ROCC Fellowship @ Aurelio’s Pizza
May 28, 2011
Annual ROCC Six Flags Trip
May 28, 2011
Cook Out and Pot Luck
May 14, 2011
Memorial Day Parade
May 14, 2011
1 John 4:13-21
May 6, 2011
Why does God give us the gift of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is proof according to 1 John 4:13 that we live in Christ and that He lives in us. Isn’t that an amazing promise? The Spirit is proof first and foremost that we live in God! Are you alive today in Christ? John goes on to say that Christ came to be the savior of the world. We all have access to the wonderful treasure of salvation! God is so loving that salvation is not for a select few or a select people rather He is the savior of the world! Have you confessed today that Jesus is the Son of God?
Finally, John goes on to discuss the love that we should all have with one another in the body of Christ. We need these instructions even today as we continue to allow petty disputes to separate us in the household of faith. Baptism in the name of Jesus or the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, issues like these continue to drive a wedge between the children of God when we find verse 21 simply telling us that if we love God we must also love not the world but our own Christian brothers and sisters! Come on church…as long as we keep Jesus the center of all we are and do let us move beyond the other arguments that believers have had for hundreds of years so that the body can be united in Holiness!
Prayer:
Father, in the Name of Jesus, we come before your great throne asking for forgiveness. Thank you for your amazing love that you came to be the savior of the world! Let our human arguments end so that we can display true unity across the body so that the world can see your amazing love and grace in action. Help us, Lord, to be one as you are one! In the name of Jesus we pray…amen!
2 Corinthians 6:1-18
May 5, 2011
Every one of us has a choice to make in this life. We have the choice to live for God or for the world. Here in this letter to the Corinthian church Paul encourages the readers to make a firm choice for God. He tells us how he has had to accept all sorts of hardships without complaining. He describes in verse 10 that through the troubles he has faced that his heart has ached yet he has still had joy. How does he do it? How does he have joy in the midst of pain and hurt?
Paul has joy because his mind is set on things above not on the things of this earth. The joy he has comes from living for God and dwelling in the company of others who are living for God. While careful to still mingle with the world in order to evangelize the lost we must at the same time surround ourselves with the people that are truly seeking the God and creator of the universe. When surrounded by the world we may be tempted to complain about our circumstances but when we surround ourselves with godly people then we can all rejoice together and find strength through our praise.
When we come together with other believers then Christ is literally in the midst with us as we have seen even in fiery furnace. When the three Hebrew boys refused to bow to anyone other than God and were thrown in the fiery flames of the furnace the king looked in and saw a fourth man with them. Verse 16 today tells us that God himself will live in us and will walk among us! What joy knowing that God is literally with us in every situation and trial we face!
Prayer:
Father, in the Name of Jesus, we come before your great throne asking for forgiveness. Please forgive us Father for forsaking the assembly of the saints. Help us to learn the value that comes in the community of the believers. On this National Day of Prayer help us to lay aside all the things that divide your people that we can all come together in a spirit of unity. In the name of Jesus we pray…amen!
Jeremiah 16:14-21
May 4, 2011
We are the generation of people that have seen the return of Israel to its own land. We have seen a nation that did not exist begin to flourish and prosper once again. We are living in the days where we know that the Lord can do the impossible because we have seen the boundaries of nation reestablished. Thanks be to God that His word is powerful and fulfills everything it is set out to accomplish!
Now, though we live in a time of great idols. We have made our governments and our military powers an idol. We have made our money and material belongings an idol. We have craved things made by man, (cell phones, IPads, IPods, cars, Large TVs and anything else that we seek more than we seek the Lord). We have looked towards material belongings to bring us happiness and peace rather than the God that can literally raise up an entire nation!
It is time for the people of God to once again place our trust and our hope in the King of kings and the Lord of Lords! It is time to declare that God is our strength and our fortress and that in Him we have our peace! It is time to tear down every idol that we have created so that God can take His rightful place in our hearts!
Prayer:
Father, in the Name of Jesus, we come before your great throne asking for forgiveness. Forgive us Lord of the idolatry that we have walked in and take your place as our God and King. Guide us Lord through this life as we abandon everything that would try and take your place in our hearts and minds. You, oh Lord, are our strength and our fortress and we run to you in these days of trouble. Deliver us from the evil of this world and allow us to snatch others from the flames of damnation. Lead us and direct us throughout this day. In the name of Jesus we pray…amen!
John 16:29-33
May 3, 2011
The disciples finally got it! They finally understood that Jesus knew everything that was about to happen and that he was speaking in a literal since about his impending death. At this point they finally declared that they really believed that Jesus came from God!
When I have struggled with periods of weakness in my faith I have often turned back to the study of prophecy. Seeing that God accurately described the rebirth of Israel and seeing how clearly the times we live in now lines up with the description of the end times renews my faith. It renews my faith and belief because I see how awesome God is in that He does not see time the way we do. Instead he knows our every action before we will take it. He knows my thoughts before I think them and he knows my ways before I operate in them. God knows every choice and decision I will make and yet He still loves me! He knows every struggle I will face but he tells me to take heart because He has overcome the world! He wants me to have peace in Him knowing that nothing happens that He is not already aware of. He is all knowing, all powerful and all loving!
Prayer: Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before your throne today, holding onto your unfailing love. Thank you Father for putting up with our times of unbelief and helping us to believe in all that you are doing in our lives. Thank you for proving time and time again that you know our future and that you see far ahead to know how everything will work together for our good. Be with us today and help us to share a word of encouragement to those around us that are struggling today. We can do this because you have given us your word that we may have peace even in the storm knowing that you have overcome the world! In the mighty name of Jesus we pray…amen
John 17:1-26
May 2, 2011
This is an awesome prayer being offered by Jesus near the end of His earthly ministry. This prayer is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer because it has symbolic qualities of the kind of prayer Christ offers at the throne of God while sitting at the right hand of the Father. Take note of the fact that Christ doesn’t mention the faults or failures of man but rather ask for the protection and the keeping of those who believe in Him. While the prayer is literally for the Disciples of Christ we find in verse 20 that the prayer is for all who would believe in Christ through the message preached and taught by the disciples.
Verse 20 shows that Christ literally prayed for each one of us over 2,000 years ago. His prayer for us is that we would be one in unity. The unity comes from our common believe in Christ as the savior of the world. Our unity comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit making us all one regardless of doctrinal issues as long as our focus is not on the teachings of man but on the savior.
Prayer:
Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before your throne today, boldly asking for you to make us one as you are one. Bring us together today with other believers that we might be united not because of the church we attend but because you dwell in each of us. Let us show the world not the teachings of man but the love and grace and mercy that flow from your throne! Help us heavenly Father, to show the world who you are as you have shown yourself to us and made yourself known to us. As we come to know you more help us move from faithlessness to belief in you! In Jesus name I pray…amen.
