Purpose and Power 3

Hello Everyone,

Many have allowed the Devil and Religious Tradition to Rob THEM of the POWER of God.

The promise of the Holy Spirit is for all people who are believers who have repented.
Since God is still calling men unto Salvation, THE PROMISE IS GOOD NOW!!!

What Was the Promise of Pentecost? -- It was The Pouring Out of the Holy Spirit upon all Flesh, both Men and Women.

Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." NKJV

The Promise Fulfilled. Ten days after Jesus ascended into Heaven He sent the promise of the Father and the Faithful Ones who had obeyed and waited in the Upper Room were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Peter’s Sermon Declared, “This is it!!!” This is the fulfillment of the promise!

 THE PURPOSE OF PENTECOST

One word portrays the purpose of Pentecost – “HARVEST.”

Harvest is at the Heart of Pentecost!!!

Joel 2:23-25 Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you-- The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. 24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, NKJV

Two things are necessary for the Harvest:

1) Early (former) Rain, that prepared the soil for the planting at Seed-time.

2) Latter Rain Matured the Crop for Harvest.

Joel 3: V9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles… V12 Let the heathen be wakened…V13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full… V14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision… KJV

It’s Time to Reap the Harvest!!! The Rain of the Holy Spirit is preparing the Fruit of the earth for the Harvest.

On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, Peter preached and 3,000 souls got saved and came into the Kingdom.

God Has Not Given Us The Holy Spirit To Enjoy Alone, While The World Around Us Rushes On Toward Hell.

WE DARE NOT FORGET THE NEEDS OF LOST PEOPLE:

• The People God Loves
• The People Christ Died For
• The People Christ Commanded Us to Evangelize.

There’s so little time left!!!

When are we going to WAKE UP, forget our Religious Games and Mean Business for God???

Souls are Hanging in the Balance. Some will fall and tumble into Hell unless we go in the Power of the Spirit and Rescue them.

Many Souls Are Still To Come!

Purpose and Power 2

Hello Everyone,

The word “Pentecost” designates the 50th day after Passover, which was a Feast Day also known as the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest.

It was on this day, in the Book of Acts, that the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 Followers of Christ who were gathered in an Upper Room in Jerusalem.

It was on this day that the Church was born in a Blaze of Glory.

J. B. Phillips, who gave us the Phillips paraphrase of the New Testament, wrote , What We Need Today Is Again The Wind And The Flame Of Pentecost.”

One Preacher said, “Pentecost is not a Denomination, but is an Experience every Blood – Bought Child of God Should Receive.”

We are privileged to live in a generation when God is again pouring out His Spirit in a Mighty Way.

One writer stated: “The Rain of the Holy Spirit is falling on the Dry, Religious Ground of our day to give Sweet Refreshing to Weary-Hearted Believers and also to prepare the Precious Fruit of the Earth for Harvest.”

The Promise of Pentecost:

In Peter’s sermon Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." NIV

In effect he said this outpouring of the Spirit is not a Special Blessing for a Special Few in a Special Age.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil

Purpose and Power 1

Hello Everyone,

This week I want to look at the Purpose and Power of Pentecost.

First we will need to read the background scriptures.

Acts 1:5-8 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

⁶ So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:12-18  Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

Acts 2:32-33 ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. ³³ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand ³⁵ until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Read over these each day this week as you read our e-votions.

Greater Things are still to come!

Pastor Phil        

Greatness With God 4

Hello Everyone,

In Genesis 22:10-12 we see Abraham’s next step to greatness with God and that was Offering our Isaac

10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
 12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Now we move from the steps to greatness to the place of greatness. Very few people ever arrive at this place because they have never taken the first three steps that God has demanded.

Abraham has been faithful, Abraham has trusted God, but now God asks him to do the one thing that will make him great, to believe God when he didn’t understand the why?

· Trusting God when we don’t understand the why is the place of greatness.

He believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness.

The flesh always demands an answer, the carnal mind always says I will believe it if I can see it.

Abraham’s greatness was not found in knowing God’s plan, but in knowing and loving God.

· I am the father of two children by birth two children through marriage and four grandchildren. They mean everything to us. We are proud of them, we love them with all of our hearts, and we want the best for them.

I believe God has a great plan for their lives, and we believe for them a great DESTINY. If God came to me and said, I want to take them, you will have to go on without them.

I think that is more than most of us can ever imagine, but that is exactly what it took for Abraham to reach spiritual greatness.

It is hard for most of us to admit that not only have we not arrived yet at that place, but that we have still got a long way to go.

If you want to be great at something give it all you have, and you probably will be great.

If you want to be great for God, step out with God, separate from Lot, cast out Ishmael and offer up Isaac. If you do these things you will arrive at greatness right along with father Abraham.

When you come to the end of yourself that is the place of spiritual greatness, and the starting point of your life in God.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil     

Greatness With God 3

Hello Everyone,

In Genesis 21:12-13 we see Abraham’s next step to greatness with God and that was Casting Away Ishmael

12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."
 14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

This is one of the hardest steps toward greatness with God.

Ishmael represents the flesh, dependence in self, and God demands we cast away these things so that we might follow after the promise of God.

· One of the problems for Abraham is he had become attached to Ishmael.

So many people cannot let go of the past to step into the future.  Some people get saved, but they look back to Sodom, some people give their life to God, but hold on to their Ishmael.

The reason people fall out of the bed is they stay to close to where they got in.

· In all of our lives we can settle for mediocrity. We can say things aren’t too bad staying where I am is comfortable; traveling with Lot isn’t that big of a deal, holding on to Ishmael won’t hurt me down the road.

 But the road to greatness with God is marked by places where we leave things behind.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

Pastor Phil