Pastor Eric's Blog

Weekend Round-Up

2005-12-04T20:30:00.000-05:00

What a special day at the OP campus. We had 779 folks in attendance, that is 75 more a 10% jump than we have ever had before. Totally incredible. The atmosphere was electric. Our active inviters kicked in and we saw many decisions for Christ.

We are so awed at what God is doing I can hardly use words. We continue to preach through "your best life now" and hope and pray for more continued awesome fruit in the days ahead.

To God be all the glory.

Thanksgiving break

2005-11-28T19:54:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a while. The Jaffe's took a little break over the holidays and I tried to put my computer addiction off to the side for a while by leaving my laptop in the case. Scary but true. I also came back to a dead exchange server at the church which was no fun trying to fix and means we have to believe God for some continued $ to really get the infrastructure right.

I'm blessed to be preaching to all staff tomorrow for 5-10 minutes so I am pretty excited. I'll try to post my message a little later.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful thanksgiving holiday!

An incredible video that is well worth watching

2005-11-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

View Lee Strobel Video Clip >>

Church, as you know I try to limit any double dipping by sending more than 1 email to you in the course of a week, but I came by this video clip and it was just to powerful to pass by.

Last night I preached for just a brief moment on the fact that God wants His house to be full and that He wants us to do the Big Ask and invite people to come.

Lu 14:23 - Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

If you watch the video, you will get to witness a powerful example of how one man's life affected the generations and how you too can be used of God to "Light Up Heaven!" :) You'll have to watch the video to know what I am talking about.

I ask you as God did in Luke 14:23, go out into your highways and hedges. Invite your friends, neighbors, associates, people you meet to come to church. The Your Best Life Now is a great opportunity to present them with the gospel message in a life giving and life changing way.

Join me in praying for our community, our church, our neighbors, that we might see many people come to know Christ in the weeks ahead!

In His Service,

Pastor Eric

PS - If this video touched you, please reply back and let me know!

Mid-Week Message - Your Best Life Now - Thought Life!

2005-11-16T18:19:00.000-05:00

Even though we haven’t officially been in the iMagine series the past 2 weeks,
 I think some of the things we talked about are essential to living Your Best Life Now.

Pre-requisites if you will.

2 Wed Ago – Practical Financial Management
 Essential because, if our financial lives are not in order it’s virtually impossible to lead YBLN.
o The stress of financial dis-order puts a weight on our back.

Last Wed we talked about – “The ministry of the Holy Spirit”
 How being filled with the Holy Spirit is an essential part of the victorious Christian life.
o It helps us to walk in POWER!

Even Pastors Message last Sunday from Matthew 8:24-25 where Jesus and his Disciples were in a boat and, “Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went to him and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"”
 Isn’t it comforting to know that Jesus is in the boat with us?
 That when trouble comes our way, God is there with us.
o He has our back!
o He’s watching over us.
o That can give us reassurance that even in trials we can be living Our Best Life Now!

Next Week – Wed Before Thanksgiving – No Service!
 A night to spend time with your family.
 Put on that spirit of thanksgiving.
 No matter how Dysfunctional your family might be – lift them up!
o Encourage them.
o Let Jesus shine through you.
 Or simply enjoy a night of rest at home with God!

We will be back on track the following Wed with another Great Mid-Week Message.

Tonight I have a bit of a Pre-YBLN message that I hope
 will inspire you and get you ready for the weeks ahead.
 Possibly even encourage you to invite a friend to join you because I believe this series is particularly relevant to those who are not yet believers in Christ.

A final pre-requisite to leading YBLN is to be about our fathers business.
 He was in the business of seeking out and saving the lost.

Listen to this verse

Lu 14:23 - Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Church, God wants his house to be full.
 He charges his servants to go out and bring people in. – COMPEL THEM!
 It’s the servants privilege and responsibility.

If you read that story in full,
 The 1st time the servant went out “Some didn’t come, they had other things to do.”
 God sent him back out again..
o He got those who others would reject and invited them to come.

Life is the same for us.
 Not everyone we invite will come.
 That’s not our responsibility –
o as we learned last week, The Holy Spirit will draw and convict.

But God does expect us to do the big ASK!
 So don’t be afraid, get out there and do it.
 You might be surprised as to who will come
o and even more surprised when you see them be born again.

Oh yeah! I’m fired up! – whenever we talk about seeing people come to know Jesus.

But Let’s transition into tonight’s topic!

Tonight I want to talk about discovering the power of your thoughts and words

Joel Osteen starts the 12th chapter of his book with the following words, “A war is raging all around you, yet, amazingly, you may not even be aware of it. The battle is not for a piece of land or for natural resources such as gas, oil, gold, or water. The prize in this war is much more valuable. The battle is for your mind!”

A step you must take if you want to live at your full potential is to “Discover the power of thoughts and words”

I always like to preach on things I really need to hear.
 Areas I struggle in.
 It brings it home to me.
 I often feel I am at war with my thought life.

Thoughts-
 They are the enemy’s # 1 target.
 If he can control and manipulate how you think
o He will be able to control and manipulate your entire life.

 Thoughts
 Actions
 Attitude
 Self-Image
• All help determine Destiny!

That’s why the bible tells us to guard our minds!

We need to watch and be careful not only of what
 we look at
 What we listen to
 But what we think about.

What we bring in through our eyes and ears translates into thoughts and emotions.
 Mental images of Sin, lust, stick with us.
 We don’t forget it.
 I bet if you closed your eyes for a moment and thought back…
 You would remember stuff you wish you couldn’t!
o I can remember bad things I saw even as a 12 year old!

In AA and recovery circles they tell us to watch out for “Stinking Thinking!”

Our thoughts affect our emotions
 If we think positive, happy, joyful thoughts then our emotions will follow.
 If we think negative, depressing, thoughts, guess what? Our emotions will follow.

We are like magnets, we attract what we think about..

Have you ever noticed that, “Hurting people hurt people?”
 Now hurt can’t necessarily be avoided, but how we react to it can.
 Does it get us down,
 beat us up,
 and then in turn, do we do the same to others?

Think of a church where people are hurting..
 A Non-Life giving environment.
 We attended a church where the motto was, ‘Were just hanging in there!”
o And we stayed….
o In retrospect, I can’t believe it – we were sick!
 In Life, some people are gluttons for punishment.
o You know why many people don’t come here – they don’t want to get better!

Who we hang around also affects our lives and our destinies!

How about the opposite of a hurting person
 A healthy believer moving forward in life.

If you want to soar through the air you have to hang around with eagles and stay away from the chickens! –
 negative people will bring you down
 Don’t hang around them
 Get encouragers in your life who will speak the truth in love to you!

The bible tells us to set our mind on higher things

Col 3:1-2 - 1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

The writer is saying,
 We have the power of choice when it comes to our thoughts.
o Nobody can make us think something.

Set our minds on things above – Good Things!
 The verses that follow talk about putting away the things of the flesh
o Our former nature – the things of the earth!

The enemy may try to put negative thoughts in our mind,
 But instead of dwelling on it and becoming discouraged or depressed
o We can set our mind on things above!

If we do that enough our actions will follow.
 You won’t go back to that bar!
 It won’t be appetizing for you any more!

Stinking thinking happens when we dwell on those bad thoughts.
 The devil lays some garbage on us and we let it fester.

Now it’s ok to occasionally play those tapes back in your mind of when things were bad so you can keep things in perspective
 Remind us of where we have been

But,
 We can get to a place where we are having a pitty party.
 We start whining.
o Would you like some cheese with that sir?
 We get stuck in the potty
o It’s getting smelly
o and it’s time to get up and get out!

You see, in life..
 we cant change others,
 We can’t – it doesn’t work!

The only thing we can change is ourselves and how we react to situations.

Serenity prayer is a great example

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Can you change your husband or wife if they are out drinking?
 No, but how are you going to react.
 Are you going to react the same way and get the same results?
 Or are you going to react differently.
o In a way that leads them to a place of recovery or health or life?

Maybe it’s some other STORM IN OUR LIFE>
 Is it our circumstances that have us down or our thoughts about our circumstances?
• Is Jesus in your boat?
 Yes.. Then everything will be ok.

How we view life makes all the difference
 ½ empty, ½ full?

Church, what are you allowing your mind to dwell on?
 The things above?
 Or the things of this world?

As Joel would say, “It’s time to think about what we are thinking about!”

Take a situation like being sick.
I have heard some crazy stuff in charismatic circles.
 If your sick, it’s ok to admit it, we are not talking about something freaky here.
 Oh I don’t have a headache. – Yes you do!
 No, I do but I have a healer. – focus on the healer not the problem!

If your tired, get rest..
 For some of us, adequate rest is one of the most important things we can do.
 If you keep fretting over these things instead of trusting God,
o Letting issues keep you up at night
o Loosing sleep,
o it will take years off of your life.
 TRUST GOD!

Vs. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength” IS 40:31

John 16:33, “In this life you will have trouble, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”

Jesus is saying we will have trouble,
 but we can choose our attitude.
 He is greater than our than our problems
 When we dwell on the promises of Gods word instead of the problems.
 We can be filled with an attitude of victory and hope

Ephesians 4 Read This Chapter

4:22
that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
4:23
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
4:24
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Message says “Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind, having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.”

 We need to strip off the old man and PUT on a new fresh attitude that goes with our new lives in christ.

Proverbs 23 Read This Chapter

23:7
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

So if you think failure –
 guess what you are destined to fail.

If you think victory –
 you are destined to succeed!

So I encourage you to think thoughts of God’s
 Favor
 Faith
 Power
 Strength

If you do, nothing will hold you back!

I started by saying I have trouble in this.
 I can tend to go negative at times, but that’s not what God wants.

Let me give you an example –
 MJ’s mom has been here.
 We are looking at old patterns and we are all worked up before she even arrives.
 She didn’t stand a chance walking in – both guns loaded!

That’s not what God wants from me
He wants me to be a man of faith
 Looking at the best side in people
 Helping others become all they can be.
 Lifting up encouraging, believing with them for victory

I need to stay focused on the positive!

God’s word is a river of life.

I grew up in Miami and we had some stinky nasty canals.
 You couldn’t eat the fish.
 I mean nasty.. gross..
 Mary Jo’s brother was a diver – he hated it, they couldn’t pay him enough money he quit.

But if you go to North Carolina (God’s Country!) –
 Cool mountain streams
 Clean
 It’s a river of life – abundance, hope, peace joy.

God is like that.
 He is a river of life

The word says,
 Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world
 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Let me read one last verse on the subject of our thought life…

Dueteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses, positive and negative; therefore God says choose life.”

Bow Heads’ Close Eyes.

Maybe you’re here and you’re a little like me
Tend to go negative..

Announcements:
Didn’t get to share on Thoughts and Words (I will do power of Words!)
Thoughts translates into speech.
Spoken words have great power! – (Spoke the world into existence – spoke to the winds)

No Service next Wednesday Night!
 The Following Wed 30th – Stovall will be here live preaching the word!

Wow Factor – What’s in a name?

2005-11-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

For this weeks leadership tip, I again turn to the book I have been reading of late, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People”. In the book Dale Carnegie begs the question, “Whats in a name?” his response, "a person's name is to that person, the sweetest most important sound in any language."

Remembering a name makes people feel important. I recall a time when I first started visiting a church in South Florida in 1996. I believe I had only been there and met the Pastor in passing for a few brief seconds. I happened to read that they had an AA meeting at the church offices and went there one night looking to go to a meeting. Well, the meeting wasn’t there, but the Pastor was. I still remember it today because of the powerful impact it had on me. He stood making copies, and when I walked in he said, “Eric, it’s so nice to see you!”

I was floored that he remembered my name. Especially at the point I was at in my life where I had recently entered recovery and felt about a foot tall. Just hearing my name meant somebody cared, somebody felt it important enough to remember who I was. Needless to say that moment affected my life profoundly. I re-dedicated my life to the Lord in that place and spent 5 years there growing up as God was beginning to prepare me for full time ministry.

So, what’s in a name? If Carnegie is right a lot. I believe that remembering names is one way to WOW people into realizing how important they are to God. So in this issue of Wow Factor I want to leave you with a few tips for remembering names. Get good at it and you will not only win friends and influence people, but God just might work through you to touch the life of someone in such a way that they will give their life to Christ and serve him all the days of their lives.

In His Service,

Pastor Eric

Tips from http://www.leadersinstitute.com/resource/howtoremembernames.html

One of the ways that we show people how to remember names and get people to strengthen their memory is by getting participants to "stick" the name into their long-term memory using LMER glue. This acronym gives us a simple four-step process.

Look and Listen--Look at the person. Get a strong mental image of the person. What characteristics make the person unique? Is the person large, small, tall, thin, lots of hair, no hair? Listen clearly to the name. Ask the person to repeat his/her name if you do not hear the name clearly.

Mind Picture--Associate the person's name with a picture that is easy to recall. The full name should create ONE picture. The person whose name you have made a picture of should be in the picture. Difficult names may need to be broken down into syllables to create memorable pictures. Example: Staneart (Stan-irt)-Picture me STANding up to my waist in dIRT.

Exaggerate--The more exaggerated and colorful the picture, the easier it will be to remember. Make the picture larger than life. Make it funny. Add a little danger.

Repeat--Repeat the name silently to yourself a few times. Try to use the name in conversation. Introducing the person to others can be an easy way to repeat the name without drawing attention.

From http://www.learnthat.com/courses/lifestyle/names/
How Do I Remember People's Names?

Whatshisface... Ya know, that guy... I can see her in my head, but can't remember her name... Do you find yourself saying that too often? Is it hard for you to remember names and faces, and when you meet people for the second time you don't remember meeting them the first?
This tutorial will give you memory clues and help for remembering names when you meet people.

Repeat after me: repetition, repetition, repetition. When you are first introduced to someone, use their names several times when you talk to them. "Hi, Jim, nice to meet you. So, what do you do for a living Jim? Do you have any kids, Jim? Jim, it was great to meet you!" If you don't catch their name when it was originally told to you, ask for it again. Saying it immediately will help you remember it when they walk away.

Guilty by association. You can remember someone by who they were with. For example, if you know Sam and he introduces you to Kathleen, you can use the letters from their two names to make S&K. Here, there is a store called S&K Men's Mart, so I would remember that by linking those two together. You can use other similar memory clues to remember someone. Warning: If you see Kathleen alone without Sam, you may not remember her name since it was linked to someone else. My fiance is Jennica, so people remember us at Church as J&J, Jeremy & Jennica, though if we are apart, they sometimes have difficulty with the memory clue of J&J since it is linked to both of us.

She's got the look! Another memory method is to link their name to feature or characteristic. If they resemble something and their name sounds similar to that, or begins with the first letter, you can use that as a memory clue. For example: if you know someone named Ryan who has big blonde hair, you might think of him as "Lion Ryan" because of his "golden mane". Or, you know a girl named Tiffany who is Tall, she becomes Tall Tiffany. Sometimes your memory clues get way out there, the farther out, oftentimes the easier it is to remember their name. A word of caution, if it is something that might offend, don't tell them what their memory clue is!
Famous names. Some of my friends have famous actors or actresses names, of those of other famous people. I know a girl whose last name is the same as a famous sports announcer, so I can remember her whole name by associating her as his daughter, even though she isn't. Even if their name isn't exactly the same as a famous person, if it sounds close, it can work. I have an associate whose name is close to James Bond, so I think of him as a spy in order to remember his name.

Ask again. If you run into someone whose name you have forgotten, ask again. It isn't bad to ask someone for their name again, but try some of the memory clues to see if you can remember it for the next time you run into them!

Weekend Review

2005-11-13T15:19:00.000-05:00

We had a great day in Orange Park today as we saw many decisions for Christ, some 665 people in attendance, and 30+ new people sign up for our Guest Services team.

I was touched by Pastor Stovall's message preached out of Matthew.

Matthew 8:23-27 23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a terrible storm came up, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went to him and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" 26 And Jesus answered, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm. 27 The disciples just sat there in awe. "Who is this?" they asked themselves. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"

How awesome is it to know that Jesus is in the boat with us. Storms may surround our lives, we may think that we are going to drown, but infact Jesus has it all in control. He is sitting back Chilling, napping, He knows there is nothing to worry about.

All of us experience tough times in our life. How comforting is that.

During the close of Altar God laid 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 on my heart.

It reads, "8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."

I have felt like that many times in my life, Jesus has always come through for me. How about you?

If Jesus has gotten you through some tough times, why don't you drop me a note and let me know how He did it in your life.

Mid-Week Message Preview - The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

2005-11-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

As I thought about the upcoming series, “Your Best Life Now”
I realized how difficult it would be to do that without an understanding of:
 Who the Holy Spirit is
 And what the Ministry of the Holy Spirit is all about.

I believe it’s virtually impossible to live your best life now without being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Tonight is not a doctrinal debate on the subject.
 I am here to share with you what God has revealed to me by His word on the subject.

I believe it will help you understand God’s Power for your life.

Joyce Meyer is Quoted as saying, “I believe that much of the dissatisfaction many believers experience in their Christian walk comes from a lack of power in their lives, and power only comes from the infilling of the Holy Spirit!”

See when we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins His work in our lives.
 Being born again gives us Heavenly Fire insurance,
 But it doesn’t ensure that we are living a victorious Christian life.

It’s a vital part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to help us have victory in our lives.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is such and important part of our life that God commanded the early believers not to leave Jerusalem until they received it.

Acts 1:4-5 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Tonight I want to start our study in John 14, please turn there with me.

Jesus starts the chapter by telling his disciples those famous words, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me!”

The Truth!

 He’s also telling them indirectly that he is going to die
 and go to heaven to begin to prepare a place for His disciples.

In true disciple fashion – they don’t get it! -
Doesn’t that make you feel good? 
We don’t always have to get it right away.
An element of trust / faith..

In v. 8, Phillip says “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus replies, “Have I been with you o long, and yet you have not known me Phillip?”
 I and the father, and the Holy Spirit are one..
 If you have seen me, then you have seen the father.

Doesn’t the same thing happen in our day an age?
 If I had only gotten to see Jesus I would believe….
 If only…
o We long for some time in the past, or some future glory.

But Jesus tells us to live for today! Today matters.
 He created you and formed you for such a time as this.
 He intentionally put you here today so you can make a difference in this generation..
o Your on a mission for this day and age!

That might be hard for some of you to believe… But it’s true!

I was talking with Pastor Bernie – Information Explosion 1900-2005 –
 God gave me unique gifts with computers for today.. for now.. My skills would have been useless even 50 years ago.

Back 2 the Word.
 This is where it gets exciting.

John 14: 12-14 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

First he tells us - He is the way – the truth – the life. Hmm..

Now he is promising that we will do greater works than Him if we ask things in His name.
Can you believe it, honestly?

In accordance with His will.
 Ask in His Name – you mean god answers prayer?
 He does church!

Right after that v. 16

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Who is that Helper? Holy Spirit
 Greater works
 Power

Think about the things Jesus did…
We all know of His miracle working power
 Healing
 Deliverance
 Multiplying Fish and Loaves

Listen how it says that “the world can not receive..” (sometimes even the church)
 Some churches, some denominations have chosen to close their minds to the Holy Spirit.
 We can limit Him by our belief – by putting Him in a box!
 He chooses to partner with us!

Last week we read the verse –
 These signs shall accompany those who believe..
 Corinthians tells us to earnestly desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Bible says Acts 2:17-18 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

Church – the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit is available to us today.

The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.
 That caused demons to tremble
 That healed diseases
 That brought peace

Is alive in you if you will believe and receive..

You see the disciples walked the earth with Jesus in front of them and still had trouble understanding.
 They believed but were not indwelled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Simon – means a read shaking in the wind.
Jesus named him Peter – The Rock!
 When he got filled with the Holy Ghost he preached and 3000 people got saved.
 Same guy was denying Jesus just days earlier.

What was difference?
 He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

If your not walking in Power today is your day..
 You believe or you wouldn’t be here
 It’s time to get filled…
o In a few moments
 We are going to pray for people to get filled.
 I know God is going to show up and people will be set free, set on fire for him.

Before we do, I want to share a few more things on His purpose and ministry.

I keep saying HIS.
 1st Thing you need to know is:
o The Holy Spirit is a person!
 3rd person of the trinity – Seen Me, Seen Father, Empowered By the Spirit. 3-1 Trinity.
 All equally God..

He does have some unique attributes though.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Helper, prince of peace, counselor, teacher.. Guide…

He will not leave u –
 old testament temporary empowerments for a purpose –
 new testament John 14:16 – remain with us forever!

Ministries – teach us and remember what was taught –

John 16: 12 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. F90

Teach and guide us – we don’t need to go at it alone,
 We don’t have to judge life by our feelings
 We don’t have to listen to the enemy.
o We have a guide for life!

Holy Spirit – Sanctifier –
 He gives us by the power of God the ability to do things we could have never done on our own
 Stop Drinking.
o He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!

Holy spirit also empowers us to be witnesses – Remember Peter –

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me F1 in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Power –
 greek dunamis – dynamite!
 “Means – miracles, power, strength.”

When God calls us
 He equips us by the power of the holy spirit.
 For the works of ministry
 not our own strength – but His working through us that does the changing.

So if you honestly look at your life.
 Are you a Christian walking in power?
 Are you being used of God to change the lives of others?

If you answer no, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Do you want a trickle in your life or a flood?
 God wants you to be flooded with his power and presence..
 To have the fullness of God in your lives.
 Not have him locked up in some corner of your life.

You see, Nobody could be born again until Jesus died on the cross.
 After his resurrection –
 When He rose from the dead
 The Bible says
o He breathed on his disciples and said “Receive the Holy Spirit”

Before being born again the soul runs our life,
After being born again –
 God breathes into our life and we receive the Holy Spirit,
o At our conversion
o We become a new life, a new creation
 But many of us stop there,
o We never tap into the Power of God inside of us.

There is a difference between receiving and being filled –
 God wants us to invite him in to be filled!

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

1 cor 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

 Speak in tongues of men they didn’t understand,
 but also of angels! –
o Languages that only God can understand.

Power in praying in tongues.
 Something we should do regularly.
 You can be normal and pray in tongues
• I don’t strike you as weird do I?

Salvation and infilling are two separate experiences:

And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism." 4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

 Church the bible is full of stories about peoples lives being changed by the power of the Holy Spirit
 And about the Holy Spirit working through people to change the lives of others.

History from bible days till today is replete with stories of bible believing Holy Ghost Christians who were WORLD CHANGERS.

People who were living “Their Best Life Now!”

That is what I want for you..

So I ask once again,
 Are you living and walking a Christian Life of Power and anointing.
 If your not, God does want you to walk in victory and I would like to pray for you to receive that Power.
 To receive your prayer language tonight.

Let’s Pray..
 Prayed for finances.
 Prayed for family members.
 Tonight I want you to walk from this place in power!

Announcements:
Guest Services Training
Ministry Fair

How to Win Friends and Influence People

2005-11-05T10:43:00.000-05:00

I have always heard about the book "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. But had never actually had the time to read or listen to it.

Miranda needed a book from the library so I went there with her the night before last and ended up checking out the book on CD. If you haven't been to a new public library lately, I was wowed by how nice it was.

I've only gotten through the first 2 cd's so far, but I was incredibly touched by the content. The first chapter challenges the reader to never speak negative about anyone and always look for the best in others. Praising and appreciating them. It goes right in line with some of the teaching Dr. Ron Archer brought on "Appreciative Inquiry" It cut me to the soul. It was perfect timing for me to hear. It's an area I have struggled with all my life and an area I wish to continue to improve on.

The book told a story of a man who was greatly distressed and repented while his son was sleeping because he had always been so hard on him because he wanted to get the best out of his son, but infact his behavior was making it worse for his son. He vowed from that day forward to always up lift, always build up, always be life giving.

In effect, he chose to live in the tree of life..

Lord, might I venture to always do the same. With each person I meet may I build them up, learn from them, not take them for granted, especially with my family!

In His Service,

Eric

Mid-Week Message - God's Plan for Your Finances!

2005-11-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

Mid-Week 11/2/05 – God’s Plan for Your Finances!

Family Fun Night Thank You’s

You’re here on Wed. I suspect you have a heart to Go Deeper!

So I wanna take you deep tonight..

Entitled God’s Plan for Your Finances!

 Last financial message outside of offering times.

I started last week by saying --- that for many of us,
 the most spiritual thing we can do is to get our financial lives in order.

The Bible teaches our hearts and our wallets are tightly tied together.
 Freedom in the area of finances can bring a lifetime of health and happiness.
 Bondage in this area can lead to a life of misery…
 Money can bring us to the highest of highs or the lowest of lows.

Listen to a brief story about Henry Ford:
Henry Ford is one of the biggest names in American life. His use of mass production in manufacturing the Model T automobile shaped not only the economy and industry, but the values of 20th century America.
A 2005 biography of Ford tells the story of the man who achieved incredible fame and fortune, and describes how, in the end, this "gifted man was undone by his own success."
The adulation of others ultimately convinced Ford that he was infallible and led him to ruinously bad decisions. It blinded him to his own hypocrisy as he preached family values and old-fashioned virtue and yet kept a mistress. It may also have driven him to destroy his only child…. The older Ford—offended by his son's gentle style and superior education—ruthlessly undercut him at every turn, only then to mourn grievously when Edsel died young. Ford's last days were sorrowful. On a visit to the house where he had lived as a newlywed, he told his chauffeur, "I've got a lot of money, and I'd give every penny of it right now just to be here with Mrs. Ford."

As with Henry Ford and many others,
 Setting money up as an idol can cause many problems in our lives.
o The lust for it has destroyed the lives of many people I know!
 It comes in one hand and out the other.
o It can’t be depended on.
 Think of the Stock Market Crash in 2000 – the Dot Com Bust..
 My own portfolio hasn’t recovered yet.

Church I am here to tell you tonight,
 that God doesn’t want us to pursue wealth at any cost.
 Like all things he wants us to PUT GOD FIRST in this area.
o As we do, he will take care of everything for us.

Matt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

We will talk about the “all these things” in a few minutes.
 They do have to do with finances amongst other things,
 But basically God is saying – Put me first.. See if I don’t take care of you!
• Some of us need to trust him in this area!

Q: Let me ask a couple of questions (no hands raised) 
 If your a couple,
o have you ever gotten in a fight with your spouse over finances?
 Single? Have you ever wondered where your next months bills were going to come from?
 Or how about a twist?
o Can a person earning less than $20,000 a year become a millionaire? ???
 I’ll answer this – Yes - $83 per mo/ 40 years @ 12.5% interest = $1,000,000..
 ($I spend $83 a month on lunches!) 

A few comments on finances:
 Did you know that?
o 2/3 of all parables in the new testament are dedicated to teaching the principles of how to handle money properly.
 That’s more than 2000 references to money,
o more than baptism,
o 2nd coming, judgment,
o and heaven combined!

For those who are couples here tonight I encourage you to pay special attention.
 The Devil aims to kill, steal, and destroy and finances are one of his main tactics.
 You see as financial pressures mount couples cease to be companions and instead become combatants.

So tonight I want to get some practical tools in your hand so that you can be victorious in this area of your life.

So what does God’s word tell us to do?
 I’m no expert, but I have read a lot of Larry Burkett, Ron Blue and others.
o I encourage you to EDUCATE YOURSELF ON FINANCIAL MATTERS
 Automatic Millionaire
 Read – Look for ideas for your finances…
 So I’ll pull some from the Word and from some of those authors who are wiser than I.

Short Story:
 10 years ago MJ and I were in debt
 Behind on our bills
 Some had to do with recovery from addiction
 Others with trying to maintain a standard of living that our parents had.
 We were clearly over our heads and needed advice.
o The stress was destroying our marriage!

God brought me some resources:
 LB book “Finances for Young Married Couples”
 And a Promise keepers conference – Ron Blue.

In there I read a story about a couple
 They left the home of their parents
 Both worked
 Accustomed to living a certain way so they leveraged themselves to buy a big house, furniture, etc.
 Doing pretty good - $40,000 a year together both working
 Living on $45
 Wife gets pregnant stops working, now ear $25,000 quickly find themselves knee deep in debt.
 There marriage becomes a shambles and 3 years in they are getting a divorce.

Devil racks up one more victory in the battle, but can I tell you he will not win the war!

God rescued our situation before it got that bad.
 I learned a lot from the resources and as I began to apply them.
o Life application is always the key.

Pr 4:10 - Show Context
My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.

 God blessed our lives and our finances as we put those principles into practice.
o <<< APPLICATION IS THE KEY! >>>
o

The main conclusion I came up with was that,
“It’s not how much money we made that was the problem, it was how much money we spent.”

We find ourselves at another time of transition financially,
 so this message is as much for me as for you.

You may not know it, but I have been bi-vocational.
 We took no money from the church for as long as we possibly could.
 1 day a week opportunity at the Firm!
 Poured every $ into outreach because we so love seeing people come to know Jesus.

But we are stepping out in faith..
Listen to how cool God is – Kevin Rorabaugh Story/Financial Story.

Tell u something funny –
 what I am about to tell you was preached by me almost 10 years ago in a small group,
 I was not a pastor,
 I was simply sharing what God had taught me with a room of about 15 couples.
 The things I said then stand today,
o and many of the people in the room that night are here in Jax as well.
o Many of them applied these things.
o Have incredible houses and lives well beyond what finances would dictate because of God’s blessing.

Next few minutes imagine us in my living room, a normal average every day, computer geek.

Feel free to take notes.

1) Trust god, he owns it all anyways

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

 A foundation of the Christian life is to trust in God.
i. Our finances are nothing but an outward expression of what is going on inside our hearts.
 It’s an area we can’t “FAKE” spiritually.
 Our checkbooks tell the story.
i. $, Time, - reveals our hearts – Reveals what is important to us.

2) Spend less than you earn. (Develop a workable budget)

Q: When I say budget what comes to your mind?
 A wiping tool for your wife?
 Is it something terrible?

It shouldn’t be –
 it should bring freedom
o Set boundaries for healthy living

Devil binds – God brings Freedom!

Listen to Luke 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'

There are great tools out there to help you
 Tech savvy – quicken – Microsoft money
o Online Bill Pay revolutionized my life.
o Saved me literally hours per month!
 Paper budgets –
o Envelope system of money.

Watch for things that can throw off your budget.
Some things can throw off our budget – we need to plan for them!
 Medical expenses
 Auto repairs
 House repairs.

Quicken savings goal feature is another thing that has changed my life –

 Hard in the beginning
o God Blessed it incredibly
o We never had to go on credit again to pay for a living expense.
 Allocate money each time we get paid and set aside a portion for those unforeseen expenses.

3) Avoid and get out of debt

Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lenders slave.”

The bible doesn’t forbid debt
 But it never speaks positively of it.

Q: A couple of questions – who is the real spendthrift?
 Husband or wife?
 Remember, it’s not the amount of money we make is not the problem, it’s how much we spend.

Don’t compare –
 No need to keep up with the Jones.
 be content with what you have –

Christmas story of the Barnes Family.

Ouch that is tough right. – I drive through Eagle Harbor, or by the river.. AWWW..

God has been so faithful –
 Making less provided opportunity to make more.
 Paid off cars.

I’ll never have the car of my dreams – not – See God can give you exceedingly abundantly above all you can ever ask or hope for.. Just don’t go into debt to get it!

God is incredible!

Freeing up from debt creates opportunities to sow into God’s kingdom.
2 further God’s work on earth!
 If Christians had the money to give that we have tied up in debt,
o there would be no need for disaster relief, or homelessness, or starvation.

4) Seek God not wealth

Matthew 6:31-34 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Put God 1st in everything including your finances and God will take care of business on your behalf!
 Just like we talked about earlier!

As we transition to our final point

Derek Prince, powerful man of God - once said – Don’t insult God by being a tipper.. 

5) Finally Give back to God. – Live to Give!

Time permitting read from Chapter 25 of Your Best Life Now! – pre-curser!

It’s what we have been talking about for weeks.
 It’s something we should do regularly
 Tithe – each paycheck set aside God’s portion 1st.

It’s also a great principle to build wealth strategically and with God’s blessing!

Something the government realizes-
 They take your money before you get your check because they are afraid if they don’t, they will never get it.

Heres a principle.
 In the world it’s called pay yourself first.
 In our case as Christians 2nd.

80-10-10 rule

10% God, 10% to Savings, 80% to live on and pay Uncle Sam.

If you can do that
 Honor god with the first fruits.
 And Save wisely,
o you can be from the bondage that money can sometimes have on us
 While setting aside a nest egg for the future.

Then on weekends like this one you can be free to go over and above.
If the bucket comes around the weight of debt won’t be on your shoulders.
You will be able to sow more freely into God’s kingdom without the guilt of debt.

Try it, it really works. – Let Us Pray!

Family Fun Fest ReCap

2005-11-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Last night we did a community outreach as an alternative to Halloween. I think it went over very well. It looked like we had somewhere close to 1500-2000 people at it's peak. A lot of visitors. We know we had atleast 38 first time visiting families who turned in cards we had past out for free food.

The atmosphere was exciting, the weather was perfect, the lines were long. Next year we will do our best to add additional booths for candy to help balance out the lines.

But, all in all it seemed like everyone had a great time.

The Church that looks like heaven.

2005-10-31T13:54:00.000-05:00

We just completed a message series entitled, "Imagine - The Church that looks like heaven!". What an awesome time in the life of Celebration Church as God moved in our midst and caused us to really think about what that means. The series caused me to do a lot of old testament reading on the building of the temple. It was really cool to see how God's people responded by giving over and above to the building of the temple. Wow. Also how the leaders truly lead the way with their giving and service as well.

Additionally, I happened upon the book. First Impressions, Creating Wow Experiences in Your Church by Mark Waltz. It gave some powerful examples of using excellence in the ministry to literally floor those who walk through the doors of the church by removing barriers to experiencing Christ. I can really relate to what the author was talking about. It has been the hearts desire of Celebration Church to make every visitor feel like they are the most important person in the room because to God they are.

We are constantly looking for ideas to make their experience at Celebration better.

If you have thoughts on "What the church that looks like heaven" should look like, or ideas on how we can wow those who visit the church, please post and let me know!