Jesus Experiment

Hey before I give you a scripture to practice and meditate on for the next week let me give you a great simple prayer to pray every morning.

"God, how can I serve you today?"  

Then watch, listen, and become aware of the Holy Spirit's prompting.  Hearing God is a practice that can be developed the more we tune into His channel.  Let God show you daily how you can serve Him. I have found this prayer to be an exciting way to live each and every day because you may find yourself with a simple assignment like helping someone get their groceries into their car, or find yourself in a full blown discipling relationship.

The Jesus Experiment verse for this week:

Luke 11:9-13

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
¹¹ “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Tonights Book Study, "Experiencing God"

In the last post I mentioned that we are having an "Experiencing God" book study on Wednesday nights at 7:00 and all are welcome to attend.   That is still true....However we will not be meeting at the church tonight because there is work being done at the church.

So....if you were planning on attending call me and I will tell you our secret meeting place for tonight.
My cell is 618-334-3575.
Love, Pastor Kent.

Can't Sleep

It's 11:47 PM Sunday and I have been lying awake praying for everyone in our congregation and going over tonights service. There is always so much more to say about the goodness of God and His ability to change your life and I just don't want anyone to miss what I am trying to convey in the service.

My ministry is not about being religious or routine, extravagant or even proper. What I want for everyone who comes to our church is for each and everyone of you to know the reality of Jesus and know that the Holy Spirit is waiting to unveil Himself to you so that you can become significant in the growth of Gods Kingdom.

What does that mean?  Well there is a great bible passage that gets abused often that I want to share with you so I can shed some light on "becoming significant for God's Kingdom!"

John 14:10-18

¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

The sentence that we get hung up on is, "You will ask anything in my name and I will do it." Wow wouldn't that be great?  But like all bible verses you must take them in context. The preceding verses are the qualifier to the last verse. Jesus said that God, the Father was in Him and the words He spoke and the works He did He did because He did nothing outside of the Fathers will. Jesus is telling His disciples to listen and follow His desires. Then we will do great, might, miraculous things, like we learned in the stories tonight. We can do powerful things for Gods Kingdom when we act on what God is prompting us to do. 

The stories I shared tonight are common to those who have developed a relationship with Jesus and know the voice of the Holy Spirit and are acting on His prompting.

The book I read from at tonights service is called "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby.

If you found those stories inspirational I highly recommend this book as a lead in to deeper bible study. AND I want to mention to all of you that there is a group of us currently meeting on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm and we are going thru the book. We have had two meetings and if you would like to join us all are welcome. You do not have to have the book to join the group.

There is also a group of us who meet right before the book study to pray. We meet at 6:00 PM.

The real question is, "How are you going to get from where ever you are right now to where ever God wants you to be?" Well that will only happen by submitting yourself completely to His direction. That usually happens by following one prompting at a time. Slowly moving closer to the Truth of Jesus.

God really really does have an amazing plan for your life!

Ok,  back to bed to try and get some sleep.   Love, Pastor Kent

PS if you ever have questions about anything I have talked about or just want to sit and talk with me please call me or email me and we will get together.  my email is bon-kens@hotmail.com
and my cell is 618-334-3575.

Tonight...Three stories and Two Options for Your Life

I hope you will join us tonight at 6:30, Esic church. Come hear the Good News!

Sometimes it's good to hear about how real God is in "all" circumstances.

God has a plan for your life! My prayer is that you will begin to hear His voice tonight.

Love, Pastor Kent

Should I Go?

This question will be asked by millions tomorrow. Should I go to church? It's been a tough week, it's beautiful outside, sleeping in would sure feel good, the kids have football, I need a day to just relax.

Praise Community Fellowship offers an alternative. We meet at 6:30 PM. A place where unconditional love changes lives. It is our goal that those who attend our services will meet and get to know the living Jesus. It's not about religion, it's not about a bunch of shall not's, it's about the Gospel.  And the Gospel means, "Good News!"

Come and get some Good News in your life tomorrow at 6:30. Come sing with our praise choir and band. Come and meet some new friends and catch up with some old ones. Come and hear what Jesus is doing in peoples lives.

Three "real life" true powerful stories tomorrow. We believe in the Gospel, the "Good News" of Jesus.

I hope to see you and your family and the friends you invite tomorrow.

Love, pastor Kent

The Jesus Experiment Continues

To contemplate for this week:

Revelation 3:20

²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

This story reminds me of when Jesus met Zacchaeus. You can read that story in the New Testament in Luke 19:1-10.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector.  Tax collectors were despised by most of society because they were know to be greedy and dishonest and worked for the Romans. But Zacchaeus knew in his heart that Jesus was someone different. Someone special. So he made it a point to be where Jesus was and he climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus as he passed by. To Zacchaeus' surprise Jesus noticed him and said these famous words, "Zacchaeus, come down from that Sycamore tree, for today I must stay at your house." 

Jesus will come to anyone. The key is making yourself completely available to Him. Climb a tree if necessary, do what ever it takes but make yourself available to Him!

This Sunday we will come together to make ourselves available to Him.  I will be sharing real life examples of people who made themselves available to God. People who heard His voice and acted on that prompting.  We will also hear a very moving testimony of how the power of God can dramatically change a life, even when from all outward appearances, there is no hope!

See you This Sunday at 6:30 Esic Church.  Praise Choir will be singing. It will be a feast.

Love, Pastor Kent

Introducing:

The Kaburicks: Front row, Lane and Leah. Back row, Jennifer, Reed, and Alan

Birthdays: Jennifer, June 6th    Alan, January 10th   Reed, February 21st,   Lane and Leah twins April 1st.

Jennifer's
Hobby:                      Spending time with family, singing, reading
Favorite music:        Christian, anything by Casting Crowns
Favorite Book:         "Not a Fan" but I'm pretty hooked on "Experiencing God" right now
Where I grew up:     Festus Mo.
Bucket list:                Go to Grand Canyon, Learn to play violin, take kids to Big Sky and stay at the   320 guest ranch where Al and I honeymooned.

Alan's
Hobby:                     Doing anything with family, hunting, bicycling
Favorite music:        Country and anything Jennifer sings
Favorite book:        "Happy Happy Happy" by Phil Robertson
Where I grew up:    Carlinville, Il.
Bucket list:               Go see Tour De France, Learn to play guitar, ride my bike from Colorado to Illinois