March 2013

Momentum, Moving Forward, and Thanksgiving:

Psalms 100 : 1-5

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

The other night when we were praying, praising, worshipping, and praying some more, my heart was drawn to think about this passage again. I was thinking about how much and how faithful the Lord has been in my own household and also our fellowship. In our human nature it is much easier to do all that Psalms 100 requires when we feel all is well. It is quite a different story to do this when we don't think things are going well. I felt this gentle nudging from the Holy Spirit, this is what I want all the time, not just when I feel like it. I felt this was something the Lord was impressing upon me, but that it also might be an exhortation to all of us.

Last month the article was on "Moving Forward". I would like to keep us focused, stirred, and add momentum. I used to say this little phrase, "It is not hard to pass a parked car." Another saying was "sometimes you have to chalk someone or something to see if it has moved." Police come along in places where there are parking time limits and put a chalk mark on a car tire to be able to come back and see if the vehicle has moved or not. I hope there would be a strong sense from all of us that there has definitely been some very positive movement and that we do seem to be gaining some momentum.

I would like to just keep encouraging us in three specific areas:

1. Up to this point we are not getting much response to the "care pastoring." We really feel this is an important dynamic for us as a fellowship in moving forward and gaining momentum. The two Sunday teachings and the notes are on our website, www.kfoc.org. We are asking all of you if you have questions to please ask. Please pray about who you would see as potential "care pastors" and then ask them to pray about being your care pastor.

2. In our review, there was an encouragement that our Sunday services become increasingly more focused on being a time of Holy Spirit movement and encounter. I believe we have sensed more of that but we want to be open to all that the Lord has for us. "Expectation is the atmosphere for the miraculous." Let's continue to pray, seek the Lord and come believing that God wants to use all of us and to move powerfully and supernaturally in our midst.

3. We still have a tremendous task to move beyond the four walls of our building and seek the Lord for ways to touch and impact our communities. We will be talking more about this, but I want to keep it before us.

I believe God is stirring and doing great things in our midst. I am very grateful for everything that is happening. I don't want to take any of it for granted or settle for less than what the Lord has in store for us. Let's continue to partner with the Lord as we enjoy the momentum, keep moving forward and not forget a very important key - praise, thanksgiving, gratitude, and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the exhortation in Thessalonians 5:18; "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Jim