Faith

Remember our last book????
I read this tonight & thought of
"getting out of the boat."

"Loyalty to Jesus means I have to step out where I do not see anything. (Mt. 14:29) Loyalty to my notions means I must clear the ground first by my intelligence.
Faith is not intelligent understanding. Faith is deliberate commitment to a person where I see no way."
Oswald Chambers


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What are we afraid of?

   Thinking of the door I described in Sunday School. The one busting at the seams with the Holy Spirit trying to get in. Why do we try to hold the door shut? The Holy Spirit keeps seeping in through the cracks and we are amazed by the things we see Him accomplishing in our church, our class, our community, and our own lives. Why do we still keep fighting against that door to keep it from opening all the way? I know that sometimes I am afraid of  what might happen if I let go and allow the door to open all the way. I think that I am afraid of the power of the Holy Spirit and what He might do to my life. I love everything that I am seeing now, but I don't know if I can handle all of Him. I know that everything He has shown me and done around me is amazing and brings complete joy. I don't know what He has in store when I step back from the door and let it open all the way. What will happen if I let Him take over my life? Will I lose control of everything I have fought so hard to control? Will He come in and completely change me? Will I still think and act the same way I do now? Will He let me have the same friends, the same job, the same salary, the same anything? He has done nothing but shown me His goodness, but I still fight against that door because I am afraid that I might lose me.
    Why is it we are so afraid to let go? He is the creator of the universe. He created us. Deep down I know that He knows best. I know He wants nothing but the best for me. I know He offers more joy than I could ever find on my own, but it is still a big step to let go. It is a big leap of faith to open that door. I gladly cracked the door and let Him in, but I still keep for myself the worst parts. The parts of my heart that I put my fears, my hurt, my anger, and my bitterness. He is trying to flood my heart and my life with unfiltered love and joy, but I am holding on to all the things that will hurt me the most.
    I think the biggest fear of all is what He will call me to be. Where will He send me? How will He use me? What will I do? When will I go? Am I ready? Am I good enough?

    I know that this is a lot, and it doesn't make that much sense, but it boils down to this. Are we ready to move out of the way, let God in, and let Him make us into what He created us to be? Only He knows what the end result will be, but we can take heart because He promises us it will be better than anything we could ever imagine.

John

What to do?

"Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37)

1. Repent and be
2. baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of our sins. And we will
3. receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)
4. Devote ourselves to the apostle's teaching
5. fellowship together
6. break bread togehter
7. pray together (Acts 2:42)

Once the early believers/church started and applied these steps-
"Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possesions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:43-47)

WOW!

Let us, as a class, truly commit to these steps of the early believers. Starting with v 38, and continuing through v 47.

If you are not a part of a small group already, we urge you this week, to join one- to pray, fellowship, learn with a body of believers!
Check out www.orangebeachumc.org for calendar of events, fellowships, bible studies.

We are holding the Holy Spirit back. We are grieving the Spirit by our actions, attitudes, words, lifestyles.
(Ephesians 4:29-32)
He is longing to change our hearts, lives, priorities. He is longing to change our church, community, our world.

It will takes deliberate pursuit, commitment and obedience to draw close to God and His children. His spirit will guide and lead us.
"The Holy Spirit is the One who changes the church, but we have to remember that the Holy Spirit lives in us. It is individual people living in the Spirit-filled lives that will change the church."
Francis Chan

"Be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18
Be constantly filled with His spirit, in His presence. Submit daily to His leading and draw constantly on His power.
Let's let the Holy Spirit have His way with us..."Have thine own way, Lord."
We can do this (with His help)!

In His name,
J&J


Prayer Request:
All of us
Our Church
church staff and leaders
Pastor Jim, sick
Mo, treatment
Lillian, leukemia
Debbie, cancer

Praises:
Gary is back!
Everyday!
Anniversaries


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Talk Talk Talk

   I have been thinking lately. I know, before you say it, I am fine. I did not hurt myself too bad by thinking. But over the last year or so we have seen some incredible things in class. We have seen an amazing growth from 20 to 70 people. We have seen God work in some amazing ways. He has given people visions, moved people to stand up and give their testimonies, and even healed people in His name. It brings to mind a scripture, "But if I do His work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don't believe me." ( John 10:38) We have all seen these amazing movements of the Holy Spirit and have acknowledge His presence among us and within our church. It is an amazing time in our church and it is His timing and grace that allows us to be aware of His works. We have been talking about the Holy Spirit for the previous year, then moved to talking about stepping out of the boat, and are now talking about outliving our lives. We have been doing a lot of talking. I really feel that the Holy Spirit is banging on our door wanting to unleash His power on all of us involved in this church, in this class, and everyone in this area. I have had this very strong feeling lately that we have been talking for a long time but that we are holding the Spirit back by our lack of action. I think that it is a problem for all of us. I know that we talk the talk but we are not walking the walk. It is easy for us to meet on Sundays and discuss the Truth of God, but when it comes to obeying the Word, we seem to leave that up to someone else. I am not writing this about anyone more than I am about me. I know that it is easy to walk out those church doors and step back into our comfortable, routine, and predictiable daily lives. We don't want to change anything that might jeopordize our predictable days. We don't want to change anything that might require God to come through for us. We might believe the promises He makes, but really stepping out on that belief is a whole other level of belief, that we want to be at, but don't want to reach. In acting this way I truly believe we are limiting the power of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1) "And when the day of Pentecost came, they were all with one accord in one place." In One Accord. They were all together, in agreement, in one mind, focused on Jesus, and ready to obey their King. I believe that when we are ready to obey that He will truly began to show us His Glory, His Power, His Love. Let's stop talking. Let's start believing what we are saying to each other every week. Let's start believing God at His Word. Let's start getting out of the boat together and be ready to obey our Lord. Let's be willing to step out on faith and trust that when we do things that put us in a position that requires God to come through for us, He gladly keeps His promises.

John

( Forgive any spelling errors )

Laminin, the Cross

THE CROSS THAT HOLDS OUR BODY TOGETHER!

Laminin - it's molecular structure resembles a cross. A Christian preacher, Louie Giglio, talked about Laminin and relates it to the scriptures in the bible and the wonders of God. You can watch the video in youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

The molecule structure is in the shape of the cross.

Laminin is the major non-collagenous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium sit.[1] Basically, laminin is a protein found in the "extracellular matrix", the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the "basement membrane". It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane.
The laminin protein is made up of three separate parts, called the A, B1, and B2 chains. That gives it a total of six "ends", which accounts for a lot of its flexibility in connecting up various kinds of molecules. Because of this, scientists who create biomaterials are extremely interested in the whole family of laminins. They are a family of glycoproteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every animal tissue. Laminins are secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices.
Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together. Improper production of laminin can cause muscles to form improperly, leading to a form of muscular dystrophy. It can also cause progeria.
Wikipedia

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Colossians 1:17


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Prayer

Prayer requests for
Elliot Katherine Wright-granddaughter of Sheryl Lindsay, she is 4 days old & has an unknown infection. She is unable to leave hospital for the next week.
Mo-finally got out of ICU today & into regular room. He is walking, talking & eating! Please continue to pray for his recovery. No results yet on biopsy of tumor.



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Chapter 4

Hey, we'll be doing chapter 4, "Don't Forget the Bread."

Jeff Boyd will be teaching.

Look forward to seeing everyone!


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Foster care class

Foster care orientation will be Monday, march 21.


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Babies

3 healthy babies born yesterday within the church!!!
Praises!


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Hey

Hey, I'm so excited we have this blog going.  I hope everyone will put it to use.  Share praises, prayer concerns, thoughts, etc....  We need to stay in touch to love and support one another!
Love!
Jenni

Intro

   Welcome to the Hearts on Fire for Christ blog. This is our first post. My wife and I teach a Sunday School at Orange Beach United Methodist Church. We have been looking for a way to communicate with the class more than just on Sunday and invite anyone else who is yearning for a deeper and stronger relationship with Christ to join in on the discussion. We do not pretend to know anymore than anyone else, but we trust the Holy Spirit to lead our thoughts and try to allow Him to speak through us. Please feel free to share your feelings and thoughts with us as we hope to share our love for Christ with you.

John