| August 22, 2005 - (Best viewed in 800 X 600 resolution) |
 |
Hello! I hope you had a great weekend. Have you discovered the mp3 portion of JCSM's ministry? Listeners like you download and stream over 750 of our files every day! These files are hosted on our server and on Sermon Audio. Here is a brief overview:
Weekly audio devotions -
http://ada.jcsm.org
This weekend, my family is going to watch the Veggie Tales in San Diego. If you have kids, I'm sure you know who they are! Let's pray that it's as fun and edifying as their movies. Welcome to the new readers of this message! Here is your Devotion, A Moment of Introspection, JCSM's Challenge, the Word of the Week, a faith-builder from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained," and the Quotes of the Week. Have a fantastic week and God bless you! Love in Christ, Jason Gastrich Contact Us: http://jcsm.org/contact.php
JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!) Acts 1:8a "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Luke 4:13, 14 "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region." Romans 8:9, 10 "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Galatians 5:22, 23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." Ephesians 4:30-32 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." Insight: Believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit within them. God's Spirit gives us awesome power and helps us in many ways. Discover what the Spirit can do and follow God's prompting through His Spirit. Prayer: "Dear Lord, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit. There is no other God like You. Let us be sensitive to your Spirit's lead. Help us to listen to You and do your will. Forgive our sins and purify us. Thank you for giving us power to overcome temptation. Thank you for being good and merciful to us. In Jesus' name, Amen."
Conrad Nicholson Hilton (1887-1979), founder of the American hotel-chain, as known as "the biggest hotel man in the world." After having served in World War I, he was involved in the banking business, as well as his father's mercantile concerns. In 1919, he purchased his first hotel in Cisco, Texas, which began his world-impacting career. On May 7, 1952, Conrad Hilton gave an address, entitled, A Battle for Peace: "OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN: WE PRAY that YOU save us from ourselves. The world that YOU have made for us, to live in peace, we have made into an armed camp. We live in fear of war to come. We are afraid of "the terror that flies by night, and the arrow that flies by day, the pestilence that walks in darkness and the destruction that wastes at noon-day." We have turned from YOU to go our selfish way. We have broken YOUR commandments and denied YOUR truth. We have left YOUR alters to serve the false gods of money and pleasure and power. FORGIVE US AND HELP US Now, darkness gathers around us and we are confused in all our counsels. Losing faith in YOU, we lose faith in ourselves. Inspire us with wisdom, all of us of every color, race and creed, to use our wealth, our strength to help our brother, instead of destroying him. Help us to do YOUR will as it is done in heaven and to be worthy of YOUR promise of peace on earth. Fill us with new faith, new strength and new courage, that we may win the Battle for Peace. Be swift to save us, dear God, before the darkness falls." ¹ ¹ Address entitled "The Battle for Peace," given May 7, 1952. Mrs. James Dobson (Shirley), chairman, The National Day of Prayer Information Packet (Colorado Springs, CO: National Day of Prayer Task Force, May 6, 1993).
The Holy Spirit releases us from the barriers that the world puts on us (e.g. racial, ethnic, socio-economic, etc.).
Clean out your closet and give your extra clothes to the poor! There is a very good chance that you have things in your closet that you haven't worn in months or even years. Get a large bag and put them in it, so you can bless those that have hardly anything. God bless you as you meet this week's challenge!
pneuma (Greek, see Acts 11:24): a current of air, that is breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy, or figuratively a spirit, that is (human) the rational soul
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible" claims: Genesis 30:15-16 - Rachel trades her husband's favors for some mandrakes. And so, when Jacob cam home, Leah said: "Thou must come in unto me, for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night." Presumably God, by telling us this edifying story, is teaching us something about sexual ethics. "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained" responds: Once again, the Bible is a book of imperfect people who have times of righteousness. They even manage to complete God's purpose through their mistakes! God surely is huge for being able to use their mistakes for His perfect will. (This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Jason Gastrich. This book is on CD and explains over 3,000 difficulties regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org. There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)
Before Jesus, the Holy Spirit came upon individual people and didn't live in them all. The post-Jesus Holy Spirit brings believers power. The Holy Spirit allows us to perceive truth. The Holy Spirit in your life lets you know that you are sealed by God. The Holy Spirit is also a strong conscience and a reliable guide. When you think you need to take a risk, ask God and see. God involves us in things that only He can do. The Holy Spirit helps us pray past our physical limitations. The Holy Spirit elicits different reactions (and some similar ones) in all of us. These quotes came from God, me, and Joon Han. If you'd like more, please see http://quotes.jcsm.org.
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
|