Our Sunday service was filled with voices praising the Lord, baptisms of where faith met the
water, and communion that honors the Lord’s sacrifice for each of us. Then Sean Lambert of
YWAM San Diego Baja shared his life work with us. First, he showed a video that the founder of Youth with a Mission narrated. Loren Cunningham had a vision that thousands of youth would become sharers of the Word. His prophecy became reality. Sean emphasized how a small yes to a Big God has impacted his life. In May, 1990 he led a group of seventeen YWAMers to Mexico to build one house. He also brought along his three year old daughter Andrea. Andrea played with the neighborhood children, and when the house was finished, Andrea asked her dad,”Are you going to build a house for the bus people too?” Since that one yes, they have built over 9,000 homes in over thirty countries. YWAMSDB has over 240 full time staff, and of the full time staff, thirty of them received a Home of Hope as a young person. One example is Itai. At seven years old, he received his Home of Hope. Now Itai is a lead builder and has built over one hundred homes. The whole idea is to say a small yes to a Big God. It is amazing how God can use our yes’s.
FC mission is to culture like Christ, and our vision is Jesus. Previously we learned how
important it is to stay in the process and to stick with Him. After feeding the 5000 men, Jesus
saw the need to feed 4000 men. The disciples were confused as to where they would get the
food, yet they had distributed the miraculous food to the 5000 men plus women and children from the two fish and five loaves offering of a young boy. How quickly they forgot like we do when challenging circumstances loom in front of us.
Continuing in the Red Letter series, we see Jesus in Caesarea Philippi, and He asked a pivotal question to His disciples,”Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Matthew 16:13b (NLT) The disciples had many answers like John the Baptist or Elijah. Jesus’ key question was
“‘But who do you say I am?’
Simon Peter answered, ’You are the Messiah, the Son of
the living God.’ Matthew 16:15b-16 (NLT)
Jesus answered and said to him, ’Blessed are you, Simon Bar-
Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My
Father who is in heaven.’” Matthew 16:17 (NKJV)
Jesus came to earth to reveal the Father. When we see Jesus, we see the Father. In the gospel of John, we also see the Lord Jesus talk about His relationship with God and His disciples.
“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do;
and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to
them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will
be in them, and I will be in them.” John 17:25-26 (NLT)
The Father is revealing Himself to us through Jesus. “If you believe anything about the
Father that you cannot substantiate in the life of Christ, you need to change the way you think,” stated Bill Johnson, pastor at Bethel in Redding.
As Simon and the disciples watched Jesus, they saw the Father. After hearing Simon’s
response, Jesus applauded Simon’s answer. Simon Peter spoke from his identity, and the
foundation of his identity was Jesus. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one
we already have-Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NLT)
Simon means-“to hear, hearing.” Simon went one step beyond hearing and obeyed as he stated who Jesus was, the Son of God. He heard and obeyed.
For us, if we hear and do not respond, what’s the point? I am His Beloved, and the powers of
death will not prevail. With this powerful foundation, “It’s time to plunder hell and populate
Heaven!” emphasized Todd White.
Jesus gave us this gift.
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:19 (NKJV)
Who we are oozes out of us. If He is our foundation, our Rock, our Lord, then no matter what we do, they will see Him in us. We cannot sit on our gift and only keep it for ourselves. “People must know” is a familiar saying from The Chosen . We need to share Him through our words and our actions, which speak more loudly than our words. Let His love flow through you. Let His love be reflected in your interaction with the mail carrier, your neighbor, the person you see at the gym. You are a walking advertisement to the world of your Savior and King.
The Paramount Point is “Out of a place of harmony with Jesus and recognition of who He
is, we’re accomplishing His will on the earth with the keys of authority He gave us.”
In the Lord’s prayer He taught the disciples
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9110 (NIV)
We have things to do. We get to walk in the authority He has given us, and He has freed us to boldly share the goodness of God in this sad world. We cannot delay, for time is short. Our unsaved loved ones need the Lord, who He is and how He embodies love. May we be salt and light in this troubled world, and may we be energized to “Storm the Gates.”
Calendar:
1/29-Midweek Encounter-6:30
1/31-Men’s CORE
2/22-Saturday night-potluck, worship and tentatively Pastor Franklin Yates
Submitted by
Larry and Annette Linthicum
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