Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
http://blogs.abcnews.com/.a/6a00d8341c4df253ef0120a6de1f37970b-pi
http://blogs.abcnews.com/.a/6a00d8341c4df253ef0120a6de1f37970b-pi
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
HOUSEHOLD BLESSING
May God the Father of goodness,
who commanded us to help one another
as brothers and sisters,
bless this building with His presence
and look kindly on all who enter here.
Amen
May God the Father of goodness,
who commanded us to help one another
as brothers and sisters,
bless this building with His presence
and look kindly on all who enter here.
Amen
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
ACT 5: THE NEW PEOPLE OF GOD
If the key victory has already been secured, why is there an Act V?
God wants the victory of Jesus to spread to all the nations of the world. Those who follow Jesus are being built into God's new temple, the place where God's Spirit lives. God is gathering these
people from all around the world and forming them into his church. When this is complete, Jesus
will return and the reign of God will become a reality throughout God's creation ( 1 corinthian 15:24-25). The curse imposed during Act II will be removed (Revelation 22;3)
The task of bringing blessing to the people of the world has been given again to the descendants of Abraham. According to the New Testament, all those who belong to Christ are true children of Abraham ( Galatians 3:29).
Act V emphasizes the mission of Christ-followers; to proclaim and live out the liberating message of the good news of Christ's Kingdom.
Act V moves through history to our own time, enveloping us in its drama. The message of Christ and his Kingdom has now come to us. The challenge of a decision now confronts us too. What will we do? How will we fit into this story
The story of the Bible is the true account of the central conflict winding its way through the history of the world. Will we be part of God' s mission of re-Creation of restoring the world around us -- and making the world (including ourselves) new?
God wants the victory of Jesus to spread to all the nations of the world. Those who follow Jesus are being built into God's new temple, the place where God's Spirit lives. God is gathering these
people from all around the world and forming them into his church. When this is complete, Jesus
will return and the reign of God will become a reality throughout God's creation ( 1 corinthian 15:24-25). The curse imposed during Act II will be removed (Revelation 22;3)
The task of bringing blessing to the people of the world has been given again to the descendants of Abraham. According to the New Testament, all those who belong to Christ are true children of Abraham ( Galatians 3:29).
Act V emphasizes the mission of Christ-followers; to proclaim and live out the liberating message of the good news of Christ's Kingdom.
Act V moves through history to our own time, enveloping us in its drama. The message of Christ and his Kingdom has now come to us. The challenge of a decision now confronts us too. What will we do? How will we fit into this story
The story of the Bible is the true account of the central conflict winding its way through the history of the world. Will we be part of God' s mission of re-Creation of restoring the world around us -- and making the world (including ourselves) new?
ACT 4: JESUS PART II.
But Jesus' message receives mixed responses. Some people believe, and out of these Jesus chooses twelve disciples or followers. But most people simply watch him with amazement, never
knowing quite what to make of him.
The established religious leaders quickly become hostile toward him. Eventually this conflict escalates to the breaking point and the religious leaders conspire to have Jesus arrested and killed on a cross.
But this defeat is actually God's greatest victory. Jesus' death turns the tables on God's enemy
and the world upside down. By willingly giving up his life as a sacrifice, Jesus takes onto himself God's judgment for our wrongdoing. As the the early Christian leader Paul later wrote:
God made you alive with Christ, He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code,
with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross ( colossians 2:13-15 ).
Jesus speaks the message of God as Israel's true prophet. He defeats the very power behind all
evil as Israel true King , the son of David. He gives us his own life as a sacrifice for his people to a new Exodus through death to a new life. In all of this Jesus shows himself to be the promised child of Abraham who reconciles humanity with God.
It is through Jesus that Israel can finally fulfill its role, the purpose for which God called Abraham.
This account of Jesus is the focal point of the Bible's entire story. The key struggle with god's enemy the desperate attempts to correct what has gone wrong at the very heart of things, comes to a head in the life of jesus. He is the one and only hero of the story.
knowing quite what to make of him.
The established religious leaders quickly become hostile toward him. Eventually this conflict escalates to the breaking point and the religious leaders conspire to have Jesus arrested and killed on a cross.
But this defeat is actually God's greatest victory. Jesus' death turns the tables on God's enemy
and the world upside down. By willingly giving up his life as a sacrifice, Jesus takes onto himself God's judgment for our wrongdoing. As the the early Christian leader Paul later wrote:
God made you alive with Christ, He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code,
with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross ( colossians 2:13-15 ).
Jesus speaks the message of God as Israel's true prophet. He defeats the very power behind all
evil as Israel true King , the son of David. He gives us his own life as a sacrifice for his people to a new Exodus through death to a new life. In all of this Jesus shows himself to be the promised child of Abraham who reconciles humanity with God.
It is through Jesus that Israel can finally fulfill its role, the purpose for which God called Abraham.
This account of Jesus is the focal point of the Bible's entire story. The key struggle with god's enemy the desperate attempts to correct what has gone wrong at the very heart of things, comes to a head in the life of jesus. He is the one and only hero of the story.
ACT 4: JESUS
Four centuries later, the people of Israel are suffering under Roman occupation and waiting for God to return. An angel of God comes to a young woman named Mary and announces
" You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you will be called the son of the Most High. The Lord God will give the throne of his father David, and his promise he will never end" (Luke 1:31-33).
Jesus' arrival is introduced with the claim that God is keeping his promise.
So Jesus begins his mission. He heals sickness and disease among the people. He confronts
God's ennemies in the Spiritual realm, the demons, and forcefully orders them to leave the people whom they torment. Jesus forgives the sins of those who humbly come to him.
He proclaims the gospel, or good news, that:
"The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near repent and believe the good news! " (Mark1:15).
The very heart of Jesus' message is the good news of the coming of God's reign. God is coming back to dwell with his people. This is why Jesus is called Immanuel, which means "God with us."
" You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you will be called the son of the Most High. The Lord God will give the throne of his father David, and his promise he will never end" (Luke 1:31-33).
Jesus' arrival is introduced with the claim that God is keeping his promise.
So Jesus begins his mission. He heals sickness and disease among the people. He confronts
God's ennemies in the Spiritual realm, the demons, and forcefully orders them to leave the people whom they torment. Jesus forgives the sins of those who humbly come to him.
He proclaims the gospel, or good news, that:
"The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near repent and believe the good news! " (Mark1:15).
The very heart of Jesus' message is the good news of the coming of God's reign. God is coming back to dwell with his people. This is why Jesus is called Immanuel, which means "God with us."
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
ACT 3: ISRAEL PART II.
However, if Israel is not faithful to the covenant, God warns them that he will send them out of the land, just as he did with Adam and Eve.
Sadly, and in spite of God's repeated warnings and pleadings, they are determined to go their own way. They break the covenant, folow the false gods of the nations that surround them has and bring the judgment of God down upon themselves.
Abraham's descendants, chosen to reverse the failure of Adam, have now apparently failed themselves. Along the way, however, God has planted the seeds of a different outcome.
One of Israel's kings, David is noted for being "a man after God's own heart."
So God promises to send another King to Israel, a son of David, who will lead Israel wisely, bring
the nation back to God and be the agent of blessing to the peoples of the world. So while Act 3 ends tragically, with God apparently absent, the hope of a promise remains.
Sadly, and in spite of God's repeated warnings and pleadings, they are determined to go their own way. They break the covenant, folow the false gods of the nations that surround them has and bring the judgment of God down upon themselves.
Abraham's descendants, chosen to reverse the failure of Adam, have now apparently failed themselves. Along the way, however, God has planted the seeds of a different outcome.
One of Israel's kings, David is noted for being "a man after God's own heart."
So God promises to send another King to Israel, a son of David, who will lead Israel wisely, bring
the nation back to God and be the agent of blessing to the peoples of the world. So while Act 3 ends tragically, with God apparently absent, the hope of a promise remains.
ACT 3: ISRAEL
The Lord had said to Abram, " Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
" I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you"
---Genesis 12:1-3
In calling Abram( God later renamed him Abraham)
and promising to make him into later a great nation, God is narrowing his focus and
concentrating on one group of people for a period of time. But the ultimate goal remains
the same: to bless all the people on earth, remove the curse from creation and restore the
original relationship that existed in the garden.
When Abraham's decendants are later enslaved in Egypt, a central pattern in the story is set:
God returns to the people, frees them and restores them to the land promised to them.
God makes a covenant with this new nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai. He appoints Moses to be their
leader during the liberation fom Egypt- the exodus.
As part of the covenant, God makes it clear that if his people remain true to him and faithfully
follow his ways, he will bless them in their new land and make it like the original Garden of Eden.
" I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you"
---Genesis 12:1-3
In calling Abram( God later renamed him Abraham)
and promising to make him into later a great nation, God is narrowing his focus and
concentrating on one group of people for a period of time. But the ultimate goal remains
the same: to bless all the people on earth, remove the curse from creation and restore the
original relationship that existed in the garden.
When Abraham's decendants are later enslaved in Egypt, a central pattern in the story is set:
God returns to the people, frees them and restores them to the land promised to them.
God makes a covenant with this new nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai. He appoints Moses to be their
leader during the liberation fom Egypt- the exodus.
As part of the covenant, God makes it clear that if his people remain true to him and faithfully
follow his ways, he will bless them in their new land and make it like the original Garden of Eden.
ACT 2: THE FALL
Tension is introduced in the story when Adam and Eve decide to go their own way and seek their own wisdom. They listen to the deceptive voice of God's ennemy, Satan, and doubt God's trustworthiness.
As a result of this rebellion:
The lord banished him [ Adam] from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubin and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:23-24).
God's intention in Creation is known, but part of his own creation has put his plan off course.
Can God regain his relationship with humanity and remove the curse from creation?
Or did God's ennemy effectively end the plan and subvert the story?
Acts 1 and 2 take only the fisrt few pages in the Bible to be completed. Yet they introduce the
struggle that dominates the rest of the story.
As a result of this rebellion:
The lord banished him [ Adam] from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubin and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:23-24).
God's intention in Creation is known, but part of his own creation has put his plan off course.
Can God regain his relationship with humanity and remove the curse from creation?
Or did God's ennemy effectively end the plan and subvert the story?
Acts 1 and 2 take only the fisrt few pages in the Bible to be completed. Yet they introduce the
struggle that dominates the rest of the story.
ACT 1: CREATION
The drama begins with God already on the stage. He is creating the world. He makes a man, Adam and places him in the Garden of Eden to work in it and take care of it. God's intention is for humanity to be in close relationship with him and in harmony with the rest of creation around them. God is described in these early chapters of the Bible as dwelling in the garden together with the first human beings, Adam and Eve. At the end of the first chapter of Genesis,
God gives his own assessment of his work: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good(v.31). Later, God 's people celebrated God's creative work:
"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you"
(Nehemiah 9: 5-6)
Acts 1 reveals God's desire for people and provides the setting for all the action that follows.
God gives his own assessment of his work: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good(v.31). Later, God 's people celebrated God's creative work:
"Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you"
(Nehemiah 9: 5-6)
Acts 1 reveals God's desire for people and provides the setting for all the action that follows.
READING THE WORLD'S GREATEST STORY
The heart and soul of the Bible is its story. It is the real saga of a particular people, how God called them and intended for them to bring blessing to all people.
Story is also the word that best describes our own lives, while we may or may not follow the rights rules, investigates certain facts and attempt to live wisely, none of these activities provides the central way we make sense of our lives. Stories give context and provide meaning
all the different parts of the Bible come together as one narrative.
To understand the Bible you must get to know its characters its setting and follow its plot.
The climax and ultimate resolution will make sense only if you've followed the ealier parts as a story. Learn to feel the tension and wrestle with its major conflict. Lose yourself in this story the way you do with a good novel. We present here an abreviated version of the story of the Bible as a drama in five acts.
Story is also the word that best describes our own lives, while we may or may not follow the rights rules, investigates certain facts and attempt to live wisely, none of these activities provides the central way we make sense of our lives. Stories give context and provide meaning
all the different parts of the Bible come together as one narrative.
To understand the Bible you must get to know its characters its setting and follow its plot.
The climax and ultimate resolution will make sense only if you've followed the ealier parts as a story. Learn to feel the tension and wrestle with its major conflict. Lose yourself in this story the way you do with a good novel. We present here an abreviated version of the story of the Bible as a drama in five acts.
AS THE RAIN AND THE SNOW COME DOWN........
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it, without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
---Isaiah 55:10-11
---Isaiah 55:10-11
ABRAHAM'S BLESSINGS.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.
And Abram fell face down, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and Kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you for the generations to be your God and the God of your descend. Iants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now alien. I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
And Abram fell face down, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and Kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you for the generations to be your God and the God of your descend. Iants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now alien. I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
MISSION OF STATEMENT FOR ABRAHAM'S BLESSINGS MINISTRIES.
MISSION STATEMENT FOR ABRAHAM'S BLESSINGS MINISTRIES.
To glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord to as many people as possible and to develop them in Christian living using the most effective means to impact the world, making a positive difference in this generation. To be an effective intercessor, these same attributes should be at
work in your life, enabling you to call upon Him on behalf of others. With the internet, we have the opportunity to reach man, woman and child on the face of the earth in the next decade.
The world is in spiritual hunger, and we have the tool to satisfy that emptiness by communicating God's love. Jesus called us to make disciple of all nations. Discipleship means having knowledge of Him. The Lord had said to Abram, "leave your country, your people and your father's household and go the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curse you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
To glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord to as many people as possible and to develop them in Christian living using the most effective means to impact the world, making a positive difference in this generation. To be an effective intercessor, these same attributes should be at
work in your life, enabling you to call upon Him on behalf of others. With the internet, we have the opportunity to reach man, woman and child on the face of the earth in the next decade.
The world is in spiritual hunger, and we have the tool to satisfy that emptiness by communicating God's love. Jesus called us to make disciple of all nations. Discipleship means having knowledge of Him. The Lord had said to Abram, "leave your country, your people and your father's household and go the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great and you a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curse you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
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