Prayer Focus: Families

September 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

As this week marks the beginning of a “new year,” (as students are heading back to school and we’re all settling in to our fall routines), we are taking time to focus our prayers.

Today’s pray focus is for our families.

The Bible uses the picture of a family frequently to portray the type of relationship that fellow followers of God should have with each other. So if satan can escalate divorce rates, and cause friction between parents and children, and create tension between siblings, the family doesn’t look so appealing any longer. As a result, it’s hard for people to feel like the family of God is something that they would enjoy being a part of.

But I believe that prayer can combat—and reverse—the alarming trends of divorce, estrangement, abandonment, and tension!

Charles Spurgeon said,

Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world. 

Even modern-day sociologist Paul Amato found “that if divorce rates and other family disruptions today were as low as they were fifty years ago, we would have 70,000 fewer suicides, 500,000 fewer acts of teen delinquency, 600,000 fewer children receiving therapy, and 750,000 fewer children repeating a grade.” What a compelling reason for us to pray for our families!

Billy Graham noted: “When brothers and sisters in Christ unite in the common bond of the Word of God and prayer, they are strengthened in their faith and witness.”

The Bible tells us the dangers of a divided home (Proverbs 21:19; Matthew 12:25). On the other side, we see the Bible talk frequently about entire households coming to the Lord together (see John 4:53; Acts 11:13-14; Acts 16:14-15; Acts 18:8), and how much joy there is when everyone serves God together (Proverbs 23:24; Psalm 133:1; 3 John 4).

Please pray with us throughout the day for our families. And if you can join us tonight, the church will be open for prayer from 5:30-6:30pm.

UPDATE: You can download the PowerPoint of our prayer points for today by clicking here → Week of prayer – families

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Even Greater Things

September 3, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I’m a fourth-generational Pentecostal. I’ve grown up in the church. Over many years I’ve seen and heard some incredible things.

And yet I’m so hungry for God to do more!

I’ve had an amazing last three years as the pastor of Calvary Assembly of God. We’ve seen God move in awesome ways!

And yet I’m so hungry for God to do more! 

I feel like the prophet Habakkuk who cried out,

Lord, I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known. (Habakkuk 3:2)

What God has done in my personal history, and in the history of our church, is nothing compared to what I believe is coming!

You won’t find me standing on the sidelines. I’m not dreaming about “the good ol’ days.”

I’m going to live my life like Jesus taught us. He announced that His ministry was anointed by the Holy Spirit to tell everyone the good news of God’s favor (Luke 4:18-19). And then He lived this out by doing good everywhere He went (Acts 10:38).

Jesus instructed us to conduct our lives the same way (Matthew 28:19-20), living in the anointing of His Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The same Spirit which anointed Christ Jesus for ministry will anoint your life for ministry!

I am so hungry for God to do more in me … in my church … in Cedar Springs! Like the words of the song say, “Greater things are yet to come!”

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Good News!

September 2, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

When I say, “I ♥ My Church!” that is not some throw-away phrase. I’m not saying it to try to whip up some emotion, or get Calvary Assembly of God to live up to some unreasonable standard. I say it because I truly mean it. I sometimes sit down in my office on Sunday after our service, and I can hardly force myself to head home because I’m just basking in all that God has done.

Some highlights from today:

  • I so enjoy watching my church family during the greeting time. I just stand back and smile as I watch everyone being greeted as a long-last friend. As Mary told me on my very first Sunday here, “We don’t shake hands here. We hug!” And it’s true. Honestly, I think if I didn’t step back to the microphone and say, “Ahem!” the greeting time would continue all morning long. There is some amazing one-on-one ministry that was happening in that greeting time today!
  • It was great to hear from our special guests Bill & Melissa Chappel. They are preparing to go to an unreached area in Asia, and their enthusiasm is contagious! 
  • A brother shared a spontaneous praise report this morning. He lives on a fixed income and has had several unexpected bills lately. So when the “Check Engine” light came on in his van, he was quite upset about it. He drove his van for about a week, wondering how he was going to pay for the repairs. Before the offering last Sunday, I prayed that God would take care of anything that was perplexing us. Gary shared that after service he got in his van to head home and the “Check Engine” light didn’t come back on… and it hasn’t been back on since!
  • As I shared this morning about the ministry that we’ve been doing, as well as the ministry we are planning for this fall, I read an email I received. This email came from a business owner in Cedar Springs after our Halloween outreach (that’s called the “Spooktacular” in our city) last year—

Hey Craig, I just wanted to tell you that I think it’s fantastic that you participate in Spooktacular.  It seems like sometimes churches and pastors are so scared to step out into the community when it comes to Halloween.  But, in my opinion, Jesus went to the people.  When I see christians stepping out to love on people rather than bowing to fear, I really see God at work.  And I think people in the community do too.

Amazing stuff happening around here!

If you live near Cedar Springs and don’t have a home church, I invite you to come visit with us. I think you will quickly discover why I and so many others around here say, “I ♥ My Church!”

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Need Power?

August 29, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

In many ways, Labor Day marks the beginning of a “new year.” The summer fun is behind us, a new school year is starting, and everyone is settling back into their normal routine.

Undoubtedly many people begin this part of their “new year” with the same excitement as New Year’s Day, with a renewed passion to accomplish greater things. Perhaps you are thinking about some new habits for this “new year.” Or maybe you are taking a deep breath before you have to dive in to all that awaits you in the next few months.

In any case, the greatest and best thing we can do to prepare ourselves is prayer.

I always start January with a week of prayer, so I want to begin this “new year” with a week of prayer as well. So we will be having a special prayer focus September 4-7. The church will be open each evening from 5:30-6:30pm, but I encourage you to pray with us wherever you are during that week.

Here are some great quotes on the power we can gain in prayer:

“Prayer does not equip us for greater works—prayer is the greater work.” —Oswald Chambers 

“Prayer provides the powerto do what we love to do, but can’t do without God’s help.” —John Piper 

“The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits…. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labor of prayer. …Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do!” —Charles Spurgeon

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Holy Spirit-Controlled

August 25, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

I am loving my time reading Spirit Rising by Jim Cymbala! This passage I just read leapt off the page:

“Many of us want more of God but not to the point of being ridiculed. Our Western minds think, I will serve the Lord, but I will remain in control as I do it. But whether we like it or not, that’s not how the church began. The church began with Spirit-controlled Christians who yielded themselves to God. That’s radical, yes, but that’s the way the Lord did it.

“Some might say, ‘Yeah, but we’ve improved upon the New Testament style of Christianity.’ If that’s true, I want to see the spiritual fruit our improvements have produced. People may have mocked those first, ‘unsophisticated’ Christians, but thousands got saved in the first four chapters of Acts. The Word of God was treasured. The churches were filled with sacrificial love. A holy excitement pervaded the atmosphere. Have we really improved upon that?”

Oh, how I want that in my life, and in Calvary Assembly of God, and in my city!

If it takes being “unsophisticated” and ridiculed, bring it on, Lord! 

I want to be totally Spirit-controlled.

Bring. It. On!

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Why Do You Read The Bible?

August 20, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Do you exercise? Why? What’s the purpose of all of your exercises? To get stronger? To last longer? To get or stay healthy? Yes! But to what end? Why do you want to be stronger, have greater endurance, or better health?

I could ask the same question regarding the spiritual realm: Why would you want to do a spiritual workout? To quote more Bible verses? To have more endurance in prayer? But why do you want to know more of the Bible, or pray better or longer?

Our goal should be simply this: To know God more intimately.

We have to be careful about being so focused on the workout that we miss the purpose (or should I say the Person). Andrew Murray wrote this:

“Christian! there is a terrible danger to which you stand exposed in your inner chamber. You are in danger of substituting Prayer and Bible Study for living fellowship with God, the living interchange of giving Him your love, your heart, and your life, and receiving from Him His love, His life, and His spirit. Your needs and their expression, your desire to pray humbly and earnestly and believingly, may so occupy you, that the light of His countenance and the joy of His love cannot enter you. Your Bible Study may so interest you, and so waken pleasing religious sentiment, that—yes—the very Word of God may become a substitute for God Himself, the greatest hindrance to fellowship because it keeps the soul occupied instead of leading it to God Himself.”

Our spiritual workouts should help us integrate God’s presence into our souls. He is not just someone that we know about; He is the One we know. The One we have let into our hearts. The One who is at the very center of our being. He is the CORE of who we are.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him. Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7 AMP)

Don’t lose sight of WHY you read the Bible, and respond in prayer; of why you glorify God and enjoy Him forever; of why you go through your spiritual workouts. You do all of this because Christ is in you, and you are in Christ, and you want to strengthen this core relationship, and let everything else that you do flow out from this core!

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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Saint Augustine And My Prezi

August 19, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Several people have asked for some of the materials I shared this morning in our final installment of the P119 Spiritual Workout series.

Two quotes from Augustine—

“You stir us up to take delight in Your praise.”

“O Lord, my God, tell me what You are to me. Say to my soul, I am your salvation. Say it so that I can hear it. My heart is listening, Lord; open the ears of my heart and say to my soul, You are my salvation. Let me run toward this Voice and seize hold of You.”

And the link to the Prezi we used this morning can be found by clicking here.

I absolutely loved diving into Psalm 119 with my church! It’s a fascinating chapter, that I hope everyone will continue to use as their spiritual workout.

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From A Frustrating Life To An Exciting Life

August 13, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

In our P119 Spiritual Workout series, we’ve looked at the similarities between an exercise program for our physical bodies, and spiritual growth for our souls. There are so many parallels for us to look at, but one of them that rings true for everyone is the up-and-down, on-and-off cycles that so many of us experience.

You know how it goes…

  • Your diet is going great and you are dropping some pounds (yea!), and then you go on vacation and all of your gains are lost (boo!).
  • You are doing really well at sticking with your new exercise routine (yea!), and then a head cold and some rainy weather knock you off your plan and it’s really hard to start back up again (boo!).
  • You are reading your Bible, and praying, and feeling so close to God (yea!), and then relationship issues, trouble at work, and a leaky hot water tank send you reeling (boo!).

We all hope our spiritual growth (or diet or exercise routine) would take us to new heights, but this up-and-down again cycle makes it feel like we aren’t getting anywhere:

In Psalm 119:49-56 the psalmist experienced this exact same up-and-down cycle:

  • He’s tight with God (v. 49)
  • Then he experiences suffering (v. 50a)
  • Only to recall God’s promises (v. 50b)
  • And then he’s getting mocked for this faith (v. 51)
  • But he’s quick to remember God and find comfort in Him (v. 52)
  • Only to get his eyes off of God and onto the godless, which causes him trouble (v. 53)
  • But he remembers God’s ways again and is comforted by singing songs about God (vv. 54-55)

Sound familiar? Up-and-down. Close-to-God-and-far-away. On-and-off. Yea!-and-Boo!

HOW DO WE BREAK OUT OF THIS?!?

The key is found in the final verse—This has been my practice: I obey Your precepts (v. 56, NIV). Look how some other translations render this verse:

  • This I had, because I kept Thy precepts (KJV).
  • This is how I spend my life: obeying Your commandments (NLT).
  • This I have had [as the gift of Your grace and as my reward]: that I have kept Your precepts… (AMP).

When we put this all together we get the solution that helps us break free from the up-and-down again cycle—

It’s ONLY by focusing on God’s GRACE everyday!

When we focus on God and His gift of grace to us, we minimize the ups-and-downs. How? Because the focus is not on what I’m doing or what others aren’t doing, but on God, His faithfulness, and His grace to us.

When God’s grace becomes our focus, we can break free from the up-and-down cycle—

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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Big Time!

August 12, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

The Bible tell us…

The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (Psalm 145:18).

I tweeted this early Sunday morning:

And guess what? I was right: He did show up! Big time!

I ♥ My Church (and their hunger for God)!!

If you are hungry to meet with God, please consider joining us next Sunday morning.

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Taunting

August 6, 2012 — Craig T. Owens

Coaches and parents especially don’t encourage those under their care to taunt their opponents. But the Bible does!

Seriously!

As a part of our P119 Spiritual Workout series, we looked at the section called Waw yesterday—

May Your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in Your Word. (Psalm 119:41-42)

“I will answer the one who taunts me.” How exactly do you answer the taunter? The word for answer here in Hebrew comes from the idea of “singing tunefully.”

You know how it feels when you have that perfect zinger—that great one-liner as a comeback to someone who’s tweaked you?

And you know how you don’t just say that zinger, but you add a musical note to it as well, just to add a little emphasis?

Well, this is what Christians can do to the devil when he taunts them! The book of Revelation tells us that satan is the accuser (the taunter) of the Christians, and that we overcome him by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony. But the psalmist says it’s not just plain old words, but the lilting sing-song, tuneful reply to his taunt.

We reply to our enemy’s taunts with a Scriptural-based tweak of our own. We can remind him of our total forgiveness in Christ. We can tell him how God loves us, and sent His Son to die for our sins, and how the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a deposit guaranteeing that we are now in Christ. We can use the Bible to tunefully taunt the taunter with the truth of God’s Word.

Don’t just silently take it when the enemy accuses you. Don’t get mad. But shut him up by answering him with a song right from God’s Word!

If you have missed any of the messages in our P119 series, you can access them all by clicking here.

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