Port of Grace

#4 ON SIN - SEEK GREATER PLEASURE

There are two feasts. The feast of God and the feast of sin. We're invited to both. God invites us to find satisfaction in him. Sin entices us with the lies to look for satisfaction in sin. All the time we have to choose which feast we'll attend.

]]> This is God's invitation to us: "Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without cost and money. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare."
Battling sin in our lives is not an exercise in denying pleasure. It's about fighting pleasure with greater pleasure. Sin promises so much, but it doesn't satisfy and charges a high price; broken lives, broken relationships, broken hopes. Maybe not immediately, but always in the long run. Ultimately, the wages (payment) for sin is death. But God offers us a feast that satisfies, a delight for our souls.
The motivation for change and holiness is this: God's feast is so much better! And the price tag reads, "No cost." It's his gift. So whose feast are you going to attend today?

#3 VICTORY IS POSSIBLE!

Hello everyone, I promised I'd follow up the series I started last week on Sin.

We started by saying sin is pleasurable, then we talked about taking responsibility for sin. Today we say that Victory is possible.

Sin can be defeated. We can have, we have victory. There is hope. You don't need to feel or live defeated. How do we have victory? I know this might sound weird, but we have victory through our faith (1 John 5:4) - through believing that Jesus is the Son of God. This is where many of us go wrong with sin. We've tried to find victory through our own efforts.

]]> Belief in the Son of God brings eternal life. This means the true life Jesus offers, instead of the empty existence caused by sin. (don't misunderstand, it's a pleasurable existence for a time, but it's short lived, after that it's empty). The apostle Peter says we "were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors." (1Peter 1:18).
Jesus gives real life, a full life, life with meaning - in the place of a life that has no future. Jesus offers eternal life. Hebrews says the pleasures of sin are fleeting (Heb 11:25). By contrast, Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures eat your right hand."
How does faith in Jesus lead to victory over sin? Faith sees through the false promises of sin, sees that God offers more than sin and sees that God is always bigger and better than anything sin promises. So faith chooses God, worships God, treasures God and adores God.

You can only say no to sin, not by the strength of your will power, but the entrusting yourself in faith to obeying the one who will give you both the desire and the strength to live righteously.

Having said all that, the battle against sin, is better fought with a brother or sister in Christ to help you stay faithful and focused on faith.

Pastor Ed

#2 Take Responsibility for Sin

Yesterday I mentioned that Sin is pleasurable. It really is, it feels good, even great, in the moment. But it's a pleasure that is temporary, and requires more sin in order to feed the pleasure. We all know what I mean.

Circumstances often trigger our sin and shape the form it takes, but they don't cause it. The root cause of our sin is always our hearts and their sinful desires. We sin because we believe lies about God, instead of believing (trusting) God's Word, and also because we choose to worship idols instead of God. An doesn't have to be a wood carving of some god. It's anything that takes the place God deserves in our lives.

]]> If the problem with sin were simply our eyes, then the solution would be simply to avert our eyes. But if the problem is in our heart, then the solution must be much more fundamental. So we need to ask ourselves, When is it that I commit this sin? What's going on in my heart when I turn to this sin?

I know people, especially men, groan when I say this, but you might find it helpful to keep a journal. Here's what I mean, it's actually really simple. Keep a notebook, and everyday you start with the same word, "Yesterday" and then you write a paragraph about yesterday. If you sinned, write about it to determine the answers to the questions above. When were you tempted? How were you feeling? What was on your mind? This may help you see what's going on in your heart when you struggle. You may begin to see, why you turn to that particular sin, and what it provides for you. Does it offer an escape? Is it an act of revenge, or trying to punish someone else? This happens with husbands and wives. Is it a way of feeling powerful, or loved or wanted? Is it a reward you give to yourself? Is it a way to take the stress/edge off?

You can then begin to identify the false promises that sin makes to you. And then you can also identify the liberating/freeing truth of the gospel that can begin to set you free.

It's important to remember here, anything can become sin to us. If it controls us, and if we allow it to have the place God should have in our lives. Don't just keep dancing with sin, don't be a victim, take responsibility.

Tomorrow: Victory over Sin is Possible!

Pastor Ed

#1 Winning the Battle Over Sin...

I'd like to do a short series online to help you process, and hopefully in some areas of your life, if you need to, win the battle over sin.

First of all how do you know something is sin in your life? The simple test is this, has it mastered you? Is it something that controls you? Do you run to it as a way to cope? Are you unable to stop it on willpower alone? (that means you've tried, but you keep coming back to it?

Todays' thought on sin - "SIN IS PLEASURABLE - IT FEELS GOOD"

Until we admit the above statement, we have no hope of even coming close to saying no to sin. Sin feels good, in the moment and for a moment. It's why we do it, it's why we keep coming back to it. Christians usually feel a sense of shame about their sin. In our same we want to stop. Except, of course, we don't! We still enjoy the sin too much to let it go...

]]> In the deep recesses of our hearts we still contain the will and the desire to sin; at some basic level we remain open to the union with evil.
The reality is that, often, we dislike the shame and consequences of sin, but we still like sin itself. That's why we do it, and after a while, can't stop from doing it. That's because sin is pleasurable, it feels good, or else we wouldn't do it. We need to be honest about that. If we pretend otherwise, we'll never fight sin successfully. The Bible talks about the pleasures of sin. It doesn't deny they're real or satisfying in the moment. But it's reminds us that they're temporary, that they're dangerous, that they come with devastating consequences in this life and the next and in the long run, they are empty. That's why sin is often followed by shame. More than that sin claims ownership and mastery over you. But before we move on, we need to realize - Sin is pleasurable.

More tomorrow - want to read some Bible on this? Read Ephesians 4:17-24

Want to start by taking an inventory? As yourself, what has mastered me? What controls me? What do I need to do in order to cope? What am I unable to just stop for good?

*this is not original to me, it's an adaptation of a devotional that I thought would be helpful. Tim Chester deserves the credit for the content.

ON PRAYER...

"Prayerless people cut themselves off from God's prevailing power, and the frequent result is the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed around, defeated. Surprising numbers of people are willing to settle for lives like that."

Bill Hybels

Tool #1

Hello everyone, one of my goals as your pastor in 2012 is to give you as many tools as possible, to help you in as many areas of your life as possible.

I'd like to begin by give you a simple tool to help you begin spending 15minutes with God a day.

Here's the plan...

]]> Find a comfortable place, without distractions, or with as few distractions as possible

Start by taking a minute to relax and asking God to speak to you (1 minute)
Read a passage whether a short passage several times / or a longer passage that covers the whole time (4 minutes)
Think about the passage, what is it saying etc. (4 minutes)
Decide what you're going to do about it if there's an action called for in the passage (2 minutes)
Pray (3 minutes)
Listen -invite God to speak and just sit in silence and see what leadings you get (1 minute)
-this takes getting used to at first - but keeping a paper and pen in hand helps to write down what comes to mind

There you have it, 15 minutes with God

Some of you are thinking, 15 minutes that isn't very much time. This is especially for those of us who don't have a regular time with God, it's a starting place.

Here's the interesting thing; if you commit to spending 15 minutes with God daily, at the end of 2012 you will have spent 91 hours and 25 minutes of personal time with God. How many hours did you spend last year?

Hope that helps you, if you need help as to where to start reading, just ask.

Pastor Ed

Welcome to 2012!

What can you expect among Port of Grace in 2012. An intently focused commitment to two things. Loving God and Loving People.

Everything we do this year, and we plan to do as much as we can, will be focused on helping us to do these two things wholeheartedly.

]]> Shouldn't that be the focus of every church, every year? True. It is what Jesus said are the greatest commandments.

However, as we've been seeking God, it's clear to us that a wholehearted commitment to these two things is key to our spiritual growth that will come from our knowledge and experience of God.

It is also in Loving God and Loving Others, as Jesus did, and only through it, that we will experience a greater expression of love amongst us and from us into the world.

It is our desire that as we seek to grow in these areas in 2012, that we will experience in a deeper way, the special purpose God has created us for as His church in Port Colborne. In such a time as we find ourselves in history.

May we be found faithful in faith and in truth, and in being a light in this community God loves so much.

Think about this, really!

"Faith has been reduced to a comfortable system of beliefs about God instead of an uncomfortable encounter with God."

Michael Yaconelli

MONDAY NIGHT SEEKING!

If you have Monday evening from 7-8PM free, don't miss it. Join us as we seek God.

We promise you you will not be singled out, we just want you to discover a new experience of prayer. One that will impact your own personal times and hopefully, if you don't have a prayer life, begin a passion for one. Here you will find tools to help you develop your prayer life and grow in your meeting with God.

We are believing that it's only to the extent that we will seek God, that he will move in our midst. If we don't seek you don't find, if you don't knock, doors aren't open, God has no reason to move, if we're not interested in asking him to move. James tells us we have not, because we ask not. Come seek God and believe.

7-8 PM Monday Evenings in the Port of Grace Main floor.

Coming Up & Going On at Port of Grace

BIBLE READING AND PRAYER: As we continue to travel into 2011 we want to make sure we understand that without Bible reading and prayer as a regular part of spiritual lives, we are not just missing out, we are keeping ourselves from the means to the resources that God provides for us. Jesus called God's Word, his truth, spiritual food for our lives. Over and over the scriptures counsel us to be in prayer during all circumstances with all kinds of prayers. To that end we are providing you with a number of Bible reading schedules to fit both your schedule as well as where you might find yourself in your spiritual life. You can pick one of these up at the welcome table. They are also available online on our site. We will continue to make prayer an emphasis during our services, as well as through providing other opportunities for congregational prayer.

Narcotics Annonymous: Every friday night from 7PM - 9PM a narcotics annonymous group meets at Port of Grace upstairs. Everyone Welcome.