God's Bridge to Eternal Life. #7

As we ended last time I told you I had some promises from God for those who ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of their life, so here they are:



As you can see God's Word in John 5:25 promises us eternal life, no judgement to hell, and no spiritual death or separation from God as those who trust Jesus will have eternal life in heaven with God! Now that is something to get excited about! So let us look at the completed picture:



Now let me ask you again, would you like to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Let me ask you some questions:

1. Are you a sinner?
2. Do you believe that Jesus is God's Son?
3. Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins?
4. Do you repent of those sins and trust in the shed blood of Christ to wash those sins away?
5. Do you believe Jesus was buried, three days later rose from the dead, and now sits at the right hand of God?

If you said yes to all of these then I want to lead you in a prayer to ask Jesus into your life.

Dear Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. I believe that you died the cross for my sins and I now repent of my sins and ask you into my heart as Lord and Savior of my life. From this day forward I will follow you and obey your commands. Thank you dear Jesus for saving my soul. In Jesus precious name I pray, amen.

Praise God! If you just asked Jesus into your heart I want to welcome you to the family of God! You now have eternal life in heaven with God! Greatest decision of your life! Please let me know of your decision as I want to pray for you and rejoice with you.

God's world tells us that there are some things one needs to do once they receive Christ, please read then and do them as they are very important:

1.God commands us to be baptized:

Matthew 28:19

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

2. God wants us to worship and fellowship with other believers (attend a bible believing church):

Hebrews 10:25

25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

3. Read God's Word:

2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

4. Pray:

1 Thessalonians 5:17

pray without ceasing;

You are now a disciple of Christ if you asked Jesus into your heart, you now are commanded to tell others about Jesus!

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So GO!!!!!

A word to those who may not have asked Jesus into their life, keep praying my friend and ask God to reveal the truth to you so you may see what God wants you to see. If I can be of any help please ask! May God bless you with the truth my friend!

Tom

God'sBridge to Eternal Life. #6

Last time we left our selves with this question, what is it we must do to go to heaven to be with God?



You see Jesus is our pardon or forgiveness for our sin. So what we must do is repent of our sin and put our trust in Jesus. To repent means to be sorry for sinning against, ask God to forgive us of that sin, and then turn away from that sin. When we trust Jesus, it means we have trusted Him to be our Savior, and to be Lord of our life. We will follow Him the rest of our lives and obey His Word. Remember the bible tells us their is only one way to God in heaven, through Jesus Christ as seen in this verse:

John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

We are promised by God's Word that we will be saved if we trust in Jesus:

Romans 10:13

13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

That is the greatest news of all time! Let us again look at that bridge to eternity with God. The bridge of the cross of Jesus to God and eternal life....THE ONLY BRIDGE!



So now the time has come for a decision from you. Would you like to trust in Jesus? As you have seen we have only one way to God and eternal life and that is through the cross and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Will you trust Jesus today?

If you answered yes, please let me know! I want to pray for and rejoice with you! I also want to share some promises of God with you in our next meeting together for those who receive Christ.

Tom

God's Bridge to Eternal Life. #5

When we left last time out question was so what has to be done for us to get to heaven with God? Well the answer to that is this:



You see God loves his created people so much that He has given us a way to be saved from our sin that separates us from Him. God sent His only son Jesus to this earth of ours in the form of a baby who was born to a virgin mother (Mary). Jesus grew up sinless. That is right, Jesus is the ONLY person who has never sinned on this earth of ours. Therefore, Jesus is the only one qualified to sacrifice Himself on the cross for man's sin. So Jesus went to the cross, shed His blood and died for you and for me. For our sin not His. He took our place for our sin! That is true love. Jesus was buried and three days later He arose from the grave and  appeared to over 500 people. Jesus then ascended back to God where sits today!

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God! He is our sinless substitute! Look at the picture now....the bridge is complete! The only bridge that will get us to God in heaven!



Wow....what an awesome God. Sacrificed His only Son for a sinner such as I!

So we see God has done His part by sending Jesus, Jesus has done His part by dying on the cross for us, so what is our part in all of this?

We will see that in our next time together.

Tom

God's Bridge to Eternal Life #4

Our last time together, we ended with the thought that man has come up with many ways that they think can get them to heaven with God. All these thoughts are wrong as we shall see!



Make sure you understand this point that the Proverbs 14:12 verse says:

Proverbs 14:12


12 There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

Man has lots of ideas of how to get to heaven, but only the bible has the truth. It is God's Word!

So let's look at the next picture as again it shows what is happening:



We now see in this picture some of man's attempts to get to God.

First, we see Good works. You can not do enough works in your life to cover your sin before God. It is impossible. As you see that bridge comes up short!

Second, you see religion. Man thinks because he goes to a certain church, or reads his holy book, or says he is a member of such and such church, that this will get him to heaven. Once again this is false as you see that bridge does not get you to heaven either.

Third, you see money. Money can not get you to God either. You can't buy your way into heaven and do enough good with your money to get to heaven. It also comes up short.

Fourth, you see morality. No one is good enough before God to get to heaven. You may be nice, thoughtful, a sharer of your goods, honest, and the list can go on and on. These are good but they will not get you to heaven with God.

They all come up short and you will spend eternity in hell if you are depending on these to get you to heaven as well as any other attempt by man! Look at this verse for proof:

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So the next question we must ask is "what must happen for one to get to heaven with God?". We will see that in our next lesson.

Tom

Bridge to Eternal Life #3

Last time we learned that man kind has a sin problem. All of us are sinners. Because of that fact there is a penalty that must results from this fact. We will look at that penalty today.



As you can see above the bible says because we sin the wage of that fact is death. Because man disobeys God (sin) death is the result. As the tract teaches there are three types of death. Spiritual, physical, and eternal.

Physical death is easy for us to understand. All of us will die one day. We have seen that in others that we have known.

Spiritual death is separation from God which happens when we sin. This can be corrected as we will see later. God is Holy, Righteous and Just and can not dwell where sin is. So something must happen to sure our sin problem to be in heaven with God.

 Eternal death is separation from God for eternity in hell. This can not be corrected if we die in our sin, with out Jesus Christ.

We see this illustrated well in the next picture:



The man on the one side represents all of us. The other side represents God in heaven. The man has a problem which is sin. Because of this is he will die physically, spiritually, and eternally. We have no way to God in this state, we can not get across the gap to God. At this point it is impossible.

Man has come up with ways they think will to get them to God. We will look at that in the next lesson.

Tom

God's bridge to eternal life. #2

Yesterday we talked about the purposes God has designed us for but we ended stating that we have a problem. That problem has destroyed our perfect relationship with God. What is that problem? We shall see that problem here:



SIN! is our problem. Since the fall of man with Adam and Eve in the garden eating the forbidden fruit that God said "Do Not Eat" sin has been our problem. Sin is doing what God has commanded us not to do. Or sin can be not doing what God has told us to do! Basically not obeying God's Word. We ALL have sinned! As the verse in Roman's has told us:

Romans 3:23
 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Now on this picture we see what sin has caused:



When we are sinners it causes a separation between us and God. God is Righteous, Holy, sinless, and Just. God can not dwell with sin in heaven. So we can not dwell with God in heaven with sin in our lives. Sin has an enormous penalty. We will talk about that penalty tomorrow.

If you have any questions so far, please ask!

Tom

God's Bridge to Eternal Life

Over the next few days I am going to share the plan of salvation through a tract called God's bridge to eternal life. This is the best tract I have ever used. It is simple and clear to understand. My prayer is if you have never considered Jesus as your Lord and Savior that you will. If you have already asked Jesus to be Lord of your life then use this to share Jesus with others. Feel free to ask any questions. The tract is sold at Majestic Media and is developed by Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.




The first thing we must understand is we all have a purpose and we were designed by God for three things seen here:



The first purpose we are designed for is to Honor God! After all He is the Creator of all! Do you honor God with your life? The way that you live, is it pleasing to God?

The second purpose is to serve God. God has given all of abilities, talents, and gifts to use in serving Him. Are you serving God?

The third purpose we were designed for is to have fellowship with God. Did you know that? God wants us to talk with Him and allow Him to talk back to us. The three primary ways to fellowship with God are prayer, reading your bible, being still and allowing God to talk to you!

Look at that verse again Revelation 4:11:

Revelation 4:11

11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”

God is worthy to receive honor, service, and fellowship from us for that is why were created!




Sadly we have a problem! Something destroyed this relationship God had prepared for us to have with Him. Tomorrow we will look at that problem!

Tom

Here Am I!

God calls each of us into service to Himself. The calls will be specific to each one of us. To me it may be to preach to another it may be to teach and yet to another it may be to administration only God knows what He will call each of us to. The question for each one of us this morning is will we answer the call? Here is a couple of folks who did:





Exodus 3:4

4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”



Isaiah 6:8

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:



“Whom shall I send,

And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”



Each of these great men of the bible answered the call of God. While Moses took some convincing, Isaiah was a ready vessel once he repented of his sin. We are much the same aren't we? Some are called by God and jump in right away and serve, serve, serve! Then their are others who try to come up with all the excuses we can of why we can't serve God, but none of these excuses are good enough and we eventually get on board and serve. Then their are those who just won't serve at all. For those in this condition, a heart check is in order. If we have no desire to serve God we may not have God in our heart at all! This is a dangerous spot to be in! Eternity may be at stake!



So let me ask you this morning, have you told God "Here am I! Send me."? Remember these words from Jesus:



Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.



Tom

Are you thirsty? Come to the well!

A young lady (Brittany) sings this song called "Come to the well" at church and it speaks to me in a big way! Check it out here by the original artist Casting Crowns:



So what is it in life you are looking for to satisfy your thirst? Money, sex, drugs, relationships, hobbies, ect? There is only one thing in life that can satisfy our souls deepest desire....Jesus? Check these verses out:

John 4:5-29
New King James Version (NKJV)

5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

My friend nothing in life will satisfy you like Jesus. Take it from someone who has tried many things to fill this void. God created us with a void that can only be filled by Jesus. Don't waste any more time on the things of the world, come to the well, come to Jesus.

Tom

Lose your soul.

The very first time I heard this song it made an impact on me. Check it out:






Have you ever really just taken time to think about losing your soul because of the things of this world? NOTHING is worth losing your soul over but yet each day thousands choose to do that very thing. How sad. Look at what the bible has to say about this:



Matthew 16:24-26



24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?



Brothers and sisters give your life to Christ today! When we take our last breath I can promise you all the things in this world you will gladly cast at the feet of Jesus for eternal life with Him, but the problem is it will be too late then. Serve and worship Jesus now, it is more rewarding than anything for you were created to do so!



Tom

The importance of God's Word.

One of the things I teach most is the importance of God's Word in a believers life. It is vital to your relationship with God. Yet no matter how much preachers encourage others to read the bible, statistics show a low percentage read their bibles regularly. This just does not make sense to me.



Lets' look at a few scriptures about the Word this morning:



2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.



The bible is God's Word, plain and simple. To read it is to learn, to be corrected, to be instructed. The purpose of this training is to become closer to God and then to be equipped to do the work God has for each one of us. To love others and to share the good news of Jesus. If you don't read your bible you can not be fully equipped to do these things.



1 Peter 2:1-3

2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.



God desires us to put away all evil which we can only do if we know what evil is....the bible tells us. Then like a baby needs milk to survive, we need the Word of God to survive the spiritual battle we are in with the devil. We must grow as believers and can only do that by drinking God's Word daily.



Hebrews 4:12

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.



God's Word is powerful! It cuts us down to the marrow of our bones. The Word gets into our thoughts so we can know when we are doing right and shows us where we are doing wrong so the Holy Spirit can give us the strength to make the changes needed to be like Christ.



Are you making the Word of God a priority in you daily life? If not let the Word speak this morning and make corrections. It is of utmost importance!



Tom

Story of forgiveness.

I want you to think for a moment on s situation in life that you been a part of in which you can not forgive the person who wronged you. You got that in mind? Ok, now watch this:






Here is also the song forgiveness by Matthew West:





Hmmmm anything like this happened to you? Could you forgive someone who killed your daughter? Well there is also a bible story that shows forgiveness. Read this:



Matthew 18:21-35



The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”



Wow! A couple of things I want to point out here in this bible story.



First, in verse 22, Jesus tells us there is no limit to how many times we are forgive.



Second, 10,000 talents in verse 24, more than a person could pay back in a life times as 1 talent was 20 years salary for an average person of that day! All of us owe this amount to Jesus but He forgave us of our debt by paying it for us!!!! Think on that!



Third, 100 denarii in verse 28 could easily be paid back, as 1 denarii was one days wage! We are like this man who wanted this pay back right now because we do not forgive! This is not pleasing to God, matter of fact it angers Him because He sent His son to die for out sins!.



When we do not forgive it is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. We are thje prisoners because we do not let go like God has commanded us to do. Remember the verses above are from the mouth of Jesus not man and it is representative of God and man.



This made me do some serious soul searching, I pray it does the same for you!



Tom

Liars

It seems in recent days we have a problem with liars being exposed for example Lance Armstrong. I guess when I thin about it, telling lies has always been a problem and I suppose on this side of heaven always will be. Two things seem to get under my skin, liars and thieves. So what does God have to day about lying?



Revelation 21:8

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”



John 8:44

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.



Psalm 31:18

Let the lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.



Psalm 52:3

You love evil more than good, Lying rather than speaking righteousness.



Psalm 119:163

I hate and abhor lying, But I love Your law.



Proverbs 6:16-18

 16 These six things the Lord hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

17 A proud look,

A lying tongue,

Hands that shed innocent blood,

18 A heart that devises wicked plans,

Feet that are swift in running to evil,



Proverbs 12:22

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.



Proverbs 13:5

A righteous man hates lying, But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.



Proverbs 26:28

A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a flattering mouth works ruin.



Ephesians 4:25

  Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.



Two things I want to point out here: First, Satin is the Father of lying. That alone should make us want to tell the truth. Second, lying is hated by God, flee from it!



The solution to lying is this and I pray that Lance Armstrong and others find this truth:



John 8:31-32

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”



Jesus can set you free from any sin....we all need to know that!



Tom

Lessons from Ecuador 2013 #6

Are you prejudice?



On final thought about my mission trip to Ecuador. When I was growing up I had some prejudices develop in my life. I am not sure how they got there. I guess I heard it from others and slowly developed them for my self. No matter what though I have to answer for myself. Through my high school years I believe I put most of those prejudices behind me. I found many friends of different color and backgrounds. As I have grown in my relationship to Christ it is clear in the bible that we are all the same. We all descended from Adam and Eve, our skin color may be different, or we many not talk the same, but God says we are created in His image:



Genesis 1:27

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.



The above verse should be enough for any of us to get over our prejudices. Think about it. Going to Ecuador, this is my third time, has helped me see even more how much God loves every single one of us. God desires that none of us should perish:



2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.



Think about that. God loves all of His creation. We should love all those whom God has created in His image. In Ecuador I have found some folks who will love me forever, I have also met a few who do not like me. All I can do is continue to share God's love with them. God will take care of the rest. It is the same for us here at home. Some desire for me to share God's Word and love them, some do not. My job is to be faithful to what God has told ALL of us to do....GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES! I see no provisions for color, race, sex, religion, or anything else.



So let me ask you this morning, are you prejudice? Will you share Jesus with others? It is really not an option according to God's Word. So what are you waiting on? Remember God doesn't want any to perish in hell and neither should we.



Thank you my Ecuadorian friends for helping me see more of Jesus through you. I love you!



Tom

Lessons from Ecuador #5

This is a picture of the church!



Are we all one color? NO! Are we all one race? NO! Do we all speak one language? NO! Are we all from the same city? NO! Do we all worship at the same church? NO! Do we all love Jesus and want to serve Him with out lives, talents, and gifts? Absolutely! We did serve Jesus and Jesus did some amazing things through this group...HIS CHURCH!

The church is not a building as you can see in the photo above we are not in a church but in the lobby of a hotel. The church is not people who come once on Sunday and then do not serve, worship, praise, pray or anything else for Jesus in whom they claim they serve.

The church in the bible is referred to as the body in several places but I want you to check out these verses:

Ephesians 4:15-16

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.

15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Did you catch what the church is here? Individuals who come together to serve Jesus with their God given gifts and abilities. It is essential that all believers come together to serve Christ because you can do things I can't and I can do things you can't. We need each other! Christ formed, loved, and died for the church. Get involved and serve our King Jesus. It is not an option, Jesus told us to do so!

Tom

Lessons from Ecuador #4

Not to young to serve God!

I want to share with you a couple of young fellows who gave up some of their time to serve God on this mission trip to Ecuador. First, let me share Jesse. Jesse has surrendered his life to missions. This was his first mission trip outside the United States. There is one other note on Jesse, He is hearing impaired. Jesse could have made all kinds of excuses as to why He could not serve God, but He didn't. Jesse shared God's Word, told his testimony, and sang. He was outstanding and God used him in a mighty way. This is Jesse in the black jacket:



Also in the above picture in Preston, he is in the blue jacket. Preston is 14 and lives in Quito, Ecuador. Ironically, Preston's parents are both hearing impaired. He is not. His parents are missionaries to Ecuador. Preston speaks both English and Spanish, so He served as one of out translators in the city of Sigchos where we shared Jesus. Preston did an awesome job. This also was his first missionary trip. What a breath of fresh air to see this young man serve God with that great big smile he has. He chose to help us even though he was on a break from school, Preston God was pleased with your choice!

Look at God's Word here:

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

These two young brought a smile to God's heart in their service to Him. As the above verse says they set an example. I want the rest of us to see that when we bring our children up in the training of the Lord like these two young man have been, God can and will use them if they are willing. We must put our young people in place they can learn from God and serve God. It is our responsibility. The world will not lead them to God but we can!

Thanks Jesse and Preston, it was an honor to serve our King Jesus beside you!

Tom

Lessons from Ecuador 2013 #3

God revealed in His creation.



We take for granted the beauty of God's creation where we live. Have you ever noticed that? When I go places it seems I notice God's creation so much more. The reason for that is we take for granted what we have at home. This mission trip to Ecuador was no different. We were at high elevations and we seen some of the amazing creation of God. It was breath taking. The picture is just a small example of what we seen.



God tells us in His Word that we can see His attributes in creation, and thus we should know that God is real!



Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,



God tells us in this verse that because of His creation we are without excuse! He is the Creator, maker of all. I am a hunter and am able to see the sunrise and sunset on many occasions. I am in awe of God. I often wonder how anyone can question if God is real. It is so obvious! God tells us in this verse because He is the Creator, one day when we stand before Him in judgement we will be without excuse! God will say to us, everyday you seen my creation, what else do you need!



One other creation from God I want to share with you in closing. God has created us. But with sin creeping into our lives we become corrupt. We can become new once again through Christ Jesus, if we will receive Him into our hearts. Then we become a new creation!



2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.



Don't do what we do with God's beautiful creation of the world and become numb to what you have, God has more for your life through Jesus. Become that new creation in Jesus and praise God not only for His creation of this earth of ours but for the new creation of YOU through Christ Jesus!



Thank you Jesus for making me NEW! I am forever Yours!



Tom

Lessons from Ecuador 2013 #2

Longing for God's Word.



Here in the states the majority of people do not have time for the Word. Well let me say they do not want to take the time to hear and learn the Word of God. My Pastor and I have been out visiting many times only to be turned away from sharing God's Word. Many times we have seen folks look out the window and see it was us and not even answer the door! When we don't have time for God we are in a sad state!



In Ecuador we went door to door to share Jesus. After our visit we would ask if we could come back for bible study, 90% of the time they would say yes and invite us back! Many times we were stopping their business to teach God's Word but they did not care...they wanted to learn. If they were to busy at the moment they would ask us to come back at a time where the business would be slower. Many times when we arrived at house for bible study, they would invite other family members and friends over so they could here they Word of God!!!! Where is this in the states?



1 Peter 2:1-3



2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.



Let me ask each of you a question....do you desire God's Word? It is the only way we can grow, that is what the bible says. For our nation to be blessed by God again we need a returning to God's Word and a desire to follow what He says, not what we want to pick and choose what we follow, but everything God says!



Pray for God to help you desire to learn and share God's Word...we can't live without it!



Tom

Lessons from Ecuador 2013 #1

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayers for our mission trip to Ecuador. God answered in a great way! Jesus saved 85 while we were in Sigchos, Ecuador.  We also were able to disciple many more into a deeper understanding of God's Word. God showed out and we give Him all the glory.

LOVE!

Today's devotion is one of the lessons I learned and seen in action on our mission trip. Many times while sharing the good news of Jesus my team mate Bill said these words "We may not live in the same place, we may not look alike, we may not talk the same language, but to God we are all the same." Think about those words for a moment. Why do we have so much prejudices in the world? Most of it is because some have taken advantage of others and hurt is hard to forgive! BUT we must look at others through God's eyes not our own. We ALL are created in His image:

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Since God created us in His image then we should not only love God but love our fellow man. God does:

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In Ecuador we were not welcomed by all but that is ok....we loved them anyway. In our home towns here, not all like us, love them anyway. This is the example Jesus showed and he expects us to do the same:

John 13:35
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The love of Jesus will win many, are you a disciple of Christ? Only if you love others!

Tom