What a wonderful week! This Saturday our church's (Green Acres Baptist)AWANA quizzing team competed to the glory of God and our TREK (middle school) won first place, and Journey (high school) won second and third with another church from Warner Robins taking first place. Our church actually practiced with them. Now, I must admit, I am bragging a little because I am a TREK leader but I really said this to brag on the kids and, of course, on Christ.
During quizzing competition kids are asked for verses, doctrinal information, and definitions. The most beautiful sight in the world to me, and to most of us was when repeatedly all the teams got the questions right. At one point, especially during the TREK quizzing, we wondered if anyone was going to score. We were all encouraging the kids and one of the judges even praised God at one point. It was remarkable! God truly got the glory for the day!
I think about this country lately and the decisions being made that will affect these children, their generation, directly. There was a rainbow of colors representing many ethnic groups, Christ bringing unity, and these children were strong in their passion and convictions having truly hidden God's Word in their heart. I was so encouraged! So encouraged! They will truly need the knowledge to hold them in times of trouble. 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If My people who are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from thier wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." We had the chance to see that these kids may be able to do just that. After all AWANA stands for "approved workmen are not ashamed". These children have no reason to be ashamed. And this was just one section of Georgia! All over the country, in every state God has reserved for Himself some children who are hiding His word in their heart! Thank you, Jesus, for the encouragement! And thank you God for AWANA and the discipleship that program offers!
We did not meet for King's Kidz or UP Bible study this week-spring breaking! But, The Next Door Bible study did meet. We stuffed approximately 1200 eggs and around 50 Easter bags with a new Testament and either Bible stories or activities. There is much preparation still to be done. We will meet again this next Wednesday to finish it up and then the Egg Hunt outreach will be Saturday from 10 AM-12 Noon. I am so very excited for the opportunity to share the Easter Story, a New Testament and testimonies with these children and their families. Thank God!
Please continue to pray for Mercy Abounds as we reach out to those in need of Christ. May God bless you this week as you honor Him with your life.
To God be the glory,
Jamie
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
A Position of Submission
It is just my absolute honor to be able to tell you again about everything going on here at Mercy Abounds. But something special happened this morning that I'd like to share.
Our lesson at King's Kidz this morning was on Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image;in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them." Such a beautiful picture of God. We drew pictures of creation this morning and took pictures. We discussed that just as pictures on your phone or computer or in your hand were images of ourselves, so we are images of God. God painted us on His canvas with just the right amount of skin coloring and imperfections to make us each His own masterpiece. Each one unique to the DNA. No two are alike, even twins, identicle twins, will have some distinctive traits.
I prayed this morning thanking God for His treasures, for making each one of us different and unique. I prayed that we would get in agreement with God that we are who we are on purpose, looks, intelligence, etc. and that we would agree with God that we are fearfully and wonderfully made just as we are.
When I finished praying, Tracey had the sweetest smile on her face, her child who is still learning to walk had been laying face down during the prayer and when we finished she sat up. I thought, "What a wonderful picture of how we should enter the presence of the King. Created beings bowing in submission, carrying our petitions to the throne of grace." This baby knew something some of us have forgotten. You see as we grow we begin to have a lot of ideas about how we should pray, and what we deserve as children of the King. Elena did not know or care about these things, she instinctively laid on the carpet face first. And when we finished praying she sat up. No one else was on the carpet, we were sitting up, or standing but the smallest, most unwise of us all was face down. What a beautiful image of who I should be, who we all should be.
Matt 26:34 says, "He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." Jesus humbled Himself before God. We should be able to humble ourselves, not caring how we look to others, not for show but for "owe", for we owe Him the debt of our salvation and the sacrifice of praise.
Beth Moore taught at a conference I attended once in 2005 at the National Women's Convention in Chatanooga, Tennesee- "Set Apart, Passionate for Truth." She was reading all the scriptures from those of Moses to Revelation about those who humbled themselves as they sought the Lord and went face down. She finished this with an example of what we can do when we find ourselves in this position. She talked about how David's nemesis Goliath fell, upon his dying, face down in front of David. Also, will we forget the statue of the Dagon in 1 Samuel 5 that fell face down before the Ark of God? So, when we go willingly face down before a holy God, He will have our enemies go face down, also! How wonderful is that?
Up Bible study on Friday was wonderful! Looking into the God who caused Sonic Flood to write "Everlasting". What a wonderful song and message.
More Easter Egg Hunt preparation this next week for the Next Door Bible study and Green Acres Baptist Church. Much work to do. Please pray God will bring the children that He would have be there. We are preparing for 100 children. Please pray God brings all 100!
God may we all strike a position of submission, just as this sweet baby and your child, Jesus, did. Help us to remember there is a plan and a reason for suffering and rearranging even if we don't understand.
To God be the glory!
Jamie
Our lesson at King's Kidz this morning was on Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image;in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them." Such a beautiful picture of God. We drew pictures of creation this morning and took pictures. We discussed that just as pictures on your phone or computer or in your hand were images of ourselves, so we are images of God. God painted us on His canvas with just the right amount of skin coloring and imperfections to make us each His own masterpiece. Each one unique to the DNA. No two are alike, even twins, identicle twins, will have some distinctive traits.
I prayed this morning thanking God for His treasures, for making each one of us different and unique. I prayed that we would get in agreement with God that we are who we are on purpose, looks, intelligence, etc. and that we would agree with God that we are fearfully and wonderfully made just as we are.
When I finished praying, Tracey had the sweetest smile on her face, her child who is still learning to walk had been laying face down during the prayer and when we finished she sat up. I thought, "What a wonderful picture of how we should enter the presence of the King. Created beings bowing in submission, carrying our petitions to the throne of grace." This baby knew something some of us have forgotten. You see as we grow we begin to have a lot of ideas about how we should pray, and what we deserve as children of the King. Elena did not know or care about these things, she instinctively laid on the carpet face first. And when we finished praying she sat up. No one else was on the carpet, we were sitting up, or standing but the smallest, most unwise of us all was face down. What a beautiful image of who I should be, who we all should be.
Matt 26:34 says, "He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." Jesus humbled Himself before God. We should be able to humble ourselves, not caring how we look to others, not for show but for "owe", for we owe Him the debt of our salvation and the sacrifice of praise.
Beth Moore taught at a conference I attended once in 2005 at the National Women's Convention in Chatanooga, Tennesee- "Set Apart, Passionate for Truth." She was reading all the scriptures from those of Moses to Revelation about those who humbled themselves as they sought the Lord and went face down. She finished this with an example of what we can do when we find ourselves in this position. She talked about how David's nemesis Goliath fell, upon his dying, face down in front of David. Also, will we forget the statue of the Dagon in 1 Samuel 5 that fell face down before the Ark of God? So, when we go willingly face down before a holy God, He will have our enemies go face down, also! How wonderful is that?
Up Bible study on Friday was wonderful! Looking into the God who caused Sonic Flood to write "Everlasting". What a wonderful song and message.
More Easter Egg Hunt preparation this next week for the Next Door Bible study and Green Acres Baptist Church. Much work to do. Please pray God will bring the children that He would have be there. We are preparing for 100 children. Please pray God brings all 100!
God may we all strike a position of submission, just as this sweet baby and your child, Jesus, did. Help us to remember there is a plan and a reason for suffering and rearranging even if we don't understand.
To God be the glory!
Jamie
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Trusting For Mercy
Hey guys! It's Alexis again. Last month I posted a blog called "Greetings from Alexis" and I just wanted to post another one telling everybody what a success Jamie's Bible Study has been. From the time I posted the first blog we've had about four new people coming and maybe another one on the way. Last night we talked about our life in the next couple of weeks and how our lives will change when we listen to what God wants us to do for him and we watched a movie called Facing the Giants. It's about a football coach who has a bunch of problems like his car won't work most of the time, his stove stops working, his football team can't seem to win a game and his wife just won't get pregnant. And towards the middle of the movie he puts everything aside and listens to what God has to say and someone gets him a brand new truck, his team wins the state championship two years in a row and his wife gets pregnant. See that's really what life is all about. Listening to God and to what he has in store for each person on this earth to do.
Before I go, I wanted to tell everybody who's reading this that God loves you!:)
You never would've guessed that that was from a 12 yr old. She turns 13 in October. She loves to write and loves to blog. I hope you don't mind.
We did talk about creation and Easter this morning for King's Kidz. I have to say it was neat to see them tuned in. They watched a short documentary on the real Easter Story-their choice, while we ate breakfast pizza, and then we talked about creation, the first days of it. How wonderful to see that God made everything perfect before He created us. We talked about God preparing the earth for us like new parents preparing a nursery for a new baby. Everything was fine until we, the Adams, entered into an agreement with Satan that God was a liar and not kind. We, along with Adam and Eve, agreed that God owed us "more". Instead of boasting of how He created us and gave us everything. I still think I know best at times and I can still think I need other than what God has given me. Am I alone in that?
UP Bible study, we did indeed finish up "Facing the Giants". Our challenge to the kids was to do what the team did. The turning point for the team was to be obedient to those in authority above them. The coach turned to God, the team began to obey their caoches, teachers and parents and to live with a new philosophy, "If we win, we praise Him-if we lose, we praise Him." The kids promised to try this until Spring Break. I'm praying they continue in it! I am praying for their salvation.
Wednesday at The Next Door Bible Study we had, again, new faces. We continued in Genesis talking about Jacob and his departure from Laban. We talked about how God was taking care of Jacob. In fact, God told Laban in a dream, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." Genesis 31:24. Pretty powerful stuff! It would be exciting enough if your father stood behind you telling someone murderously angry with you that same statement, but to have the God of the universe invade your enemy's sleep with a stern warning! Wow! That's what I want! Don't let them sleep God, terrify them before they even get to me. That's my God!
We talked about God being a God of grace and how that grace glorified Him. We talked about the world being black and white, a place of absolute truth, God's truth. It is true that if you blur the lines and try to live in the gray area of life that you deny God and the grace that delivers us from that rigid standard. God said, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion..." Exodus 33:19 It is God's decision on how His people are delivered from situations. He knows how to do it and do it well. We do not trust Him to care for us, the very beings He created from dust. That is so arrogant. But thank God for the grace given to us because He understands our fears.
We will be gearing up for the Easter Egg Hunt outreach. Would you please keep us in your prayers? Thank you for the Bibles we have recieved! I appreciate the support. Please pray for the Ladies' Night Out at Green Acres Baptist Church this Thursday. I believe God has a message for some people and possibly some answers to some questions. May He bless you this week and may you glorify Him.
To God be the glory,
Jamie
Before I go, I wanted to tell everybody who's reading this that God loves you!:)
You never would've guessed that that was from a 12 yr old. She turns 13 in October. She loves to write and loves to blog. I hope you don't mind.
We did talk about creation and Easter this morning for King's Kidz. I have to say it was neat to see them tuned in. They watched a short documentary on the real Easter Story-their choice, while we ate breakfast pizza, and then we talked about creation, the first days of it. How wonderful to see that God made everything perfect before He created us. We talked about God preparing the earth for us like new parents preparing a nursery for a new baby. Everything was fine until we, the Adams, entered into an agreement with Satan that God was a liar and not kind. We, along with Adam and Eve, agreed that God owed us "more". Instead of boasting of how He created us and gave us everything. I still think I know best at times and I can still think I need other than what God has given me. Am I alone in that?
UP Bible study, we did indeed finish up "Facing the Giants". Our challenge to the kids was to do what the team did. The turning point for the team was to be obedient to those in authority above them. The coach turned to God, the team began to obey their caoches, teachers and parents and to live with a new philosophy, "If we win, we praise Him-if we lose, we praise Him." The kids promised to try this until Spring Break. I'm praying they continue in it! I am praying for their salvation.
Wednesday at The Next Door Bible Study we had, again, new faces. We continued in Genesis talking about Jacob and his departure from Laban. We talked about how God was taking care of Jacob. In fact, God told Laban in a dream, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." Genesis 31:24. Pretty powerful stuff! It would be exciting enough if your father stood behind you telling someone murderously angry with you that same statement, but to have the God of the universe invade your enemy's sleep with a stern warning! Wow! That's what I want! Don't let them sleep God, terrify them before they even get to me. That's my God!
We talked about God being a God of grace and how that grace glorified Him. We talked about the world being black and white, a place of absolute truth, God's truth. It is true that if you blur the lines and try to live in the gray area of life that you deny God and the grace that delivers us from that rigid standard. God said, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion..." Exodus 33:19 It is God's decision on how His people are delivered from situations. He knows how to do it and do it well. We do not trust Him to care for us, the very beings He created from dust. That is so arrogant. But thank God for the grace given to us because He understands our fears.
We will be gearing up for the Easter Egg Hunt outreach. Would you please keep us in your prayers? Thank you for the Bibles we have recieved! I appreciate the support. Please pray for the Ladies' Night Out at Green Acres Baptist Church this Thursday. I believe God has a message for some people and possibly some answers to some questions. May He bless you this week and may you glorify Him.
To God be the glory,
Jamie
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