SIN. It has the potential to bring EVERYTHING down.

It has to be STOPPED!

The good news, is, that’s what the Gospel is all about. 

The Father wants to STOP SIN and that is why He sent His Son to cancel its debt on the cross and in His resurrection provide the power we need to live a godly life.

Like, Joseph, who was horribly treated by others, betrayed, slandered, and falsely imprisoned – he did not return evil with evil. In, effect, he said, “the sin will stop with me!”

As Christians, we need to take the same stand! CHRISTIANITY is about BREAKING destructive cycles. The Lord may have you in your marriage or your family to do just that. The Lord may have you “there” to ensure the grace of God is “there” and that the power of the “Resurrection” is “there”! After all, “we are ambassadors for Christ!” (2 Cor. 5:20)

Today the Lord has given you the grace that you will need to be salt and light to God’s glory! 🙂

I want to thank ALL of you who have been praying for Don Daniel.

It’s with a heavy heart that I write these words.

Don went to heaven this morning.

His absence leaves a horrible vacuum.

When I think of Don, our dear friend, I think of a STRONG GODLY MAN! I think of a man who lived 2 Timothy 4:7 which reads, ^“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith!”

Don had been suffering with a sudden illness. I had cried out to our Father to raise Him up! I believed. But, this morning, though our cry was not answered as we had hoped, I DO praise the Lord – because Don has been RAISED UP and lives in the King’s presence!  

Don is with the great patriarch’s of the faith. He has seen the face of Jesus! He is in glory. And, the Lord knows how we all terribly miss him. Please keep his beautiful wife Joby, and the entire Daniel family, in your prayers. We will be gathering together on Thursday, May 7^th at 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Auburn, to give thanks to God for Don Daniel, and to stand with the Daniel family at this time.

 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

This morning, meditating, on what is “TRUE”

Meditating on the GRACE of God (the FAVOR of God) …

Below are scriptures that I thought you would also be blessed by.

Phil 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

1. Grace is NEVER MERITED – it is a gift that has been purchased by Jesus at the cross and ultimately received by the open arms of faith: Romans 11:6 ^“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
2. Grace is totally associated with JESUS: Romans 5:21 ^“so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
3. Grace was DEMONSTRATED in Jesus: John 1:14 ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
4. God’s THRONE / access to the Father through Jesus Christ – is called a THRONE OF GRACE Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
5. It is grace that God wants you to TOTALLY REST in I Peter 1:13 “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ …”
6. We are to be STRONG in grace 2 Tim 2:1”You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”
7. The grace that God has given is SUFFICIENT in your life for God to be glorified in and through your life: 2 Cor 12:9 ^“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
8. It is something to be DECLARED: Acts 20:24 “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
9. The declaration by God that your sin is as though it NEVER was that you have been JUSTIFIED is the result of GRACE: Romans 3:24 “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus …”
10. Grace comes in ABUNDANCE: Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
11. Grace covers the darkest sin/ stain – but it is NOT a LICENSE to sin: Romans 6:1 ^“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!”
12. Grace DEFINES who you REALLY ARE: I Cor 15:10-11 “… by the grace of God I am what I am …”
13. Grace is something that God can have ABOUND toward you 2 Cor 9:8 ^“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
14. It is solely based on GRACE that God chooses to USE and ENABLE us to be used: Eph 3:7 “…of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.”
15. The Spirit of the grace of God can be INSULTED Heb 10:29 ^“Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
16. God gives grace TO THE HUMBLE: ^“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
17. You are SAVED by grace: ^“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God …”
18. The LAST VERSE IN THE BIBLE reads, Rev 22:21”The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be ^with you all. Amen.”

Okay church family, here is the, “church homework”, for this week.

I encourage you to FOCUS on Phil 4:8 and meditate on what is “TRUE” — MORNING, NOON and NIGHT! 🙂

Let’s see what the Lord will do in our lives in growing us to discern His voice!!

1. “True” is that you are LOVED (Romans 5:8, 8:28, 8:35). E.g. Read John 10:28-30 (You will never be fumbled!)
2. “True” is that you are FAVORED (Romans 1:5, 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Romans 12:6). Second Corinthians 9:8 says: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
3. “True” is that you are EMPOWERED (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 1:23, John 16:7).
4. “True” is that you are PURPOSED (Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14, 2 Timothy 4:2).
5. “True” is that you are COMPLETED (Romans 8:29-30).
6. “True” is that you are FORGIVEN (1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 19:30).
7. “True” is that you are FREED (Romans 8:10-11).
8. “True” is that you are ENSURED “success” (Isaiah 55:11, Galatians 6:8-9; 2 Corinthians 9:6, 1 Corinthians 3:5-8).
9. “True” is that you are COMMITTED to. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
10. “True” is that you are STRONG in Christ (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

I want to THANK THE CHURCH FAMILY for YOUR PRAYERS for myself and MY FAMILY at this time.

This last Sunday, the Lord totally blessed our services, and then Stephanie and I, along with Pete and Lily, hopped in the car for a LONG drive to Yakima, Washington, to attend the memorial service for Stephanie’s grandmother. It was a wonderful time with family — and a wonderful time of celebration that grandma McCormick was in HEAVEN with the Lord!

Last Saturday, our son, Greg – came down with a fever in the morning — yet went to practice and played a tough full contact scrimmage at UC Davis. I was so proud of his effort! However, the next day, he was hit in a different way, with a SERIOUS bout of pneumonia that left him with high fevers and sicker than he has ever been in his life. We’d deeply appreciate your prayers for him as he’s on the mend, and trying at the same time to balance school responsibilities, and spring football. And, also, please pray for Don Daniel – a precious brother in our church, and a dear personal friend, who is battling a SERIOUS infection and is in ICU! I will be visiting him this evening.

Thursday I traveled to southern California for a meeting and attended Greg Laurie’s Bible study in Irvine, Ca. It was a GREAT Bible study and I was so refreshed by the Word of God. And it was so wonderful seeing MANY pray to receive Christ! It was also great to have Sarah with me who came from Bible College. Friday we had lunch with pastor Greg which was such a great time of fellowship and inspiration. Please continue to pray for pastor Greg and his beautiful family as they are mourning the absence of their first born son, Christopher – AND, as he prepares for a crusade this month in South Dakota! After lunch, Sarah and I met with my good friend, pastor Steve Wilburn of Harvest Christian fellowship to discuss Steve coming to our church as a guest speaker Sunday, June 21^st which I know the whole church will so enjoy! Speaking of Sarah, please pray for her, too, as she will be singing two songs Sunday night at Harvest Christian Fellowship. May the Lord JESUS be glorified and may the songs Sarah sings help prepare for the message that pastor Steve will give as he opens the Scriptures that evening.

Well, I am REALLY looking forward to tomorrow’s time together. As you know, we’re currently studying the life of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) so I better get back to studying J

But, one more thing, if you did the homework that I gave last week, I would love to HEAR FROM YOU, how the Lord used it in your life! It’s been a GREAT blessing to me to read Phil 4:4-13 – morning, noon and night. See you tomorrow! Greg J

 I have been thinking about what the “early church” looked like at this time nearly two thousand years ago. What was happening in their lives?

Today, we’re just a few days after NISAN 17, the day Jesus rose from the dead.

If we were living at this time, nearly two thousand years ago, we would be amidst what Acts 1:3 identifies as the forty day period in which Jesus showed Himself alive — risen from the dead! Eventually, on Pentecost (fifty days after resurrection), 3,000 Jews turned to Jesus as Savior and Lord and were baptized in Jerusalem.

Then what happened? What did the early church look like, the church now made up of thousands of people? What were they doing? 

Acts 2:42 tells us that they “CONTINUED in the apostles doctrine!” The early church was learning the Scriptures! They were continuing in the Word of God.

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!”

O’ how we need the nourishment of the truth of God’s Word on a daily basis …   

Perspective …

The Bible records that God spoke to man over four thousand times!

If this is true, then inherently the Bible is of the highest and greatest authority. After all, “if God has said it then that settles it.” And if God has spoken to man only a fool would not listen, right?

Abraham Lincoln once said, “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.” Philosopher and skeptic Immanuel Kant said, “The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.”

But the main reason the Bible can be trusted is not because men of renown have testified of the Bible’s authority. We know the Bible is true because Jesus said it is. There is no greater authority than Jesus, who demonstrated He is the Son of God by resurrecting from the grave. Put another way, the Bible is not infallible because it says it is – but because Jesus says it is! In one statement Jesus authenticated the threefold division of the old testament – the law, the writings, and the prophets – as the Word of God, saying, “These are the words, which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:4).

Jesus said, “If you continue in my word you will be my disciples you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Let’s “continue” in the commitment to the Word of God in OUR generation!

God Bless you as you “continue” …

Onward! 2 Tim 4:7

The Lord TOTALLY blessed our services today from sunrise service at Placer High School to our two morning services. I sensed a POWERFUL move of the Spirit! The joy, celebration and worship was extrarordinary. A fresh wind is blowing that is for sure!! I’m blessed and savoring this NISAN 17 – the day of FIRSTFRUITS — THE DAY, the Lord Jesus ROSE from the dead. 🙂

This is a recent picture of Greg Laurie and myself taken in Orange County the first night of his OC Bible study.

Needless to say, Greg has been a HUGE mentor to me and a DEAR friend.

May thousands come to Christ through this new Bible study in Irvine, Ca. !! 🙂