It Is In The Hands Of Jesus

Good afternoon body of Christ!

Yes we are His body. Chosen, selected and elected by the Father Himself! We are adopted into His household and made in the very image of God Himself. Yes there is a part of us that wants to rebel against God, but we also have God Himself in us. We have His Spirit, His Word, and His Love. It is in us. It is true, He is in each of us despite our faults and failures! Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

You are an over comer, more than a conqueror, a CHILD of the living God. Does that mean that everything or anything in your life will be perfect this side of heaven? Nope. But it does mean that you are HIS. It means that God’s mercy and grace is bigger than any sin you jumped into, and rumor spoken against you, and opportunity lost by you!

Whatever the enemy is using to crush you today, it is only going to work against him. Make a bold confession today concerning everything coming against you! Simply declare: Jesus it’s in Your hands!

Let every circumstance and every situation be in the firm grip of Jesus today!

This Sunday we continue in our new series called THE MAIN SQUEEZE. There is something squeezing all of us. What squeezes you? We learned last week that Jesus was our main squeeze and as He entered into the garden of Gethsemane (Which by the way I was reminded by Sam Wylie after service that “Gethsemane” means "Olive PRESS”) Jesus was squeezed by the Father Himself. The weight of sin and the consequences of it squeezed Jesus in the garden to the point that it squeezed the blood right out of Him. He was squeezed on the cross to the point that His heart burst causing blood and water to flow.

Squeezing from the world will produce junk and funk in our lives, but squeezing from the grip of Jesus will produce a goodness, a sweetness and a purpose just like squeezing fruit.

We will get deeper into THE MAIN SQUEEZE this Sunday as the Holy Spirit begins to lead us through the individual things that are putting the squeeze on us!

I want to remind all of the men that on Friday, February the 3rd we will be starting up a men’s ministry called FRONTLINE! We will eat from 6:00-6:45 and then begin our ministry time. We will end the night with some FellowSHIP and sports activities. We'll be taking donations to cover the cost of the food! (We are serving burgers)

Camp dates are out for our kids and teens: Kids World will attend camp June 13-16 and Bonafide Youth will attend July 26-29. You can pick up a form at the office to reserve a spot to attend. Camp is an awesome experience and we encourage all of our young people to attend.

Remember... It is in the hands of Jesus today.

-Pastor Randall

Who's Race Are You Running?

Well, Rick Perry did it this morning! He dropped out of a race that he was not going to win. The word tells us in Hebrews 12:1 that we are to run the race that is SET before us. If we are running a race that is set, then we must ask ourselves the question…. Who set the race there? Who put that lane in front of us?

We've been talking about making our move, following not wallowing. When we follow, it's a path or (in a race) a paved lane. Who set it there?

Whoever set the lane in front of you, that is who’s race you are running. We too often run a race that others want us to run. The race that is set before us can be one that God created and placed there. If we chose His race, Hewill give us His grace, and we can run for first place!

1 Corinthians 9:24 instructs us to run this race in a way that we can win! Are we running with intentions on winning? Are we in it to win it?

Perry dropped out today and if you are running races and swerving in lanes God has not set before you, you should drop out too! Perry could have simply finished his race. He could have continued to invest time and money into the campaign but he would not have finished with Joy.

What race are we running today? Better yet who set this race before us? I pray we are all running the race that Christ Jesus has set before us. I pray we are running with expectations that we will win this thing! I pray we can examine if tradition, circumstances, or man’s influence has us running a race that was not created for us.

Stay in your lane! Serve don’t Swerve.

-Pastor Randall

Please do not forget that this Sunday we will be honoring Carlos Denton in the 2nd service.

This Sunday night is Family Game Night. Great time to get in a workout on the court, meet new people, and be encouraged with your church family!

Acquire the Fire registration has begun. Dates are March 30-31. Registration forms are available at the church office.

Summer Camp dates are out!!!!! Kids World will attend camp June 13th-16th and Bonafide Youth will attend July 26th-29th. You can pick up forms to reserve a spot at the church office.

Many people are asking about our 2012 time of fasting. We will begin our Church wide fast on Sunday March 18th. We will have special times of ministry concerning fasting and prayer prior to our time of fasting.

This Sunday starts a new series at FBC called “THE MAIN SQUEEZE”. Going to be a juicy series for sure!!

Don't Wallow, FOLLOW!

Congratulations to all who choose to Follow instead of Wallow!

After service on Sunday, Sam Wylie shared a bit with me about when living on the plains he saw buffalo wallows that were a hundred years old, but the trails of the buffalo were long gone because they no longer walked the land. What an incredible analogy. So much truth in that!

Wallowing is easier, but Jesus did not call us to easy. He called us to make a move and Follow Him.

Injured people won’t follow because they can’t move. In John 5:7 the sick man said he had no man to put him in the pool. Injured people are like that. They want someone to do it for them. They can’t follow because it hurts too much to move. GOOD NEWS...We can receive healing for all of our spiritual and emotional injuries that cause us to wallow.

Comfortable people don’t follow because they can’t move. In Luke 18:18-23 the ruler had a lot of possessions and could not follow. Don’t get me wrong, millions of people love Jesus and believe in the gospel AS LONG AS THEY BENEFIT FROM IT. Millions more love Jesus and believe in the gospel AS LONG AS THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE CASUALLY AND CONVENIENTLY, but very few love Jesus and believe in the gospel enough to GIVE EVERYTHING INTO FOLLOWING CHRIST and stepping out of their comfort zone. They usually have the same reaction as the rich guy in scripture... and walk away sad. GOOD NEWS...We can get glad in the same pants we got sad in and allow Jesus to mess up our whole lives and plan!

Cold people don’t follow because they can’t move. Matthew 24:12 speaks of a people whose heart and love “waxed” cold. Wax only flows when it is touched by a flame. Blow the flame out and it becomes hard and brittle. GOOD NEWS...Jesus can baptize us with the Holy Ghost and fire and we can have a constant flow in our lives!

Scared people don’t follow because they can’t move; or at least can't move in the right direction that is. 1 John 4:18 says there is no fear in love. Fear will either paralyze us or cause us to run crazy in the wrong direction. Fear is an enemy of the move. People are afraid to let go, afraid of being rejected, afraid, afraid, afraid. That is why most people like the wallow...It is safe there for the most part. GOOD NEWS...Pperfect love cast out fear. You do not have to be afraid to follow Christ! His love will zap it out of you.

These are four of the seven things I shared Sunday in our MAKE A MOVE series. Seven "Enemies of The Move" is available to download and listen to if you missed the service.

Please do not forget that this Sunday we will be honoring Carlos Denton and his service to the body of Christ. We will do this at the beginning of the 2nd service. If you attend the first service and would like to be part of honoring Carlos you will only have to stay for a brief portion of the first service to do so.

In keeping the main thing the main thing, we can not help but to be about the ships. Godly LeaderSHIP that is passionately involved in DiscipleSHIP will produce RelationSHIP that will enable us to experience FellowSHIP that will continually lead us to the ChampionSHIP of Christ.

A huge shift in focus, resources and vision is happening at Faith Bible Church and it is with Jesus as the center and at the center of all we do.

Have a great week in Jesus name!

-Pastor Randall

Updates...

Wow! Wow! Wow!

What a powerful weekend of ministry! HD Weekend was packed out as we talked church values and discipleship. Kimberly and I are excited to hear of all the O’Mazing things God did in so many lives. We are very thankful for 2 people surrendering their lives to Christ this weekend.

I want to encourage all of you who have teens to remind them of “Surprise Wednesday”. Everyone likes surprises and we are going to have a great time this Wednesday night with the BONAFIDE teens. For those of you attending this Wednesday night be on the lookout as you pull into the church parking lot as the west entrance will be blocked off with cones.

Applications are out for the 2012 Navajo Mission! The first meeting will be Sunday night February 12th.

We are having a family game night Sunday, January 22nd. It starts at 6:00 PM.

Please be in prayer as we start up the process of our Elder interviews. We made the new Elder packet available at the HD Weekend. You will be able to access that packet online soon.

This Sunday we start a new series called “MAIN SQUEEZE”. It is going to be a very encouraging time in God especially for those of us who are reaching for the prize!

This Sunday will be a very special Sunday at Faith Bible Church as we honor Carlos Denton. We will have a short presentation for him at the beginning of the second service. If you attend the 9:30 service and do not mind staying over a few minutes I know that it would be worth your time.

God Bless,

-Pastor Randall

We keep the main thing, the main thing.
Jesus is the center of all we do. If it is not promised by Him, commanded by Him, and commissioned by Him, it is not from Him nor will it be part of our lives or ministry.

Don't Put Jesus First!!!

2012 is the Year of the TWELVE

DO NOT PUT JESUS FIRST THIS YEAR!!!

I have made a decision not to put Jesus first this year. You heard me right. He will not be number one on my “list”. Most people have some sort of list of priorities. Some boast 1. God 2. Family. 3. Country…. Or 1. God 2. Family 3. Church 4. Work etc, etc. You know the drill.

Instead of putting Jesus first on that list I am going to put him in the middle of my priority list. I think you should also. If we simply stop pretending, refuse to put up a front, and retire from being fake…. having Jesus in the middle of the list is really what we all need to do.

Here is what I mean. By putting Jesus in the middle, I'm not saying He is 5th in your top 10, I'm saying He is the center!

We used to say Jesus first THEN family, Jesus THEN work, Jesus THEN, church etc, etc.

How about this…

Jesus IN family, Jesus IN work, Jesus IN church.

That way we don’t do our Jesus stuff, then go to work. Do our Jesus stuff and then go be with our family. Let’s put Jesus in the middle of EVERYTHING we do. If He really is FIRST in priority with us, and FIRST in importance then He will be in the CENTER of all that we do.


--Remodel Update--

Just want to give you a quick update on where we are in our remodel/restructure process. We have just completed our standard for Elder qualifications, duties and expectations. We now have in place a process of how future Elders will be appointed and placed on the Elder ministry team.

We are gathering a panel from our church to begin interviews and evaluations of the current Elders who are serving on the ministry team. The interviews will begin within two weeks and will conclude by the end of January.

With that being said I would like to take a moment and let you know that Carlos Denton has decided to no longer serve in the capacity of Elder ministry. Carlos will continue to teach his class, serve the body, and be a leader in the church. We appreciate his 10 years of service as an Elder of this church, and will formally honor him in an upcoming Sunday Service.

We are currently involved in structuring three other key areas of our church; Membership, Deacon Leadership, and Small Groups. Our goal is to start our Membership classes in April, begin training and assigning Deacon level ministry by the end of March, and start training for small group leaders after Resurrection weekend.

As we mentioned in October every area of our church ministry is under some type of remodel. You are and will continue to see changes that will affect every area of ministry and function. These changes affect some more than others.

Not all of these changes are fun for everyone, but they are necessary for us to get to the place that Jesus is pointing to.

In our remodel we have also temporarily stopped our ministry to the homeless in regards to picking up on Sunday mornings. We are changing that ministry drastically and plan to start back up no later than mid February.

In a few weeks you will see some changes in what we are doing on Sunday morning with the structure of our services. For example we are preparing to no longer have our children dismissed from service to KIDS WORLD. They will go to their room and be checked into their service upon arrival.

Please be patient as we go through these changes. We do not want to do too much at one time, but we also want to be obedient and responsive to what Jesus is leading us to do.


--HD Weekend--

Coming up, January 12th-14th, we will have our first “HD Weekend” of the year. HD stands for Hardcore Discipleship and will be what we call our weekends of leadership and church worker ministry. Thursday will be from 6:30-8:00, Friday will be 6:30-9:00, and Saturday will start at 10:00 AM and end at noon.

It will be a powerful, growing, informative, and unifying weekend. EVERYONE who is or wants to be involved at Faith Bible Church as a Missionator is invited and encouraged to attend.


--411--

A great series on "Make Your Move" is happening on Sunday mornings… Invite someone to attend or encourage them to listen live online or through the podcasts.

Our training for Navajo Missions 2012 begins in February. You should be able to pick up an application and trip information on January 15th.

Wednesday Night Services start back up tomorrow night!! Our Bonafide Youth will pick back up on "Friends for a Lifetime" and Jeremy Coddington will be leading the Adult service. Hope to see you here!

Our Youth teens will be going to the homeless shelter this Sunday night. We leave at 5:00. Permission slips will be available in Youth service this week.

Make your move this week! Be resolute!

-Pastor Randall