Archive for Sermons
Mike Bickle.org: Lead Diligently: Taking Initiative to Minister to Others
Posted by: | CommentsHere is a great sermon for those of us in Ministry/Leadership and those of us considering starting a Ministry or Getting Into Leadership
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Date:September 26, 2009
Author:Mike Bickle
Series:Part 6 of the series Sacred Charge: Seven Commitments of a Forerunner
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Times and Seasons
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
As I sit here I am amazed at how much I got done to day at the church it is now 3:56 in the afternoon and as I write this entry listing to Kimberly and Alberto Rivera and prepare for tonight’s This Generation service I begin to ask myself.. What am I doing here? I have a stronghold that has taken the best of me this week and I really don’t feel like I should even be here today. All I want to do is hide.
But I am reminded that when we hide the Lord still sees what we are doing. I just re-read a comment on a post that is now private by a faithful reader and it inspires me to go on and fight the good fight. I have always wanted this blog to be an inspiration to others and to help someone out there in the land we call Cyber Space to know that there is someone who struggles too.
For the longest time I did not blog. This may well be my fourth or fith time at having a blog that speaks to others. I was on the beginning stages of livejournal.com and then moved to blogger when I found that it allowed me to post my blog via my own hosting space rather then at a host with a long name. which is kinda funny where I host now. But then after blogger and two domain names I just stopped. I let my domain mattitude.ca go and then one night while I was in prayer over what to do with my domain mjsd.ca (my birth initials) the Lord told me to let that domain go. I was holding on to something with a lot of baggage behind it.
I remember I was in the last stages of what did not start out but became an all night prayer. I was asking him what to call my new site, what to do with my old domain and should I even keep it. I remember him telling me.. Let go of your past, remove the baggage from your life. Let this domain go and I will help you out with your next site. Well I began to run with it.
I first started out calling it Geeks 4 God and ran with the idea of a Tech blog that would be about using technology for the Kingdom but that did not sit well with me and my mentor I found that I was getting to wrapped up in the whole identity of being the Geek who was for God and who loved his technology.
As my late friend and I went though some a time of diggin’up roots that had not been delt with I began to find out that I was so wrapped up in Geek 4 God that even the people around me only saw me as that. I did not know what to do I was torn. So I developed this site and ran the two together.
I still did not think I would have any impact on anyone with the blog I just trusted that the Lord would do his thing. I still hope to put a domain on it and I still hope to reach more people. But this is a faith thing. This is something that will be in the Lords time.
I remember a sermon by Pastor Derek Schneider called Understanding Times and Seasons and this really helped me to understand why we go though short seasons, why some seasons are long and why the Lord does things the way he does them. Sometimes I think the seasons are too long, sometimes I wonder that was quick. I really think the Lord is grieved by me right now. I really think that sometimes he is mad at me. I just know right now that he is grieved with me.
I have learned that are strong holds get the most of us when we are alone weather in the bedroom, or as a single person living on his own it always gets you most when you are alone, tired and at your weakest point. That is when we have to be most on guard. That is when the devil can get in and take us down. WE CANNOT LET HIM.
We are governed by Times and Seasons my Pastor would say but we in that season can do things that will change what happens in the next. A Pastor who recently resigned his post to move on to other ministry opportunities taught on transitional prayer. This is a type of prayer that a person can do so that he does not take any baggage over to the next season.
You see we can have roots or bad fruit that can be carried in from one season to the next and if we are not careful we can actually in my opinion damage the season we are moving into. Each season will come with its own baggage but don’t ever bring the old baggage into the new season or it will get harder and harder (in my opinion) to get rid of.
Well I am rambling again but if you would like to know more on the topic of times and seasons I encourage you to listen to the sermon by Pastor Derek Schneider listed/linked above and to watch out in your moments of weakness and not let the devil ruin this season or the next.
Be Blessed!
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Random Thoughts 6 of Many: Learning To Slow Down
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
the last two weeks have been crazy I have been doing lots around the church I have been there almost 6 days
February 24 –> This Generation (all day)
February 26 –> Durham House of Prayer
February 28 –> Women’s Mini-Conference doing sound and recordings
March 1 –> both AM & PM Services
March 3 –> This Generation (all day)
March 5 –> Durham House of Prayer
March 6 –> All Night Prayer (8:00 pm – 4:30 am)
Saturday I get the Flu yes you heard me the flu .. I was not impressed.. I was ready to kill something.. then I realized what is going on.. I have not really rested and taken time out for me. I have not taken the time to rest up and just do what I want to do. I pushed my self so hard (other then my prayer time each morning) that I just crashed (if that is the way to put it)
Last night I realized that I needed to pursue him more (then I do) and not do so much. You see it is not about works but about the time you spend with God in your prayer closet or as some call it the secret place. Then God can then use you because you submit yourself to him.
Over the last 7 or 8 years (I think) I have been battling a lot of health conditions and this weekend I was preparing for my surgery on Monday when blam! this hit.. I now know that they are going to put this off and I am going to have to look into another date. A good friend of mine from Durham House of Prayer did mention this to me about slowing down..
I have never been that type of person. I never wanted my disabilities (here’s 1 ) to slow me down. But at times I have to listen to my body and most times I don’t so I end up crashing and this is not the first time. But this winter has been the worst for me. I have had the flu 3 times to the point were I Vomit. Why don’t I listen? Why don’t I slow down? This is who I am push till I crash.
to my parents, good friends at Durham House of Prayer and my mentor .. all I have to say is you are right.. I need to take more time for me as much as I want to serve you with my gift I need to look at all I am doing and start to slow things down. Guess this is my next root Josh guess this is me finally listening to all of the people who have told me this for years now.
Well that is all for me, Till Next Entry!
Random Thoughts 5 of Many
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
It has been sometime since I have posted in my journal/blog/diary whatever you would like to call it.. non the less it has been sometime because I have taken some time to hear from the Holy Spirit and hear what he would have to say for my life.
My Good friend Lorna from Durham House of Prayer gave me an incredible teaching on how to meditate in God’s word and how to hear from God about his scriptures and get revolation of his word. I was so engulfed in it the other day I could not stop. You knew that this was a teaching from the Holy Spirit. I could sense him in the room like I had never sensed before. I was just amazed at what the teaching had to offer.
This is a season for me of Testing and Transformation I have never been more excited in a season then I have since the Lord brought me back to the church. I have never seen more change in me then in these last few months. Even in my family, friends and relationships things are changing all around. Getting up between 4:00 – 5:00 6 days a week to get into God’s word, pray and maybe even listen to a sermon or two has been so much fun and I look forward to it each and every day.
People have said to me that I am starting to look good, there is light in my eyes and many other things. I accept that with all Grace and Humility because I know I have the Lord inside of me and he is the one who can do all things. I am just the vessel in which the Lord is using me. Latley I have been praying for things that I have needed and not much prayer for others. I know this may sound selfish and mabey even one sided but as for this season I need to get some things in order for me to move into the next.
One important thing is to get out of my current place where I am living and into what I would call a real apartment. The second thing I have been praying for is kinda special to me. I won’t go into great detail but there is a women I really like and I have been praying for Guidence and Direction on how to go about pursuing her. There is something about her that I really like about her and really want to do this acording to God’s will. My Pastor preached a really good sermon on this topic that we posted on the embassy | this generation site that you can listen to below this post. This had to be the best sermon in the whole dating series that he taught on. (see below this entry)
But enough about that.. This week for me has been a hard one. I missed my prayers on Thursday both my morning ones and the ones before DHOP and wow the whole day felt off and the whole day felt different.. even doing sound felt off. What was so funny is that the whole DHOP team felt it was the best night of sound that I had ever done. I don’t know what it was but the Lord was working with me as I turned each knob, raised and lowered each slider but what ever We (the Lord and I) did it worked out perfectly.
I Love what I do and I love working with the team both embassy | this generation and Durham House of Prayer and there is nothing in the world that could top that.. well other then my time with the Lord. I look forward to each and every time that I can serve.
We just reciently had our All Night Prayer (ANP) and well let me say it was one of war both in the corporate and in the personal. That whole day nothing was going right for me. That whole day nothing felt good. I knew there was a change in the schedule, I knew that there was something going on that needed to change but I just was not feeling good about anything.
I got to the church to setup and that was fine.. until the sound person came for our first Worship Team and started to play with the sound board and learn how it works. I was not impressed I need my music on I needed to feel the bass in the room and I needed to prepare my heart for ANP and well just him screwing with the board was not working. I just needed my music and I wanted it my way. Even the recordings did not go as I needed them. Finally i picked up on an attack of the enemy and as Durham House of Prayer began to sin You won’t relent I got on my knees and and I asked the lord just to help me and give me what I needed to get the recording right.
Well I went back up to the sound board and just as I did Pastor Matt turned up the bass guitar and we got some in the recordings. I never felt more stupid in all my life. Why did I not pickup on that right away? Why did I get so upset and feel like I did not belong? Why did not I spend extra time in prayer for ANP that week? I don’t know even my mentor picked up on something was not right and he prayed through it.
I Learned something that day.. This is a season that is also a season of learning and teaching myself stuff. God has given me people around me to help guide me and keep me on the right path. I know you know who you are and I thank you for that. but alast I am falling a sleep at the computer so enjoy the sermon and I’ll be back with another entry soon
Godly Conduct in Relationships
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Consistent Devotional Life
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
It is 12:50 am and I am finding it hard to sleep tonight, part of that is I just wanted to spend some time with my sister and we played the ever classic Super Nintedo Entertainment System but… that did not help me get to sleep at all. Today has been an interesting day for me. I woke up at 6:00 am which is not my usual 4:00 am prayer time and sat down and got ready to do my prayers. I prayed that the Lord would help me to understand my bible and help to open it up in a better way then ever before. As I sat down, turned on my audio bible and started to follow along with my New American Standard Bible , I feel a sleep again and woke up at 10:00. I was not impressed.
I could attribute that to a long day serving my young adult’s group embassy | this generation and that I need to make Wednesdays my day of double manna and get the sleep I need to recuperate. If you don’t understand this then you should listen to a sermon series my pastor just finished on the Power of a Consistent Devotional Life (see audio below this message) in it he makes reference to the scripture from Exodus 16:4-5 where God made manna (bread) rain down from heaven and the the people of Israel were to take only what they needed for that day and on the 6th day God would give them enough to sustain them for the 6th and 7th day. Pastor Derek preached that what ever day we choose as our 6th day God will sustain us for the 7th.
Manna is in reference to God’s Word. We must be in constant prayer and the reading of God’s Word to sustain us in our life. I find that days when I miss a great time of Worship , Praise, Getting in to the Word and Prayer my day is shot. I cannot fuction, sermons don’t get edited, and nothing I want to get to really gets done. Just as one example I tried all day to get into editing two sessions of House of Prayer and Yesterdays Sermon and that did not happen, I got though one house of prayer sermon, had dinner and crashed in front of the TV . I felt lost today.
But my prayers these days have been feeling waited down even the most simpliest of prayers have felt like there is a weight to them. I cannot put my finger on it but every time I get into prayer they seem so heavy. I don’t know if it is me or if others are feeling it, but I know this much there is somthing going on. I would love to know what the Lord is doing in my life right now. I know that I was told this is a time of Testing and a time to just work on getting to the deep roots of some things that have not been delt with.
I am officially on my 4th week of getting up early and spending time with God and just loving it. I would do anything to spend time in his word. I just wonder why the last two Wednesdays I am so tired and beat. I love to pray and I love to interceed for people more then myself. I feel really blessed with all that I have from my ODSP to Family to Volunteering in the Church I love what I do and Have. I just feel selfish asking God for things for me when I am so blessed. I would rather take care of the needs of my family, friends and ministry then for myself maybe that is wrong but that is how I feel. I would rather pray for anything else but me.
I am finding it so much easier to turn off the TV these days and spend time with God, I find it so much more easy to connect and get into the presence of God. I have days were I cannot connect with him and it bugs me alot when I cannot. I don’t have to feel him to know he is there but there are days when I just need a bit of his presence to let me know I am on the right track. I love getting a word from God to deliver to others and I love to hear what God is saying to people through me.
I am finding that Ministry and Computer is only one portion of who I am. I am finding that I am a child of the most high and that works will not get me saved. I need to focus on the “Giver and not the Gifts” and trust that all the things that we have to get done in a day will come to pass. I know that if I focus on him everything else is gravy!
Thats it for me. I hope that you get some sleep and see you all tomarrow
Be Blessed!
Listen to A Consistant Devotional Life Here
Part 1:
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Part 2:
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Part 3:
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God is Where You Are
Posted by: | CommentsHello,
It is 4:02 in the morning and I just woke up after spending the night at a friends house still wanting to keep up my prayer schedule and get in to the daily manna and I got to thinking to myself just because you are not in your usual place at home warm at home in your room does not mean that God is not here? I thought about it as I checked my e-mail and my Facebook and came to the conclusion that God is Where You Are?
God will meat us in any place that we are.. weather at home, at church or at a friends place.. even in the car on the way to our destination. I began to ponder to myself at how big God can be and how he can hear so many prayers at one time. My God is so Big, So Strong and So Mighty There’s Nothing My God Cannot Do comes to mind also.. its from an old Sunday School song I used to sing and now play for my neices.
Sometimes as we get older we tend to keep God is a box and want that each time we get into our prayer closet and hope that things are the same way. But if God who created the whole universe always did things the same way we would never have the progress we have on the earth today. Each one of the mericals (sp I know) that Jesus preformed was different in there own unique way. Each person Jesus touched was touched for a different reason that was important to them. So the next time you put God in a box remember that you could be missing out on how big God can be for you and that is he wants to meat you right where you are? Ask yourself this question that my Pastor asked us last Sunday night “Are You To Religous For God?”
He will meat you at the level of knowledge that you are in him and he will take you places only as high as you want to go. Now my friends that I sayed the night at are unsaved but that still does not matter in my opinion God can still use us as a vessel to capture and win the lost.
Remember the story about the Sheppared who was counting the sheep and he noticed that one was lost? ( Luke 15:4-7) Well he did not just say I have the 99 and went home to bed. No! He went out looking for the 1 lost sheep. We as Christians are the Sheppared and we need to in anyway we can find the lost sheep and bring them home to the kingdom of Heaven.
Now you ask yourself how do you do that? Well number one stay focused on getting the daily manna, two make sure that you pray for the people that you want to see saved (friend, family, teacher etc..). 3 listen to your father in heaven and ask him for guidence and direction as to what you are to do. and remember what Matthew 10:19-20 says
“But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ”For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
So I believe that when your unsaved ___________ hour has come for you to speak the Holy Spirit will give you the right words to speak. But I am off on a sub tangent again just remember this much no matter where you are, no matter where you pray God is Where You Are
If you would like more answers about being to religious I recommend you listing to a sermon by Pastor Derek Schneider entitled “Are You To Religious for God?” over at www.theembassyofgod.com or listen to it right here
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Be Blessed!
Worship is A Choice You Make
Posted by: | CommentsWorship is a Choice You Make, this was a statement made famous in my church by our worship leader of Embassy Worship and this is a statement that rings so true to me. I never realized it till today how profound such a statement can be.
We as Christians can choose to worship the God of the Heavens and The Earth, we can choose to tell him how much we love him.. But how much do we really mean what we say? Some of us and I included sometimes just say it out of religious habit. But if you stop and think about it how much do you really love him? Our head Pastor Doug Schneider is doing a series right now on the book of “Song of Solomon” or Song of Songs here was a man who knew what the love of God really was here was a man who knew what love really was. He knew what is was to worship the God of the Universe.. when he said Lord I love you it was with all the passion that his heart could give.
When was the last time you even just sat in our quite place that you love to pray and read your bible in and said to God with even half the Passion of Solomon “Lord I Love You, Lord take over my life” I know that in this last week of getting up early and making purposeful time to meet with the Lord that my passion, the fire that I have in my life has been renewed. When I now say Lord I Love you it comes from a place in my heart I never knew existed.
I remember when I got baptized in September of 2006 and I sat in that tank as my mentor asked me some questions and introduced me there was a joy unspeakable for I had finally taken a step in my life that God calls each and everyone of us to take. My mom and dad who were both so very tired from the weeks events made a special trip to come out and see me take the first step in what has been a long road. For days, even the next week there was something about getting in the presence of God that was so fresh and renewed. But two plus years later here I am.
An from time to time the flame as grown dim and has to have fresh oil put on it and I have had to change the way I do things (my personal prayer time) to keep that flame going. But I will tell you this never grow complacent, never grow tired of being in the presence of God.. If that day happens then you need to sit down and reevaluate your life, priories and that you are on the path God wants you to be.
I just recently made a commitment to get up early and spend time with God. I made a commitment to change some of the strong holds in my life, look at the roots of my past and finally deal with things. We are all human, we are all not perfect but the Grace of God and his love can redeem us from anything.
So the next time you are alone in your quite place of rest just try this.. put on some soft music, and just let the Holy Spirit wash over you. Invite him in to your special place, tell him how much you love him, and just begin to thank him for anything you can think of and you will be amazed at the passion, and the deep down love you will find for your Heavenly Father.
Should you need some answers or want to know more I encourage you to listen to Part 1 of a message by Pastor Derek Schneider called The Power of A Consistent Devotional Life download it here .
Listen to it online Here:
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Happy Prayers!
