Hi Church,
The Lord continues to do good work among us. People are enjoying His presence and enjoying each other’s company as we worship together in Spirit and in Truth.
There is so much to give thanks for in our life together. The Men’s Ministry breakfast was so good with Philip Bregmen sharing his testimony. The Kingdom Kids Ministry and the World Changes Youth are both experiencing seasons of growth and deep discipleship. Even the Young Adults are increasing in number and their hunger for God across all these younger age groups, is very encouraging and inspiring for those who are working with and leading these ministries.
Last weekend our new people’s lunch attracted another 14 people, with some unable to attend, so the level of interest and the desire to connect into community is increasing and for that we give thanks as well. Please remember to have a heart to embrace new families and singles and others who are looking for a new home. A great place to start is into your Life group.
This weekend message focused on Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah. I’m focused on Chapter 26 of Genesis which gives us a number of faith responses in Isaac’s life as he contended for the promise that God made to him. I spoke of the expectation that he carried being Abraham’s son of promise and the responsibility. This is a two-part message. So my first points were helping to understand that Isaacs choices were being made in tough times of famine. So the first three lessons are:-
Make an Obedient decision to stay, and not run away when times are tough. Isaac could have taken the commonsense route and gone to Egypt where there was food and water. But he followed God’s plan even though in the short-term it was more difficult and challenging.
Isaac was able to stay focused in his life because he had a clear vision and promise from God and so it helped to provide clarity in uncertain times. We need the same for our lives.
We learnt from a negative experience with Isaac that you don’t mix fear and faith for it removes trust and blessing. We see when Isaac told lies about his wife Rebekah it created fear, but once he told the truth (that she was not his sister) favour, peace, safety and blessing started to come his way.
These are all lessons we can apply to ourselves and our families, so we can come alive with God’s blessings.
Now another important point is that Isaac started his walk with God in the same region that Haggar had an important revelation about God. If you go back to Genesis 16 you discover that this place where Isaac was living was “near the well of the living One who sees me.” She called God, El Roi, because she met the Angel of the Lord, who saw her in her time of misery. So my encouragement to all of us when we feel like life has covered us over with disappointment and despair, like a heavy blanket, to believe that God, El Roi, sees you and sees your heart and will meet with you in your pain and lead you out into a larger space of freedom and healing, if you put your trust in him.
So much good truth. I’m looking forward to the next time I share on this chapter 26 as we look at the wells that Isaac dug and how he had to contend for his space till he found the water that was life giving.
God bless you Church, check out all the adverts for the great activities that are coming up. Especially anything to do with prayer, as that’s our key for a deeper more powerful life in Christ for as we seek Him, as we draw close to Him, He has promised to draw closer to us.
God Bless You all.
Ps Greg and Amanda