It’s a Spirit Thing
It’s a Spirit Thing
C. Hayden 4-23-18
The past several Sundays, since Easter, we have been focusing on the Holy Spirit and His reality in our lives. We often over look the power of the Holy Spirit and His working in us. This topic is so important that I have even decided to teach on the working of the Spirit to the Seniors in our community at the Heritage of Huntington this week! Keep me in prayer! The subject often baffles us and concerns us because of so much fear and disinformation surrounding what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Today I want to bridge the issue by revealing to you what a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit looks like and acts like. Once we see what type of atmosphere is created by a Spirit-filled person, our fears of having the Holy Spirit take over our lives can be diffused. We find the results of being Spirit-filled display in the book of Galatians.
Galatians 5:16-17 and Galatians 5:22-23 says this, “16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” AND “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Did you catch all of that? This it what the Spirit looks like in a person: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL. This list is known as the nine fruits of the Spirit. There can be other signs in a person’s life that give a clue that the Holy Spirit has been given control, but these are the nine listed in God’s Word as the fruit that will come forth from a life given over to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Does this describe you? Maybe some but not all? If we are lacking in any of these fruit, we know that there is more of us that we need to give over to the Holy Spirit fro His review and refinement.
What I would say to every believer today including myself, be filled with the Spirit. As the scripture states above, “Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).
Be blessed even more and have a wonderful week!!
Pastor Chris
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Magnitude of the Ressurection
Magnitude of the Resurrection
C. Hayden 3-26-18
This Sunday we celebrate and remember the most pinnacle event regarding the faith of every believer in Christ,
Resurrection Day, or as we have come to know so well, Easter Sunday! The time of our Lord’s great triumph over
hell and death. Of course we can’t separate Resurrection Day from Good Friday as we could never experience our
Resurrection until Jesus first
experiences the cross and His death thereof.
Through the cross and resurrection
of our Lord we are given opportunity to
receive great rewards if we would
just repent of our sin and give our hearts to
King Jesus in our decision to live for
Him. Revelation 22:11-13 says this, “He who
is unjust, let him be unjust still; he
who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is
righteous, let him be righteous still;
he who is holy, let him be holy still. And
behold, I am coming quickly, and
my
reward
is with Me, to give to everyone
according to his work. I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End, the First and the Last.” Well let’s list some of those rewards that come from Christ’s death and
resurrection for those who believe.
1.
Eternal life (Live forever!),
2.
Fellowship with God and all the saints and angels,
3.
No more death or sorrow,
4.
An eternity of love, joy and peace,
5.
Total healing, no more sickness,
6.
No more poverty (We are joint-heirs w/Christ),
7.
Heaven as our home,
8.
We will be like Christ (No fallen or sinful nature),
9.
No more darkness or loneliness or depression,
10.
No more bills and no more taxes (That is good news)
11.
We will be forever living in God’s glory (Forever Light)
12.
We will always be with Christ forever in His presence.
This is but a few of the benefits (and does not even go into the benefits we can enjoy now) of being a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the price of the cross and was resurrected by the same power given to us through
the Holy Spirit so that all who dare to believe in His name will receive the benefit of being an adopted son or
daughter of God. No matter what you may be going through in this life, no matter what troubles you have and are
experiencing now, and no matter what trials may be on the horizon, the cross and subsequent resurrection of our
Lord has the FINAL WORD!! Hallelujah!! Now that is worth remembering and celebrating!!! Come worship with us
this Easter Sunday—Resurrection Day. All are welcome.
Be blessed even more and have a wonderful week!!
Pastor Chris
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Everything Ok?
Everything Ok?
C. Hayden 2-26-18
I want to write to you this month as inspired by my favorite auto repair shop. The past two weeks have resulted in a banner month for having work done on my truck. After having a tonneau cover put on the bed of said vehicle, I received an email from the installer requesting feedback on the quality of the work done. As I recall, the owner wanted to make sure their work on the the truck went well and simply asked, “Everything ok?” I was pleased to know that they are willing to follow up and open themselves up to such responses that may or may not be pleasant. And while it can be unpleasant, sometimes receiving such feedback is often a good way to gauge the quality of services being provided. I want to do something similar. Before I do, however, I need to explain something. A ministry of the Lord is a bit different than an auto repair shop. First, a Church is not possessed by a single owner. It belongs to the Lord and all of God’s people are fellow workers in this enterprise so that any criticism is one that involves all of us. And second, opinions often differ on how something should be done in a ministry (Determining the best way to reach a culture is not like changing a carburator on a truck). So let us get feedback on OUR ministry. in regards to Central Christian Church I have 4 survey questions:
1. How are we doing in ministering God’s love and truth to others? (Please be specific)
2. What things could we do better as a ministry in reaching our community and being a place people can grow spiritually?
3. Is their something we could do to help people grow more in their commitment to Christ and this ministry?
4. And finally, is there anything you would like to ask, say or advise the Pastor about in regards to Central Christian’s ministry? (I may or may not agree with you but I will respond in love and give reasoning for my thoughts).
Now you may ask, “Is there Biblical precidence for this kind of survey?” Sure. Isaiah 1:17-18 records God’s request for His people. “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” The Lord tells us to come and reason together with Him. When we do, though we may have issues needing to be fixed, He will make us white as snow. Let us come together also. Though we need improvement, we can also grow into what God has called all of us to be.
Send your feedback to the Pastor’s email, which will be held in strict confidence: 4019hc@gmail.com
In this way I can know your thoughts and feelings about this ministry, what needs improving, who is being ministered to or not, who may or may not be reading this blog!
Be blessed even more and have a wonderful week!!
Pastor Chris
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