Good News Church Yukon, Ok

Last week I shared about visions to you. While I would not say visions are an often occurrence for me, they are always a blessing to receive and do their part to reveal something to me that God is trying to communicate. In the passage of 1 Samuel, we see the biblical precedent for God speaking outside of the written word to people to directly connect with his spiritual children. At a young age the future prophet Samuel was called by God in a manner which seemed audible to him. We must keep our ears listening and not shut out what God is trying to say to us.

On this Father's day I would like to talk to you about your heavenly father. Even for those who never knew their earthly father, or had a poor relationship with them, God is there as the model example of fatherhood for each one of us. The gospel of Luke describes the story of the prodigal son, one who threw away everything his father had given him and took it for granted. And yet when he returned, the father embraced him and threw a banquet to celebrate his return. Our heavenly father holds these similar qualities of forgiveness and love for his children.

In my sixty years of life, God has given me various dreams and visions. Tonight I'd like to discuss seven of these with you and describe the impact they have had on me. The Old Testament has a passage in which the prophet Habakkuk is instructed to "write the vision and make it plain upon tablets." I believe that whenever we are given a vision by God that it is important for us to record it and allow its message to live on far better than our feeble memory could allow it to. By meditating on these visions and the Scripture that backs them, you will have your eyes opened to biblical truths.

Hebrews 12 speaks on the importance of us running our race. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you are in a race, a spiritual one. You have been called to run it with endurance and excellence. Our ability to fulfill this call can be hindered by sins and other earthly attachments. In these latter days it is even moreso important to exhibit endurance in your race you run, as the great cloud of witnesses in the heroes of the faith have done before us.

I want to continue on with the topic of words with you all. I think it's interesting that Proverbs states that "death and life are in the power of the tongue," putting death before life. I believe this serves to emphasize the incredible destructive power that words can have to the reader ensuring we take care. Tonight however I would like to cover the New Testament and its various passages of words being spoken to give life to a situation. These instances can serve as confessions for us to be usable in every day.

I am continuing my series on the power of words, in particular the power of life and death that is held in your words. Our words have a way of lifting us up, like through praise. They are also just as capable as limiting us. It is therefore of utmost important to reflect on our words. Why? Your sayings can undo your prayings. Our time in prayer is not the only time where words matter, as our words spoken whenever are just as capable of bringing about physical and spiritual change.

In our faith the words we speak have immense value. The act of salvation itself is said by the Bible to be partially an act of speech, describing that by the act of confession salvation is brought about. Our words can affect three worlds: the one we are living in, the spirit world, and the demonic realm. I want to recap today what I have been covering recently in Wednesday night messages what I have been speaking over words and emphasize to you their importance.

I would like to continue on with the concept of the power of words, this time focusing on what Jesus said about the power of words in the gospels. Words can linger in your spirit for a very long time, and the positive and negative statements of others can stick with you for even a lifetime. We have all been witnesses of how a kind word from someone brings us joy, or a hurtful comment tears us down and takes a long time to recover from. It is therefore important to observe what Jesus had to say about this subject and how we much exercise caution.

I feel that there is a power in the thought of "people don't realize how important their life is." Your life is tremendously important regardless of what stage you are in or what you have done. You can have the sole power in some cases to make a difference in someone else's life. We have all been on the receiving side of this, where our life was forever impacted because of the actions of someone else.

I'm going to continue my message from several weeks ago which focused on why our words matter. Even if we are taking care to not speak profanity or unwholesome talk, there is still attention that should be paid to the words we are speaking in terms of what we are speaking over ourselves. The Bible states that God will judge us on terms of the words we have said. If we have spoken life or death, those will judge us.

I am grateful for the role that women have had in church history and that they continue to have. The first person to accept Christ in the continent of Europe that we know of was a woman named Lydia, and the gospels also describe a number of women who ministered to the Lord. Proverbs 31 describes several criteria of what makes such a "wise" woman who is in tune with spiritual principles and not wasteful, lazy, or vain. Such a "Proverbs 31 woman" makes for an excellent companion and spiritual influence.

What makes for a great marriage? God puts a priority on marriage, in fact, it was his idea. A good marriage does not only benefit itself -- it will benefit your career, mental health, and almost every other area you can imagine. People can develop an erroneous idea that they can compartmentalize their marriage, but it affects every part of your life, serving as part of your spiritual core. I'd like to explore what Scripture has to say about this subject and hopefully bring some enrichment to your current or future marriage.

I had a birthday a few months ago and turned 60. I felt that now was a good time for me to develop a 10 year plan to set out goals and things to work toward. One of the main tenets is the desire I have to think about the words that are spoken out of my mouth. The harvest created by your words can be either bad or good. God is merciful to us but ultimately the words we say will control the outcome. I want to dive into the scriptural backing behind the reasoning that our words matter tonight. I believe that the Old Testament, Proverbs, Gospels, and Epistles all have important doctrine about the power of our words.

Did you know God wants people to not only be whole physically, but also mentally and emotionally? In the book of Job, we read about a man who went through a very difficult period in his life. He lost all of his children, his wife, all of his possessions, and every last thing he considered important. The book of Job is essentially him processing all of this. And yet we see at the end, Job is in better condition in ever, God having restored all these things to him, eventually dying an old man full of days. Job was blessed in the latter end of his life and was able to look beyond what he had suffered. I believe that God can bring this same mental restoration to us for whatever we have experienced.

God calls us not to burn bridges, but to build them. We are called to restore people and relationships, and the shortest surviving letter of Paul's centers on this concept. Paul had received and ministered to an escaped slave named Onesimus. Upon sending the slave back to his master, Philemon, Paul wrote, urging that Philemon send the slave back to Paul in order that Paul might free him and continue to minister to him. This touchy subject demonstrates the importance of maintaining relationships rather than going scorched earth on those who we disagree with or who practice unbiblical beliefs.

In October 2019, I wrote a journal entry where I recorded how I had asked the Lord what life adjustment I could make to have a greater impact on his kingdom. During the night, I felt God deal with me about the importance of meditating the word. I knew that God was saying if I would meditate God's word regularly, I would be more effective to him. I saw a comparison between a strong engine and the heart that is strengthened by meditation, in that they are both tuned to do what they are intended for. The Bible emphasizes the importance of this habit, and I hope to bring some light to it from scripture to you.

One of the greatest blessings God gave me in this world was an older brother. He in some ways was like a father to me and is someone I truly look up to. Family is a dear thing that God has given us on earth, and nothing is more crushing than the death of a family member. Grief can shadow all of the joy in your life and cause you to temporarily forget the blessings God has given you. Even more hope can be found in knowing that if the family member was a follower of God, they are now communing with him in eternity. A family in our church congregation recently experienced the loss of someone who was a brother, son, and grandson. I hope that my message given from the Word can offer some comfort for them and for others who may experience this difficulty of life.

Each year I attempt to come at the resurrection of Christ from a new angle, and this year I would like to focus on the biblical concept of humility before honor. God rewards humility and a self-awareness in a world that is all about "me". Christ gave the ultimate example of humility in the Passion week - he was whipped, scorned, spit upon, and beaten. And yet three days later, he had risen as the king of kings and lord of lords. The believer may undergo a similar transformation in God's eyes. Although we began as unclean sinners, God has brought us to honor in his sight through the cleansing of the blood.

When I first began reading the Bible as a high schooler, I realized so many of the passages warned about money and greed. Indeed, there are many people who fell astray in the Bible due to the unyielding influence of money on their decision making. And yet we must recognize that the Bible does not say money is evil, only that the love of it is. God wants to provide our needs and allow us to live in this world which requires money. There are many Bible passages that speak of God's blessing on believers in relation to money that we should not overlook due to fear of greed.

Often there is a question of what happened between the death of Jesus and his resurrection. We are given a glimpse into that interval in the passage Ephesians 4, where it is said that Jesus descended down into the earth before ascending up into the heavens. One sentence stands out in particular: "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." What are these gifts he gave? Jesus gave us his spirit and its many gifts. These gifts empower us and enable us to carry out the Great Commission.