When Faith is Stretched

Good Morning!

Good Morning and Welcome to Freedom Chapel. My name is Pastor Terry, my wife Michelle and I serve as the lead pastors here at Freedom Chapel. We exist to bring hope to our community we do that by being a Place to Belong, Church for the Whole Family.

If you are new with us this morning would you please take the time fill out that little flap on the side of your bulletin. If you put it in the black boxes by the back door we will make a donation in your name to a local charity and send you cookies. Church can we show our guests some love this morning.

This has been the most trying summer of my adult life.

Campground Flooded

Dead Guy in the River

Air Conditioner Malfunction at Camp

Building Delivery Delayed

First Time Running a Fireworks Tent

Freedom Fest Computer Glitch

Building Delivery Delayed

Family Vacation Disrupted

Horse Camp Let Down

Building Delivery Delayed

Orlando Nightmare

Wrong Building Delivered

All of these things have led me to a place of exhaustion, anger, dissatisfaction, and at times a sincere questioning of God’s presence in the midst of my situation.

Through it all God has placed well timed nuggets of truth in my path to remind me that he is still in control and present in all my situations.

Today I want to share with you three things God has spoken to me this summer in the midst of chaos.

1. Remove Your Stumbling Blocks.

We must come to the realization that our attitude steers our actions.

What in my life is tripping up my attitude.

Attributes of a Bad Attitude.

Proverbs 17:22 ESV

22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

A Bad attitude leads to a dried up spirit. Grumpy, angry, dissatisfied, never happy about anything, slanderous.

God wants us to have a different out look. We need to begin to look for things in our lives that are causing us to have a bad attitude and get rid of them.

Tuesday I deleted Facebook and this morning I deleted Tik Tok. Because of Proverbs 4:23.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

There has been this constant push towards division by all social media. We as a church are divided, as a nation are divided, even as families are divided. I believe the biggest reason for this is the hours upon hours we spend listening to and reading other peoples opinions.

To Mask or Not to Mask

To Vax or not To Vax

This is not a Biblical issue.

It should not be driving or dividing your relationships.

Yet we have Christian Brothers and Sisters attacking each other over social media over issues that can not be proved or disproved by the Bible.

Would Jesus have worn a mask or gotten the COVID Vaccination. I don’t know and neither do you.

What I do know is He told us that we would known as his followers by our example of love.

John 13:35 ESV

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I am not seeing this played out.

As Christian brothers and sisters we are being sucked into conformity. We are either conforming to the Left or conforming to the Right.

Pastor Choco de Jesus put it this way. As Brothers and Sisters in Christ we have to come to the realization that Jesus does not represent a Donkey or an Elephant, He represents the Kingdom of Heaven.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

The truth is we are Sheep!

The question is

Who is your Shepherd and what Kingdom do you belong to?

2. Standing Strong is an attitude of Standing on the Attributes of God.

Assemblies Of God Superintendent Doug Clay spoke this two weeks ago at General Council.

This was the message I was sent to hear. Even if the journey to get there didn’t go as planned.

Psalm 23:1–6 ESV

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

He is the God that will make sure my needs are provided for.

He is the God that will lead me to fresh places to eat and water that is safe to drink from.

He is the God that will protect me as we walk through dangerous seasons and territory. He Carries a big stick so I don’t need to worry about the things that would attack me.

He is the God that protects me while I eat.

He is the God anoints my steps.

He is the God that answers the age old question of is the glass half full or half empty. When we are truly living in him the cup is always overflowing.

And if I choose dwell in His house Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

3. Keep Improving.

In Revelations Jesus tells John to write letters to the seven churches of the province of Asia.

Each church is given a specific thing to work on.

Pastor Doug Clay spoke of each of these letters in the opening message of General Council.

When he got to the Church of Thyatira I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to pay attention. This is for you.

Revelation 2:18–19 NLT

18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze: 19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

He goes on to address False teachers who have pulled people away from the correct course.

As he ends the letter to this church he says:

Revelation 2:24–28 NLT

24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. 27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. 28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!

If we are going to continue growing as a church. I am not talking about numerically, I am talking about spiritually. If we grow spiritually the numbers will take care of themselves.

We have got to:

1. Remove our Stumbling Blocks.

We have got to:

2. Stand Strong is an attitude of Standing on the Attributes of God.

We have got to:

3. Keep Improving.

Would you stand with me this morning:

Holy Spirit What is it you want to speak to me through this message this morning.