 Weekly Events
Saturday, March 6 @ 3 pm...at Christian Assembly Saturday, March 13 @ 9 am...at Christian Assembly Saturday, March 20 @ 9 am...at Christian Assembly
april events... "AWAKEN" YOUTH RETREAT - APRIL 9 & 10 (Laurel, MT) MEN'S RETREAT - APRIL 9-11 AT CAMP BIGHORN LADIES RETREAT - APRIL 23 & 24 at Christian Assembly
COMMUNITY GROUPS Mike McGovern Keith & Pennie Mobley Karl & Brenda Williams Chris Sims & Cindy Kaneta Jack & Ellisteen Smith David Wise Scot & Shelly Colwell Celebrate Recovery Water Baptisms take place the 2nd Wednesday of every month. The preceding Sunday, Pastor Scot teaches a Water Baptism class in the Prayer Room. Sign up sheet is at the Information Center.
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Previous Devotionals“Knowing You, Jesus!” Jesus came “preaching the gospel of the Kingdom” (Mt. 4:23). The message of the kingdom starts with “repentance” (Mt. 4:17). One by-product of repentance is righteous behavior, but more than that, behavior repentance is primarily a deep work of God’s Spirit in the soul. The effects of this deep work of God are taught to us by the King of the Kingdom Himself in His first and greatest sermon called…the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). A careful reading of these three chapters will reveal the “inside” work of the King on the interior of His subjects…poor in spirit, mourners, meek, those that hunger for righteousness, pure in heart, and peacemakers suggest significant change in the mind, will, and emotions of His followers. Jesus will talk about sins, such as murder and adultery, but tell us where those sins originate…“in the heart.” He tells us to love our enemies and that requires a serious change of heart before it shows in any tangible external ways, especially towards our enemies. Charitable deeds, prayer, and fasting need to be done in secret, not for public observation. Jesus will tell us to get the plank out of our own eye and watch out for personal hypocrisy or pretense. External signs and wonders can be achieved in Jesus’ name by people who don’t even know Him. We are entering 2010. It is a new year and I am hearing the Spirit prompting me about going deeper. Going deeper for me is not about working miracles and leading people to Christ, although that would be wonderful. I would love for the supernatural to become a common place thing in my life. But according to Jesus it is possible to do many awesome things and not even know Him (Matt 7:22-23). What I have in mind about going deeper in 2010 is not about “doing” as much as it is about “being” in Him and with Him. Going deeper is about a personal revival in my soul with the Living Christ. Will you join me this year in believing for a personal revival in the core of our being? Revival outside of us starts with repentance and cleansing inside our souls. In all revivals throughout the Old Covenant, it started with people repenting and Temple cleansing. The New Covenant is very clear about this; “…believers are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you…therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:20). To be found in Him…and to know Him (Phil. 3:9-10) will be a Happy New Year. Mike
“L’Shanah Tovah” Happy New Year! The traditions and customs of people are as varied as there are cultures when it comes to New Year celebrations. Jewish people for example, have a couple of dates each year that have to do with their New Year. For example, their calendar year started at sunset September 18, of 2009. Only the Jewish year is not 2009, it is the year 5770. The Jewish call their New Year of the holiday Rosh Hashanah (head of the year) a term that does not occur in the Bible. The Bible term is known as Yom Ha-Zikkaron, “the Day of Remembrance” or Yom Teruah, “the Day of Sounding of the Shofar.” This day is instituted in (Lev. 23:24 & 25). They greet one another with the phrase “L’shanah tovah” meaning “Good Year.” It is the shortened version of “L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem” meaning “may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” The sounding of the Shofar to begin the Day of Remembrance was probably a call to repentance for the whole nation. I have to tell you in all honesty, the Jewish tradition touches my heart. What better way to start our New Year than with the blowing of the Shofar and a call to repentance. What a great way to start by being “inscribed and sealed for a good year.” “L’shanah tovah,” Mike
Thought for Sunday, January 10, 2010 (Chris Tootell) Psalm 33 tells us to rejoice in the Lord. Yet in these times when businesses are failing and the nation slips deeper into sin, it’s easy to focus on those negative realities and not trust in the Lord. Yet as verses 10 and 11 of Psalm 33 tell us that the Lord controls the affairs of men and of nations. His council and His plans, not the plans of men and of nations, will prevail. Let your soul wait for the Lord (vs. 20) and hope in Him (vs. 22) because the eye of the Lord is on those who fear (reverence) Him (vs. 18). Psalm 33 is a great psalm that begins with praise because it ends with hope. So rejoice!
Chris Tootell “Knowing God” Knowing God does not come natural. What does come natural is being quite the opposite of God. God is infinitely purer, smarter and more powerful than anyone of us or all of us combined. Knowing God is out of our reach; out of our spectrum of understanding or ability to get our heads around Him. Knowing God requires God’s help. God had to find a way to help us know Him and find Him that wouldn’t blow our mind. Obviously man has had trouble in Biblical history just with being introduced to angels. Angels scared men half to death when they appeared to them. I can’t imagine what would happen to a person if God in His glorious full form appeared to them! Actually I can imagine what would happen, because God said to Moses, that no man can see God and live (Ex. 33:20). So we need help in this current state of man we are in, to know God and only God can take the initiative as to how that could happen. In my natural state with my native natural abilities I can’t get it done, nor can you, nor can any person in all of history. So God made a way that the glorious, unapproachable, invisible, thrice holy God could actually become known to sinful limited man—He became a man and dwelt among man accomplishing three things in the process: Saved man from sin; demonstrated to all of humanity how man was created to live and revealed who and what God was like. Let’s draw near to God in 2010!
Mike
“What Really Counts!” The obvious big deal and good news about Jesus is that His coming alone tells us something crucial about God…we are not in this by ourselves. I suspect if there was not the Gospel of Christ, I could pick from the plethora of gods out there or the Pantheon of gods to which the Greeks referred. Let me say man is somewhere in between desperate and hopeless in rectifying his insatiable quest to find peace at every level and immortality. Peace is not achievable in this world without Christ and he doesn’t know yet that he already possesses immortality by reason of his birth. Conception creates an immortal being which cannot be altered by abortion or death at old age all that can be determined here is where our immortality will be spent forever (Heaven or Hell). The sources to which most individuals look to find peace are at best fleeting and at worst deadly. Finding peace in this world without Christ is impossible because it is temporal, subject to change. People move, walk away, drug induced highs crash, and stocks markets turn on a dime. In this life peace is only found in Christ, because He demonstrated to all who will believe that even death is not a separation. Those in Christ can have abiding peace because He is ever present. Everything we do in this life can count for eternity if it concerns itself with that which is eternal (immortal) now…PEOPLE. That’s what really counts now and forevermore. Mike
“Come” (Mt. 14:29) The wind had swooped down unto the Sea of Galilee and the waves were getting pretty choppy (Mt. 14:24, 30). That was not unusual for many of the disciples, as many were fishermen. What was unusual was seeing someone, or something walking on the water. Supposing it was a ghost brought forth an understandable cry of fear (14:26). What follows is so Jesus and so God, acknowledging their fears and hearing their cries, Jesus identified the ghost—“Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (14:27). Then what is so Peter, and frankly so us, blurts out, “Lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water” (Mt. 14:28). Jesus says, “Come!” Don’t we see us in this scene? It is I! Lord if it’s you! We are scared to death, worried, sick over something and we can’t see that what we are scared about is actually Jesus coming to us. Next time “winds are contrary” (Mt. 14:24), embrace the storm, it may very well be Jesus coming to you, not no ghost—“Come,” he says! Wherever Jesus is, that’s the place you want to “come” or “go” as the case may be. Blessings!
Mike
“Come and Worship Him” Herod the Great was great in some ways, mad in most. Caesar was heard to say something to the effect that it was dangerous being a relative of King Herod. Herod not only had members of his family executed out of paranoia, but he had babies two years old and under in Bethlehem slaughtered, as well out of fear (Mt. 2:16). All the Herods were violent men. His son, Herod Antipas, had John the Baptist executed (Mk. 6:17-28). He and his soldiers would have been the ones mocking Jesus the night before His crucifixion (Luke 23:7-11). Herod Agrippa I is the king who had James murdered and Peter imprisoned in (Acts 12:1-2). King Herod Agrippa II tried the apostle Paul. The Herodian dynasty were all evil men. They were harsh persecutors of Jewish people who had faith in one God. The Herodian kings were particularly brutal on Jesus and His earlier followers; which really brings me to the point of this subject matter—“Kings have a difficult time worshipping.” Heavenly deities were not a threat to Herod types, but earthly kings, particularly the long awaited Messiah King of the Jews was. The true King will only be known to those of humble hearts, not impressed with their own station in life. The humble of heart have no aspiration to be king themselves, nor do they conduct themselves as though they were not accountable to anyone. The worldly cannot come and worship this King when there are hints and whispers of self-worship. On a side note, yet connected, self-loathing people are not true worshippers either. This is a harder concept to grasp, than the idea that the arrogant can’t worship. But it is true! People who denigrate themselves and have what is called low self-esteem or low self-image are not in any better position to worship THIS KING, because “self” is still in the way. This is not a usual Christmas thought, but there is a type of Herod in all of us, a part that wants no rival to “self.” It is this “self” that wants the stage, that is highly restrictive to coming this Christmas to worship Him who is born King of the Jews. Come and worship Him (Mt. 2:2)!
“Peace & Quiet”
“Therefore I exhort first of all that…prayers…be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1Timothy 2:1-2).
“First of all” sounds pretty close to “nothing more important.” That which is first means anything and everything else can at best be only second. I doubt we will ever know exactly how much prayer played in the whole scheme of things in this life, but I sure hope we will in the next. There is too much admonition in Scripture to think otherwise. God directs prayer; God hears prayer; God cares and God answers. This Bible verse tells us there is good reason(s) given for this priority of prayer here as well. The apostle is saying something has to happen “first” in order to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence…and that is prayer! I can’t think of a nation or culture of people anywhere on this planet that doesn’t want a quiet and peaceable life. I suppose there are fractioned groups of people that are so twisted that this peace would not be a goal, even for their children, since some people actually train their children how to blow themselves up on a crowded bus. But in the main everyone wants “peace & quiet in their life”—you know, “peace on earth and good will toward men.” We all want peace & quiet for us, our families, our nation, our world! To that end we pray,
Mike
“Joy To The World” “…and many will rejoice at his birth” (Luke 1:14). Many will rejoice at his birth! What a great statement! The child hasn’t even been born yet, not even conceived (1:13) and many will rejoice. There is something pretty special about babies being born isn’t there? Certainly in normal families there is the thrill of a new life coming into the family. Neighbors and friends are happy, as well for the announcement and new life. The long process of nursing, protecting, and training will sometimes eclipse the initial joy of the baby’s birth. Most of us have to wait in hope about what our children will become. That would not be the case for Zacharias! He is told before conception of his child that “John” would grow to be a man who would “…turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord…” (1:16). His son John, nicknamed the Baptist, would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb and in the power of the Holy Spirit would “turn the hearts…and make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (1:15, 17). Turn the hearts of the people is a synonym for repentance. A change of heart and mind is always the fertile soil from which God’s next move is birthed. Turning the heart is a good thing to do anytime. May I suggest this Christmas that we prepare the soil of our soul for the “Coming of the Lord” in a more revelational way? Joy to the World!
Mike
“Merry Christmas” “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law… (Galatians 4:4-5). Everything on Earth is driven by time. The human body everyday has a time cycle—it wakes, it supplies energy, it sleeps. Every night while we sleep, the body and mind repair itself. Certain glands inside of humans do various things at specific times every day and at certain ages. Everyday time governs our movements. We are conscious of time, short time and long time. Short time has to do with where I need to be in an hour. Long time has to do with when nine months are complete, more or less a child will be born—and that day is called the “birthday…” in a certain “birth year.” God also is driven by time—not Greenwich Mean Time however, He is not driven by what is today on this side of the Earth and what is tomorrow on the other side of the Earth at the same time. He is not controlled by solar calendars or lunar calendars, but He is driven by time. God is driven by “Heaven time” which is to say, “His time.” Where was God yesterday or where He will be tomorrow is answered by “Here.” If you ask God what time it is He will say “Now.” So in Heaven’s time, God sent His Son born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem all who are under the law—which is everyone—“…the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). Merry Christmas! Mike
“Who is Jesus?” A question for the ages! “Who is Jesus” has been taught and fought over for two millenniums. From the onset of His earthly ministry, the question from Jewish religious leaders and His closest followers was, “Who are you?” (John 8:25). “Who can this be?” (Mark 4:41). In fact, whole cities were buzzing with the question “Who is this?” (Mt. 21:10). On several occasions Jesus asked His followers, “Who are people saying I am?” (Mt. 16:13). Truth is, you can miss correctly identifying Julius Caesar, Madame Currie or Abraham Lincoln and only be docked a few points on a test. But to be incorrect about who Jesus is will have eternal consequences. Moreover, you can be 100% correct in identifying Jesus, but fail to respond to Him correctly and suffer eternal consequences as well. I can for instance know exactly who Julius Caesar was and proudly proclaim, “I could care less” and be utterly unaffected. But the same cannot be said about Jesus. There is not another person who has ever lived or is living now, including you or me, that I must believe in and do something with or suffer eternal consequences. Who is He? Let’s start from His beginning! “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). What a great truth for a great Holyday! Mike DevotionalArchives Jan 2008 Feb 2008 Mar 2008 Apr 2008 May 2008 Jun 2008 |
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