It was incredible to see someone who is broken come to church, and then to accept Jesus as their Savior. I kept telling him that it was no accident that he came and sat down next to me. I hope and pray that I can help him with his walk with the Lord. Please keep William in your prayers, pray for his loved ones, his relationships, his employment, and most of all, his walk with the Lord.

A Mouse Story

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and hiswife open a package. What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! "The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend.

No Life Group Thursday November 10th

We will be having the New England Aflame conference, which starts on Thursday (through Saturday). Evening sessions are free to the public. Please come and join us!

Notes from the conference.

Thursday November 3, 2005

Welcome to Louise, who is joining us today for the second time.

Today is also Sara's birthday, we had a wonderful rendition of the birthday song for her.

Years ago, Louise went to a meeting for the visually impaired. There, she developed a friendship with a woman from Oklahoma, and on Easter Sunday in 1986, she went with her friend to a church (Happy Caldwell's church). They were singing All Hail King Jesus, and without any warning, Louise started to cry. And she told the others around her that something was happening! And when they asked if anyone wanted to accept the Lord, Louise raised her hand. Louise's friend accompanied her to the front of the church to say the sinner's prayer. Later, Louise told a male friend that she had accepted Christ, and when he hung up the phone, the Lord told him that he would marry Louise.

In Sept of 1987 they were married. And on August 12, 2005 he went to be with the Lord.

Isaiah 43:1-3

Fear not occurs 365 times in the Bible.

The word through comes three times here.

2 Chronicles 20:15 The Battle belongs to the Lord. There are times when we have to fight, temptations and other situations where we need the armor of God. The Shield of Faith, the Roman soldiers would hold the shields above all, interlock them above all of them to form a canopy to protect them from fiery darts from above.

1 Timothy 6:12
Even if it is meant for our demise , God is going to turn it around for good.

Last week we talked about Joseph and took that situation and his brothers claimed he was dead, threw him into a pit and sold him into slavery, and God turned all of that into good. He freed a whole nation from starvation. How could this possibly be God's will? God takes tragedies and weaves them into a beautiful tapestry of redemption.

Joseph descended from a messed up situation. Jacob thinks he is marrying Rachel, but the uncle Laban, makes him marry his own daughter, Leah. Then he has to wait another seven years for Rachel, and he has two wives who both give him their maids to have children, and out of all of this come the 12 tribes of Israel. Despite of the mess that man makes, God makes His ultimate will be done. In a lot of things we fight, the battle belongs to the Lord.

Isaiah 55:8-9

R T Kendall God meant it for good.

Righteousness exalts a nation.

We heard previously heard about Kim Clement and how something would happen on Judge Alito's nomination.

Another sister shared, how we didn't do anything wrong but God wants us to know what not to do to someone else, that will bring compassion for others.

John 9 whose fault was it that this man was born blind?
...For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.
Through it all through it all
I 've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God...