Welcome to Redeemer’s Church

I passed out some verses about salvation last Sunday for y’all to memorize. If you’ve memorized any of them by church time tomorrow, I have a surprise that I think you will like. Here are the verses:
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Acts 16:30-31 “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
Matthew 19: 25-26 “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

The Refuge Community Church will be holding an evening adventure February 17 6:00PM -7:30PM

Parents, arrive about 7:15 to watch the parade at the end of our event before picking up your child.

Our adventure this month is

“For Such a Time as This”

The Story of Esther

Come dressed as a bible character if you wish.

Please bring this flyer with the information below:

Child’s name ____________________  Age_______

Parent’s name_______________ Phone #____________

Allergies/special considerations: ________________________________________________________________________________________________

If a parent is not picking up the child, name of person authorized to pick up the child. ______________________

Parent signature________________ Date____________

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBgbkft7oYw

It’s been a while since I’ve dreamed about punching anyone, but when I do hit someone in a dream I’m so powerless.  I get nowhere with all my hitting.  We are used to manipulating things in the physical world, and often it works.  When the tire goes flat we change it.  When our hip hurts we stretch it. However, the Bible tells us that our main struggles are not about physical realities but spiritual ones.  Ephesians 6: says for “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  These are enemies we cannot punch in the face.

Take a few seconds to think of one ongoing struggle  in your life.  What have you done as you struggle with that issue?  Arguments, scoldings, consequences, and distancing are some of our methods to get the results we want.  If these struggles are spiritual, then we need to have a spiritual approach to them.  Start with  recognizing that the conflict has a spiritual element to it, and that the spiritual aspect must be addressed.

Once we admit that our struggle is not just physical, we need to suit up in the full armor of God.  As we struggle spiritually, we must enter with righteousness, faith, and salvation on our minds.  All this struggle happens in prayer, and prayer is where our only power is the power of a child asking a loving, powerful father to help us.  We don’t pray as much as we should because it’s such a humbling activity.  “God, I cannot remedy this relationship with X, and I’m counting on you for a breakthrough.  There is also the other situations with Y. . . “  on an on our concerns go.

As we continue to pray and watch for what God is doing, as we are courageous enough to open our mouth with grace at the right time, we find that Jesus is going ahead of us and fighting our battles.

When I was a child we had Vacation Bible School every summer. Every day we said the pledge to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. I remember those last two pledges even though it’s been a long time since I’ve said them. In these tense political days, I’ve been reminded of pledges I’ve made, and I’m turning my attention to my citizenship in the Kingdom of Jesus. If we invest more in the kingdom of Jesus, we won’t be as vulnerable to our feelings about the present turmoil or the future of the United States. I want to stay concerned, but I do not want to be obsessed over the latest catastrophe. To do this we need to come to know Jesus more—not just to more about him, but to know him more. Luke 5 records some of the first people who saw Jesus and chose his kingdom.
Simon Peter lets Jesus use his boat to preach. Jesus then does a miracle that fills Peter’s nets full of fish. Peter does not want to do any more fishing, but he puts out his nets because Jesus said so. In response to this man he just met, Peter immediately leaves his boat and tackle to follow Jesus.
Jesus meets a man with leprosy. The man sees that Jesus has power to heal him. Jesus touches him and he gets well. King Jesus is stronger than our greatest illness and fear.
Some men find out that Jesus, the healer, is teaching close by, so they bring their crippled friend to him. They rip off the roof and lower him down to Jesus. As we know Jesus more, we will find ways to bring our friends to him.
Jesus met a tax collector named Levi, a Jewish outcast. In a conversation that may have been only two words, “Follow me.” Levi decides to leave everything to walk with Jesus. What did he see so quickly that caused him to walk away?
You have been invited by Jesus to know him as savior, Lord, brother, friend–your very life. Press into him, and you will be pressing into the kingdom.

If you want to light a candle and join the angels singing, come to Rankins at 6 this evening for a short worship and candle lighting celebration.

We will be worshipping tomorrow morning at virtually. You can access it on Facebook.  We’re still trying to figure how to get tuned in to Sam playing music at our house and Richard preaching at his house.   I hope you will join in with us.  We have a lot to celebrate, because Jesus has given us new life, real life, abundant life.