- Jan 6, 2021Book Of Revelation Study 14
- Jan 3, 2021ReNew Your Heart
Jan 3, 2021ReNew Your HeartBy: Bro. George RiekSeries: 2021Welcome to 2021 All better now right? Of course it hasn’t changed just because the calendar did. Last year was a tough year. Not just the pandemic, but so many things I would say it was a dark time for our Nation especially In the time of Joel, the land of Israel had been devestated There were no crops, no vines; the animals and the people alike were hurting It was indeed a dark time in the land of Israel"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart,And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations.Why should they among the peoples say, `Where is their God?'"Look again at 12-13God’s people are called to fast and rend their hearts to return to GodToday I believe that Christians have turned to everything but God to get better The government, money, self, even denial. We need to ReNew our heartsVs 14When we return to God, we do not know what He will do, but we trust HimThroughout history, when God’s people returned to Him, He blessed them But….God does not want lip service! He wants you to show Him you are serious about returning to HimVs 15-16Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,Gather the people and Sanctify the congregation When was the last time you fasted, meaning denied food to pray? We need to be the warriors for our Nation, and we fight by calling on God We do that by denying self and calling upon the Lord to save our Land I am calling for a church-wide fast. Beginning at noon on Saturday 1/9/21 and ending at the end of service Sunday In fact, we are going to consecrate ourselves by taking the Lord’s supperVs 17This calls for the Lord’s ministers to intercede and prayYour Pastor and your deacons are planning to do just that next Saturday In order to see this world saved, we have to consecrate ourselves first You can begin today at the alter None of this is possible until you give yourself to the Lord
- Dec 30, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 13
- Dec 27, 2020The Birth Of Hope
Dec 27, 2020The Birth Of HopeBy: Bro. George RiekSeries: 2020
HOPE
Without hope people give up
In sports, in love, in life; hope is the driving force
No matter how bad things get, if you have hope, you can persevere
In Isaiah’s day, times were bad for the Jews
Look at Isaiah 9:6-7 NASB"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."Suddenly, there is hope and hope for all eternity
This sign was passed on and the people looked for the future hope
Because the birth was a lowly one, many people did not believe
"While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."The birth of the Hope of the world was announced
Look at verse 11The Savior of the World is the Hope they had all been looking forBecause of the sin in the world, mankind was destined to Hell
That is what this Savior is about; saving us from our own destiny
He would pay the debt we couldn’t pay to reconcile us with God
Without our Savior, Jesus, there would be no hope.
Perhaps some did not believe the shepherds
"And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
"Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."How about Simeon; can you believe him? He was led by the Holy Spirit
Simeon shared a great hope for us
He proclaimed a light of revelation to the Gentiles
This gives hope to all people; Jews and Gentiles
"And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.
She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.
At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God,
and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.Anna, the prophetess, told everyone that this child was the redemption of Israel
The hope, that over 400 years earlier had been prophesied, was here
He was born, the hope of the world
Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned
Romans 6:23
Says the wages of sin are deathBUT the free gift of God is eternal life
This is the Hope that we have, and His name is Jesus
He lived, was crucified, buried, and rose again on the 3rd day.
Romans 10:9 says WHOEVER believes in Him
Will not perish but have eternal life
This is the Hope that gets us through every challenge of life
Do you know that hope or are you still looking for it?
- Dec 24, 2020Christmas Eve Service 2020
- Dec 20, 2020Trusting God (even when it’s hard)
Dec 20, 2020Trusting God (even when it’s hard)By: Bro. George RiekSeries: 2020
If you have ever attended church, you probably heard "just trust God"
Sometimes, that seems very easy
Sometimes, not so easy
Sometimes, trusting God is downright hard!
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son;
and he called His name Jesus."Joseph had a hard decision to make
He obviously loved Mary
What if you were in that situation today?
Joseph was chosen by God also
Now, after hearing from the angel, Joseph still had to make a decision
Most of the time, in our lives we know what we should do, but it is hard
Our friends and families sometimes make it harder
If Joseph trusted God, he would be mocked and shamed
Perhaps, those who were the closest to him would reject him
But if he didn’t trust God ……..
This is a situation we often find ourselves in, and it is hard
Trusting God doesn’t mean there won’t be struggles
You may still go through some very hard times
We know, from scripture, that Joseph and Mary did go through hard times
Ultimately, it is how God brings you through these times
So, do you really trust God? He is the one that already knows the outcome.
We know that this year has been like no other in our lifetimes
But GOD!!
Do you trust Him even when it is hard?
Today is the day to solidly put your trust in Him for all eternity.
Will you receive Him today?
- Dec 16, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 12
- Dec 15, 2020A Christmas Celebration 2020
- Dec 13, 2020Ordinary To Extraordinary
Dec 13, 2020Ordinary To ExtraordinaryBy: Bro. George RiekSeries: 2020
Sometimes, when you talk to people about salvation, they give excuses
One of the most often given is, "God surely wouldn’t want me"
Many people struggle with low self esteem
Some just know they have lived a rough life so far
Either way, they will tell you they are just ordinary and not worthy
Today, I want to talk about the most well-known woman in the Bible
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.
The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.
"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.
"For nothing will be impossible with God."
And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.Of course, the woman I’m talking about is Mary, the mother of Jesus
Mary was a young lady of around 13 or 14 and she was engaged
This was the norm for those days and there is no mention of anything special
She would more than likely have been illiterate, as most women were
She probably worked about 10 hours a day
The scriptures would have been taught to her by her father
The angel said "Greetings, favored one" and this perplexed her
She didn’t see anything special about herself
In fact, prior to this moment, there wasn’t anything special
Why was she a favored one?
Because God choose her!
She still had a choice; look at the end of this passage, vs 38It was at that moment that she went from ordinary to extraordinaryYou see, when God calls you and you accept,
It changes everything
But this was Old Testament
Has anyone ever heard of Billy Graham?
How about Lee Strobel?
How about George Riek, Sharon Vittor, or Hugh Ellis?
You see, it isn’t what you have to offer, it is what God has to give
We are all just ordinary, but God still loves us and wants a relationship with us
It is when we say yes to God that He changes us
Will you go from Ordinary to Extraordinary today?
- Dec 9, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 11
- Dec 6, 2020Love Conquers All
Dec 6, 2020Love Conquers AllBy: Bro. George RiekSeries: 2020
We have been talking a lot lately about struggles, fear, hard times
2020 seems to have brought all these things to the surface
Today I want to talk to you about something that is greater than all that
Love
Not love in the traditional way the human way
The greatest love!
GOD’s
Love"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."For God - God is the creator and He is greater than anyone or anything!So Loved - We often recite this verse and say it so quickly that we skip over the word “so”
That word is the emphasis that makes the word Love even stronger
It means He loved with everything He has
Let that sink in for a moment
The one, who is greater than all, loves YOU with all He has
How do I know that He loves you?
The world - This doesn’t mean the Earth; this means those who make up the world
ALL the people:
Past, Present, and FutureThe God of ALL loves YOU
How much does He love YOU?
That He gave His only begotten Son - The first Christmas gift, the baby in the manger, JesusI dare say there is not a human alive that would give their only child for a strangerThis is the ultimate Love, and because of that Love, nothing can overcome it
Who ever, believes in Him shall not perish - You see, His love is so great that it conquers ALL
The one thing that all people do that condemns them to Hell is Sin
God’s love conquers even that sin
It is greater than trouble, hard times, fear; greater than ALL!
But have eternal life - God’s great love sent us His Son as the first Christmas present
So that He would conquer ALL for UsThat we may have a relationship with God, our Father, through eternal lifeHave you received the gift of ultimate love today?
- Dec 2, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 10
- Jan 6, 2021Book Of Revelation Study 14
- Jan 3, 2021ReNew Your Heart
- Dec 30, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 13
- Dec 27, 2020The Birth Of Hope
- Dec 24, 2020Christmas Eve Service 2020
- Dec 20, 2020Trusting God (even when it’s hard)
- Dec 16, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 12
- Dec 15, 2020A Christmas Celebration 2020
- Dec 13, 2020Ordinary To Extraordinary
- Dec 9, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 11
- Dec 6, 2020Love Conquers All
- Dec 2, 2020Book Of Revelation Study 10