Hi, hoping we made it in time to be part of your nighttime routine🌙

What powerful messages we have heard the last few services! (We’ll get to them shortly. Also, you’re going to want to hang around for the music on this one. The band and singers were awesome, and Brother Darrell was killing it in this song.)

Brother Nobles mentioned the bread of life Friday night. It reminded me of a table that has been in my family since I was a child. I grew up sitting around the table that is in my mom’s kitchen. Dad and Mom used to have lots of company around that table in years past. I’m not sure how they all fit, but it was probably a simpler, less extravagant time. I think that table will be the most prized possession of my brother’s and mine in years to come. It would be the one thing I would try to run into flames to save if there was a fire.

I’m not sure where I’d be without that table. Obviously, it is not about the actual furniture, but all the meals and times shared around it. I’ve watched food, Bible studies, and family times transform that space and chairs around it into the safest place for everyone who entered it. Something happens to us when we stop the hustle, turn off the screens, and slow ourselves as we sit and eat and enjoy each other. There has been so much laughter there — the can’t-catch-your-breath kind — even when our conditions and the world seemed darker than ever.

There have been more than one impromptu post-dinner talks and lingering fellowships that didn’t want the night to end. There have been many tears here where the pressure valve was released. There have been prayers prayed and prayers answered. There have been weighty conversations as weary or broken hearts have wrestled with disappointment, fear, and faith. I’ve always loved this table and all the things that have brought us together around it, but I think a lot now of Elder and all the men of God (including Brother Nick) who once sat there breaking the bread of life as they ushered a little bit of heaven down to all sitting around it. My mom was always there serving and making sure everyone had what they needed. After all the days from the past few years and the roller coaster of the days ahead, I return to this table in my mind and to all the precious words I heard and memories that shaped my life.

That table is not just at home. Think of the wondrous spiritual table in our church — all the years sitting in the pews gathered around the pulpit (or a table in Elder’s later years). All the feasts that have been spread, the river of life flowing through as we sat around it, the cries that went up to heaven, the blessings that fell over all who sat around it, and the eyes that were opened right in those seats. We come in and we unplug from all the noise in the world and in our heads, and we sit at a table spread with everything we need to fill our souls.

Our meals have been plentiful. We’ve had too many memories in this space, and we’ve come too far, shed too many tears, and had too many victories — together, all around this spiritual table — to turn back or walk away. And as time goes on and things become more unstable in the world, the Lord will protect us, give us more instruction, and settle us . . . and I imagine it will all take place right here, around this table.

Share this with a friend who loves building the Kingdom with this family❤

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What We’re Talking About

Recent services have been awesome, speaking words of life into our hearts and souls.

Brother Phil Davis used to sing a song, “The Best is Yet to Come”, and we are in the days of His gathering and outpouring. The message has never changed, but we have changed in how we receive it and how we open our hearts to it.

Some key Notes From Wednesday, April 21

Jeremiah 2:21, God started us right, but if we leave those things behind . . . we turn into a strange vine.

Wait a minute, what?

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? -Jeremiah 2:21

Ezekiel 33:10-16 helps explain. It is clear that the good you have done in the past does not matter, nor will it save you (. . . all his righteousness shall not be remembered by God.) You have to live it right now.

Please tell me there is a turnaround coming.

Yes, verse 14 starts it. Get back into God’s approval and not just His recognition (we’ll get into that another time😉). You will live, and your sins will not be remembered. How’s that for a turnaround?

No More Excuses

We all justify our actions and thoughts. Do not try to justify yourself before God. Confess as David did. “I am bloodguilty.” Period. “I have sinned and done this evil in your sight.” No beating around the bush in Psalm 51.

What We Should Pay Attention To

Sacrifices. Cain brought a sacrifice from the earth. If you are a farmer, or know one, you know Cain put a lot of labor into that sacrifice, probably working from sunup to sundown. In Genesis 4, God did not respect Cain’s offering (verse 5). If we do not do what He will accept, no matter how much we think we’re doing, or how hard we are working, we are living in sin.

Verse 7 is still true if we do what God will accept.

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. -Genesis 4:7

When Your Coffee Order is Three Sentences Long

In case you don’t think God was specific in what He required, read Leviticus. (Not at night, though. Imagine reading the tax code . . . think: heavy eyelids.) You’ll see in great detail exactly what God would and would not accept. If you bring what He does not accept, sin will still be lying at the door.

It’s the Old Testament though.

Correct, and we don’t sacrifice animals any more, but He is still specific in what He accepts today. People claim they want to know God. Well, here He is in Leviticus.

Is God the same as back then? YES.

He wants our first fruits, and He has particular standards of how and what we offer.

When You’re Looking for the Perfect Sacrifice

Turn to Romans 12. You can start sacrificing by not conforming to this world. Some people put in more work than others, but they did it their way. God did not make the sacrifice too much or too hard (Isaiah 43:23-24).

Have you ever run into a brother or sister and it seems like they aren’t doing as much as you in their Christian life, but they seem so peaceful, so kind, so complimentary – yet you did something big like sending all your kids on mission trips last summer (that cost a lot), but here are the proverbial “Jones’s”, their hair blowing in the wind as they walk into their favorite Starbucks, and the Barista already knows their favorite drink. Others judge: from what I can tell, they don’t do a whole lot for the Lord. The giveaway when you do things for God while thinking of yourself and doing it your own way – you end up comparing yourself, and the “Jones’s” drive you nuts. It’s one of the dead giveaways of doing it your own way.

Something Else to Check Out

Isaiah 43, God will give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, and drink to His people, His chosen. When God calls you and saves you, He obligates Himself to you.

Skimming Key Notes from Wednesday, April 28

Here we go:

• God is in control of everything (yes, even all the stuff you’re seeing on your T.V. right now). No matter what is happening in the world, He will protect us.
• Brother Patton once described the covering of God like an insurance policy. You have to stay within the parameters of what the policy covers. Make sure everything we do is in the Lord’s covering.
• Whatever monopolizes your thought pattern (e.g., the news, music) is your god.
• The ungodly are like chaff that will be blown away by things such as news and world events — if we are with them, so will we be blown away.
• Study to reinforce what we have been taught all these years.
• Studying to disprove something is dangerous. You can disprove anything in your own mind.
• The tiniest, smallest opening or crack is all it takes for bad things and the world to start seeping in. That’s why we need to reinforce what we have.
  • Without reinforcement, stuff can get in and change our hearts. We think we’re okay, but under the surface, there can be a different story.
• The Lord is going to be my shield. I will not be afraid (Psalm 3).
• Proverbs 3:13-18 is where we are, but we have to hold on to her (His Church). In verse 1, make sure we are keeping His commandments.
• Fear will make you conform and compromise your own beliefs and morals.
• Fear will cause us to move away from God and into the covering of the world.
• Everything going on in this natural earth is to bring together His will. In Romans 8:28, highlight “All” and “Good“. If we keep that in mind, we will face everything differently.
• Take something you love (dream house, job, spouse), and start complaining about it. You will soon despise it. That is why God hates complaining.
• Our heart should be fixed: my peace is in Him, my love is in Him, and my joy is in Him. If your heart isn’t fixed, you will conform to this world.
• Wake yourself up. Start thinking right, so you aren’t standing with the rest of the world.

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. -Psalm 57:7-8

Skimming key notes from friday, April 30

What a powerful message Friday evening!

• By this (love) will all men know you are His disciples.
• We cannot let conditions dictate our attitude.
• The biggest mountain is ourselves.
• God has always had a purpose and plan.
• We did not come here by chance. We were led by God.
• A name represents authority.
• Two phrases and names that got us excited:
  • Shiloh — until Shiloh comes, people will gather unto Jesus!!! (If you were there, you can still feel this one.)
  • The Lamb’s Wife — “Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” (Revelation 21:9)
• Get your mind out of the news, and bury it in the Word and mind of God.
• You only have ONE soul. (Don’t waste it.)
• The greatest way God can show you He loves you is by showing you His truth. When He opens your eyes, He is opening His heart to you.
• He gave us a way to overcome sin. If we will accept the bread of life, it will help us overcome sin, and we can live forever.
• Romans 12, our offering to God today: give up our will and our own purpose.
• Moses was on the mountain for 80 days and nights. That’s not a typo. He went on the mountain for 40 days and nights — two times. It did not take 80 days for God to give Moses the ten commandments. God also gave Moses His purpose, order, and plan.
• Our roots go back to the Upper Room, where the Church was born.
• Man can NEVER change God’s purpose. God’s purpose will be.
  • They killed Jesus. Twelve more rose up in His place.
  • Get rid of them, and more rise up.
• People could keep the law but still have a stony heart. They went through the motions. Sometimes we go through difficult times because our hearts have hardened.
• Ezekiel 11:20 is when He is truly our God, and we are His people: “That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

Things Sort of Took Off

Not sure at what point the build up from the song and teaching started catching fire, but by this scripture, it was really rolling:

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” -Isaiah 11:10

This scripture started fulfilling prophesy when Jesus came and was baptized in the river Jordan and the Gentiles were given the greatest opportunity they would ever know. In the Old Testament, David’s great grandmother, Ruth, was a Gentile. Rahab was another Gentile given a chance.

Lunch Time at Joppa

(I have to say when Brother Nobles started talking about Peter and his vision, a lot of the young people from “Acts, A City Rising” were looking at one another smiling.)

In Caesarea, there is a man named Cornelius who is a Roman centurion. He’s a Gentile, but he observes Jewish customs and prayers. He’s living the Jewish life, but hasn’t made things official. One day, while Cornelius is praying, an angel of God appears and tells him to send some men to Joppa to pick up Simon, whose surname is Peter.

Meanwhile, the next day in Joppa, Peter is on the rooftop praying (on the sixth hour) when he gets very hungry and falls into a trance. He sees a vision. He sees a sheet being lowered down from the sky with all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds running around on it. God tells him to go ahead and kill one and eat it. Don’t make dirty what the Lord has made clean.

But Peter says, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” God brings the vision down a second time. Peter still says, Not so. God gives this vision three times and the whole thing disappears. Just then, Cornelius’s men come into town looking for Peter. God tells Peter that there are some guys searching for him and he should go ahead and meet them. Peter does, and he teaches them what God gave him about the Gentiles.

Paul and Barnabas

In Acts 13, they tell everyone it was necessary for Jesus to speak to the Jews first, but they rejected Him, so He is moving on to the Gentiles.

Now here we are, and if we do not work in God’s Will, He will find a people who will be His Bride.

The Latter Rain

It was prophesied in the book of Joel, and the same thing is coming to us!

Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. -Joel 2:23

Sunday Night Highlights (May 1)

We had great testimonies from people sharing how God answered prayer and blessed them. Some reminded us of where their hope lies in every storm. Some shared recent experiences they had with the Lord to bring them closer to Him and overcoming.

As service was ending, Brother Nobles gave us some good things to take into the upcoming week.

• Read Psalm 37 — from the standpoint of yourself.
• (1) Stop worrying. (2) Commit those things you are worrying about to Him. (3) Trust Him.
• Put the “drive” behind your prayer.
• Give yourself credit for what you’ve done to change to get where you are now. Give God credit for helping you.
• Sister Jean had a dream many years ago of our church being a wheel with many spokes attached. That dream is not yet finished!
• Young people:
  • When choosing careers, ask, “Will my choice lead me away from the BOC and God? Will it separate me from the people of God?”
  • God will open doors for you.
  • Don’t let the world pressure you by telling you, “If you don’t have it together now, you are not successful.”
  • God will make you rich AND He will not add sorrow.
• Some people have had their dream jobs and been miserable for many years in it. Those who put God first maybe could have gone on and achieved greater things, but they committed to HIM. He added to them, and no sorrow came with it.

The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. -Proverbs 10:22

Thank you for being here❤

Take care.