I love beginning the year with prayer. We talk about prayer, and most importantly we set aside lots of time to pray.
In addition to our Sunday series on prayer—If You Will Ask—we will be having a special prayer focus each day next week. You can download our prayer guide here →Week of prayer guides←
The church building will be open for prayer Sunday from 5-6pm and Monday through Friday from 5:30-6:30pm. If you are able to join us, we would love to have you come pray with us. If not physically, please join your prayers with ours each day next week as you pray from home, work or school.
Pray, without ceasing pray, your Captain gives the word; His summons cheerfully obey, and call upon the Lord: To God your every want in instant prayer display; pray always: pray, and never faint; pray, without ceasing, pray.
In fellowship, alone, to God with faith draw near; approach His courts, besiege His throne with all the power of prayer: His mercy now implore, and now show forth His praise; in shouts, our silent awe, adore His miracles of grace.—Charles Wesley
Prayer is powerful. Ask anyone who has ever had answer from God in prayer, and they will quickly tell you just how valuable and powerful that prayer was to them.
With that in mind here’s a simple question: why don’t we pray more? It seems like prayer is often the thing we turn to when everything else we have tried has failed. Or we pray after we have messed something up, instead of before we attempted it.
The Bible says this—
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14, emphasis added)
Notice that key qualifier: IF we will ask there is an incredible confidence in God’s answer.
Prayer should be first and continual. That’s why l like beginning each year with a renewed emphasis on prayer. This Sunday is part one in our series If You Will Ask, where we will be exploring the mind-blowing things God gives to His children who ask Him … things like insight, patience, power and initiative.
I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. (2 Peter 1:12-13)
On the last Sunday of each calendar year I like to take time to remind myself and our congregation about what God has taught us in the year that has just past. This is not only healthy for us to remember together, but it is also beneficial for us to be able to step forward into the new year in unity.
If we don’t look back to remember where we’ve come from, it will be very hard for us to remember where we are going and why we are going there. And as an added bonus for those who weren’t with us for all of 2013, you will get caught up to speed with everyone else.
This is part three of a 3-part series called The Star Of CHRISTmas. I was going to deliver this message at Calvary Assembly of God yesterday morning, but due to the terrible weather, we had to cancel our services. I hope this message will be a blessing to you. Please leave me some feedback in the comments section below.
Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.
In our series called The Star Of CHRISTmas, Pastor Josh reminded us that Jesus is the North Star.
The North Star never wavers, never moves; it’s always constant.
But as Josh reminded us, light pollution sometimes makes it hard to see the North Star. The bright lights of the city, airplane lights, and even street lights make it difficult to know for sure we are following the North Star.
Jesus is the North Star—“I am the way, the truth, and the light” (John 14:6). But there are so many things that bring light pollution to His bright, unwavering, unchanging light. Lights that say, “This is important,” or “This light will get you where you need to go,” or even “All lights are equal.”
In this busy time of year, it’s important for us to take the time to filter out light pollution, and make sure that we are truly following Jesus. David prayed a great prayer, “Search me, O God, see if there is any offensive ways in me” (Psalm 139:23-24). It’s a great prayer for us to pray too.
Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
In astronomical terms, a supernova is an explosion almost beyond compare. For a brief moment the explosion is the brightest point in the universe, sending enriching energy reverberating in every direction.
There was a supernova in the opening words of the Old Testament—in the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1). There was an explosion of God’s love that was the brightest spot in the universe He just created. But shortly after a supernova explodes, it appears to go dark for a period of time.
In history this could be seen as the time in-between the in the beginning of the Old Testament and the time before Jesus is born. Isaiah describes this as a people walking around in darkness and gloomy distress. Then all of sudden Isaiah says a great light explodes on the scene—
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress…. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. … For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6)
The reverberation of God’s supernova in the opening words of the Old Testament show up again in the opening words of the New Testament—A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1). The light of Jesus exploded on the scene!
And the Christ became flesh and tabernacled among us; and we actually saw His glory, such glory as an only begotten Son receives from His Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Because of the energy released in the supernova of Creation and the reverberation of Christ’s First Advent, we are the beneficiaries. Astronomers tell us that the explosion of a supernova makes it possible for other stars to be born. That’s you and me!
Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright stars in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:15)
May this Advent season remind you of the supernova explosion of love of Jesus Christ, and our ability to shine brightly because of His life in us. Shine brightly!
Check out the other ways Jesus shined brightly at His Advent in our series The Star Of CHRISTmas.
I’m really enjoying preparing for our 3-week Christmas series called The Star Of CHRISTmas. If it’s not obvious to you by the way I wrote that title, I believe the star of Christmas is CHRIST!
We will be learning how Jesus Christ’s birth in Bethelehem was the…
SUPERNOVA which brings light into the Old Testament’s darkness, and allows other stars (that’s us!) to be born.
MORNING STAR which shines brightest just before the dawn and replaces a feeling of fear with the confidence of favor.
NORTH STAR which helps us keep going in the right direction despite the circumstances around us.
If you are able tojoin usover the next couple of Sundays at 10:30am, we would love to celebrate The Star of CHRISTmas with you!
‘Tis the season we are supposed to be thankful. As Thanksgiving Day approaches, many people will gather around a dinner table and share what they are thankful for this year, and then quickly move on to the turkey and football. But we never quite finish the thought: Yes, we are thankful, but to whom are we thankful?
Consider some of these clichés we use:
The ball bounced my way.
I thank my lucky stars!
Wow, must be good clean living!
Whew, I caught a lucky break there.
It’s about time something went my way.
In all of these phrases we are saying, “I did something to get what I got. I did the right things, or I was in the right place at the right time.”
God says, “My people shall be satisfied with My goodness” (Jeremiah 31:14). Notice He says MY goodness.
Contrast this with what Moses warned in his farewell address. He said, when you have been blessed make sure you give the thanks to God, and don’t forget all He has done for you. If we forget to thank God, the inevitable result is pride in our own abilities, or in our own luck. YOU may then say to YOURSELF, “MY power and the strength of MY hand has made this lucky break for ME” (see Deuteronomy 8:10-20).
Notice the MY has been changed from God to me. I have made a god out of my luck. Or even worse, I have enthroned MYSELF and dethroned God.
The only guard against this is continual, uninterrupted gratitude to God for His goodness—Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Don’t make a god out of luck, but make sure the One True God is the center of your thankfulness this week, and all year long!
Some folks asked me to share the quotes I used in my message today in our Grateful Heart series. Ask, and you shall receive!
“It is no wonder that the Lord’s people should be satisfied with the goodness of their Lord. Here is goodness without mixture, bounty without stint, mercy without chiding, love without change, favor without reserve. If God’s goodness does not satisfy us, what will? What! are we still groaning? Surely there is a wrong desire within if it be one which God’s goodness does not satisfy.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense out of our past, brings peace for today, and create a vision for tomorrow.” —John Maxwell
I’m looking forward to wrapping up this series next Sunday!
The wise King Solomon said, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down…” (Proverbs 12:25). And now medical science proves it.
There’s the physical weight of anxiety:
Digestion of food is hindered
Sleep is disrupted
Short-term memory is hampered
Immune system is depressed
Heart disease risks are elevated
Not to mention the emotional and relational weights of anxiety
But do you know what brings an almost immediate bounce-back from these conditions? Feeling and expressing gratitude.
The feelings of gratitude…
Release endorphins (the feel-good hormone)
Make good memories easier to recall
Strengthen relationships
Improve overall physical health
The verse I quoted earlier from Proverbs was only the first half of the verse. The full verse says, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Science tells us that it doesn’t matter if those good words are words others say to us, or words we say to ourselves, or words we say to others. Our bodies cannot tell the difference, so any grateful/thankful/positive words cancel out the heaviness of anxiety!
Try it! Keep a gratitude journal … write a letter to someone you haven’t properly thanked for their investment in your life … make it a point to compliment others … speak more positively to yourself. Those grateful words are not only the antidote to the anxiety weighing you down now but also the inoculation against future anxiety.
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I love beginning the year with prayer. We talk about prayer, and most importantly we set aside lots of time to pray.![If [web]](https://craigtowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/if-web.jpg)
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Craig T. Owens 