Your Heart can Please God

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”   (Psalms 19:14)

Did you know that your emotions and your will can bring joy to the heart of God?  He delights in righteous and humble attitudes that refresh others and honor Him. Even in the midst of difficult circumstances and trials you have the power to choose to respond in a way that pleases God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I ask for Your help today.  I want to be an example of the joy that humility and selflessness brings to Your heart. For too long I have focused on my own well-being and never considered the reality that I could please you with my heart attitudes. Help me to make a difference for You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our Words can Please God

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalms 19:14)

You have the potential today of bringing joy to the heart of God.  The Psalm says that the words of your mouth can be pleasing to God. What an incredible opportunity – You can please God by the words you choose.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I ask for the strength today to change my vocabulary so that it pleases You.  You have done so much for me, and I want to please Your heart with godly conversation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Righteousness Elevates

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”  (Proverbs 14:34)

Ever wonder what brings strife and causes separation between people, families, clans and nations?  It is not military might or even political strength. God’s WORD makes it very clear – righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a disgrace to any people.  This applies to you as well. God will exalt those who righteously live by the truth of His WORD.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, I ask you today for a brand new start.  Help me to separate myself from the selfish behavior of the past and focus on living a righteous and pure life.  I am confident that if I will do my part in obedience to You, You will do more than Your share to provide for my every need.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Why Is Nothing Happening?

I was recently on a ferry crossing the Pamlico Sound. The boat was traveling in the same direction and about the same speed as the breeze blowing from behind us. The sensation was that of dead calm. It was a hot day, and I was baking on deck, wishing for a breeze. The thought went through my mind, “I wish the captain would turn the boat into the wind so we could get some relief”, and then it hit me. How many times have I turned the ship of my life to a course that no longer takes me toward God’s desired destination as I seek to have my senses and selfish desires satisfied? How many times have I convinced myself that no progress is being made in my life, simply because I am uncomfortable and don’t have those sensations I require as evidence of progress or success.

Standing on the deck of that boat, I decided to change my focus. I moved my attention from the searing heat to the sound of waves splashing hard against the bow as the boat pushed forward. I looked at the giant wakes rolling out from each side of the boat and the foam boiling up behind us as the propeller churned us forward. Suddenly, the sensation of miserable staleness was replaced by a sense of great forward motion and progress. The reality that we were speeding on course to our destination became so much stronger than the deceptive feeling of standing still.

Guys, resist the urge to change the course of your life simply because you feel nothing is happening. Don’t turn from God’s plan to chart a course that may feel more exciting and more satisfying. Instead, change your focus. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the signs of progress, growth, and maturity you are experiencing in great measure. Though it feels you are dead in the water, look for the wake the ship of your life is rolling across the lives of those with whom you work and live. You will suddenly see, you are doing anything but sitting still. Stay the course, fight the good fight, and don’t be deceived by the fleshly desires that fog reality. He who started something in you will complete it (Philippians 1:6). Of that you can be certain!

A Wedding Feast

If you missed last Wednesday night at CrosStones, you really missed a treat!  As you know, our topic for the month of October has been “Making Wise Choices.”  Using Matthew 22:1-14 as our script, we had an “all play” skit in which we donned costumes and were in character as the wedding guests who were invited right off the streets.  The CrosStones’ room was transformed into a candlelit banqueting hall.  Mr. Jeff was awesome in his role as the king, welcoming all of the guests and hosting a feast of traditional Jewish cuisine.  Students read the seven blessings given at Jewish weddings.  We had festive music playing throughout the evening, and even created our own group dances.  At the end of the evening, the king noticed that Mr. Roy had refused to wear the wedding garment provided by the king, and, as the scripture said, was cast “outside, into the darkness.”  In this role, Mr. Roy had made the unwise choice not to accept the garment offered by the king. This symbolizes the choice to put on the “garment of righteousness” that we make when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  In the end, we did allow Mr. Roy to come back in, put on a wedding garment and celebrate with us! 

We all had a great time bringing to life this parable which was taught by Jesus.  A special thanks to Mrs. Stacy and Miss Jane Dare for all of their help in making the night so special!

Be sure to click on the link above to see pictures of the event.

What If God Took Over 100% of Your Life For a Week?

Hey Everyone,

I had this crazy thought this morning…  What if God controlled 100% of our lives for a week?  What would that week look like?  What would you do, what would you say, what would you accomplish, what would you eat, how long would you sleep, how many times would you get angry or upset?   The funny thing about this question is that I have a feeling God would do some great things through us.

I can see my day looking something like this… Get a early jump start on the day (since I went to bed early), Read Bible, Pray, get Ben up and change diaper, eat breakfast with family, work hard and focused and get lots of work done…  I have a feeling everything I would do would be focused on impacting the world around me for Christ.  I can get so “busy” with little things that I miss the “BIG” things.   Colossians 3 sums it up pretty well.

Colossians 3:15-17

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

See you Wednesday!!

Blessings,

Pastor Matt

The Wedding Feast

It’s Time for our HARVEST FESTIVAL 2008!!

Calling all cowgirls, cowboys and kids of all ages to a night of fun on Friday, October 31st from 6pm to 8pm! It’s the Greenbrier Church Annual Harvest Festival and this year promises to be fun and food packed excitement from start to finish! We’ve got food and games, a cake walk, a bounce house and a huge inflatable slide. We’ve also got jousting, bon fires, hay rides and not 1 but 2 friendly food cook-offs where the competition promises to be fierce, once again! Added to the cook off excitement this year is a CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BAKE-OFF; so, if you have a fabulous family recipe~or one that you “baked up” yourself, sign up for this contest! New this year to the popular Chili Cook-Off is a People’s Choice award! We’ll have the traditional judging panel; but, we’ll also have you the people voting for your favorite!

If you want to volunteer to help, we can always use you!! The Harvest Festival gate is open to the public and we want to provide a great family time to all who come through! Contact Sheri Gaughan at the church or by email at sherigaughan@greenbrierchurch.com if you want to help! We’d love to have you! See you Friday night!

Generosity Refreshes the Soul

“A generous man will prosper: he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”    (Proverbs 11:25)

The world around us creates celebrities of people who lavishly spend.  God’s WORD, however, promises to honor those who lavishly give.  Generosity is the key to a peaceful and refreshed heart because it grants us the opportunity to extend our life to others through the positive influence of giving.

Prayer: Dear Lord, Today I ask You to grant me the opportunity to give – of my time, talents and treasure.  Help me to focus, not on what I can take or keep, but rather on what I can invest in others.  Giving back will open my eyes to see Your world more clearly and it will refresh my soul.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I Just Figured Out Who to Vote For!

Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”  With just a few days left till election night I am asking you to encourage everyone you know to ‘storm’ heaven with your prayers. American political and economic leadership needs to end its trend of greed and compromise — and start a new era of righteous humility.  Join with me in praying and voting for righteousness to be exalted in our land.

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