WNBS@FBCE

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY

LAST WEEK: The Discipline of Personal Prayer

THIS WEEK : The Discipline of Fasting

Looking forward to seeing you @ WNBS

Please be in prayer for our Search Committee

collectively and individually

Kevin Ammons

Emily Clark

Sam Curtis

Tiffany Dowling

Mike McQueen

JP Sawyer

Gayle Stewart

Special Announcement:

May 6th & 13th we will not meet.

There will be special family events in the sanctuary on these dates. We encourage all to participate in these events.

We will resume our study on May 20th!

What Are You Holding On To?

The famous pastor, Norman Vincent Peale, told a revealing story about his childhood and his father’s instructions on the foundational Christian discipline of obedience. Peale’s dad was a devoted Christ-follower and wanted his son to be a disciplined disciple. In particular, Norman was instructed by his father not to smoke tobacco because of its power to create an addiction. However, young Norman was drawn to the prohibition and, one Saturday, he was secretly smoking a cigar in the back yard when his father unexpectedly arrived. Norman quickly placed the cigar behind his back as his father walked up to him. The young teenager wanted to camouflage his illicit activity by asking a question. So, he blurted out, “Father, I have a date tonight. May I please borrow the family car?” His dad paused and looked deep into his son’s eyes and responded wisely by saying, “Norman, never ask for your father’s favor when you are holding smoldering disobedience.”

Sometimes we are like that. We are seeking God while holding on to things that separate us from God. What are you holding on to?

The Buzzard, The Bat, The Bumble Bee, and People

THE BUZZARD   If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. ----------------------------------------------   THE BAT

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. -----------------------------------------------

THE BUMBLEBEE

 
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out.

It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out
through the sides near the bottom.

It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

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PEOPLE

 
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee.

We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!

 

That's the answer, the escape route and the solution to any problem... just look up!

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Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up! Live simply,love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and trust in our Creator , who loves us. 

The Discipline of Personal Prayer

The Discipline of Personal Prayer

• Scripture to which James MacDonald referred
• 1 Peter 5:7
• James 1:5, 4:2
• Philippians 4:6
• John 14:13, 15:7
• 1 John 5:14
• Matt 21:23
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• 1 Kings 18: 26-29
  
• Is My Prayer REAL?
• Public performance prayers are a sure sign of insincerity.
• The secret to prayer is prayer in secret.
• Is My Prayer SIMPLE?
• Prayer is not to inform God.
• The purpose of prayer is to express faith toward God.
• Is My Prayer WORSHIPFUL?
• The Lord’s Prayer is a Model prayer.
• When you begin your prayer, begin with Father.
• This was added in the video and was not noted in the guide:
• A – adoration
• C - confession
• T - thanksgiving
• S – supplication
• Is My Prayer SUBMISSIVE?
• There is no answered prayer where there’s not submission to God.
• I surrender my wants and my sense of timing.
• Is My Prayer PRACTICAL?
• Prayer List – Daily Bread
• Income in every household
• Physical heath
• Emotional heath
• Spiritual health
• Is My Prayer REPENTANT?
• “God, I want You to forgive me the way I forgive others.
• Is My Prayer EXPECTANT?

A wonderful individual shared with me another acronym about prayer:
P.U.S.H. – “Pray until something happens.”

The Discipline of Personal Bible Study

• PICK it up.
  
• The Bible is BEYOND any other book
• God’s Word TRANSFORMS you.
• God’s Word gives you WISDOM.
• God’s Word brings you JOY.
• Precepts: divine PRINCIPLES, rulings, prescriptions, pronouncements, charges
• God’s Word dispels the DARKNESS.
• God’s commands are RIGHT/CLEAR.
• The commands of the Lord are so crystal clear that they bring LIGHT to the darkness in every human heart.
• Fear of the Lord: the attitude that seeks a right RELATIONSHIP with the fear source.
• God’s Word adds STABILITY. God’s Word promises JUSTICE.
• Rules: rulings, JUDGEMENTS, verdicts, pronouncements, consequences, decisive actions
  
• SIZE it up
• God’ s Word is a FIRE …Jer 5: 14             God’s Word is a SWORD … Heb 4:12
• God’s Word is a HAMMER….Jer 23:29   God’s Word is a SEED …1 Peter 1:23
• God’s Word is MILK …1 Peter 2:2           God’s Word is MEAT …Heb 5:12-14
• God’s Word is a LIGHT…Ps 119:105       God’s Word is a MIRROR …James 1:23-24
• EAT it up   (Jer 15:16 – Devour Your Words)
• READ it
• Even if there are parts that you do not understand. Focus on the parts that you do understand.
• Through your diligent pursuit and prayer, God will make known those areas that were unknown.
• QUESTION it
• Is there an EXAMPLE for me to follow?
• Is there a SIN for me to confess?
• Is there a TRUTH for me to understand?
• Is there a COMFORT for me to embrace
• PLAN it
• PRAY it
• SHARE it
• Other Notes:
• Take notes as you study…..
• Notes in your Bible – Journal – Single Sheet of paper 
• Put down date
• Ask yourself…..
• What does the text say?
• What does the text mean?
• How does the text apply to my life?

REMEMBER: DAY 4 & DAY 5 will help you get on track or become better at your personal Bible Study…

IMPORTANT CHURCH BUSINESS

This Sunday, April 19th, 2015, "Our Church" will select "Our Pastoral Search Committee." At the 8:15 and the 10:30 services, we will vote for 4 men and 3 ladies from the list below. As we exit from the services we will place our votes in the ballot box.

This is your opportunity to prayerfully follow God's will as we seek the Pastor whom God has chosen for "Our Church."

Please continue to be in prayer for these items:

• Our Church - God will place His choice in His pulpit
• Search Committee - for wisdom and discernment to God's will
• Romans 12:2  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 
• Our Pastor To Be - that he will seek to follow God's will

Listed in Alphabetical Order
Men ................................. Women
Kevin Ammons                  Emily Clark
Sam Curtis                         Tiffany Dowling
Josh Gunter                        Joyce Oliver
Henry Lincoln                    Allison Robley
Mike McQueen                  Kay Roper
Kurt Pierce                         Gayle Stewart
JP Sawyer
Joe Talmadge

To Our Pastoral Search Committee & The Body of Christ of FBCE

In my reading, I found this article. I believe it addresses what our search committee will be doing in the future. As you will notice, it never says anything about the spiritual, personal, or physical qualities of various candidates. It focuses on finding God's Will. This is where the search committee and the Body of Christ - His Church begins and ends. 

Think about it and let us seek God's Will. May God Bless You!

Finding God's Will Together by  Ruth Haley Barton
Christianity Today - Fall 2012

Discernment is the capacity to recognize the presence and activity of God. Paul says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect (Rom 12:2). Corporate discernment, then, is responding to the activity of God as a leadership group and to make decisions in response to His Presence.

The heart of the discernment process is listening—

• to God
• the movement of the Holy Spirit
• the Scripture 
• to each other
• to what's going on in the depths of our own souls
• that place in us where God's Spirit witnesses with our spirit about those things that are true

Session 1 Viewer Guide

7 Habits of Highly Hypocritical People:

If you did not get all of the blanks for last week here they are....

The focal scriptures were Matthew 23: 2-7  & Matthew 23: 13-33

Hypocrite: one who pretends to be what he is not, assuming a position of piety when in reality he is destitute of genuine faith, acting the part of being close to God when in reality his heart is very far from HIM.

7 Habits of Highly Hypocritical People:

1. Making salvation as complicated as possible

2. Getting what I need from people even if it hurts them

• To be indifferent to the impact my conduct has, makes me a hypocrite

3. Squirming my way out of any promise I don't want to keep

• If I give my word, I keep it. If I make a promise , I keep it.

4. Making a big deal of little things and ignoring things of critical importance

• Justice: doing what's right
• Faithfulness: keep going
• Mercy: going a little easier on people - James 2:13

5. Exhibiting laziness in all matters of the heart (soul/faith)

• Laziness in matters of the heart: not willing to expend the energy in the things that matter most
• Greed: I can't get enough .
• Self-indulgence: I have no restraint in the consumption of what I have.
• We are who we are when no one can see us. That is the true (me-you-us)

6. Looking good to others, no matter what the cost

7. Pretending to be better than others, no matter what the evidence

• A lifetime of unrepentant hypocrisy reveals that a person has never truly been born again

WNBS is Coming

Remember Wednesday Night...... 

Are You Ready For Some Authentic Bible Study?

We will start at 5:45 so we can have time for discussion. 

I hope you finished the first week's study. Did you find yourself in your reading? It is OK if you did. The key is for us to find the "WOE" that we have and with the help of God discipline it out of our lives by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.


Remember the memory scripture for this past week:

Matthew 15: 8-9 NASB
8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.'
9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'