Our Pastor, Roger Freeman, will be preaching this Sunday in Doxa!  Read what he has written below to prepare your hearts for the challenge he will bring from God’s Word.

The message this Lord’s Day morning is about spiritual preparation for His coming and for the day we will see Christ face to face.  At the funeral of Pastor A. W. Tozer it was said, “He lived for this day!”  Are you preparing and living for the day when you will see Jesus?

As children we enjoyed playing “Hide and Seek” on summer nights.  Children took turns being “it,” or the person who does the looking for those hiding.  The person who was “it” had to count to ten, slowly and loudly, to give the “hiders” time to find a clever hiding place so they would run back to home base first.  The game was on when the “hunter” cried out “Ready or not, here I come!”

In a higher, holier, majestic way, our Lord tells us continually, lovingly, and forcefully to be prepared for His coming, for “Ready or not, I will come!”  Are you ready?

Matthew 24 gives the explanations about our Lord’s Coming.  Matthew 25 gives the expectations of us before His Coming.  Matthew 24 provides the information of what will happen in “That Day.”  Matthew 25 provides the transformation that is expected of us “Today.”  Hope in “That Day” will change our life in Him Today.

Matthew 25 contains three parables each with the same message.  A parable is a story, an illustration, of a great spiritual truth.  The word parable means “to cast alongside” and is set alongside a story to explain and illuminate the meaning of the truth for us.  A parable has one central point or message.  In Luke 15, the three parables there tell the one truth of the joy of seeing one sinner repent.  Matthew 25 has three parables illustrating one truth.  The truth in Matthew 25 is, “The eternal destiny of your soul depends upon your spiritual preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom.”

· The parable of the Ten Bridesmaids (25:1-13) tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

* The marriage call (25:1-5)

* The midnight cry (25:6-13)

· The parable of the Talents (25:14-20) tells us to use to the fullness of our ability every talent we have for the Kingdom of Christ and for the glory of God.

* Responsibility (25:14-18)

* Reckoning (25:19)

* Reward (25:20-23)

* Retribution (25:21-30)

· The parable of the Sheep and the goats (25:3146 tells us to have a born again heart that is tender and loving like the Lamb of God.

* A Difference (25:31-32 )

* A Division (25:33-40)

* A Destiny (25:41-46)

Our Lord Jesus is coming again.  What a joy to see His face.  Your relationship and walk with Him in purity and service can make you ready for That Day!

Overcome

Verse 1
Seated above enthroned in the Father’s love
Destined to die poured out for all mankind

Verse 2
God’s only Son perfect and spotless One
He never sinned but suffered as if He did

All authority
Every victory is Yours
All authority
Every victory is Yours

Chorus 1
Savior worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise
For You overcame
Jesus awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your Name
For You overcame

Verse 3
Power in hand speaking the Father’s plan
You’re sending us out light in this broken land

We will overcome
By the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony
Everyone overcome

Check out this AWESOME story behind the song “Overcome” by the Desperation Band. 

 This is one of the songs we’ll be singing this week in Doxa.  As you prepare for worship this week, be reminded that because of Jesus’ atoning death and victorious resurrection, we also are equipped to overcome the difficulties and hardships in life!  “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37)  We have such hope in the gospel story of Jesus…as we come together to worship this week, let’s first take the bold step of laying down our burdens, pride, and worries at His feet…Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7), and cry out to God in faith that we believe that we will overcome, by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony!  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much  as to shrink from death (Rev 12:11).

What are some things that you have overcome in your life through God’s enabling?  Share your stories and testimonies… hearing what God has brought you through could very well be the thing that will help someone else to trust in the Lord to deliver them as well!

Monday is almost over, but better late than never!  We’d love to get your feedback from DOXA yesterday.

Use the comment tab to the left and share with us how God spoke to you.  How were you challenged?  Encouraged?

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This Sunday in Doxa, we will continue our journey through Ephesians by looking at chapter 3 verses 14-17.  At this point in the book, Paul shares with the church in Ephesus the 2nd prayer that he is praying on their behalf.  The first prayer is found in 1:15-23 and is basically a prayer that the believers would know the power that is present in their lives.  The prayer we will begin studying this week is a prayer that the believers would begin using that power.

Over the next few weeks we’ll see that Paul prays for 5 specific things:

• For the strength of the Spirit in the inner man,
• For Christ to dwell in the lives of believers,
• For the amazing love of God to permeate their lives,
• For the believer to have the fullness of God,
• and, for God’s glory to be proclaimed around the world and through all generations.

This week we’re going to focus on the first two.

For the Strength of the Spirit in the Inner Man

In Ephesians 3:16, Paul prays,

…that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…

There’s a few neat ideas here that I want us to examine.  First is the specific wording Paul uses to describe the amount of strength granted.  He prays that God would grant strength “ACCORDING to the riches of his glory.”  There’s a difference between giving out of your riches and giving according to your riches.

John MacArthur describes this in his commentary on Ephesians when he references the giving practices of a millionaire.  He says that if a millionaire gives $50 or $100 he is simply giving out of his wealth.  On the other hand, if he is to give $25,000, he is giving according to his wealth.

Have you ever stopped to ponder the wealth of God?  If not, go ahead and do so now.  We’ll give you a minute…

Alright, is your mind blown yet?  God’s riches have no limits!  The reaches of his resources are unending and eternal!  The thought of God giving according to his riches is staggering and exciting!  This is what Paul is praying for, that we would be strengthened in our inner man (our soul, conscience) according the unending resource of power available to God through his Holy Spirit.

This Sunday, we’re going to look at what that means for us in our lives.  What are the steps we take to prepare our lives to be filled with that much God-power?

For Christ to Dwell in the Lives of Believers

I’m really excited about this part!  In verse 17, Paul continues his prayer:

…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…

There is such deep, deep meaning to the word “dwell” in this verse I want us to have plenty of time to focus on it.  To go ahead and get our minds thinking in the right direction, we’ll share a little bit about it here.

Remember, Paul is praying for believers here.  This means that he is not referring to the presence of Christ in the hearts of believers that occurs at the moment of Salvation.  That’s already taken care of.  Christ is already presence in their lives.

To get the deeper meaning of the word, we’ve got to look at the original Greek text.  The word dwell is the Greek word, “Katoikeo,” which means “to settle.”  Paul is praying that Christ is settled, at home, comfortable, in the heart of the believer.  The prayer is that our lives are lived in such a way that it makes sense for Christ to live there.  He is praying that the believer will create a environment in their lives that represents a suitable living place for the holy King of the universe!

Sunday we will dig a litter deeper into each of these “prayer requests.”  Go ahead and let your heart ponder these two truths, though, as you prepare for worship.

1. The strength available in our lives through the presence of the Holy Spirit has no limits!
2. Through the strength of the Holy Spirit, God can create in us a life that adequately represents the fact that Christ dwells in us!

Also, consider reading and meditating on John 14:15-31 as you prepare your heart for worship.

  Here’s this week’s sneak peak into what we’ll be singing in Doxa.  I’ve included in parenthesis the artists that have recorded the song (not necessarily who wrote it) for those who may want to Youtube a version, and also one of my favorite lines from each tune!

Happy Day (Tim Hughes):  “The greatest day in history… death is beaten, You have rescued me… sing it out, Jesus is alive…”  This will be our call to worship this Sunday, and is a great celebratory song, declaring that Jesus is alive, and that in His resurrection we have much to rejoice about!

From the Inside Out (Hillsong United): “Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades, never ending… Your glory goes beyond all fame…and the cry of my heart is to bring You praise…from the inside out, Lord my soul cries out…”  This song will be our song of confession, admitting that we have failed God, but we come before Him seeking His mercy, and longing to surrender our will to His. 

We Fall Down\We Bow Down (Chris Tomlin, Twila Paris):  “…King of all Kings You will be!”  This medley will be our offering song, declaring that we have come to lay our lives down at His feet, and also confessing that He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!

Blessed Assurance (trad. hymn):  “This is my story, this is my song…praising my savior all the day long…”   This classic hymn speaks about the unshakeable assurance that we have in Christ, knowing that our salvation is complete in Him, and that we cannot be snatched from His hand!  This song will begin our time of response.

Stronger (Hillsong United):  “It is written, Christ is risen… Jesus You are Lord of All!”  This song, which will continue our time of response, states some of the Christian faith’s most foundational truths… that Christ came and died for our sins, and then rose again, becoming our perfect sacrifice. 

Everlasting God (Chris Tomlin or Lincoln Brewster):  “You are the everlasting God…You do not faint, You won’t grow weary…”  We will end our response time with this song, with the reminder that “strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord” from Isa. 40, and exalting God as “the defender of the weak”. 

We hope these sneak peeks are useful to you in your preparation for the Sunday morning gathering in Doxa.  As always, we’d love to hear from you… send us your thoughts and ideas!

Welcome to the Monday Minute, a new feature on the Doxa blog!  Basically, what we’d love to see happen is for people to share how God moved in their lives over the weekend.

Yesterday in Doxa we studied Ephesians 3:7-13 with a focus on verse 10.  We saw how a major purpose of the church is to demonstrate God’s wisdom to the angels!

So, take a minute and use the comment button on the top left of this post (it’ll be a number just below the date) to tell us how God spoke to you.   What did you learn?  How were you encouraged?  Challenged?

(All comments must be approved by blog administrators.  It may take a few moments after submitting a comment before it is visible on the comment page.)

Ok, before any confusion sets in, let me just go ahead and set the record straight.  I know virtually zilch about cars.  I can change the oil, spark plugs and brake pads, but that’s about it.

I do know, though, that car engines are complicated.  Very complicated.  In fact, pictured above is a part called the “manifold.”  The word literally means “many folds.”  There are so many different pipes and tubes and elements to this part, that the car people just decided to call it by what it looks like.

As we continue our study through Ephesians in Doxa on Sunday, we will look at verses 1-13 of chapter 3.  In verse 10, God’s wisdom is described as “manifold.”  The word “manifold” comes from the Greek work polupoikilos which is formed from two different words:

• “polus” meaning “many”
• “poikilos” meaning “of various colors and sorts”

You put this together and God’s wisdom is described as being very colorful, complex and ornate.  God’s wisdom is not something we can comprehend or put into a box.  We can’t describe it or quantify it.  His wisdom is not our own and it exists outside our realm of understanding.

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 speaks to God’s wisdom:

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who coasts, boast in the Lord.”

God’s wisdom is so great that the only thing we should ever boast in is him.  All wonder, awe, glory and praise should be directed his way.

This Sunday we will look at the purpose of God’s wisdom being revealed in the church.  Ephesians 3:10 tells us that his wisdom is demonstrated through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.  Basically, God is using the church to boast to the angels about his great wisdom!  Why would he do this?  Because angels are better able to bring God appropriate and complete glory and praise!

As a church we have such a greater purpose than we could ever imagine!  The church does not exist simply for the work of evangelism (this is awesome and important, though), but to bring glory to God by manifesting his wisdom in front of the angles!  Wow!

Let this truth seep deep into your heart as you prepare for worship on Sunday.  Let the manifold wisdom of God overwhelm you.  Let the amazing purposes of the church of God excite you!

Come Sunday ready to give appropriate worship to the God our minds cannot grasp!

How Great Thou Art

Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art

O Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy pow’r thru’out
The universe displayed

When thru the woods
And forest glades I wander
And hear the birds
Sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down
From lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook
And feel the gentle breeze

And when I think
That God His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die
I scarce can take it in
That on the cross
My burden gladly bearing
He bled and died
To take away my sin

When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
And take me home
What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow
In humble adoration
And there proclaim
My God how great Thou art

  This week in Doxa, we will be singing this classic hymn, originally written in 1885.  Check out this story about how this song came to be, taken from the book “Then Sings My Soul”:

Carl Boberg, a 26-year-old Swedish minister, wrote a poem in 1885 which he called “O Store Gud” -”O Mighty God”.  The words, literally translated to English, said:  “When I the world consider\ Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word\ And how the web of life Thou wisdom guideth\ And all creation feedeth at Thy board\ Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise\ Oh, great God, Oh, great God!”

His poem was published and “forgotten” – or so he thought.  Several years later, Carl was surprised to hear it being sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody; but the poem and hymn did not achieve widespread fame.

Hearing this hymn in Russia, English missionary, Stuart Hine, was so moved he modified and expanded the words and made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody.  He later said his first three verses were inspired, line upon line, by Russia’s rugged Carpathian Mountains.  The first verse was composed when he was caught in a thunderstorm in a Carpathian village, the second as he heard the birds sing near the Romanian border, and the third as he witnessed many of the Carpathian mountain-dwellers coming to Christ.  The final verse was written after Dr. Hine returned to Great Britain.

Some time later, Dr. J. Edwin Orr heard “How Great Thou Art’  being sung by Naga Tribespeople in Assam, in India, and decided to bring it back to America for use in his own meetings.  When he introduced it at a conference in California, it came to the attention of music publisher, Tim Spencer, who contacted Mr. Hine and had the song copyrighted.  It was published and recorded.

During the 1954 Billy Graham Crusade in Harringay Arena, George Beverly Shea was given a leaflet containing this hymn.  He sang it to himself and shared it with other members of the Graham team.  Though not used in London, it was introduced the following year to audiences in Toronto. 

In the New York Crusade of 1957, it was sung by Bev Shea ninety-nine times, with the choir joining the majestic refrain:  “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art! How great Thou art!”

As we prepare to worship this week, consider the mighty hand, the sovereign control, and the brilliant creativity of the Lord… how the universe was not just thrown out at random, but actually has an orderly, functioning system to it… how God says that every lightning bolt checks in with him and gives report of what it’s seen… and, most of all, how God would actually give up His son in order to save a fallen and sinful world… the Lord’s thoughts and ways are truly higher than ours!

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “Iam the LORD, and there is no other.”  Isaiah 45:18

Community Groups are starting in just a few weeks!  Beginning this Sunday, you will be able to sign up for the group of your choice.  Community Groups are meeting every night of the week, except for Wednesday and Saturday, and in various neighborhoods around the city.

If you’ve never been apart of a Community Group, now is the perfect time to plug in!  CG’s exist to help people cultivate authentic Christ-centered relationships, apply the Scripture’s in accountable environments and reach unbelievers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For more information on Community Groups, make sure to click the CG tab at the top of the page.

The picture above is the prison cell believed to house Paul during his imprisonment under the rule of Nero.  It’s from this location many believe the letter to the church in Ephesus was written.  From this dark and damp room, God used Paul in powerful ways to encourage the 1st century church and, through his writings, churches from then until now!

This week, as we move into Ephesians chapter 3, we are going to take some time to look at Paul’s heart for ministry.  In the first 2 verses of this chapter, Paul describes himself as both a “Prisoner for Christ” and a “Steward of God’s Grace.”  There’s much we can learn about what drove Paul’s ministry and much we can learn about what God expects from us by studying these two characteristics.

To prime the pump a little bit for Sunday, let’s take a brief look at each of these statements.

First, Paul describes himself as a “Prisoner for Christ.”  At this time in his life Paul has been in prison for about 5 years as a result of false charges brought against him from the Jews.  Although being charged by the Jews, judged by Roman Governors and imprisoned under Emperor Nero, Paul refers to himself as a Prisoner of Christ (not a prisoner of the Jews or a prisoner of Rome).  Paul had the perspective that everything which occurred in his life was a result of God’s sovereignty and plan.  He knew that he was not in control of his life, rather, his life had been bought with a price and had a higher purpose than his comfort.

Paul, then in verse 2, describes himself as a steward of God’s grace.  As you know, a steward is someone who has been placed in charge of something that belongs to someone else.  If you’ve ever babysat, you understand this principle!

Paul wanted to communicate that the ministry he had was not his own, but was given to him by the grace of God!  He did not choose his ministry nor his place in life, instead God appointed it to him.

As we study these 2 aspects of Paul’s heart, there are many ways we should be challenged in our life.  First, do we view ourselves as prisoners of Christ?  True, you might not ever be imprisoned because of your faith, but do you live your life with understanding that God is in complete control of all that happens?  Have you completely surrendered your life to His Lordship?

Second, do we understand that our role in ministry is that of steward?  The ministry belongs to God and it is by His grace that we are even able to be used.  Also, have we come to the realization that we don’t get to pick our giftedness or areas of ministry?  God has infinite wisdom and an unsearchable plan to bring His name glory.  We must submit to the truth that God gives us the gifts he wants for us.  Are we willing to be who he wants us to be?

As you prepare for worship on Sunday, begin to ponder some of these questions.  Come with the willingness to hear from God and with the desire to be a steward of God’s grace.

To further prepare, read 2 Corinthians 11:16-30 and James 1:1-18.