Tune and Prepare!

Messsage Notes 📝 Online Service - Post-Lockdown Church Acts 5:11-21a & 42 By Phil Moore  ... There was a moment, while Jesus was still with the disciples, when they felt utterly powerless and when Jesus had to teach them: You Have All You Need .  When they were faced with 5,000 people to feed, Jesus said you feed them and they said we can’t, so Jesus said show me what you’ve got, they replied 5 loaves and 2 fishes. As they stopped looking at what they hadn’t got and started bringing to God what they had, they discovered: You Have All You Need. In Acts 5:11-21a & 42 we read that a few weeks or months after Jesus ascended back to heaven and the Church moved out of lockdown, some time in 30AD, the disciples had to learn that lesson again.. In Jail / No money ( Acts 3:4 ) / No building ( Acts 5:12 ). It looks like the story of the Church is over, they’re so weak, but what we read about in these verses is the moment that it really all kicked off. It wa...

EN version Ezekben a hónapokban {vagy az utóbbi években!} Iten vmi különleges és jelentőség teljes változást készített el a Gyülekezet életében. Itt most nagy valószínűséggel egy feltérképezetlen terület kerül elénk, új folyamat indul el: egyfajta kilépés a megszokott rutinból egy új átmeneti időszakba a Jel 2 és 3 szerinti rázós idő /ösvény azok számára akik eddig vmi egzisztencialista perspektívát (v. élet stílust) követtek... Úgy tűnik az apostoli alapokat újra kell gondolni { 1Kor 3:10-11 } Vagy egy másik, jól ismert kép szerint: A lepkévé válás gyönyörű útján most a gubó fázisába lépünk.  A Nagyszerű Hernyó Lét után, a vidám és ünnepi növekedés elmúltával most fel kell kapaszkodnunk a levélre, átmenni a transzformáción.  Ha bármi is történne a gubó építése alatt az eredmény igen valószínű, hogy gyászos lenne. Ezért nem manipulálhatjuk, kontrollálhatjuk az eseményt.  Úgyhogy kérlek, ne nyomulj keresztül ezen a perióduson gyorsan és kényelmesen, se te sem a gy...

HU version In this months {and years!} Gd is pre­paring a significant change in the Church's life-line. It's likely will be a really uncharted territory/ progress: kinda step out of the former routine to a new transitional period - according to the Rev 2 & 3. And it could be a bumpy, shaky path for those who are following some existentialist perspective (or live style). The apostolic foundations seem to be reconsidered. { 1Cor 3:10-11 } By another well known picture: It is the cocoon-phase in the monarch butterfly's beautiful life. After the Great Caterpillar Era, the feastful merry growing, now, we must climb up to the leaf, then being prepared for the change, finally we must have the transformation.  If anything happened during the building of pupa the result would be significantly gruesome. Therefore, We should not control the next event by mere human force. Please, do not push yourself through this period somewhat "fastly & conveniently", ...

Fulfilling your life mission on earth is an essential part of living for God’s glory. The Bible gives several reasons why your mission is so important. Your mission is a continuation of Jesus’ mission on earth. As his followers, we are to continue what Jesus started. Jesus calls us not only to come to him, but to go for him. Your mission is so significant that Jesus repeated it five times, in five different ways, in five different books of the Bible. Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21; Acts 1:8. It is as if he was saying, “I really want you to get this!” Study these five commissions of Jesus and you will learn the details of your mission on earth—the when, where, why, and how. In the Great Commission Jesus said, “ Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. ” Matthew 28:19–20 (CEV) . This commission was given to every follower of J...

 To fulfill your mission will require that you abandon your agenda and accept God’s agenda for your life. You can’t just “tack it on” to all the other things you’d like to do with your life. You must say, like Jesus, “Father,… I want your will, not mine .” Luke 22:42 (NLT) . You yield your rights, expectations, dreams, plans, and ambitions to him. You stop praying selfish prayers like “God bless what I want to do.” Instead you pray, “God help me to do what you’re blessing!” You hand God a blank sheet with your name signed at the bottom and tell him to fill in the details. The Bible says, “ Give yourselves completely to God—every part of you…to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes .” Romans 6:13b (LB) . If you will commit to fulfilling your mission in life no matter what it costs, you will experience the blessing of God in ways that few people ever experience. There is almost nothing God won’t do for the man or woman who is committed to serving the kingdom ...

My father was a minister for over fifty years, serving mostly in small, rural churches. He was a simple preacher, but he was a man with a mission. His favorite activity was taking teams of volunteers overseas to build church buildings for small congregations. In his lifetime, Dad built over 150 churches around the world. In 1999, my father died of cancer. In the final week of his life the disease kept him awake in a semi-conscious state nearly twenty-four hours a day. As he dreamed, he’d talk out loud about what he was dreaming. Sitting by his bedside, I learned a lot about my dad by just listening to his dreams. He relived one church building project after another. One night near the end, while my wife, my niece, and I were by his side, Dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course, he was too weak, and my wife insisted he lay back down. But he persisted in trying to get out of bed, so my wife finally asked, “Jimmy, what are you trying to do?” He replied, “Got...

Study The 'End' of the Law The purpose of the Law & the New Start This article is part of the "Vitalize" pack  It is impossible to count the tendencies and religious movements clashing on the subject of law and grace – pros and cons – that is, one always in the foreground and the other in the background.  Many even get to the point where they can’t fundamentally explain the apostle Paul’s teaching about the New Self in an acceptable way — so they put it aside. But, instead of a statement, here we can follow a 3 points outline: Christ's teaching about the purpose of the Law Apostolic testimonies about the Law and the Change The apostolic revelations about Fulfilling the aim of the Law and the trustful freedom of the Love Apostle Paul's words about the link between faith, grace, justice, and deeds. There are also some more complex link, pointing to each other, so I’ll help you a bit with the orange highlights . ...

Hogyan (ne) elégítsük ki a jóváhagyás utáni vágyat  Blake Glosson  Ha rákérdezel egy csoport keresztényre a bűnnel kapcsolatos harcaikról, akkor valószínűleg legalább néhány utalást fogsz hallani a jóváhagyásra vágyó személyekről. Szinte mindenki kapcsolódhat J. R. R. Tolkien megfigyeléséhez, miszerint „a dicséretesek dicsérete mindenek feletti jutalom” - és könnyű bűntudatot érezni emiatt.  Talán meglepő, hogy ahelyett, hogy ezt a fajta vágyakozást nyíltan elítélné, a Szentírás szerint ez Isten eredeti tervén alapul. A Kertben látjuk, hogy Isten teljes jóváhagyását adja Ádámnak, miután az teljessé tette véghez vitte a "munka szövetséget". Pedig Ádám kudarca miatt az emberiség azóta is örökké vágyik az isteni jóváhagyásra. Ahelyett, hogy a helyeslés utáni vágyunkat elítélnénk, a Szentírás azt mutatja, hogy az Isten eredeti tervén alapul.  Az alapja, hogy jóváhagyásra vágyunk, valójában az igazságosságra való vágy. Ahogy Tim Keller kifejti, igaznak lenni azt ...

How (Not) to Satisfy Your Longing for Approval BLAKE GLOSSON If you ask a group of Christians about their sin struggles, you’ll likely hear at least a few references to desiring approval. Almost everyone can relate to J. R. R. Tolkien’s observation that “ the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards ”—and it’s easy to guilty about this. Perhaps surprisingly, instead of condemning this longing outright, Scripture shows that it is grounded in God’s original design. In the the garden, we see God offering full approval to Adam upon completion of the covenant of works. And yet because of Adams failure, humanity has lived in a perpetual state of longing for divine approval ever since. “Instead of condemning our longing for approval outright, Scripture shows that it is grounded in God’s original design.” At its core, our desire for approval is actually a desire for righteousness. As Tim Keller explains, to be righteous means means “I have passed inspection in the eyes of a signific...

 A türelem kulcsa  Először is, a Filippi 3:1 -ben Pál azt írja, hogy önmagát ismételgetni „nem teher” számára. Ez meglepő, mert türelmetlenségünk gyakran abból fakad, hogy önmagunk ismétlése nagy problémának tűnik. Ha rendszeresen emlékeztetem a gyerekeimet, hogy készítsenek ebédet, mossanak fogat és végezzék el házi feladataikat, általában tehernek tűnik - nem holmi csekélységnek. Pál azonban megmutatja nekünk, hogy a mások iránti szeretetből fakadóan a türelem nem lehet kényszerítés. Jákob hét évet dolgozott Rachelért, és „csak néhány napnak tűntek neki az iránta érzett szeretete miatt” (1Móz 29:20). Pál „a Krisztus Jézus iránti szeretetével” vágyott a filippiekhez (Fil. 1: 8), ezért nem zavarta, hogy néhányszor megismétli önmagát. ...   Másodszor, Pál azt mondja, hogy ismételt buzdítása „biztonságos számotokra” (Fil 3: 1). Pál felismerte, hogy nagy jót tehet a filippiekkel, ha egyszerűen türelmes velük. Hasonlóképpen, gyerekeinkhez intézett türelmes szavaink...

 Keys to Patience First, in Philippians 3:1 , Paul writes that repeating himself is “no trouble.” This is surprising because our impatience often stems from the fact that repeating ourselves seems like a great deal of trouble. To regularly remind my kids to make their lunches, brush their teeth, and do their homework usually feels like a burden—and not a trifling one. But Paul shows us that out of love for others, being patient should not be an imposition. Jacob labored seven years for Rachel, and “they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (Gen. 29:20). Paul yearned for the Philippians “with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:8), so it didn’t bother him to repeat himself a few times. We ought to value our kids so much that saying the same things again and again is no big deal.  Second, Paul says that his repeated exhortation is “safe for you” (Phil. 3:1). Paul recognized that he could do great good to the Philippians simply by being patient wit...

 By personifying grace, {John Newton's hymn} “ Amazing Grace ” can be somewhat misleading to modern readers. It is certainly not wrong to put verbs after grace (e.g., Titus 2:11 ). Grace saves wretches. Grace searches out lost sinners. Grace removes spiritual blindness and gives spiritual sight. Grace teaches us to fear God. Grace relieves fear. But in our modern culture, where grace has become a synonym for kindness, “Amazing Grace” becomes a sort of hymn to the transforming power of niceness or, a little better, grace becomes abstracted divine benevolence. In either case, grace is depersonalized . This misunderstanding of grace has led Sinclair Ferguson to go so far as to say there actually is no such thing as grace.(a) It has led Michael Horton to declare that grace is “ not a third thing or substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action. ”(b) Their point is the same. We must resist the temptation to morph grace into spiritual currency or s...

A könyv beszélgetéseket tartalmaz Bono és Michka Assayas között. {részlet} Bono  {apámnak}... talán az egyházból lett elege a botrányok meg effélék miatt. Adtam neki egy Bibliát, és felajánlottam, hogyha érdekli, akkor megosztom vele gondolataimat az evangéliumokról, mesélek neki a keletkezésükről, vagy az egyes részek összefüggéseiről. Köszönte, nem volt rá vevő. Mégis... úgy tűnt, ez volt a legtöbb amit adhatok. A legjobban a hitünket csodálta. Azt hiszem, tudom, mi lsten. lsten a szeretet, és amennyire (sóhajt) készen állok, hogy átformáljon ez a szeretet, és hogy e szeretet szerint cselekedjek, az az én vallásom. A helyzet akkor válik bonyolulttá, amikor megpróbálom megélni ezt a szeretetet. Mert ez nem is olyan könnyű. Michka Nem gondolod, hogy balul üthet ki, ha egy ember túl fiatalon lesz vallásos, amikor alig van valami élettapasztalata? Bono A fanatikusok legtöbbször semmi szeretetet nem táplálnak a világ iránt, csak átmenetnek tekintik egy másik világba. Az egyik véres...

­“Harcainkat Isten stratégiái szerint vívjuk. „Mert a mi harcviselésünk fegyverei nem a hús{test}ből valók. Ellenkezőleg! Isten által hatnak és arra képesek, hogy erősségeket romboljanak le, okoskodásokat bontsanak le..” (2Kor 10,4). Pál apostol ezt írta: „arra bátorítalak titeket testvéreim, hogy Istennek mondott imádságaitokban küzdjetek velem együtt, értem” (Róm. 15:30) . Túlságosan ellenség-tudatosak lettünk. Isten-tudatosabbnak (Isten-fókuszált-nak) kell lennünk, hogy nevethessünk a hit nevetésével, tudva, hogy hatalmunk van "az ellenség minden hatalma" felett (Lukács 10:19). Az már elvesztette uralmát a Golgota miatt, ahol a Bárányt megölték. Jézus ezt mondta: „Ha tehát ti, gonoszak, tudtok jó dolgokat adni gyermekeiteknek, mennyivel inkább fog mennyből való Atyátok Szent Szellemet adni azoknak, akik tőle kérik!” (Lukács 11:13) . Mennyivel inkább ad a mennyei Atya a Szent Szellemet...  Nem kell kiérdemelnünk a Szent Szellemet , kérnünk azonban kell: „...azoknak, ...

­Spurgeon had not gone to college, and felt the advantage of being self-taught ‘on the job’, as it were, rather than in a classroom. And so, rather than recommend these young men to an existing school, he began an in-house ‘Pastor’s College’ in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Spurgeon had diligently made up for his own lack of formal theological education by voraciously reading warm-hearted, passionate and fruitful writers of previous generations. In fact it is evident that his originality wasn’t suppressed or moulded into a traditional way of doing things. Read the You’re reading an excerpt from this full article here  

Who Is The Whore Of Babylon? (And Why Does It Matter?) by Paul Carter © Public domain via Wikimedia Commons   The Book of Revelation is like an art gallery filled with pictures painted in colours borrowed from Old Testament canvases. If you want to understand “the Whore Of Babylon ” you have to go way back in the biblical story. In the Old Testament, the city of Babylon gave birth to an empire that ruled the known world and imposed a worldview upon all of the peoples that she conquered. Those she did not destroy, she subverted. She could be brutal; callous and proud and she believed that she would reign over the earth forever. She said in her heart: “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children” (Isaiah 47:8 ESV). She spoke as a god and she thought herself secure. Her destruction is announced in Isaiah 47. In response to her wickedness, arrogance, self-indulgence, and brutality towards the peopl...

The next 2 paragraphs are fragments 1. We were created male and female by divine design. According to the Genesis creation account, God created humanity male and female (Gen 1:26–28). Maleness and femaleness are creational, not contractual. They are divinely instituted rather than socially defined. Thus our gender identity cannot simply be renegotiated the way in which we refinance a mortgage or reschedule an appointment. God created us, and we are his creatures, both men and women. 2. We were created male and female in God’s image. Humanity’s binary gender design as male and female reflects in some mysterious way the nature of God. While sharing a common humanity, the man and the woman are unique and complementary rather than identical. This complementarity, in turn, reflects a facet of God’s own nature. God, too, is a unity within diversity (three in one, equal in personhood, distinct in role). This unity in diversity is beautifully refle...