Thank God, I Am Free!!

For a long I traveled down a long, lonely road.

My heart was so heavy. In sin I sank low.

Then I heard about Jesus. What a wonderful hour!

I'm so glad that I found out, He could bring me out,

By His wonderful power.

Chorus:

Thank God I am free, free, free from this world of sin.

Been washed in the blood of Jesus. Been born again.

Hallelujah! I'm saved, saved, saved by His wonderful grace.

I'm so that I found out, He could bring me out,

And show me the way

Like a bird out prison who's taken his flight;

Like a blind man that God gave back his sight;

Like a poor, wretched beggar who's found fortune and fame;

I'm so glad that I found, He could bring me out,

Through His holy name.

Sonar or GPS...? by Paul Ravenhill

Are we guided by "signals from Above"...or by "echoes from Around?"

"Sonar" is a technology in which signals are sent out and echoes received back as those signals bounce off objects around.

This seems to be the way in which many of us guide ourselves through life! We receive "feedback" from TV, newspaper, magazines, tapes, and teaching of others, and by these signals we plot our position and chart our course! We are guided by what lies around us in life's ocean - we depend on feedback from other vessels, other man-made edifices, and the contours of Earth's geography.

"G.P.S." is a technology whereby earthly position is determined by information transmitted from a satellite floating far above earth's atmosphere.

God's desire for His own is that they be guided, not by earth's poor signals, but by that which comes from above.

A Word from the Throne,

A Light from Heaven,

An inner witness,

that takes precedence and rules over all that which is "of the earth, earthy."

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd…..That’s Relationship

I shall not want…..That’s Supply

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…..That’s Rest

He leadeth me beside the still waters…..That’s Refreshment

He restoreth my soul…..That’s Healing

He leads me in the paths of righteousness…..That’s Guidance

For His name’s sake…..That’s Purpose

Yea, though I walk through the valley of death…..That’s Testing

I will fear no evil…..That’s Protection

For Thou art with me…..That’s Faithfulness

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me…..That’s Discipline

Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…..That’s Hope

Thou annointedst my head with oil…..That’s Consecration

My cup runneth over…..That’s Abundance

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…..That’s Blessing

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord…..That’s Security

Forever…..That’s Eternity

Called Unto Holiness

God, our heavenly Father, has bestowed an abiding gift in the person of the Holy Spirit to minister the words of life to those who are spiritually dead, to pardon sin and reconcile us to God. He does this by revealing God’s true character. The Holy Spirit completely cleanses a polluted man and changes his heart from a “cage of unclean birds” into a “holy temple”, making it God’s dwelling place. He does this by the mighty working of love.

The love of God is not a fondling sentimentalism, but a holy principle, which acts in accordance with wisdom and justice. God’s perfect love towards us is designed to call forth perfect love toward God in our hearts.

In order to stimulate a real hunger for holiness, we must move people away from a “cheap grace” (sin you will, sin you must, sin you can’t help it-or sin more or less) theology. People’s focus on themselves and their ways needs to be replaced with a focus on God and his ways. They will not pursue holiness if we do not help them to understand and accept what the Bible teaches concerning God, Satan, spiritual transformation and maturity and the necessity of bearing spiritual fruit.

Some things we need to guard against

1. We need to guard against being inflexible and too resistant to change.

Change is a natural, positive and irreplaceable part of normal, healthy growth. However, when change means compromising on Biblical truth, then change is bad.

2. We need to guard against elevating what is traditional to the plane of what is Biblical.

Almost everything we do is based on tradition (times & places we meet, structure we follow). Traditions must not be confused with God-given commands. They should never have the same authority as scripture. There is a tendency to think that faithful obedience to “our” tradition is well-pleasing to God, when in all reality, we may be doing things He neither commands nor cares about. Meanwhile, the things for which He sent His Son we regard with little or no importance.

3. We need to guard against being member-driven rather than mission-driven.

We are not an organization that exists for the pleasure of its members. We are the body of Christ, believers who are matured toward Christlikeness and equipped for ministry and evangelizing the lost. If we, as a local church, do not exist for redemptive activity, we have no reason to exist.

4. We need to guard against becoming denominationally-focused rather than community-impacting.

We are not a branch office of nor should we be promoting what we call “the fellowship”. We may say that we are not denominational nor non-denominational but we are just that when our focus is on “my church/our church-my people/our people”. If we are living holy lives according to the Word of God, then we are the “church of God”. We are not called to go to church (focus-building) and we are not called to build a church (focus-building); but we are called to “be the church” (living as the body of Christ). Our calling is to “go out” and “lift Him up” and “He will draw”.

Matthew 28:19 Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.