John 4:23-24 (NIV)
²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

To worship God in truth and in spirit means several things:

• I must be born of the Spirit. 

 It is the Spirit of God that begins to convict, and draw us to God so that we can be saved and be given forgiveness and eternal life.

John 3:3 (NIV)—³ In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

• I must yield to the Spirit. 

1 Corinthians 2:12 (NIV)—¹² We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

So as the Spirit indwells me, guides me and teaches me all truth, and shows me what God expects of my life and how to live for Him and how to worship Him, I must yield to His Spirit.

• I must also trust in Jesus as the truth.

John 14:6 (NIV)—⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Our spirit must connect with God’s Spirit and we must respond to His truth!  That’s what we want to do in worship!

Grace and peace,
Jim Brown

Romans 8:28 (NIV)—²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

In spite of her physical limitations she has accomplished more than most of us who have complete mobility. Joni paints, writes, sings, and lives out the beauty of a godly woman.

When she married Ken Tada in 1982, she gained a compelling personal lesson about worship. For their wedding, she planned to come down the aisle in her motorized wheelchair. When the day arrived, she was beautifully dressed in her wedding gown and a bouquet of flowers was laid in her lap. Just before her grand entrance, she noticed two distressing problems. She had apparently rolled over her dress with the wheelchair and made a big grease spot on the white gown. The flowers in her lap had shifted and were now lodged between her leg and the chair.

As for any bride, it was terribly disappointing, but all of that suddenly changed when the doors flew open. She looked down the aisle and saw her husband-to-be. Here was the man who was committing his life and love to her. Of that experience Joni said, “As I stared at him, I forgot about me.” When we stare at God in worship we likewise forget about the petty frustrations of life.

That’s what real worship is all about—our God.  Have a good week!

Grace and peace,
Jim Brown

“The minister and his wife slipped away to the mountains for a few days’ rest. They wanted to get away from the pressure and relax. They sat down at the restaurant for dinner when they noticed a gentleman going from table to table, greeting the diners. The minister said to his wife, ‘I hope he doesn’t come over here.’  But he did. He shook the minister’s hand and welcomed him to the restaurant. ‘What is your work?’  he asked.  ‘I’m a minister,’  the vacationer answered. The gentleman volunteered, ‘I’ve got a preacher story for you.’  With that he pulled up a chair and began his tale.

“ ‘I was born just a few miles from here, across the mountain. My mother was not married at the time, and the criticism leveled at her was also leveled at me. They had a name for me when I started to school, and they used it quite often. I can remember many times going off to myself at recess and lunchtime because the taunts of my peers cut so deep.

“What was even worse was going to town with my mother on Saturday afternoon. I could feel all those eyes piercing through me, and I could hear them whispering, ‘I wonder whose child he is? I wonder who his father is?’

“When I was about twelve, a new preacher came to the church in our little community. People began to talk about his power and his eloquence and his compassion. I began to go to church myself. The pastor really intrigued me.  But I always slipped in late and tried to get out early, because I didn’t want anyone to see me and say, ‘What is a boy like you doing in a place like this?’

“One Sunday I slipped up. The benediction was over before I realized it, and I found myself in a crowd with the people trying to get out of the building. As I was waiting there, scared to death, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and there was the preacher, looking through me with those burning eyes. He said, ‘Who are you, son? Whose boy are you?’ And I thought to myself, ‘Oh, no, here we go again.’  But then a smile of recognition broke across his face and he said, ‘Wait a minute, I know who you are. The family resemblance is unmistakable. You’re a child of God!’  With that he patted me across the rump and said, ‘Boy that’s quite an inheritance. Go and claim it.’   That one statement,” the old gentleman concluded, “literally changed my whole life.”

The enthralled minister asked, “Who are you?” The old man replied, “My name is Ben Hooper.”  Who is Ben Hooper? This Ben Hooper, born in illegitimacy, went on to become the twice-elected governor of the state of Tennessee. It all began with a preacher in a little country church who dared to be involved in the ministry of encouragement.  There are Ben Hooper’s all around us, every day.  Watch for them this week.

Grace and peace,
Jim Brown

August 5, 8 AM
Meadowbrook Golf Course

Call the church office for more information!

Ephesians 1:19-20 (NLT)
¹⁹ I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Much of life is unmanageable.  Especially if you’re a parent!

Charlie Shedd was an author.  He tells this story on himself,

“Before we had kids I use to travel across the country teaching a lecture I called `The Ten Commandments for Raising Perfect Kids’ before I had kids.”

After he and Martha had their first child, he changed it to “Ten Hints for Parents”.

After their second child, he relabeled the lecture, “A Few Tentative Suggestions For Fellow Strugglers.”

He said after the arrival of the third child he gave up speaking on the topic altogether.

Maturity is when you figure out that you can’t have it all figured out.  Maturity is when you realize that you can’t manage all that life is going to send you.  But God can.  And that’s good news.  I can’t control everything in my life, but God can. So I want to connect with Him and seek Him daily for help.

Many people today are feeling that their lives are out of control.  We were never meant to live this life just on our own power.  The same power that enabled Jesus to rise from death will help you rise above your problems.  The same power that God used at resurrection time two thousand years ago can be used in your life right now.

You don’t know what the future holds.  I don’t either.  I don’t know what’s going to happen next week, next month, or next year.  But God does, and it is never out of His control!

Grace and peace,
Jim Brown

Thomas Walter “T.W.” Wilson was a life-long friend of Billy Graham. T.W., his brother Grady, and Graham all accepted Christ as teenagers during a revival preached by Mordecai Ham. Their friendship was sealed by that event and ultimately led to T.W. joining Graham’s ministry team.

Upon his death in May 2001, it was said by Dr. Graham, “Ruth and I have lost one of the closest friends we have ever had. He was a companion on most of the trips I have taken since 1962, all over the world. We prayed, laughed and wept on hundreds of occasions.”

As many others reflected on Wilson’s death, another close friend, Cliff Barrows, noted a unique characteristic of T.W.’s prayers. He said, “When T.W. was called upon to pray, no matter where it was, he would begin with the word ‘And:’ ‘And our heavenly Father.’ It was as though he were carrying on a conversation with the Lord Jesus, and he was just adding this other petition, or this other statement of love and adoration to his ongoing conversation with the Lord.” What a fitting description of prayer; just an addition to our ongoing conversation with God.

The Bible says,

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
¹⁶ Be joyful always;
¹⁷ pray continually;
¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

So keep praying.  Keep carrying on your conversation with the Lord.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jim Brown

John 5:17-19 (NIV)
¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
¹⁸ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

John 5:30 (NIV)—³⁰ By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Now that raises a question:   HOW DID JESUS KNOW WHAT GOD WAS DOING, AND HOW DID HE HEAR WHAT GOD WAS SAYING? 

Here is the answer:  Jesus communicated with the Father in constant pray.   In fact, that’s why the disciples said: LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY!

Through prayer, Jesus found the will of God and where God was working and joined him in that!  Prayer was important to Jesus then, and it is now.

Hebrews 7:25 tells us that …HE ALWAYS LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR…His disciples, His followers.

What a comforting thought for you and me!  Jesus cares for you and Jesus prays for you.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jim Brown

We will not meet for Evening Worship.

1 Timothy 2:1 (NIV)—¹ I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–

The four words used here include requests for personal needs, praise to God for who He is, intercession for the needs of others, and thanking God for all that He has done.  No matter what’s going on in your life you can always find something to be thankful for. Warren Bennett said, “On the worst day of my life I could think of ten things I could be thankful for.”

In his book, How To Start a Church Fire, Paul Powell tells the story of a little girl and her brother, walking across a pasture, who were charged by a mad bull. Because she was older and bigger, the sister was able to climb the nearest tree, but Johnny ran for the fence. Perched on a limb, the sister screamed out her advice, “Run, Johnny! Run!” As he neared the fence, she yelled, “Slide, Johnny! Slide!” He did, but his pants became caught in the barbed wire. Her last bit of advice was, “Pray, Johnny! Pray!”

The only prayer Johnny had ever heard was his father repeating grace at mealtime, but the bull was closing in fast and he needed to do something, so he used his daddy’s prayer, “Lord, we thank thee for that which we are about to receive.”

The moral of the story:   Even when you’re caught by the seat of the pants, there is something you can be thankful for!  So as you pray this week, don’t forget to include thanksgiving.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jim Brown

E.M. Bounds said it perfectly:   “Prayer is the outstretched arms of the child for the Father’s help.”

T. W. Hunt:  “Prayer is a precious gift from God that gives us the right and privilege of talking with Him anytime, anywhere.”   Hunt also says:  “Prayer is many things.  Talking with God.  Listening to God.  Communicating.  Asking and receiving.  Above all, prayer is a relationship.  It is not one-sided communication with a distant God.  Prayer is a conversation between us and God, a relationship between us and our Creator.”

Jack Taylor says:  “…Prayer is not just a means of getting things from God but is the means whereby we may come to know  God.”

K. P. Yohannan in his little book, LEARNING TO PRAY, says:   “Prayer is our willingness to join with the unseen Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and experience His pain and heartbreak for a world that is lying in utter darkness, plunging into eternity to perish forever.  …Prayer is standing in the gap on behalf of the needy and hurting, asking the Father to heal and to save before it is too late (see Ezekiel 22:30).”

My prayer in these days is that of the early disciples:  “Lord, teach us to pray.”  You can find Jesus’ answer in Luke 11:1-13.  They knew how to talk to God, but they realized that there was so much more they had to learn in order to pray with real power and effectiveness, like Jesus.  So join me in these days as we ask our Lord to teach us to pray!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jim Brown