COMMITTED to train men and women
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.

Living By God's Promises

REDISCOVER OUR FOUNDATION

The Apostle Paul established this church about A.D. 50-51, when he spent 18 months there on his second missionary journey. We can find these details in Acts 18:1-17. During his 3rd missionary journey, about 5 years later, he stayed in Ephesus for about 3 years, and during this time he received disturbing reports concerning problems among believers in Corinth. He wrote a letter which we know as the lost first letter to this church at Corinth.
Shortly afterward, a delegation sent by a member of the church at Corinth (Chloe) reported to Paul that there were divisive factions in the church. Paul did not immediately respond. Then another delegation from Corinth arrived with a letter asking Paul certain questions (1 Corinthians 7:1 and 16:17). The first thing Paul did was sending Timothy to Corinth to help correct the problems there. (1 Corinthians 4:17). He then also wrote the letter that we know as 1 Corinthians, expecting it to reach Corinth before Timothy would arrive. (16:10)
If we would analyze this letter carefully, we find that Paul responds to 10 separate problems;
• A sectarian spirit
• Incest
• Lawsuits
• Fornication
• Marriage and divorce
• Eating food offered to idols
• Wearing the veil (head covering)
• The Lord’s supper
• Spiritual gifts
• The resurrection of the body
How does the Apostle Paul address all these problems at once?
He reminds the church that they have to rediscover the true foundation, which is Jesus Christ, as a counter to all human boasting.
WE learn that no matter what local church we attend, believing that there is one without problems between individual members would be at best naïve, at worst, deceptive.The question is not if a Bible preaching, Holy Spirit led church can have problems, but rather, HOW CAN SUCH PROBLEMS BE SOLVED AND THE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE AND THE LOCAL BODY AS A WHOLE LEARN FROM IT AND BECOME BETTER, NOT BITTER.
The purpose of our church is summarized in a single sentence based upon two key Scriptures:
1. A Great Commitment to the GREAT COMMANDMENT
2. A Great Commitment to the GREAT COMMISSION
What does it mean to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind? When we deviate just 5% from this commandment and love anything more than God, we are on dangerous grounds. The temptation is always present to love and protect our ministry or people we feel God has given us. Or to love my reputation and my position more than I love God. Or I love a certain program more than I love God.
There is a fundamental flaw in such thinking. WHY?
Because no human being, no program, no ministry, no reputation, no calling, can DO WHAT ONLY GOD CAN DO.
When a program starts making disciples after themselves, it needs to shut down, period. Changing leadership is not the answer, because the culture in a certain ministry has its root in the spiritual place. People begin to think what they have heard or observed, even if it is contrary to Scripture.
This is very important to know, because when our commitment to the program is greater than the commitment to the Lord Himself and his established authority, everything breaks down. Now all we want to be involved in is our program.
The Apostle Paul had to deal with that in in Corinth, and I had to deal with that in our church. While such corrections are painful and easily can be misunderstood or misinterpreted, they are absolutely necessary.
In this church, we always want to be committed to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. As a family, some of us need to rediscover our foundation and ask the Lord to bring those Biblical truths to our remembrance daily.

He Died In Faith

For Abraham to loose his wife was a very painful experience. Abraham was a man of faith and certainly his tears did not indicate any unbelief.
Abraham knew that Sarah was now in the Lord’s care. He had to say goodbye, but he did not loose Sarah.
“When you know where something is, you haven’t lost it.”
Too many people when they reach old age cannot experience what Abraham did. They live without faith and eventually cannot die IN FAITH.
“When they look back, it is with regret; When they look ahead, it is with fear; When they look around, it is with complaint!”
For us who trusted Christ, old age should be a time of rich experience in the Lord and a wonderful opportunity to share Jesus with the next generation.

You Have To Choose!

The story about Abraham’s servant going to look for a bride for Isaac, Abraham’s only son, is not just history, IT IS THEOLOGY. The PERFECT WILL of the Heavenly Father. Abraham was 140 years old and would live another 35 years after this. He knew the perfect will of the heavenly Father. The covenant promises to bless Abraham with many descendants. To give his descendants the land of Canaan as an eternal possession.
Genuine Faith also results in genuine obedience to God’s Word. God’s Word must give us the direction, because God’s word is the revealed perfect will of the Father for His children. It was God who brought Rebekah to the well at the right time. It was God who directed Abraham’s servant to that same well. But it was Abraham’s servant who had the right attitude towards the God of Abraham. The entire story makes it clear that God had chosen Rebekah for Isaac, for His providential leading is seen each step of the way. Yet, Rebekah had to make her choice of Isaac.

The Lord Will Provide

Faith provided by God does not demand explanations; instead, faith provided by God rests on God’s promises. When we do ask God for explanations, we reveal that we really don’t know ourselves as good as we should, and we certainly do not know God as well as we should. Like Abraham, we have to learn to live by promises, not by explanations. Abraham did not know HOW God would do it, or WHY God would do what He did, or WHEN God would do it, BUT HE BELIEVED GOD that whatever needed to be done, GOD WOULD PROVIDE. There are lessons to be learned, and one of them is that WHEN GOD WANTS TO PROVIDE OUR NEEDS, many times we must face the test alone. IT IS ONLY THEN THAT WE CAN SEE WHAT OUR HEAVENLY FATHER REALLY CAN DO FOR US.

God Keeps His Promises

Sarah’s faith was not placed in the promise, but in THE ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL; GOD HIMSELF. Abraham and Sarah made some mistakes, they had some occasional failures in trusting God all the way. However, both of them endured to the end BECAUSE THE BELIEVED GOD. When Isaac finally arrived as promised, ABRAHAM AND SARAH SAW GOD’S POWER AT WORK. Ishmael was an obedient son, UNTIL ISAAC entered the family. It was then when the “flesh” began to oppose “the Spirit”. God gave them the fleshly blessings, the black oil which lubricates the world’s economy.
Isaac, however, received the spiritual blessing, the Holy Spirit, which is symbolized in the Bible with OIL. According to Galatians 4:21-31 Sarah represents grace, (the heavenly Jerusalem) and Hagar represents Law (the earthly Jerusalem under bondage). In other words, law and grace cannot live peacefully together. God’s children, born of the Spirit are to live under the blessings of grace and not the bondage of the law. Hagar gave birth to a slave. Ishmael was a slave. If you decide to live under the law, then you become a child of Hagar, a slave; for the law produces bondage and not freedom.

Revelation Brings Responsibility

Revelation always brings responsibility. What does it mean to walk blameless before the Lord? It is a call for integrity. Abram is to walk before God and to live in the knowledge that the eyes of God are always upon Him. The word translated blameless simply means to be
“single-hearted, sincere, fully devoted to the Lord.”
This is the secret of blameless walk before God: WORSHIP GOD LIKE ABRAM DID. FALL ON YOUR FACE BEFORE HIM AND YIELD TO HIM IN EVERYTHING. Circumcision was not an option, it was an OBLIGATION. Circumcision is the sign, the mark of a person’s relationship to God. Ishmael represents the fleshly things we do for God and it pains us to give up our cherished dreams. Our responsibility is to give up our Ishmael. Ishmael did not get a new name, because he represents the flesh, and the flesh cannot be changed.

Stay On The Main Road

People think that Genesis is simply an ancient history book. Living by God’s promises means living by faith in the one who made the promises and believing the promises He made to us. From God’s viewpoint, this trial was a character forming event. When circumstances are negative, we are more concerned about the promises of God than the GLORY OF GOD. Abram and Sarah did not break any laws, but they did deviate from God’s Word and through it were unable to have peace and joy in their family. Our God is never caught by surprise when we forsake the Main Road. He is eventually showing up to bring us back where we belong, unto the Main Road.

Keep Going – Keep Growing

There can be no growth without challenge, and there can be no challenge without change. That’s the way God designed our ‘SCHOOL OF FAITH CURRICULUM’. If nothing ever changes, you don’t need to learn to LIVE BY GOD’S PROMISES. If life is predictable, there are no challenges to overcome. And if there are no challenges to overcome, you will not be able to LIVE BY FAITH. Abram lived by Faith in the promises of God and through such actions Abram glorified God. Lot became a friend of the world, and Lot conformed to the world. • God was about to discipline Lot by making him a prisoner of war. God loved Lot, but he did not like what Lot was doing. So, like a loving and caring Father, God had to bring correction into Lot’s life. “Abram lived by the blessing of the Lord, not the bribery of the world. “