Saturday, October 1, 2016

Resurrection Power!



Jean Oathout: Do you understand what happened at Christ's grave?

Imagine Mary Magdalene's surprise when she found Jesus'  
body was missing! She'd come to care for His dead body, but
found that He was no longer in the grave and that the huge stone blocking the entrance, was rolled to one side.


Neither she nor Christ's disciples had understood His warnings that this would take place, so she was not prepared for this.

When she spoke with who she felt was the gardener, can you imagine the joy that filled her when she heard Jesus speak her name?

It's no wonder she grabbed His feet! She wasn't about to let Him leave. What were the thoughts and emotions that she had? 

When she tried to process all of this, her joy was too much to handle, but no doubt she felt peace and rest in her soul knowing He was there.

In her excitement, and with Christ's direction to return to the disciples and tell them that He was alive, she headed back to where they were gathered. 

Jesus had told her to tell them that He would soon see them in Galilee. We can imagine her great joy as she ran to tell her friends that He was alive!

The power of Christ's resurrection needs to dawn on us today too. We have the assurance that this Jesus is not only alive, but well, and desires our participation in what all He did accomplish at the Cross.

He raised others from their deathbeds, and they all died later on. His own resurrection  from the dead was what makes the difference in His ministry.

The amazing truth is that we can know Him today in His glorified position as our God and Savior! We are to believe that Christ is God the Father's answer to eradicate our sins and make us fit for heaven, and that Jesus is the way, the truth and Life for us today!

To recognize our sins, admit we need Jesus as our Savior as the way back to the Almighty God, is our first step in the right direction.

Repenting of our sins comes next, as we unload our guilt and shame on Jesus' shoulders on the cruel cross, where He suffered and died for us all.

Asking for His forgiving-cleansing blood to become our covering, we can then release our past, present and future into His capable hands.

Releasing our past will bring the peace and release from guilt, and give us freedom to look to God for help with our present situations, and for our future. We can then trust His enabling us to accomplish what we were created for.

Will Jesus become your peace and rest? I hope so. Ask the Holy Spirit, Christ's very Presence within us as believers, to guide you to a Bible-honoring church somewhere near you for instruction in your walk with Him.

You and I can expect the evil one to try his best to discourage, and even attempt to stop our pursuit to get to know Christ intimately. 

We're to learn to follow Jesus, to grow in our faith and become a good influence for His Kingdom, so there must be a determination to pray for His help every day.

Will you take advantage of the resurrection power available to you? I do hope so. 

Let's pray- 

(Prayer by Pastor Kevin Berryto experience the hope found in Jesus)

      "Dear God, I thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to
     earth to live, to die, and to be raised from the dead for
     me. He gave His life for me, so today, I give my life to
     You! All that I am, all that I hope to be, I belong to You
     now.

        Forgive me for every wrong thing that I have ever
     done. Please take away all the guilt and shame as I
     receive the gift of forgiveness through the blood of
     Jesus Christ.

        I invite Your Holy Spirit to fill me and lead me
     forward in a life that will put a smile on Your face.
     Thank You for adopting me into Your family and
     giving me a brand new start in life, beginning right
     now! Amen. (Taken from p. 81 of Experience Hope, by 
     Kevin Berry)

Today's quote-

(Also by Kevin Berry) "I want to encourage you today. God is not through with you! The game isn't over... it's only halfway over. What you are experiencing today is just a paragraph in the story of your life, not the conclusion.

If you've ever dropped the ball, if you've ever found yourself running in the wrong direction, or if you've ever made a mistake that you wish you could take back, I've got some great news for you!

One moment in God's grace can reverse a lifetime of disgrace. One moment in His extravagant favor can achieve what you could never achieve on your one." (p. 34 of his book mentioned above).
~
    {As I, (Jean), have read that Trump has asked us to pray for him, I encourage everyone to support him with their prayers, that God will change his heart, and help him be the effective leader we'll need... if he is elected. 

    We can find fault with both candidates, but remember, we've been forgiven for our sins through Christ, so God can forgive them the same way, if they'll confess their need of His forgiving them. 

    God is our only help, and as we are desperate for leadership with integrity... We must pray for His help, or we'll not see any good changes in the people who're running for this office, or any of the others. 

    If you don't vote, you're actually voting, but for the one that won't be good for us. There are times we have to make a decision. May you realize your responsibility to get out and vote!}

Testimony time! 

Christian Lesperance

"Want to give a report from Jesus, last friday night i had the opportunity to pray for a women who has had a metal rod put in her back following a bad accident in 2009, and she had her L4 and L5 repaired and her L3 removed (discs) she also has been getting her nerves burned followed by heavy chiropractic work every month. she also had very bad headaches which the lord was telling me, and before i prayed for her the lord gave me a picture of a hand going into her back and re organizing everything, for the sake of this post i was not able to capture a video because she feels uncomfortable with video and pictures. so out of respect i didn't push it. But the lord is so amazing he completely touched her back and healed her of her pain, she was able to bend and do things she wasn't able to do before and she told me today after seeing her that shes been feeling amazing. Jesus is alive and hes amazing. All Glory to God. Be encouraged today.

(Click on the C in Christian's name to read his FB post. Used by permission).

Today's Bible verse-

(Eph. 2:4-5 NIV) "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

(1 Peter 1:3 AMP) "Praised (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Jean's blog (Click to see recent posts, then click Older Posts for more)

Today's Spotlight sermons- By three great preachers, in different locations on the same subject, on the same day!  Day 1 of the CFC churches on the 40 Days Under Pressure Series. I plan on posting each set of the upcoming weekly messages.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Week 1: Triumph of Faith (Potsdam)

Speaker: Daniel Paladin Series: Grace Under Pressure 
Location: CFC Potsdam






Week 1: Triumph of Faith (Madrid)


Speaker: Ben Levendusky Series: Grace Under Pressure 
Location: CFC Madrid 




    Week 1: Triumph of Faith (Canton)

    Speaker: Jamie Sinclair Series: Grace Under Pressure 
    Location: CFC Canton




    CFC sermons You can check out many sermons, and select the ones of interest to you. Maybe you missed one...


    Upcoming posts- 

       #59 7 Steps to Greater Faith
    4th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

    #60 The Prayer of Faith (Part 1)
    6th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

    The Art of Meditating
    9th- Saturday's post by James H. Cagle


    #61 The Prayer of Faith (Part 2)
    11th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

    Yep, they're showing
    us their glory!



    31-day Devotional my personal story

    Sample verse from p. 29-

    " It makes no difference the test
    But how we do react.
    With God's help may you give your best
    And sense it as a fact...
    "




     A great gift for someone who may need help to 
    prepare for marriage, and for those in a 
    marriage, wanting some helpful advice.



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