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johnnybranch — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:59:03 CST

New Content Has Been Added

With the first Bible Study on the Presence of God wrapping up, I have added a new page. In the navigation pane of the left sidebar, you now have a choice to either log in to the new "New Year, New You" page or to return to the study on the "Presence of God." I have left the original threads to the Presence of God study at the bottom of the page. Feel free to continue postings on that subject, but please check out the newest page as well.
Pastor Johnny

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Presence of God

johnnybranch — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:54:10 CST

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Let's study for a few weeks on the presence of God. Just hit EasyEdit and type in your thoughts or paste in scripture. I have included a link to the Bible Gateway Search tool to help you find scripture. You may respond to other postings or add new content. Let's find out about God's Presence, together.
Pastor Johnny

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Here are some notes from my recent sermon to get us started:

Exodus 33: 7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting." Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.

When we want to be with God, to talk to him, to listen to him, we can’t do that from the confines of sin and worldliness. We have to get away from it all. Moses pitched the tent of meeting outside the camp. He put it in a place away from the confusion of the people’s sins, so that God would come to meet with him.

Plan a meeting. Expect God to show up.

Exodus 33: 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.

When we purpose to be with the Lord, God will show up. Moses planned his meeting with God. He expected the presence of God to come. He expected God to speak to him. When was the last time you planned a meeting with God? Do you want to know what he is saying?

People will know you have been with God.

Exodus 33: 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

Moses was in the presence of the Lord. A visible sign, the pillar of cloud, was evidence of the Lord’s presence. The people would see the cloud and would know that God was near. When we spend time with God, people can recognize that in us. The true worshippers, those who worship in spirit and in truth, have a recognizable presence of God surrounding them. People can sense this, whether they are unbelievers or believers. Do people recognize the fact that you have been with God?

Be a friend of God.

Those who seek to be in the presence of the Lord are also presenting themselves as God’s friends. The scripture tells us that God would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. God wants to be your friend, a friend you can tell anything to, a friend who will tell you the truth about yourself, whether you like it or not. That is what a friend will do.

Take the presence of God back to camp.

Exodus 33:11b Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Spending time in the presence of the Lord has several purposes. We worship God. We talk to him as our friend. We listen to him, and find out about ourselves, and the plans he has for us. Many times he shows us things about ourselves that are hard to face. In the end, spending time in the presence of the Lord should prepare us to go back to the camp and to make a difference. That is what a leader does. Moses did this, as the scripture tells us. He enjoyed God’s presence, but he recognized the work God had for him among the people.

God's presence and sanctification:
Exodus 29:43

43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.
Comment: Whenever we are in God's presence, we can be changed and cleansed.- Pastor 10/30/07

Chuck B: This topic makes me think of this scripture: Heb 6:4-6

"4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."

Chuck B:I feel like this scripture talks of those who fall away, but also describes what happens to our hearts when we really experience the presence of God!!! We are changed permanently, it's no longer a life-choice...its a life-style!!!

Pastor: You're right Charlie, once you have truly felt the presence of God, how could you live without that experience? Subsequently, it is disrespectful to the grace of God to go back into sin. Just like the scripture says, it is like crucifying Christ all over again.

Ed Ferg: Moses went to worship, and God showed up. In contrast, God showed up, and then the people worshipped. I would prefer to be like Moses, but fear I am more like the people of Israel.

Pastor: Ed, That is a really good point. I believe God is blessed more by a worshipper who seeks him out. In fact, it is the approach of a worshipper that should result in the coming of the presence of God.

FROM PASTOR on November 7:
I have been preaching a series of messages on the presence of God. Here is a scripture from Sunday's message.

Exodus 33:13-15: 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

How comfortable are you with making decisions about your life without the assurance of the presence of God? Have you invited him to be a participant? What about this scripture?

Chuck B...Nov 24...I know personally that, whether it be, big decisions or small, any decision is easier to make if you know that God is on your side...The assurance of God, makes u feel like u CAN'T make a wrong decision...it eases ur fear of the future, as well as keeps me from panicing about every little incident...LOL!!!

Psalm 51:11: 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

How would you be affected without the Spirit in your life? Would you notice?
Another question I would like to pose is "Where did God show up in your life this week?" To start a discussion on this question, I have entered it as a new thread in the discussion postings below this block of text. Click on the message thread to reply. Remember, it is just below this window. You may also get to the discussion by clicking "Discussion Forum" in the left sidebar.

Curt:As I have thought about the presence of god in my life for the past two weeks, I have wondered how much of God I have with me everyday. I was reading about Stephen in Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power... It does not say he merely had faith and power but he was full. To me this shows that the presence of God in our lives grows as we grow as Christians. Eph. 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. I wondered how it would be to be full of God's presence instead of just having a touch.

Pastor: This is a really valid point. I do believe that there are measures of God's presence in our lives. At times we can be distracted and squeeze Him out. The best times happen when we welcome Him in to be a part of everything we do.

Curt: I am thinking that someone in the New Testement had the fullness of seven gifts of the spirit but I could not find it. I will find it and post it later. I would be thankful to be filled with just one gift. I guess I need to aim higher.

Chuck B: I was re-reading the question that u asked above "how would you be affected without the Spirit in your life? Would you notice?" and tonight when I was leading worship, i felt exactly that...I was thinking "God i really need u to show up?" but when i quit trying to accomplish something on my own, that is when the Spirit shows up and aligns things...I often struggle w/ confidence as far as leading worship, that is something I would like to ask all of your prayers for...not confidence in myself, but I feel like I'm to concerned w/ messing, and that I should be focusing all my attention on God...Does that even make sense??? Jer 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart...

Eric:Yeah man that makes perfect sense. When Skate Church was still here and still even on Sundays and Wednesdays, sometime I feel as if I'm too involved in myself and trying not to screw up that I lose the whole point of why I'm playing. But man just know that if you put forth your heart and seek God with everything in you, He'll give you the music to play and the words to sing, he'll give you everything. You know, we're a pretty technological congregation and also pretty good with the music we play but that's not from our own individual talents , it's from our own individual gifts. God has given us all the heart of worship and that's what we love doing, and yeah it's okay to be good at what we do as long as we remember why we have it. The moment we put the music itself in front of the God who gave it to us we'll lose it, I have no doubt about that. Dude just be encouraged by the fact that God has given us a gift, a powerful gift, and as long as we use it for the Kingdom, we'll see souls saved and God will improve our abilities (hopefully to where we don't have to worry about messing up). JESUS ROCKS OUT TOO!

PASTOR: We have been talking about the presence of God over the past several weeks. We have been to the tent of meeting. We have peered in on Isaiah’s encounter with the Lord in His temple. We have explored the way God will meet us and speak to us as friends. We have also discussed God’s divine protection for us. Today I want to talk to you about the way we can better guarantee God’s presence in our lives. In fact, it has a lot to do with the holiday we just celebrated- Thanksgiving.

Enter his presence with Thanksgiving
Ps 100:4 tells us that we should come into the presence of the Lord with thankful hearts. We should be giving testimony, from our mouths, about all of the good things he has done in our lives. We also have the promise of His continued faithfulness, to do good things, both now and in our futures.

God Appears to those who need Him
We are blessed. If we ponder on the work of God in our lives we will be reminded of so many blessings, we could hardly count them. But there are times when we find ourselves in need of something. It could be something tangible. It could be a state of the heart, like peace, or rest. It could be a physical need. No matter what, God listens for those who seek him out, and he will surely appear to them.

Psalm 42: 1[b] As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God.

Remember the tent of meeting? God would appear to anyone who would come to ask of him.
The psalmist speaks of need, but he also does something else. He recounts the times when he felt most blessed.
Ps 42: 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
In the next verse, he proclaims to his own soul that it is time to stop wallowing in self-pity and to take hold of the promises of God.
Ps 42:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God.

Three Thanksgivings:

Thank him for what he has done in our past.

Salvation is the big one!
Has he healed you? Proclaim it in thanks.
Has he met needs? Proclaim it in thanks.
The testimony charges your faith!

Thank him for what he is doing now.

Are you breathing? Proclaim it in thanks.
Are you eating? Proclaim it in thanks.
The testimony charges your faith!

I could ask if you are working. You may have a job. Thank him for it. But what if you don’t?

Then Thank him for what he is going to do.

Do you need a job? Take hold of it in Thanksgiving.
Do you need a financial miracle? Take hold of it in Thanksgiving.
Do you need peace in your family? Take hold of it in Thanksgiving.
Do you have lost loved ones? Take hold of their salvation in Thanksgiving.
Do you need healed today? Take hold of it in Thanksgiving.

Remember, God has promised you all of these things. Proclaim thanks to build your faith. God has the ability to make things which seem impossible, possible.

Romans 4:17 (New International Version)
17As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

If we desire the working presence of the Lord in our lives, Let us give thanks.

Nancy: I was thinking about what Pastor said about being thankful. I was given the opportunity to speak to a couple of people about God and his goodness. It is really hard for me sometimes to talk to people about God because some people get offended. Then, I remember what Pastor said about If we don't tell people about his goodness in our lives how will they ever find out. So, I stepped outside the box and let it known that God has purpose and meaning for our lives.

New Year, New You

johnnybranch — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:45:21 CST

With the New Year (2008) now underway, I thought it would be nice to begin a page about what we might, as individual believers, and as the church, expect to do for God, and what we would like to see God do. - Pastor

You may scroll to the bottom of this page to reply to my first discussion thread, or perhaps to start your own thread.

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Here is the text of my last sermon of 2007:

John 16: 33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Another year has come and gone. Each of us has experienced a mixture of joy and sadness. Each of us has probably experienced both blessing and difficulty. The true test of Christ’s character in us is whether or not we have held fast to our savior who suffered much so that we could be overcomers.

It is through our own steadfastness that we become an inspiration to the hurting people around us. It is our testimony of faith in Christ and in our redemption that people can find hope for a better life.

Revelation 12:10-12 (New International Version)
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.   11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.   12Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!   But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!   He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

For those who are redeemed by Christ, the devil shall not overpower us. He may scheme and lie, and set up traps for us, but through the power of almighty God, he will surely be defeated. One day, we will hear the angels in heaven rejoicing and celebrating our victory over Satan. The testimony of our faith and victory will be proclaimed throughout eternity.

If there is one thing on my mind as I lead you into this new year, it is that we should help rescue as many people from the devil’s clutches as possible. We should win more souls to Christ than ever before.

That new sanctuary that is under construction is built in faith that Living Water Church will help build the kingdom of God. It is a statement that we want to see souls saved.

The devil wants to distract us from this mission. He will attack each of us where it hurts. He will wage war on our bank accounts, on our families, and even on our own bodies. When these attacks come, hold fast.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hold fast so you can be an overcomer who can help others overcome. When you are defeated, you are of no help to others in need. You have hope. People who are lost in sin have no hope. Remembering that there are many others who are in a far worse situation than you can inspire you to grab on to those bootstraps and pull.

God gives us a clear directive when it comes to helping the suffering.

Isaiah 56
Salvation for Others
1 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.

Maintain justice.
Justice is defined as the quality of being fair and reasonable. Is it fair that there are starving people in our community? Is it reasonable that children live neglected in chaotic families? The Lord commands us to maintain justice. He wants us to be people who will bring relief to the suffering.

The devil will want you to focus on your own hurts and needs. He wants us to live life unto ourselves, forsaking all others. By giving in to our own fears of failure, we say to others, “God is powerless, or perhaps he doesn’t really care about any of us.” But those who stay true to the power of God will be blessed.

2 Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

Let us live after those words. We are children of God, therefore we are blessed and we walk in his favor. Proclaim that position every day, and live in it.

There are those who believe God is not interested in them, or that God cannot meet there needs. They believe their sin has excluded them from sharing in any part of his Kingdom. They live bound to their guilt. You live beside them, work with them, or perhaps you sit in a classroom with them. The devil has sold them on a lie that keeps them from seeking after the only hope they have. Prophecy against the lie and proclaim the will of God for them to be saved.

3 Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people." And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree."
4 For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

The use of the words “foreigners and eunuchs” was indicative of outsiders. How many of us have felt like outsiders. How about the lost and hurting? They surely feel on the outside. God’s will for them is to be saved. God’s future for them lies in his favor and blessing. What you must tell them is that they must accept his salvation and then hold fast to his grace and promises.

6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

God’s promises are for all people. He says to hold fast and to live in his promise, no matter who you are, or who you have been. He will make them part of his family, heirs with his son, Jesus. His house is our house. His house is their house.

Imagine if this church was grown by just one new soul for each who are already part of this church family. Wouldn’t that be a dramatic increase? Now imagine that growth multiplied exponentially. That is God’s will.

8 The Sovereign LORD declares he who gathers the exiles of Israel: "I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."

In this new year let us consider the lost and hurting. They need Jesus. How will they be saved? They will be led to Christ by people like you. People who have overcome the devil’s attacks, people who have held fast to Christ Jesus and the power of his love.

They will be encouraged by people of God who seek to bring justice to an unfair world. People who will meet their needs out of compassion.

They will be invited to become part of a spiritual family who will accept them no matter who they are, or who they have been. They will become people who are valued by God and by those of us who once were where they have been.

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