Emmanuel Christian Fellowship – McGregor, TX

We will gather for a time of sitting with the Lord followed by Corporate Prayer this Wednesday (2/2/11) at 7:30pm. With much to pray about, this serves as a great time to come together in agreement for those who are in need. It is also an opportunity to receive prayer for any personal needs you might have.

If you are listening to the podcast of the 1-9-2011 Sermon, the video clip that prompted the sermon is available here:

Please note: it will skip to the correct scene once you click Play.

For those of you that might have missed the play–or just want to see it again–we have uploaded it to YouTube.  Enjoy!

You can view it full-size here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viRz1Lh9b64

ECF will be having a shortened service on Sunday the Dec. 26th.  We will mainly worship and pray. If you are in town, feel welcome to come and join in. We will not be having kids church that morning.

Paul

On Sunday December, 19th at 6pm, the kids of ECF would like to invite you to a Christmas play. It has been a joy watching them fellowship together on this project and it is truly a gift they have received and wish to give away. Please come early to get a good seat. We will have some refreshments after and some time to visit with one another.

Wow, that sounded most proper and churchy…..   I still got it!

Paul

It’s amazing how God will sometimes speak to us in our dreams. He has a way of really getting our attention. The following is a great example:

I am a dreamer…Literally!  I dream almost every night.  Sometimes I cannot remember my dreams when I wake up, and sometimes I can.  Sometimes there is nothing to my dreams…and sometimes my dreams are straight from God.  I had one such  “wake up” call this week.

As most of you know, I am a teacher. I love it! Teaching is so much more than a job to me.  It is a ministry, a calling, and a privilege.  It is not always easy to teach junior high students.  There are hormones, drama, and many other issues to face on a daily basis, but I can honestly say that God has placed a love for these children in my heart.  All 91 of them!!

I must also admit that on occasion I can get really upset.  It can be frustrating to teach a lesson to kids who are goofing off and not paying attention.  I must admit that I have even lost my temper on occasion on a student or two.   Being a teacher, I know that I have the right to get upset and expect appropriate behavior in my classroom. There is no doubt about that!!  BUT…God reminded me in a dream this week that I do not have the right to be mean…EVER!!!

Here is the dream: I was teaching a classroom full of rowdy kids.  I was trying to explain a lesson to them, and they were just not listening.  There was one little boy in the back that I could not recognize and who seemed to be talking excessively.  He was unfamiliar to me, and his talking was really annoying me.  He seemed to be trying to figure something out, but I was trying to TEACH.  I started walking toward him and before I could make out who he was, I “went off” on him.  I was really letting him have it for interrupting my classroom.  In the dream, when I spoke to him I was mean and degrading.  As I walked toward him, I realized it was my son, Rhett and he was crying from my inglorious tirade on him. My heart sank and I raced to him to try and undo the damage! He explained through tears that he was lost and needed help finding the right classroom, and he had been asking the people around him for help.

I woke up. My heart ached.  I became acutely aware that I must treat every single child in my classroom like they are my own.  I do have the right to correct and address behavior issues, but I do not have the right to humiliate or shame any child.  And many students today really are lost and looking around them for someone who will help. They are all somebody’s sons or daughters.  Better yet…they are all Children of the King!! And they must always be treated accordingly!!

I was so moved and thankful for the dream and the gentle reminder from My Heavenly Father of how precious children are and how much they need love and guidance!  We all need reminders like this.  Each and every human is worthy of being treated respectfully.  I will remember this dream the next time my patience is tested..which will probably be at least once today!  ; )

lorna

Jimmy asked me last night what I really took away from the conference.  I thought I would share the 5 things I took away.  I know they will not be as powerful second-hand as they were there….but they are powerful truths!!!

1.  When your plans are changed unexpectedly and often annoyingly…look for what God is doing. Sheila said she gets excited when plane flights, etc  change, because she knows God is ordering her path and SOMETHING He WANTS is in the works. What a great way to train our minds to think!   It will help us avoid stress and keep us looking for God around every corner!  What a great trade off!!!!

2.  Be present now.  Do NOT wait for a better, easier, more exciting time in your life.  LIVE NOW!!!  LOVE NOW! Set off “JOYBOMBS” every where you go and everyday!  God wants that for each and every one of us!

3.  No matter how hard things get…how dark…how broken….THE SHEPHERD ALWAYS KNOWS WHERE TO FIND YOU.   Sheila Walsh learned this in a psychiatric ward while  under suicide watch!   AMAZING!

4. Remove the veil that keeps you disconnected from your husband, your kids, your family, your friends, etc.  The veil keeps everyone at a distance.  (Some veils are thicker than others)  The key to breaking through the veil and to really being open to genuine relationship… is TRUSTING GOD!!!!  It is knowing that humans have the ability to hurt you, leave you, die, etc….but deciding to trust and lean on GOD will free us up to drop the veil and love others because our hope and trust is not rooted in a person!  IT IS ROOTED IN CHRIST! EASIER SAID THAN DONE….but WOW!!!!  I want that!!!

5.  We also got to listen to Karen James’ last phone call to her husband as he was freezing to death on a mountain and she could not rescue him!!!    UNBELIEVABLE!!  I was sobbing….and I realized that my husband is NOT stranded on a mountain in danger of freezing to death…he is RIGHT HERE!!!!!   I can love him and hold him and honor him right now!!!!!  That is a powerful concept that can change EVERYTHING!!!!!

lorna : )

The final scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory includes these lines:

Willy Wonka:  “How did you like the chocolate factory Charlie?”

Charlie:  “I think it’s the most wonderful place in the whole world.”

Willy Wonka: ” I’m very pleased to hear you say that, cause I’m giving it to .  It’s alright isn’t it? I can’t go on forever and I don’t really want to to try. So who can I trust to run the factory when I leave and take care of the Oompa Loompas for me? Not a grown-up. A grown-up would want to do everything his own way, not mine. That’s why I decided a long time ago I had to find a child. A very honest. loving child to whom I can tell my most precious candy making secrets.”

Charlie:”So that’s why you sent out the golden tickets.”

Wonka:  “That’s right. The factory’s yours Charlie and you can move in immediately.”

Charlie:” Well what happens to rest of the……..”

Wonka:  “The whole family; I want you to bring them all.”

The factory is ours. Do we come as children or as adults, as know-it-alls? Will we run it as we see fit or will we listen to the precious secrets of the Master Chocolatier and steward it His way. The Oompa Loompas are ours to take care of. And the whole family is invited.

Either the writer here knew exactly what he was doing, or he fell face first into truth. It really doesn’t matter does it?

PA

Recently, I found myself on the receiving end of a double-barrel sermon preached impromptu, by a sister in Christ as I sat on her sofa. I was there to deliver something and we began to talk about the subject matter of a recent sermon about why we attend church services. We talked about worship mainly, because that seems to be the most powerful draw for us. As we talked, she slipped a word in  that pierced me and has been bouncing around in me ever since. The word was expectancy.

As she spoke, she became more and more impassioned and if I would have had a hidden microphone with me, we would be hearing it the next time I am in the pulpit. I’ll try to paraphrase: “Do we have any expectation that God is going to do something on a Sunday morning? Do we show up ready to worship a God that might actually change something in our lives or is it simply a matter of dragging ourselves into the house, for whatever reason, listening to the music, and enduring the sermon? Do we grasp the truth that pure worship, in whatever form, tears down walls and breaks the chains that bind us? That it actually creates a pathway for God to come in and transform us. DO WE REALLY EXPECT GOD TO DO SOMETHING?

Wow! Trust me, it was longer, louder, and more eloquent than I can convey through written words. At one point, I wondered If Jesus was about to walk in the room, slap the beans out of me to get my attention, then throw His arms around me in pure love. Honestly, I’m not convinced He didn’t. The cool thing was this. This sermon was not angry, personal, hopeless or even directed at our body. I truly believe it was the word of the Lord for the Body of Christ at large. Are believers walking out of the door everyday fully expecting God to DO SOMETHING today, tomorrow, or real flippin soon. Better question: Are believers even walking into their own churches expecting that the God they claimed had the power to save them will show up and minister to them???

I think sometimes we’re afraid to expect, afraid to believe, because when the results differ from what we had in mind and more importantly, what others have in mind, we think we’ll look silly and fraudulent. So God becomes only as powerful to us as our brains will let Him be. We must remember that He is a God that shows up and we should expect Him to. He has a track record. They expected more wine at the wedding. DONE! She expected to touch His robe and be healed. DONE!  They expected Him to heal Lazarus. Nope, He went further and resurrected him.

Maybe we should give the Guy a little more credit and begin to expect Him to do the things we tell everyone else He’s capable of.

With much Expectation,

PA

Sunday, October 31st

We are working on a plan to have our service behind the Herings’ house on the 31st.  Outdoor church is a GOOD THING!  Just a reminder for everyone. We will post a definite notice once we have nailed everything down.

Paul