Pastor Norman

Jesus said to His disciples, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees” (Matt 16:6; NKJV). The disciples concluded that Jesus wasn’t happy with them for not bringing any bread with them on their journey (Matt 16:7). Jesus reminded them of the miracle of feeding the four thousand as if to say, “hey guys providing bread is no challenge for Me, what I was saying was watch out for the leaven or yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, their negative legalistic and harmful false doctrine” (Matt 16:1-12). In a cursory reading of our Bible, we too can miss the point. In school I had Bible classes; but the Bible was largely a mystery to me. The greatest mystery (1 Tim 3:16) we need to see is Jesus Christ, His life on earth, sacrifice, resurrection and victory over all the powers of darkness. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. (See the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Through His sacrifice and resurrection Jesus won forgiveness for us (Col 1:14), enabling us to be born again spiritually (salvation, John 3:1-7) and enter into fellowship with God (John 14:6). At salvation we asked Jesus to be Lord of our lives (Rom 10:9-10) and He came into our lives as the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 1:22). As we prayerfully study God’s word the Holy Spirit opens up the Bible to us giving us revelation and understanding (John 16:12-15). God’s word comes alive to us, changing us to be more like Jesus (1 Cor 3:18).

Pastor Jean

“Constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8; TPT). The Greek word used for “echo” in this verse is actually the same, echo; it can mean to have, hold or possess but The Passion Translation simply uses the word “echo.” In other words, imitate or copy God’s love. A tall order I know! In order to do this, we need to immerse ourselves into this love by fellowshipping with Love Himself and through reading and meditating on the word concerning God’s love. Just like people become evil by spending time with evil people, the same is true with love. Verse 8 tells us why this love is so important and that is because it will cover a multitude of sins. We are also told this in Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins” (NKJV). When we love with God’s agape love, we forgive those that sin against us. How easily we get hurt when people say mean things to us but if we are “echoing” God’s love we will forgive them and move on. Jesus told us in Matt6:14 to forgive others and in Mark 11:25 we learn that forgiveness is necessary if we want our faith to work. Jesus forgave His tormentors who delivered Him up to be crucified; Stephen echoed this love by forgiving those men that were stoning him. Let’s spend time with God so we can be enveloped in His love and be an echo in the darkness.

Pastor Norman

In Psalm 5:11 King David exhorts people who trust God to be joyful because God protects them. God is our fortress (Ps 91:2; Ps 62:2), our stronghold (Nahum 1:7), our strong tower (Prov 18:16), our shield (Ps 3:3; 91:4b) and our refuge (Ps 91:2; 46:1). Jesus defeated satan by His death and resurrection and stripped him of all power and authority (Col 2:15). As Christians, we walk in Christ’s victory and have authority over satan (1 Cor 15:57). Satan will bring us tribulation (John 16:33; Ps 31:19) but God delivers us (Ps 34:19) and protects us from all satan’s attacks (1 John 5:18; 2 Thess 3:3). In his epistle James wrote that as we submit to God, we can resist satan and he has to run from us (James 4:7a). We resist satan by using the armour God has given us: Read Ephesians 6:14-17. We have the belt of God’s truth, for shoes the readiness of the gospel of peace, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is God’s word. God sends His angels to protect us (Ps 34:7). God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5; NKJV) and in John’s gospel Jesus said, “Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28b; NKJV). It’s great to know that God is working on our behalf 24/7 because He never sleeps (Ps 121:4b). God truly protects us! “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” (Ps 23:4; NKJV).

Pastor Jean

Hosea 6:3 “Lat us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord” (NKJV). Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (NKJV). The word for “know” in both the Old and New testaments can definitely mean acquiring knowledge and information about a person but it also implies acquiring knowledge by personal experience. It is the same word that is used in Genesis 4:1 where it says that Adam “knew” Eve and, “she conceived.” This is obviously referring to intimacy and so in order to know God a very close relationship is needed. Hosea 6:6 above shows us that this close relationship is more important to God than religious rituals. In Jesus’ prayer for His disciples in John 17:3, He prayed that they would know God. The apostle Paul said that everything in his life was rubbish compared to knowing Jesus (Phil 3:8) and his goal was to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Phil 3:10). The Amplified Bible translates that verse like this, “That I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly.” This translation makes it clear that getting to know God is a continual ongoing process. May that be our goal today as we seek to know Him more and more, through His word, prayer, worship and fellowship.

Pastor Norman

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:110; NKJV). The Greek word for abundance used here has the sense of overflowing and excess! The apostle Paul taught us that God will, “supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19; NKJV). The word “all” does mean “all” and notice that God supplies according to His standard of “riches.” Paul went further by saying that God can do, “exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20; NKJV), this includes equipping us for good works (2 Cor 9:8b), blessing others and spreading the gospel. God loves people that giver and rewards them super-abundantly (Luke 6:28). However, in thinking about prosperity, we need to guard against making money and things an idol in our lives (1 Tim 6:10; Matt 6:24; Heb 13:5). God instructed His people, Israel that as long as they obeyed His commands they would be blessed (Deut 28:1-4) and prosper (1 Kings 2:3). The Psalmist told us that as we delight in God’s word, he will prosper us like a fruitful tree planted by a river (Ps 1:2-3). As we make God’s word our priority and obey it, we will prosper (Josh 1:8). I love Matthew 6:30 (NKJV), “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Put God first, focus on Him, walk in obedience and he will bless, prosper and use you mightily!