Notes from Friday evening Anniversary service 4-11-21

Opening hymn.. Just as I am

https://youtu.be/G9oSB3elWY4

https://youtu.be/X92JjsArJCE I can’t even walk without you holding my hand

https://youtu.be/b6xZ3k7yHNM that old country church



Does Jesus abide in us? Does the Holy Spirit abide in us.. does the Father abide in us?

That is….Is Jesus in us……

Have we just accepted his gifts or have we actually taken him in .

Have we been changed by him..Has our heart and mind been changed by him?

Have we been born again?

Is Jesus in our home or do we keep him in the stables..

Do we give him first place or 2nd

Do we treat him with respect or just squeeze him in..

Does the light of Jesus shine through us ..how does this manifest itself in our lives?

Are we experiencing the true Joy of serving or do we do it begrudgingly or as an obligation or a matter if discipline, to serve?

John 15:4

In a wonderfully clear parable Jesus says

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

( The love of the Lord is conditional upon keeping his commands….)

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Lets pause right there … Let us pray..

Lord this is a special evening for all of us. It is the first anniversary of our bible study ministry. Tonight our minds and hearts are ripe for honouring you. Hallelujah.. Hallelujah Lord….Your word means more to us daily and we are most grateful for it. We are especially grateful for our fellowship that we have had throughout this past year. We are grateful for the bonds that have been established between us. The sharing, trust and honesty that we also share each week. Tonight it is my honour to conduct our first public baptism and we ask that you will be with us, guide us and bless us. It is our way of honouring you, worshiping you and pledging our all to you; inspite of the hurdles of covid, lockdowns and restrictions… Bess our gathering in your name tonight and every soul present or absent from our fellowship tonight.

We ask these things in Jesus’ name..

Amen

Is an interesting thing that we can acknowledge that Jesus forgave our sins but beyond this it is challenging to define, for ourselves, the internal processes of the Lord within us.

Jesus forgave us for our sins but does he abide in us> God is interested in our developing, and growing and in the best for us.. But does he abide in us?

The Forgiveness gifted to us by Christ, paid for with blood and God dwelling within us are 2 different things.. He dwells within us because this is a part of God’s design and creation. He forgave is our sins because we did not keep his commands, because we made choices contrary to the teaching and example of Christ.. Soo we are forgiven for our choices.. God dwelling within us he his design… Just as a child is part of the mother’s body of a human child so is our existence as part of God’s. Spiritual or supernatural dna if you will..

How can we know that ?

Well….Is He there waiting for acknowledgement.. or rejection…. Or to be accepted and activated within us?? Or does he abide within us if we reach for him, if we ask for him, if we repent and receive redemption does he come to us and reside within us and we within him…?

Verse 13 reads, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” Similarly, look back to 1 John 3:24, where John wrote, “And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

In other words, we have assurance that he abides in us, and we in him,because he has shared his spirit with us…Like we may share a part of an organ but of course God’s capacity is unlimited…. It is given to us by God as he has implanted each and every human on earth. No matter how evil, if they are or are not believers, even if they are followers of Satan he has created all and to all he has shared his spirit…We know that our bodies die but God’s spirit that has been placed within us lives forever.. It does not die… It is not a human element but a supernatural element and gift from God… It is the gift of immortality. To be created in God’s image is a wonderful thing indeed…a mystical thing and in the clearest sense of the word it is a spiritual thing.

So he abides within us as the spirit dwells within us .. Our spirit is a portion of the essence of God….

Can we see that glimmer of the Holy spirit with in us. Does the light of Jesus abide in us?

When we walk in light what does that mean..Certainly not like a gigantic street light lighting up the parking lots of every Christian church in the world.. Not something that emanates from the alter.. object or buildings.. Its not like a halo that follows your person wherever you go…

But it can be seen..it can be perceived or intuitively deducted. It is a guiding light for us and a beacon of light for others…. It could be a warning light … It can be a comforting light and just as the spirit that we have inside of us is of God..Like a little piece of God so is the light a gift which changes according to our need and the needs of the people around us… Jesus says “ I am the light of the World” .. We walk with his spirit, and with his light … This is why the light of Jesus in us is something that others can sense even though that it cannot be discerned with their eye or make sense of it in their thinking… these are more than gifts from God. They are God in us….

It means that would live and look in a way that set us apart.. It means that people notice us ( we want that.not in a prideful way ..we want that to attract or lead people to Christ). Our light will also illuminate both falsehoods and truth around us and in our world.. The shadows of deception will be clearly illuminated fo4r all to see, through us, through Jesus.. When we walk in the light we are not loud, we are humble and quiet as we go forth making friends, doing our business, participating in our social circles, balancing our lives.

all in our special way, our light will shine without a word where ever we go if it is God’s light shining through us… It is on our faces, in our eyes and in our spirit, reflected in our compassion, our honesty, in all of our behavours..reflected in our presentation, in our works and in our walk in this world… We will shine a light on Apostasy, hypocrisy as well as secular Mockery; not like a flood light but by contrast shall they be exposed to the faithful, but this light, this contrast makes us a target as well; for Satin waits to extinguish our light and drag us with him into darkness…

We may know intuitively if we are walking in the light of Jesus or we may unaware as we just go forth each day walking in God’s word, doing was is right and praying for guidance each day with the understanding that at times He forces us to make the right decisions, it would be impossible for us to grow otherwise ...





This evening we will be conducting and witnessing the Baptism Of Theril Woods ……

Amazing Grace Https://youtu.be/5qjCEi0PB4M



Why is it important to go forth with baptism even in a small ministry? The answer is not an elusive one, not hidden or disguised so that we may need a special understanding to uncover the mystery of it..

Pick up on the ceremony page