I have mentioned the book
"Experiencing God" by Henry and Richard Blackaby numerous times. I am going to share an excerpt from this wonderful book.
Chapter 6 God Is At Work Around You
My Father is still working, and I am working….I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing. (John 5:17, 19-20)
A California inner city church had suffered years of decline as its neighborhood went through a transition and church members moved to the suburbs. When only a remnant was left, they determined to disband their congregation. As a final activity, the members decided to study
Experiencing God. At the conclusion of the course, they would close their doors for the last time. As they studied the first units, the people learned that God is always at work around them. They chuckled at the thought, since nothing unusual had happened in their church for many years. Nevertheless, they decided to watch and pray during the week to see where God might be working. That week an apartment manager approached one of the church members and asked if their congregation could do anything about the children in the apartment block nearby. Most were latchkey kids with nothing to do when they were out of school. The apartment manager offered free use of the apartment building's common room if the church would provide some activities.
The church decided to offer a children's program during the final few months of it's existence. This soon brought several unwed mothers to their attention. Through their new relationships with the children's families, church members began to meet drug addicts as well as gang members who were living in the community. Before long, this little group had launched several new ministries and were seeing people come to faith in Christ almost every week. At the close of the thirteen-week study, instead of disbanding, the church, now revitalized, began to minister powerfully to its community. Rather than remaining discouraged, the people realized they were in the center of God's activity. He had been working in their neighborhood all along.
When you want to learn how to know and do the will of God, you should always look to Jesus.We can find no better model than the way He conducted His earthly life. Although Jesus was God, He was also completely human. During His life on earth, Jesus perfectly fulfilled every assignment the Father gave Him. He never failed to do His Father's will. He never sinned. He demonstrated what absolute surrender to God and obedience to His will looks like. Possibly the clearest statement made about carrying out His Father's will is found in John 5, quoted at the beginning of the Chapter.
(Excerpt from Experiencing God page 65 and 66)
God has a plan for PCF! There is much work to do for His Kingdom.
We will begin a study of "Experiencing God!" in the next couple of weeks. Get this book it will change your life, your attitude, and your experience with God!
Love, pastor kent
