The Glad Dance of Service
Feb 22nd, 2012 | By Pastor | Category: Sermons, The Dance of DiscipleshipDance of Discipleship (15)
Sunday Evening Worship
February 19, 2012
Pastor Toby Jenkins
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Prayer Letter January 2012
Feb 19th, 2012 | By Pastor | Category: Updates From Kathy (Our Local Church Missionary)JANUARY 2012
“If the Lord had not been on our side . . . the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the Lord . . . Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124: 1, 4-6, 
“Help me Daddy! Help me Daddy!” screamed M’s little boy as he went under the water for the second time. M thought he was losing his whole family. Their canoe had rammed into something—maybe a rock—but, with the water’s strong current pushing them from behind, the canoe had actually stood up on one end. They lost everything. Thankfully, M’s older son rescued the younger one—his wife grabbed their little girl. As his wife and children struggled to keep their heads above water, M wrestled with the canoe. He tried to turn it upright; however, the rushing water had quickly begun to fill it up. With strength that was not his own, M flipped the canoe—which dumped the water out and allowed the canoe to return to its normal position. Once back inside the canoe, they grieved their loss . . . baskets of roasted manioc, bananas and fish—everything they had planned to sell to make money. Yet, they rejoiced in being alive. They arrived in the river town completely exhausted, wet and cold . . . with only the clothes they had on. Our team members helped to provide food, clothing and other items that they had lost. As I talked with M about the accident, he told me, “I accepted Jesus as my Savior two months ago and I know that if it weren’t for God—we would not be here now. God saved me and my family. God gave us another chance to live. Praise God, who gave our lives back to us.”
PLEASE PRAY:
1. Please pray for my mother. She had to have surgery for some fractured vertebrae and remains in the hospital due to further complications. Pray that God would give wisdom to the doctors and His strength to my mother. Pray that He would be praised in this situation.
2. Please pray for M and his family. Pray that they would grow in their walk with the Lord and be faithful witnesses of God’s saving power.
3. Continue to pray for D’s health. Thank the Lord that she is learning God’s Word and is one of our main participants in the Bible Storying Training. Pray also for her daughter who participates in the training sessions with her.
4. Pray for the Bible Storying Training Classes that will be held February 12-18. Pray for those who will be participating— that they will have a serious commitment to the training. Pray that God would give us participants from all four of the groups with whom we are working. Pray for the preparations of the training and for our team members who will be leading.
5. Continue to pray for a Training Center that is being constructed to reach young men of six people groups in this region. Pray that God will use us as instruments of His grace in the lives of the young men who live there.
6. Thank the Lord that the second Half-Way house is finished! We had a work day recently to paint the house and many participated. This house will be used by another group of our friends as a place to stay when they come down the river to get supplies. Pray that God will use both Half-Way houses to open doors for the Gospel.
7. Please pray for me as I will be traveling in March. I will be going to visit my mother and having several doctors’ check-ups.
Thank you for praying,
Kathy
Prayer Request
Feb 19th, 2012 | By Pastor | Category: Prayer RequestsIf you have prayer requests that you would like to share with our church family please share them in the comment box below.
A Ferocious God with a Ferocious Message!
Jan 20th, 2012 | By Pastor | Category: From the Pastor(s)
Waves of memory have been crashing over me this week, especially today. I just finished writing my sermon for Sunday - Gospel Driven Slaves, and I’ve been reminiscing about my life, my salvation, and my calling. I’ve been a Christian for thirteen years. In many ways it feels as though I became a Christian yesterday, but in other ways it seems as though it was a lifetime ago. Memory is a reality that we all struggle with.
Do you know what I mean? Isn’t it easy for us to forget where Christ found us? We become a new person, with new friends, new passions and desires, new dreams and aspirations. We literally have new lives and a fresh new start. The old slate has been wiped clean. That’s glorious! Right? Or can you even remember? Does that feel like a lifetime ago? Have you forgotten?
I’ve been reflecting on this as I’ve been studying for and writing my sermon this week. God has been preaching to me with a ferociousness like never before. Ferocious is a peculiar word for me to use to describe the way God has been preaching to me because it so often carries the idea of anger, but even though anger had nothing to do with it I feel that it’s the best word to describe the way He has been speaking to me. He has spoken with such force and passion and love that He has appeared ferocious. Ferociously in love with me.
The text that I’m preaching on Sunday (Romans 1:4-7) has forced me to reflect on where I was when Christ invaded my life. Oh my! I shutter when I think of it. I have good reasons for wanting to forget about the man I was. That guy was a wicked, vile, selfish man, whose remembrance brings me shame. He did nothing worth remembering! What good can come from remembering him all those years ago?
God has taught me the value of remembering more than once. When God forces me to think about where I was when he found me the memories always arrive carrying shame and regret. That is why I always chase them away when I see them coming. Do you do that too? You see them in the distance coming your way and you feel dirty and nasty before they’ve even made it to you, so you shutter and quickly slam the door not willing to acknowledge them. That’s what I find myself doing every time, except when God forces me to remember, like He did this week. It has been a glorious week to say the least because God has shown me afresh how ferocious His love for me really is. The Bible constantly call us to remember where we were when Christ invaded our lives. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says:
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
What is Paul trying to get the Corinthians to do? Is he trying to get them to look down in judgment on those who practice ungodliness. No! That’s not it at all! He is stirring up their hearts to remember where they were when Christ found them. The Corinthians were turning on one another. They were suing each other. Paul was outraged! He asked them, “why would you sue your brother in Christ? Why would you not rather suffer wrong or be defrauded. Don’t you know that the unrighteous are not going to inherit the kingdom of heaven?” Then he gives this list of examples of unrighteousness as a means of reminding them of who they once were. This was you, he says.
Why is it important to Paul that they remember? Why is it important to God that Toby Jenkins remembers that he was a wicked man who hated Him? Why would he want me to remember, with such haunting detail the time I pointed my finger toward the heavens and cursed Him to his face? What good could come from me remembering how much I hated Him? What good can possibly come from such blasphemous memories?
The great good of remembering who you were when he invaded your life is overwhelming. In remembering my ferocious blasphemy I am forced to face the ever greater truth that he took that blasphemy as His own and bore the guilt, the shame, the infinite wrath of an angry God in my place. It was His wrath and His judgment that were provoked by my wickedness and He bore His wrath and His judgment on that cross. The memories of these things and the knowledge of what he did for you are a ferocious sermon preached by a ferocious God who has a ferocious love for you. How could we ever hold anything against anyone? How could we ever look down on unbelievers who are enslaved to their sin? How can we be impatient and angry with Christians who struggle with sin? Remembering who we were changes everything because we also remember that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)!
Christians, don’t forget who you were! Don’t forget how God, with a mighty love, died in your place, taking your sin upon Himself. He bore His own ferocious wrath for you. You wronged Him! You deserved it! He did not owe you salvation! The only thing you deserve is to die in your sins and suffer forever under His holy wrath, but while you were still His enemy, Christ died for you (Romans 5:10).
When the waves of memory crash over me, I find myself swept away by the raging waves of God’s grace! This is indeed is a ferocious God with an even more ferocious love. How could we live our lives not proclaiming such a gospel to a lost and dying world?
Bless His Glorious Name,
Toby Jenkins
An Introduction to the New Testament
Jan 17th, 2012 | By Pastor | Category: Sermons, The Dance of DiscipleshipDance of Discipleship (13)
Sunday Evening Worship
January 15, 2012
Pastor Cade Campbell
An Introduction to the Old Testament
Jan 17th, 2012 | By Pastor | Category: Sermons, The Dance of DiscipleshipThe Dance of Discipleship (12)
Sunday Evening Worship
January 8, 2012
Pastor Cade Campbell