Seeking His Face
By Pr: Benjamin
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon His while He is near”. Is 55:6
This is the call of God for the coming year 2011. He is calling us to seek Him with all our hearts. We often get so busy with family, work, ministry, party, friends, etc that we hardly have time to sit before God, gaze into His beauty, worship Him & know His heart.
One of the great differences between Moses and any other character in the Bible is how God describes Moses. Moses was a friend of God, and he met God face to face. "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" (Ex. 33:11a). So often, we view others for what they can do for us, instead of who they are. There is a difference between being a servant and being a friend. There is a difference between being an employee and being a son.Do you seek God's face, or do you find that you spend more time seeking His hand? God wants us to seek Him for our every need. However, there is a higher calling for every believer. That is to seek God's face, and to see Him for His love and tenderness toward us as His children. He can provide for our physical needs, but when we see Him face to face, we are changed. We no longer see Him as one to be feared as much as one to know intimately. We no longer view Him for what He can give to us, but for what He already has given for us.
When we see Jesus face to face, we are no longer slaves, but friends. We do not fear Him as a slave fears his master. We have entered a new kind of relationship-a relationship that has mutual respect and care.
This year, Jesus is calling you to seek His face, understand Him, know His nature and experience His love. When you seek His face, you will know His provision and His mercy in all aspects of life. Seek His face today and become a friend of God.
Giants vs Grasshoppers
By Mackey Hooper
In Numbers 13 we find the story of the twelve spies Moses sent into the land God had promised to the people of Israel. They reported back that the land was flowing with milk and honey and that the fruit was plentiful. Ten of them said "all the people we saw in it are men of great size... and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." Only Joshua and Caleb said they could defeat them.Now think about this: they became like grasshoppers IN THEIR OWN SIGHT; so they became like grasshoppers in the sight of the enemy.Their fear caused them to rebel against God and cost them their lives. They were at the doorway of the promised land and victory, but were turned away and forced to wander 40 years with the death of everyone over the age of twenty.We all know the story of David who looked at Goliath and saw not an enemy to be feared but a defeated foe by the help of God.
Are you facing a giant in your life? Read Psalm 18. In verse 29 David said, "For by thee I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall." Do not let yourself become a grasshopper! Remember the power available to you in the name of Jesus.
Do you hear anything from God?
Philipp
God speaks to us in many ways. For instance he speaks to us in dreams and visions while we sleep. See also Job 33:14-15.
God wants to talk to us all the time, but often we are too busy to listen to him. So he chooses one specific time, when we do nothing else than sleeping and therefore he has our full attention.
For some of us, the nightly encounters seem to be only virtually, but they are still real. God even gives us directions for our lives and answers our questions we had the day before we went to bed. Even in the Old Testament it was normal, that God talked to us while we were asleep. According to our lifestyle, he talks less or more frequent to us. See 1st Samuel 28; verse 6: “He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him by dreams.” This passage shows us, that God talked to King Saul frequently and Saul expected to get an answer from God, but on this night he didn’t get a dream (because of various reasons).Do you pay attention, when God talks to you in a dream? What do you do after you had a great dream? The best thing you can do is to write it down on paper, so you can remember it later, because dreams are written in our minds with disappearing ink. If we do not re-experience them immediately after waking up, most of them get lost from our memory! So let’s get a piece of paper and a pen and place it next to you bed, that you are ready to write your next dream down! By doing that, you will show God, that you are ready to pay attention to his voice and he will give you dreams.
The day of the Lord is near
By Mahima Regie
Every new year is a joyful reminder that the coming of the Lord is near. Before the Lord Jesus Christ left this earth He promised His disciples that He will come again a second time to take along with Him those who believe in His name. As we begin a new year let us ask ourselves- are we prepared for the second coming of Christ? We take a lot of new year resolutions but we forget one very important resolution and that is to be like Christ. Look back at bygone year and examine our lives. We may have been preoccupied with so many worldly affairs and desires. Humility may have been replaced with pride. Selflessness may have given way to selfishness. Conflict may have replaced peace. Arrogance may have triumphed over gentleness. If the Lord pays a surprised visit to our homes or educational institutions or work place today, will He see in us His qualities? To be like Christ is a difficult task. But God has promised us His grace. God has blessed us with a new year 2011. It is not because of our worth that we have survived but because of His grace. This new year let our top most resolution be- to be like Christ! Behold, we need not fear
Coz, the day of the Lord is near!
Christ in us, may the world see,
May this, for His coming our preparation be!
Church reports:
Great Commissioners:
We had the Great Commissioners youth meeting on the 19th of December. We had a great time together listening the word of God and worshipping. Br.Kalyan had brought the word to us. We ask your prayers for all of us and the plans and goals that we have for the year 2011.
Christmas Celebration:
We had our church Christmas celebrations on the 25th of December in the church. The church choir presented some Carol songs and the Great Commissioners performed a choreography and a Christmas mime. Pastor Benjamin brought the Christmas message to all of us.
New Year service:
We had our church new year service on the 31st night December and we welcome the new year 2011 in God’s presence thanking and praising God. Pastor Stilbow John gave the message to the church. We hope and pray that 2011 will be the year of restoration for all of us and we expect great things from God for our ministry and personal lives.
Prayer requests:
- Pray for the new leaders training program which will be started from January 4th.
- Pray for the upcoming leaders, so that they will be committed to God for His ministry.
- Pray for the new believers that they will be strong in the Lord.
- Pray for the plan and goals for the year 2011.
- Pray for the financial needs of the church.
- Pray for the church rent and for the house rent
