It's much easier to preach on having great faith than to actually practice it. God continues to stretch us and grow us. He wants our full trust. In fact James speaks about being double minded men. We have to believe He will answer! Also, Faith is perfected over time in every area of our lives. It's no different in the church. 

     God has asked us to be ready to move!

     We are raising funds to expand our worship space due to the growth we have experienced.  In scripture, so many times the disciples asked questions about the future and He always directed them to the importance of waiting. There is no question that faith is perfected not only over time but during periods of waiting. You might say that these two things are tied together. 

     Our prayer through this journey is that we keep trusting God to lead us. That we seek His face for clear direction! That we trust Him no matter what. These things are not easy but that is exactly what God wants us to do.  

     We just finished up our series through the first 6 chapters in Nehemiah this past Sunday. God taught us many things through our time in this book. It took great faith on the peoples behalf but it was God who would finished the project.  

     Through this process, it's important for us to remember that God will finish what He has started. That He will lead us through each step and when things seem unclear we need to take a step back and wait on Him. It's not easy waiting but some of our greatest rewards in this life come from waiting and being patient with God's timing. 

     "The wall was completed in 52 days, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul. When all our enemies heard this , all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God." Nehemiah 6:15-16

     Over Summer break I felt God sharing with me a little bit of His plan for the Church. I felt like He was telling me to get ready for Growth. That the church was ready to see growth and that it was not something we were going to do but that He would do it. This is what God has been up to at Houghton Baptist Church over the last 6 months. 

Giving has gone up, small groups have doubled, servants have increased, families are joining quickly and getting plugged in right away. Also, we have been baptizing people every couple of months. The lost are finding a church home, the unchurched are becoming churched!

I have never seen God so active among a group of believers before in my life. Its so amazing! 

We know that in order to follow the Lord, it takes great faith, in fact in order to do anything for the Lord takes great faith. Building a Kingdom work that is centered around Jesus Christ and His mission takes just as much faith because often times the flesh gets in the way of what God wants to do. 

We have literally stepped out of the way and are allowing King Jesus to lead us!

We are learning that it takes just as much faith to trust God during good times as it does bad times. We know that God is faithful and know that He has good plans for us! 

Our attendance on Sunday mornings as increased as well,  to the point where we are considering expanding our worship space. Either building onto the existing worship space or building an entirely different Worship Center off the other side of the building. These things are very exciting but to be truthful a little overwhelming. 

Our prayer is that God will not only provide for this new space but to continue  to increase our family. There are thousands of people in our area that need the love of Jesus and a place they can grow at their own speed. They need a church who will love them and make them feel welcome. A place where they can be challenged to grow in their faith and learn to make steps of faith as well. We are a church that doesn't't overlook anybody! 

Our motto is " Come as You are! "

Ephesian 2:20-22 " Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling a place for God by the Spirit."

1 Corinthians 3:9 "For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building."

Getting ready to go always seems to be a challenge for most! We tend to move at such a slow pace when there are peoples lives hanging in the balance. As a church, God has called us to go! Called us to be on the move and sharing Jesus with as many people as we can. So, there is no time to be sitting around.

The by-product of being mobile believers is that we have seen such an increase here at the church. We are reaching people who have been out of church for years, some have never heard the gospel. We are reaching people that many folks have cast a side. It's awesome that God has motivated this group of people in the way that he has.

When growth happens and things begin to change, we are tempted to stay where we are at, we are tempted to become complacent. God wants us to follow His leading and get ready to move even further. As we are seeing such Growth and increase, God is preparing us to be open to what He has for us.

In Joshua 1:10-11 we are given this picture of God getting His people ready to move,

Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get provisions ready for yourselves, for within three days you will be crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit.'"

God has such blessings up ahead for this Church and more importantly for this community. God has land and provisions ready for His people but we must be willing to cross with God leading.

The camp is normally tempting, the camp is safe, but God desires us to be people to follow in faith. Our prayer is that God continues to show us the direction to move and we continue to see His heart pressed upon the people of this area. May we see many come to know Jesus and see many take steps of faith in following Christ.

This Summer has been a season of rest and preparation for God's best! Resting in His promises and preparing for all that He has for us. Our ministries at the church are taking off. All our positions and offices are filled. Volunteers are coming out of the wood work to be involved. People are getting saved and making descisions for Baptism. 

These are the things that have to be in place for God to accomplish His greatest work. You see, God entrusts His people in small areas and with few responsibilities long before He adds to our plates. He wants to see what we will do with what He gives us. Will we be faithful? Will we stay consistent? Will we ask for more? 

Our readiness and willingness unleashes God's power and provision. When we pray for more territory and more responsibilities, He delivers! 

I am excited for this coming year at HBC! Our small groups kick off on September 13th prior to our 10:00am Worship service. We have added two additional Adult classes along with our New and improved Jr. Church room & Ministry. 

We are praying for God to use our work as an instrument for His Glory!

We don't care to play church but be the church in every area. This community is starving for a relationship with Jesus and we want to be the ones that deliver the message through our acts of Love and through the power Christ gives each of us. 

May we see growth in numbers in every area of the church, every ministry and in every small group. May God expand His Kingdom in ways we could never imagine. 

Acts 2:47 " praising God and having favor with all people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." 

     In the early church the heart to give and take care of one another was simply amazing! They knew that it was their responsibility to love each other and make sure that all was loved and taken care of. There was no holding back! There was no hesitation in their giving! They loved each other and loved the lost by blessing them! All of the needs that arose within the church and outside the church were taken care of. 

God blessed their hearts to give in such way by visible growth. The Church went from 120 to 3,000 people in one day! The church today tries every model of evangelism and even outreach without coupling it with blessing others and taking care of their needs.

If we take care of the physical need the way that Christ did and the way the early disciples did, we would see an incline in church growth and more importantly in Kingdom Growth. 

Acts 2:41~42says "So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. 

Acts 2: 45 says "They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need."

We have to apply this model to our churches, in order to reach people for Jesus Christ, we cant just speak words of life but we must show them by our actions. We must show them the gospel by our generosity and our love for them. The gospel speaks volumes when it follows acts of kindness and genuine love. 

My prayer is that we continue to trust God with all we have and continue to be a church that gives generously for the furtherance of the gospel and the growth of His Kingdom! 

This past Sunday we looked at Philippians 4:10-13 which says

" I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me, but lacked the opportunity to show it. I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content, whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." 

Being content is a process of shifting our attention away from things that discourage and defeat us and placing them onto things that truly satisfy. Those things are not temporal but eternal. Our attention can not stay on the things of this world in order for us to stay content.

 Paul teaches us through this passage that we must learn how to deal with the life that we have been given and really begin to rejoice in even the smaller blessings we receive from God. To be thankful for all we have! 

Every day God provides for us and makes sure we have what we need and many days, we fail to praise and thank Him for it. Paul made sure to be greatfull for the blessing he received from God and made sure to praise Him. Oh that we would be mindful to practice this as well! 

Being content is not a change of life situation but a change of heart and attitude towards our life situation!

We must begin to praise Him and thank Him for all that we have.

Learn to be content in every situation so that God will begin to change our life situation. All to often we want God to fix everything long before we have learned the lesson that He is trying to teach us. 

Lastly, It's impossible to be content and continue to press on unless there is a power source behind it. Paul makes note to remind the reader that It's through Christ who strengthens him that he is able to do all things. We must learn to rely on Him and allow Him to infuse us with His strength and power in order for us to master this attitude of being content. 

The Church is something that is living and breathing! Always moving and growing! Taking shape and constantly developing! As People of God we need to be ready to move and willing to change. We have to be willing to go and willing to allow God to move us in away where we can be most affective for the Kingdom of God.

The Church is not a building, a structure or something that stands still but it's people being changed and transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit. 

God continues to shape my thinking and continues to encourage me to make sure that we are doing all the right things that provide away for us to be a church that is on the move and making the most impact we can on this community. To make sure that we don't get hung up on the way we do things or the way things use to be, but have the attitude of Isaiah that encourages God to take us and move us to that next place. 

To be willing to allow God to change our thinking, our hearts and even our minds about the way we do things.

The willing are always moved first, the willing are always changed and transformed. The willing are always the people that God will use and do the unthinkable with because they give God permission to shape them and change them.

Isaiah 6:6-8 " Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, and your sin is atoned for. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said " Here I am. Send Me."

God has spared us, forgiven us and has given us new life. He has changed us so that we could live boldly for Him and make the most difference for His Name. God has given us every tool and opportunity to be great for Him. All we must do as individuals and as a church is to have this kind of attitude. Be Ready and Be willing! 

     For many years I have wrestled with this question. What is being a Church Member? From my perspective being a church member at a local church involves much more than most would even think. It's not just being a faithful attender on Sunday morning or even being one who gives on a regular basis but its something much more deeper. Those are surface level things! Being a church member is being loyal and committed to Christ and committed to your fellow church family. It's being one who walks along side of you or one who calls you when your down. It's serving them without expecting anything in return. Its an unconditional love! 

     Our love for God should move us to love each other in this kind of way. After all we are His bride! We make up the Body of Christ! A Church member is one who is apart of something much bigger than themselves. We are apart of something that God adores and God is building up. Being apart of a Church family is about being apart of God's family! 

     Our motives and our actions have to be pure and they have to be about furthering the family of God! If we want to be a better Church member, we must be making church about God and His family. It's very easy in the local church to question these things and even begin to look at our own needs instead of the needs of our brothers and sisters. Church and being a church member is not really about us, Its about Him and His message. 

     If we want to build the church than we must allow God to build us and change our thinking and our ways of how we view Church and even view what it means to be a church member. 

     Matthew 16:24 says " Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you want to be my followers, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me." 

     Hebrews 10:24-25 says "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another." 

This life throws us all sorts of curve balls and we need to be ready for them as they come. All to often we allow our struggles to defeat us and steal away our God given Joy.

What's it mean to live a Joy filled life? How do we do that with all of the junk that happens to us and all around us?

Well the first thing is understanding that this means we are doing something of significance for the Kingdom. The Second is understanding that we are warned that troubles will come and that we need to count it all Joy when we experience hardship and trials.

If we accept our role and understand that God is doing something in our lives and it's not just to hurt us or defeat us, I believe we can live with greater Joy.

When we face hardships or trying times, we forget our identity in Christ and forget what He has instore for those that have called on the Name of Christ... We forget that He has a mansion prepared for us in Glory and a place for us at His table.

If we focused more on the Kingdom and even the rewards that we have waiting for us in Glory, there would be more Joy in one's life. The problem is that we are much more focused on this life and what is happening to us right now. These things will trip us up and steal the Joy that is available for those who follow Christ and understand their a child of the King's.

This fall we are going to start a new series in the book of Philippians and it's going to be great. Learning to live the Christian life with a Joyful spirit and attitude. Trusting the promises in Scripture as we persue God and fight to stand firm in our faith. We are promised that God will finish the work that He has started, We are called to be of the same mind, moving forward with the same purpose and working at the same goals. Lastly, we are called to rejoice and take great Joy in our faith and in His sacrifice for us.

Philippians 1:6 " For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Philippians 2:2 " Make my Joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose."

Philippians 2:17-18 " But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my Joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your Joy with me."

We all go through different seasons in life, especially as we strive to live for the Lord. We are warned in scripture that trials will come and suffering will come but to be strong in the Lord and that our hope is in Him. I would say that sums up the past 6months. As a church we have never been more alive spiritually and on fire for Christ but with that comes adversity and trials.

We have grown as a body of believers to be people who support one another and challenge one another to work on their walks with Christ. I believe God has blessed this work because we are supporting one another and we are working together to further His name and grow in our own personal walks with Jesus.

That's the church! If you look at 1 John we are instructed to love others in action and not just in words and then in James, He instruct us to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. The body of Christ grows when these things are being carried out by the church.

Over the last two months we have been studying on Sunday mornings the Life of Elijah. The prophet who strived to serve God and bring revival to the people of Israel while the Enemy worked hard at trying to destroy that and the life of Elijah.

He was bold and committed but yet had times of weakness and great difficulties. We can relate to this servant of God because there are times where we are strong in Christ and other times when we are weak and broken. God has been teaching us through the word that we are no different than Elijah and that there will be times where we fail to meet God and fulfil our calling but yet God remains with us.

God took care of Elijah no matter what trial or situation arose and we too as the church have to learn to trust our Creator for that kind of protection and direction. He is steering our church and steering those who are involved and it hasn't all been easy but its been fruitful.

I am looking forward to seeing where God moves us next! If we are listening and ready to follow, He is faithful to lead!