Greetings Family, This past Sunday, we received a message from Elder Shantia - “The Letter to the Church in Sardis” (Revelation 3:1-6). This was the dead church although they had a living façade, they were lifeless. Many believed that they were alive but God saw past their mask, in the same way that He does with us. There may be times that we put on a smile, but we are filled with pain and hurting behind that smile. We may be able to hide the pain from our family, friends and co-workers, but we cannot hide from God. Elder Tia reminds us that God has not left us but we have to wake up and stop feeling sorry for ourselves. God has called us all to a specific purpose. In order to live out our mission, we must be vulnerable before the Lord and draw closer to Him so that He may grant us strength. We may feel like there is nothing left in us, but we must push and press forward to strengthen what remains within us. She shared that we have to get back to the place where we were hungry for the word and trusted the Lord simply because he is God. We have to go back to move forward and we cannot become complacent in our walk. Each day we are given an opportunity to show that we are faithful to a forever faithful God, by having a heart of repentance and brokenness. Elder Shantia explains that having a heart of repentance goes far beyond just words, but it is in our actions. It is about making a conscious decision to change our mindset and action toward the things we know are not pleasing to God. Many times we repent for what we have done, but it is just as important to confess and change the things that we are not doing. God grants us free-will and he also gives us opportunity to turn away from temptation and to not give up ourselves to our flesh. Therefore, we must take heed to the Word. God warns us that for our actions or lack of action, there are consequences that we do not know when they will be in effect. Elder shares her experience when she recently spoke with her spiritual father. They discussed that Mending Hearts has to live up to the mission and vision that God has given to this house which is to mend hearts. The healing must start with the members of the house in order to go out and heal others. This will lead to starting mentoring within the church. With mentoring comes following up and being lasting relationships. This is an essential part of discipleship. God blesses and equips the leaders so that they may teach and help equip us and we then in turn do the same for our brothers and sisters. It is instruction from the Lord that we are attentive to His word because what we hear, we are accountable for as well. We must not only listen to what God has said, but pay close attention to what He is saying. Elder Shantia ended her message by giving us 5 steps to take in order to live up to our reputations: 1. Wake up- Romans 13:11 2. Strengthen- Ephesians 6:10-20 3. Remember-John 14:26 4. Obey- James 1:22 and Psalms 119:55 5. Repent- Acts 3:19 Amen Aisya
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 18:24:58 +0000
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