GREENE STREET LETTERS: LAST NIGHT'S MESSAGE: LOOKING AT TOMBS AND THE POWER TO BE FREE FROM DEATH

Sunday, July 18, 2021

LAST NIGHT'S MESSAGE: LOOKING AT TOMBS AND THE POWER TO BE FREE FROM DEATH

Really good meeting @ ReCovery Church last night. You can catch the message in the audio section of this blog if you'd like to listen to it, or you can download for latter auditory enjoyment.

Taught from John Chapter 11 / the events surrounding the death of Lazarus, the appearance of Jesus and the power that He brought to raise this dead man back to life. When it comes to addiction and the desire to break free from that "tomb of death", I have asked the question, "Do you believe in God?" To which most will say, "Yes!". "Do you believe that what we read in Genesis 1:1 is the truth, that God created the heavens and the earth?" Once again, their reply is "Yes." With such an answer that God alone possesses such power, then why do people find it so hard to believe that He could not "SPEAK" into their lives, just as He spoke in Genesis, and raise them to new life out of the tomb of death we call addiction?

II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that if we are IN Christ, then we are (not will be) a new creation. A turning point takes place when we receive the salvation that Jesus offers to all who come to Him. We no longer are driven by the dark desires of our old nature.....our sin/ nature. We are following a new voice in our life as we go about our day listening for His Holy Spirit to guide us. Now this doesn't mean that the old nature gives up. We still carry it around. Galatians 5 talks about the war that goes on between the flesh and the Spirit. There is an old adage in recovery that compares this war between flesh and spirit to 2 dogs who are at odds with one another. The question is asked, "Which dog will win the fight?" The answer is quiet clear. The dog that we feed. One we feed, the other we starve. If you feed the flesh at the expense of the Spirit, the flesh will rise up and take control. If you expend yourself feeding the Spirit, then it will be the dominant force in our lives.

I have rambled enough...check out message if you wan to.

If you have a ROKU device, do the following

*Go to search and type in Sermon.net

*Down load the app

*Open the app and type in Recovery Church

*It should take you to our page where you can scroll through and select the message you'd like to listen to.

Ain't technology something else. Well, it's time for the high-tech redneck to move on down the line. Until next time.....

God on you...

mbb

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Looking At The World Through Cracked Lens

As ol' Paul wrote in his Corinthian letters.."We see in part and we know in part." Now what piece of this bit of wisdom do we not get? I wish to not run around acting and trying to be some sort of Biblical G00-Ru (I meant to spell it wrong). Or a sage of sages.

I simply want to be able to communicate some of what God has given to me. Why? Do I think what I get is better than what you may have received from Him? Nope. But I do think encouragement comes when we share our daily story of struggle and victory in an effort to encourage each other.

Thanks for letting me share.

Time to soldier on..

mbb

Our Statement of Faith

We believe that God is the eternal king. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in power and glory. we believe that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God's judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God's good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam's original sin. Human beings are born into sin, subject to God's judgment of death and captive to Satan's kingdom of darkness. We believe that Jesus, God's Son, was sent to this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary, fully God and fully man in one person. He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God's Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, ushering in God's kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Jesus' atoning death on the cross took God's judgment for sin which we deserved as law-breakers. Jesus' resurrection and ascent back to heaven opened the door for those who received salvation to begin a relationship with God.

Little Nets Into Deep Waters

Fishing nets were designed for one purpose only. To catch fish. Nets are no good if they stay on the boat. Nets serve no purpose if they are never used. I think maybe God sees us this way. We are all created for a purpose (by the way, the creator gets to define what our purpose is). Any other use besides the one we were created for does us no good. But when the creator places His hands upon us, casting us out into those scary, dark places with deep waters, it is then we can see the reality of our purpose. He knew there would be a catch waiting for us. I think I will be the net God has called me to be.

The Twelve Steps

As a community of people in recovery, we affirm that our higher power is Jesus Christ. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Just as God told the children of Israel He was going to give them a promised land, He has revealed to us that He desires to give us a "Promised Life." When Israel got to the promised land, God instructed them to go and in a possess it, fight for it and claim it. In recovery, the 12 Steps are the directions given to us on how to fight, possess and claim this promised life.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

LAST NIGHT'S MESSAGE: LOOKING AT TOMBS AND THE POWER TO BE FREE FROM DEATH

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD